Episode 215 - Bon bon voyage

Welcome

00:00:18Scott Trickett: Welcome to episode...

00:00:23Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode 215.

00:00:27Scott Trickett: Well, it's an odd number. The rules of the parkrun adventurers podcast, if you look up the book... There's a book that I missed somehow? I introduce the odd episodes, you do the evens. 215, last time I checked, was an odd number.

00:00:51Melissa Erbacher: What you fail to recall, and perhaps it's just because you haven't been listening since you left the podcast, is that I am the boss now, I am the anchor, and I do the odds.

00:01:03Scott Trickett: You've assumed the role of the odd intro-er.

00:01:08Melissa Erbacher: Look, I don't even know why we're fighting about who gets to do it, because we were always arguing about not wanting to do it.

00:01:14Scott Trickett: I know. You go ahead. I haven't done it for, like, this is the second time I've done it this year or something. So I'm excited to say that this is episode 215 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name's Scotty Trickett, and I'm joined by my co-host of past... Mel Erbacher, and present today anyway.

00:01:40Melissa Erbacher: Yes.

00:01:41Scott Trickett: Mel Erbacher. Hey, Mel. Hey, Scotty.

00:01:45Melissa Erbacher: How are you doing?

00:01:46Scott Trickett: This is great.

00:01:47Melissa Erbacher: This is great. Is it like falling off a bicycle?

00:01:52Scott Trickett: Less painful. Let's keep going and see how we go.

00:01:58Melissa Erbacher: Sounds like a good idea to me. Hey, so thank you for joining me, although I'm guessing really you should be thanking me for joining you, given you did the introduction. It's great to have you on the pod.

00:02:15Scott Trickett: Well, thanks, Mel. Thanks, Mel. As you know, I'm not as frequent as I used to be in the hosting chair, but whenever I get asked... I jump at the opportunity these days. It's quite an honour.

00:02:28Melissa Erbacher: You do try. You do try to jump at those opportunities. And hey, look, before we go too much further and people get all excited and think, oh, Scotty's back, Scotty's back. It's a one episode only scenario. It is also my final episode. No going back, no returns scenario.

00:02:52Scott Trickett: This is it.

00:02:53Melissa Erbacher: This is it. This is the last time.

00:02:55Scott Trickett: It's only appropriate, isn't it? We started together. We built this beast.

00:03:03Melissa Erbacher: Some five years ago, more than five years ago now that you had the idea and asked me to join you.

00:03:09Scott Trickett: Really proud of the impact that it's had on the parkrun scene in Australia and on some people's life, about half a dozen. But it's all about making that impact and... We're going to close the chapter on the Mel Erbacher story of the parkrun adventurers and then it will flourish under the Mel Ellis and Ollie.

00:03:34Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, Ollie Spake. Reign of Terror. The new dynamic duo coming to haunt your airwaves.

00:03:41Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:03:42Melissa Erbacher: In the most responsible way.

00:03:43Scott Trickett: Is that the name they've given themselves? Dynamic duo? Because that's been done. I'm feeling that's not original.

00:03:50Melissa Erbacher: Oh, well, no, this is literally just me applying a cliche then. Okay. So that's my bad. I'll have to think of a different descriptor for them. Thanks, Scotty. Shame we're on my own podcast. My last episode. Did I mention it was my last episode?

00:04:05Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:04:06Melissa Erbacher: You're here to make me look good, okay? Not bad.

00:04:09Scott Trickett: Pick holes in everything you say.

00:04:11Melissa Erbacher: Yes. We should move swiftly on. And well, okay, as well as a little bit of reminiscing, there's only going to be a tiny bit of that because we're all about looking toward the future now. And also the present, which is all about Christmas. It's our favourite episode of the year. Every year has been to record our Christmas podcast. And so it only made sense that you were back.

00:04:36Scott Trickett: last year you were santa this year we're not even going to leave you in disguise it's just this is plain Scotty yep so I think I've done every Christmas episode you have so that's good that's that's a legacy a continued legacy yeah but you know you know I like coming back for the Christmas one because it gives me an opportunity to eat candy canes chocolate I have a chocolate santa this week I'm eating, literally eating a candy cane as we speak. And we get to do the Christmas bonbons and dad jokes.

00:05:08Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:05:08Scott Trickett: Hey, let's reminisce about what we used to do is we used to say, what'd you do on the weekend? What'd you do on parkrun day? Now for me, miserable sod, I don't have a parkrun day. For you, I'm not going to call you a miserable sod, but I don't think you did a parkrun on the weekend.

00:05:23Melissa Erbacher: I didn't. So let's skip over that.

00:05:24Scott Trickett: Let's skip over that.

00:05:26Melissa Erbacher: No, but there's a good reason why I didn't do one. You know, the first thing that we say to people is be a little bit responsible and if you or anyone in your family has been sick, don't go. So it's not that I didn't want to go to parkrun. It's just that I've had sick people in my house and you may have noticed from the sound of my voice that I too have been partaking of said lurgy.

00:05:48Scott Trickett: So, yeah. That's good. It's responsible, Mel. You are, right? this whole campaign coming back under this COVID framework is the one line, like it all works or it all falls apart. If you don't follow that first line, stay home if you're unwell or if anyone else is unwell. So good on you, Mel. Good job by you.

00:06:09Melissa Erbacher: That's what I was looking for. A pat on the back, not to be called miserable sod and then moving swiftly on.

00:06:15Scott Trickett: So onto the miserable sod. So I don't have a parkrun to go to. I've, I can see a glimmer of hope of a parkrun on the horizon, but it's still not there yet. Fingers crossed for next year.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

00:06:29Scott Trickett: But it was still International Ugly Christmas Singlet Slash Shirt Day. Have I added a slash?

00:06:37Melissa Erbacher: You added a slash. Yeah, there should have been an or, Scotty.

00:06:40Scott Trickett: Or.

00:06:42Melissa Erbacher: Singlet or shirt day.

00:06:43Scott Trickett: Okay.

00:06:44Melissa Erbacher: Because generally speaking, I thought about making it and, but people don't usually wear the both at the same time. So it didn't really make sense. So I opted for or.

00:06:56Scott Trickett: But it was still the International Day of said such event, and it provided an opportunity for us to wear our singlet or T-shirt, which I did. And so despite... Not having a parkrun. We do have restrictions eased enough in the greater state where we can have gatherings of 100. And I don't have 100 friends to get together. I have about 20 odd. So we got together and ran together for 5K. So it kind of felt like parkrun, but it wasn't. But we were all wearing singlets. which was also good.

00:07:34Melissa Erbacher: Which were also ugly.

00:07:36Scott Trickett: Which were hideous, yeah.

00:07:37Melissa Erbacher: All right, I would like you to say it officially. Do you think this was our ugliest year yet?

00:07:46Scott Trickett: a tough one I thought last year if when you wear the 2019 version and you wear it out in public people sort of go cute like that's cute it really stands out with the with the koala hugging the pineapple and all that but if I was to choose I thought that was hideous it just it didn't work from an aesthetic point of view

00:08:09Melissa Erbacher: The koala and the pineapple are just a little bit too big for the rest of it.

00:08:13Scott Trickett: And the Christmas colours are the green and the red. It didn't go with the pineapple and the grey of the koala. So it was just, yeah, as I said, hideous. Ugly. Ugly is the word we're looking for. So no, and I think the pop of the rainbow colours this year really helped elevate the 2020 version to almost respectable, almost like something you'd want to wear regularly.

00:08:38Melissa Erbacher: Oh, Scotty, that is not what I was going for at all. Sorry. I'm really disappointed this is your opinion on this year's shirt. Obviously, I've got my work cut out for me for 2021.

00:08:49Scott Trickett: I do have a story, though. So my first outing of this year's singlet is that we have a track night down at the athletics track with my club. And under COVID rules, you have to lock the gates and you have to be aware of everybody's there, have contact details, blah, blah, blah, blah. So we go through this procedure of kicking people off the track. It's really fun to tell people to get off a track every night. And so this one particular night, I had to confront this group of coaches. There's a lesson in here for everybody listening, and I'll get to it at the end. But I had to confront them, not confront, had to politely ask this group of coaches and their athletes to leave the track under COVID. You know, we've got the track book, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they got a bit you know, they weren't happy with it. And so the argument, the discussion got a little bit heated and there was a bit of robust debate. And the whole time I was standing there in this ridiculous singlet, trying to be taken seriously, quoting, you know, government guidelines and what we're doing right and what, you know, all this sort of nonsense. And it dawned on me that I'm doing it in a rainbow-coloured singlet with an emu on the front with Christmas bells to a group of professional, serious, very serious, very serious athletic coaches.

00:10:14Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, on a track in their natural environment.

00:10:17Scott Trickett: Yeah, yeah. But the moral of the story is be nice, people. Just be nice to people. If you think you're in the wrong or whatever, generally you are in the wrong and just be nice and it'll all work out for you.

00:10:33Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't think that's the moral of the story at all. I think the moral is if you've got ugly, flaunt it.

00:10:41Scott Trickett: Or if you want to win a debate, dress appropriately.

00:10:46Melissa Erbacher: Well, I think you were dressed appropriately. I think everything about that outfit would have undermined anything that they thought.

00:10:53Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:10:54Scott Trickett: But can I finish my story and then you can tell your sad story of wearing your shirt?

00:11:02Melissa Erbacher: That's not where I was going, but go on. I was going to say I was impressed that you got out and ran, but... Yeah, I got out and ran.

00:11:10Scott Trickett: And during lockdown, like, as we've talked about and everybody knows here in Australia, you know, in Melbourne, it wasn't great. We were stuck in this 5K circuit, this 5K radius from your home, and it really limited my opportunities to run. I couldn't actually get to Westerfolds. It was outside of my 5K radius. I would cross a bridge over the river... during lockdown, and if I went right, I would hit Westerfolds, but I'd just break my bubble, so every time I had to turn left. But during this lockdown period, there was one track that I ran quite a lot, and I've started scheming, and I thought, geez, one day we could have a parkrun here. And so that's where we met on Saturday to introduce a bunch of people to the course that maybe, maybe one day might become a parkrun course, who knows. But the best thing is, the location is... near the Adventure Playground. So if it was ever got a name, like a parkrun name, it could be the Adventure Playground parkrun.

00:12:09Melissa Erbacher: That's pretty awesome, Scotty.

00:12:11Scott Trickett: Yeah, that's my hope anyway.

00:12:14Melissa Erbacher: Okay. So, I mean, obviously the seed is planted and you have launched quite a few parkrun events around and about the place in Victoria. So out of 10, 0 being not very likely and 10 being very likely, how likely, what would you rate this adventure playground parkrun as being going to be a thing, basically, if you had a crystal ball into the future?

00:12:39Scott Trickett: It's not up to me. But it is. So about nine. Yeah. Well.

00:12:45Melissa Erbacher: It kind of is.

00:12:46Scott Trickett: Part of it is. But I'd say nine. I reckon we're looking at a nine.

00:12:51Melissa Erbacher: Oh, yeah. If you're talking about it's not up to you about the name. Yeah. I'm just talking about there being a parkrun there. So.

00:12:57Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:12:58Melissa Erbacher: That's very exciting.

00:12:59Scott Trickett: It's been a while. I'm no longer Event Director at Jells. I handed that over during lockdown. So it frees me up to create another event.

00:13:09Melissa Erbacher: So that's my name. You're a serial launcher is what you are.

00:13:13Scott Trickett: I want to hear about your future prospect. But before that, I also do want to hear about your experience on the day that you created.

00:13:25Melissa Erbacher: Well – It's going to be massive. Didn't we create it?

00:13:30Scott Trickett: We created it, but you take a lot of the credit for it these days. So I'll let you run with it.

00:13:33Melissa Erbacher: Well, no, I'm pretty sure – actually, okay, I'm pretty sure I created the day, but you – it was your idea to do the Ugly Christmas Singlets. So – All's fair. It's 50-50, I would say. You know, if we're ever going to make any money out of this, which we never have, in fact, we've lost money, then it would be 50-50. My day, well, obviously I didn't get along to a parkrun, but I did force my husband to come and take photographs of me and my boys in the backyard wearing all our Ugly Christmas Singlets because I got one for me and for Wes and Emmett. But three years in a row, Adam has... not so politely declined the offer to get one for himself. So I'm beginning to lose hope, Scotty. How many years can I take this kind of rejection?

00:14:24Scott Trickett: Hang on. So he doesn't actually own?

00:14:27Melissa Erbacher: He owns not one single ugly Christmas item.

00:14:32Scott Trickett: And he calls himself the entertainer?

00:14:34Melissa Erbacher: No, he's never called himself the entertainer. He used to call him the showman.

00:14:39Scott Trickett: The showman, that's right. I'd forgotten what nicknames I've given people.

00:14:45Melissa Erbacher: I'm going to tell him you're calling the entertainer now. Yeah. But apart from our non-starting of the day, I actually spent most of the day reveling and having my cheeks hurt from smiling so much at all the people who shared their photos on the International Ugly Christmas Singlet or Shirt Day Facebook page. And there were so many of them. And you mentioned that you ran with your Westerfoldian crew out at Adventure Playground. And you guys actually, and I'm going to state it for the official record, you hosted the largest tinsel for 2020. Yeah. Fifteen people by my count. My maths could be a little bit incorrect. I think I actually counted 14 on the day, but I didn't realise one gentleman was wearing a coat over his ugly singlet. And in another photo I saw of him, he was showing it. So 15 people. That's pretty awesome. I was very impressed. And there's nothing like seeing ugly in numbers. It's just a beautiful sight to behold. Although another person said, and shout out to Chris Hood, that... He was not part of a tinsel, but it's not the quantity that matters. It's the quality of the ugly or it's the ugly. I think he said it's how ugly. But I have to say that every individual person technically is still shiny because even a single strand of a tinsel is a shiny, shiny thing. Yeah. It doesn't matter if you're out there with others or running or walking to the beat of your own ugly. Everybody was magnificent and I was so excited. Loved seeing all the pictures. It just absolutely made my day, even though I wasn't able to physically be out there and taking part in those group photos and things myself.

00:16:41Scott Trickett: You know what I will? I'll give you credit, Mel. So the design is 100%, 99.5% you every year. And what I do like about this day is that we've managed to, you've managed to create a day where it's fun to wear something so ugly. So it's not about, it's not, so, you know, it's people get excited to put on a singlet. And not because it's a new running ceiling and it looks good and it's the hottest new fabric. It's because it's fun and you feel happy wearing it. You feel a little bit silly.

00:17:18Melissa Erbacher: You make other people smile.

00:17:21Scott Trickett: Yeah, that's the whole idea. Perfect. You make other people smile because you do. You go for running this thing. And what's the demographic breakdown, do you reckon? It's probably about 80-20 female to male purchases. Do you know that?

00:17:36Melissa Erbacher: I don't think it's quite that high. I mean, definitely the majority of female purchases, yeah, but I think it might only be more like 70-30, maybe 65-35.

00:17:48Scott Trickett: Yeah, so I feel in the minority and like when a bloke of my stature is is wearing it people laugh like it's and that's what I like like you look so ridiculous I am going to laugh yeah it's like a man wearing a pink shirt with white pants you've got to have a certain amount of confidence to pull that off and if you do you get comments yeah oh look I think everybody got comments and and yeah but I I agree definitely that yes it is

00:18:18Melissa Erbacher: It's a special kind of person who feels the confidence to wear an Ugly Christmas Singlet and has a sense of humour and, yeah, so kudos to everybody who got one. It doesn't matter if it was an adventurer's Ugly Christmas Singlet. There are lots of other running... groups and things that are jumping on board with our amazing idea now and they're releasing them as well, which is awesome. We welcome all the singlets and shirts as long as people are willing to have the fun and get out there and spread the ugly festive joy. I do think ours is the ugliest, so I'm going to lay claim to that.

00:18:55Scott Trickett: Yeah. A tip here for other people trying to pinch the idea and run with it, the key to it is in the ugly. Don't try and make it look good, people. Yeah.

00:19:07Melissa Erbacher: You've got to – if the design is all wrong, then you know you nailed it.

00:19:11Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:19:11Melissa Erbacher: Basically.

00:19:13Scott Trickett: And so this is your last episode of the parkrun adventurers podcast, but the podcast is going to continue, as we've mentioned, and this day and these singlets are going to continue next year and beyond.

00:19:24Unidentified speaker: They will.

00:19:24Scott Trickett: So this is a legacy. This is an Erbacher legacy. So you may have forgotten about Mel in 12 months' time, but – you might remember her when it's time to purchase the singlet next year.

00:19:37Melissa Erbacher: Yes, because I will still be designing it. So I've already actually started. We've had a conversation about it already, haven't we, Scott?

00:19:44Scott Trickett: We have, yeah. And we agreed, I think. There was no disagreement this year as opposed to previous years. Well, yeah, this year included. That's a positive start, yeah.

00:19:56Melissa Erbacher: The thing is what I think we both agree on, we might be envisioning something different in our own minds. But we'll have to put some stuff down on paper so that we can compare notes because, yeah, I'm not 100% confident that what you were trying to explain to me is what I'm seeing right now.

00:20:15Scott Trickett: Yeah, but my idea is great. I've just got to – you've just got to do it. You've just got to translate my idea into something that will look hideous.

00:20:23Melissa Erbacher: Okay, well, I'm good at doing the hideous part. So, yeah, teamwork.

00:20:30Scott Trickett: Okay, so that's a long intro. Guests, what guests do we got on episode 215?

00:20:36Melissa Erbacher: We don't have any guests because it's the Christmas episode and we don't need guests. But what we do have is bonbon jokes and we probably should have had some a little bit earlier, to be honest. We'll save ours, I reckon, for the outro. What do you think, Scotty? We'll just listen to everybody else's a little bit earlier.

00:20:55Scott Trickett: You're running the show, if that's the way you want to go. Save the best till last. I know what you're saying.

00:21:00Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. Okay. Well, shall we crack out the jokes? Let's get on with that.

00:21:08Scott Trickett: Okay. But not ours.

00:21:11Melissa Erbacher: But no, not ours. Are you listening to anything I'm saying?

Dad joke

00:21:15Scott Trickett: Can I lead with my weakest one? And then I've got more than one.

00:21:20Melissa Erbacher: Okay. I kind of feel like you actually want to say a joke now, even though we haven't cracked any bonbons yet.

00:21:26Scott Trickett: What's blue and doesn't weigh very much?

00:21:30Melissa Erbacher: Doesn't weigh very much. I don't know.

00:21:35Scott Trickett: Light blue. Like I said, I'm leading with my weakest.

00:21:44Melissa Erbacher: Sorry, no, that pause was me trying to get the joke. I'm like, why does my eye blue weigh very much? It doesn't make any sense. And then I was like, oh, because it's light.

00:21:53Scott Trickett: Okay, they get better, they get better.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:21:58Scott Trickett: But speaking of better, should we hear a couple from the crew, from the Channel 5 News crew? Let's do that.

00:22:03Unidentified speaker: Wishing all the adventurers out there a very Merry Christmas and a very parkrunny 2021. Here's my Christmas joke. What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinselitis.

00:22:20Oliver Spake: Hi, everyone. Ollie here. We'd like to wish you all a very healthy, happy, joyful, and hopefully safe Christmas. Hope you have a great one. And in the meantime, the household here have a couple of fantastically funny bonbon jokes to share. So first up, Zali, would you like to go first?

00:22:37Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

00:22:38Oliver Spake: Go for it.

00:22:39Unidentified speaker: What's the rudest reindeer?

00:22:42Oliver Spake: rudest reindeer? I don't know. What is the rudest reindeer? Ava, what's your joke?

00:22:51Unidentified speaker: How does a snowman get to work?

00:22:54Oliver Spake: I don't know. How does a snowman get to work? Bicycles. Bicycles. So that'd be like buy icicles, right? Yep. Yep. Yep. Very good. And, well, here's my effort, but when you're in the desert, what Christmas carol do you hear?

00:23:15Unidentified speaker: I don't know. What is it?

00:23:21Oliver Spake: No, not Silent Night. O Camel Ye Faithful. Merry Christmas, everyone.

00:23:30Paul Kitching: Hey legends, PK here, checking in from sunny South Australia where parkrun is back finally, and we are loving it. Whilst there haven't been a lot of roving reports from me in the last nine months, we did have fun for the first two or three months of 2020, didn't we? I'm sure we did. With massive thanks to all who came to palm20, the parkrun adventurers Listener Meetup, uh 2020 back in March and thanks again to Mel and team for not only choosing South Australia but for choosing Mount Barker as The Venue for PALM 2020's official parkrun on the Saturday morning we had so much fun that day both at the event and the live recording of the podcast and then of course there were the freedom runs the dinner at the ed with the crazy dress ups and so much more can't wait to see what PALM 2021 has in store Maybe it will be a virtual event. Who knows, hey? These days, anything goes. I'm just glad we have parkrun back in most states and territories, with the rest to follow early Jan. All going to plan, of course, and we can all enjoy whatever the new normal, or normal, looks like. So here's to a happy and healthy new year, but before then, to a great Christmas. And my dodgy Christmas cracker joke? Here it is. Did I tell you about the playlist I made for when doing trail runs? It's got music from Paolo Nutini, The Lightning Seeds, The Cranberries and Eminem. I like to call it my trail mix. Get it? My trail mix? Good one, Dad. Right then. Merry Christmas to you all and may 2021 be excellent for everyone. It won't be a hard act to follow, that's for sure. Looking forward to getting back into roving reporting and can't wait to be part of the New Look Sound podcast for 2021. This is PK checking out for the last time in 2020.

00:25:18Mark Scarborough: Merry Christmas, parkrun adventurers. This is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew from Wagyu Bridge. And we have some Christmas bonbon jokes for you. And mine is, why has toy production at the North Pole been so low in 2020? Because Santa's workers had to elf isolate. Boom tish.

00:25:39Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, TOC reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. I'd just love to wish all of our listeners a safe and merry Christmas. 2020 certainly hasn't been the year we all thought it was going to be. Hopefully 2021 is going to be much better and we'll see you out there parkrunning around a course very soon. And I'd just like to ask, what do you call somebody that's scared of Santa? That's right, claustrophobic. Cheers, guys. Have a safe one and a great Christmas.

00:26:10Unidentified speaker: My dog ate a string of Christmas lights, but the vet was able to remove them. My dog was delighted.

00:26:17Greta: Merry Christmas, parkrun adventurers. It's Greta here, and I've got two little elves who have some jokes to tell. What's your joke? What does Santa's little elves learn at school? I don't know. What do they learn at school? The alphabet. And what's your joke, Jessie? What kind of deer is the wettest? I don't know. What kind of deer is the wettest? A reindeer. Happy parkrun. Happy holiday season.

00:26:49Unidentified speaker: Merry Christmas to everyone and wishing you a parkrun in the very near future. What do you get if you leave the fire lit in the chimney when Santa comes down? A crisp Kringle. Happy New Year to everyone.

00:27:05Unidentified speaker: Alrighty parkrun adventurers, it's that time of year where we share our favourite Christmas cracker jokes. This year I've found some with a parkrun theme, so let's just get straight into it. We all know that Saturday, i.e. parkrun Day, is the best day, and look, Sunday's okay as well, but the rest of them, they're all weekdays. Did you hear about the parkrun Volley, who was also the volunteer jouster at the local medieval fair? They're a freelancer. How did the parkrunning hipster burn his tongue? He drank his post parkrun coffee before it was cool. And lastly, if parkrunners get athlete's foot, what do astronauts get? They get missile toe. Alrighty. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, whatever you're doing. I know many listeners will have had their plans upended a little bit in the last little while, but I hope everybody's able to find some silver linings as we move into 2021. Merry Christmas, everybody, and Happy New Year.

00:28:18Scott Trickett: Do you want me to back announce? Yes. Okay. Well, I do everything. I do the intro and back announcing.

00:28:24Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, you do. That's how this works now. You're my b****.

00:28:27Scott Trickett: So full disclosure, we didn't hear any of those jokes. So I hope they were funny, and we're going to find out when we listen back to the episode. But thanks to the wonderful Channel 5 News crew for sending them in.

00:28:39Melissa Erbacher: Fingers crossed that they didn't all do the same joke. Because that could be really awkward or really funny, actually.

00:28:50Scott Trickett: Or we repeat one of their jokes.

Christmas bonbon jokes

00:28:55Scott Trickett: Okay, where's Mel's bonbon joke?

00:28:58Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay. Hold on.

00:29:00Scott Trickett: You can actually do it. You're going to rip open a bonbon and just read out the joke.

00:29:03Melissa Erbacher: Scotty, I always have real bonbons.

00:29:05Scott Trickett: Okay.

00:29:06Melissa Erbacher: I had to go looking. Okay. Here's me peeling back the curtain. These are bonbons that I may have had for two years in the cupboard. And they're the ones that you make yourself. And every year I always put some kind of confectionery in them. So we might discover something here alive or that has turned into a mineral. I don't know.

00:29:32Scott Trickett: Could be worth something.

00:29:33Melissa Erbacher: Yes, exactly. But, well, they are gold bonbons. They look like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory bonbons. Yeah, so no, always have to have the real bonbons. That's where you get the jokes from. They might be old jokes, but we'll see. Are you ready?

00:29:46Scott Trickett: Yep.

00:29:47Melissa Erbacher: Reach to the mic. Grab on end. Oh, we had, oh, that didn't even snap properly. Hold on.

00:29:51[other]

00:29:55Scott Trickett: It snapped for me. Oh, there it is.

00:29:56Melissa Erbacher: No, that's the proper snap. You had the cardboard breaking. Okay, that one has got a little Rubik's Cube in it. It looks like I've ripped the crown in half. That was a bit violent. Oh, wow. I snapped that way too close to my face because the smoke, the like fireworks smell. Yeah, it's right up my nose. And I... Have a little buzz, pleased to report that um I do not have a mineral but what I do have and it's quite thematic to this year's Ugly Christmas Singlet is it's a lolly well it was a lollipop it's been a bit warm here this year and probably last year so it's kind of like a little it's a white stick that reaches into a little plastic bag that's full of rainbow goop um It's practically liquid. I'm not sure how I'll be able to eat that. Do you think I should eat it? Do you think it'll be okay? Yeah, absolutely. Preservatives these days are amazing. Okay, yeah. Oh, but my joke. Where did my joke go?

00:31:03Scott Trickett: The joke, Mel. The joke.

00:31:04Melissa Erbacher: Oh, sorry. Yep.

00:31:05Scott Trickett: We can't eat the lolly, so we want the joke.

00:31:07Melissa Erbacher: All right. Now, I'm pretty sure we've had this in previous years, but that is the beauty of bonbon jokes, isn't it? They're always repetitive. All right, Scotty. And I'm pretty sure you asked me this one last time and I guessed it. So if you don't guess it and you don't remember it, then that's embarrassing.

00:31:24Scott Trickett: Well, it's guaranteed funny, so that's a good start. Let's have it again.

00:31:27Melissa Erbacher: All right. What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert?

00:31:32Scott Trickett: I do remember this, but I've forgotten the punchline.

00:31:36Melissa Erbacher: Well, what would you call it? I don't know. Lost. Lost. That's right.

00:31:53Scott Trickett: That sounds like one of mine. That's great. What would you call a lost penguin in the Sahara Desert? What do you call a lost penguin? What do you call a lost penguin in the Sahara Desert with no ears?

00:32:13Unidentified speaker: I don't know.

00:32:14Scott Trickett: It doesn't matter. He won't hear you anyway.

00:32:21Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't think that's very nice, Scott.

00:32:29Scott Trickett: I didn't know we were being nice to the lost penguins in the Sahara, but.

00:32:34Melissa Erbacher: They're already melting out there. They're used to the polar ice. Okay. Do you actually have like a real bonbon joke? I do have – well, I have a second one here. Or shall I save that for later and you can just hit me with a dad joke?

00:32:52Scott Trickett: Save it for later. Let's save the last two from us till the end of the episode.

00:32:58Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:32:58Scott Trickett: Because now I want to transition to –

parkrun adventurers time capsulecrystal ball predictions

00:33:01Scott Trickett: Throughout the history of our time together doing the podcast, we frequently came up with segments that started with a bang, much like a bon-bon, and petered out.

00:33:12Melissa Erbacher: Did you just call it a bon-bon?

00:33:13Scott Trickett: Bon-bon. Bon-bon.

00:33:15Melissa Erbacher: Okay. A bang like a bon-bon.

00:33:17Scott Trickett: Yeah. But they petered out magnificently over about two or three episodes. And so I thought I'd come up with another idea for this special episode that I know that can't Peter out because it's not going to go anywhere beyond one episode. So it's peaking here today. And that's it. So it's the parkrun adventurers. Theme music. Some sort of theme music. It's the parkrun adventurers time capsule. Audio time capsule.

00:33:41[music]

00:33:51Melissa Erbacher: It sounds like that needs a bit more of a sci-fi.

00:33:55Scott Trickett: A bit more dramatic, suspenseful. Because the beauty of this is that I'm going to ask you for your prediction of what's going to happen in the future. And we can come back to it in two years' time. And this episode will be relevant in two years' time because they'll go, oh, remember when Mel said that? And then it happened.

00:34:16Melissa Erbacher: Okay, but have you ever actually done anything with a real time capsule, Scotty? That's not how they work.

00:34:22Scott Trickett: Never once. Never once. We buried them at school.

00:34:26Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, this is how time capsules work. You take whatever's happening right now and you put it in the capsule and then in the future you open it and look back at what was happening then.

00:34:37Scott Trickett: Okay, so it's not a time capsule of such. I just wanted to use that as a name for the segment.

00:34:44Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Maybe it's a time capsule and inside we've got a crystal ball.

00:34:48Scott Trickett: Yes, that's it. Okay, we need new theme music and it's the parkrun adventurers Crystal Ball. So look into it. I still like the idea of time capsules.

00:35:01Melissa Erbacher: Well, if you've got a time machine to go back to the time capsule to see what we said was going to happen in two years, that could work.

00:35:11Scott Trickett: Okay. Just go with me with the title. All right. So tell me, so 2022, leading into Christmas Day parkrun,

00:35:25Melissa Erbacher: wouldn't that be a good thing to have just just post did you ever think we wouldn't oh Scotty you can't blast me on the podcast I didn't did I yes you did what did I say you said jc oh you have to cut that out it's Christmas it's in the spirit of Christmas That's not what Christmas is about, apparently, according to my husband. Jesus is not the reason for the season. Present and overeating is the reason for the season.

00:36:04Scott Trickett: I'll bleep out whatever I said, but I'm leaving this bit in. Yeah, so give us two years' time. Where's parkrun going to be?

00:36:15Melissa Erbacher: parkrun going to be? Oh, okay. So I'm terrible with the numbers. I'm not going to try and predict how many events. But I will say that we'll definitely be in another couple of countries. And this is two years' time.

00:36:30Scott Trickett: Two years. I need specifics. You need to say we're going to be in Ghana. We're going to be launching parkrun Ghana or parkrun Turkmenistan, something like that.

00:36:43Melissa Erbacher: Okay, I'm going to say parkrun Switzerland and parkrun Fiji. And I'm also going to say parkrun International Space Station. Okay.

00:37:06Scott Trickett: The first two, you're playing it pretty safe there because, yeah, Switzerland, you know, there's lots of big pluses going on there. And Fiji, I can see that happening.

00:37:17Melissa Erbacher: Science, Scotty, science. Science will get us up to parkrunning. I mean, look, we've already got people up there. That's all you need for a parkrun. We might have to bend some of the rules about, you know, minimum amount of volunteers, et cetera. I think we can make it happen. The only thing is, depending on where the ISS is at any given weekend, does that dictate which country the results get processed in?

00:37:46Scott Trickett: Okay. There's lots of barriers to participation when you're talking about International Space Station. It's not open to everybody. But I'm not going to say that your prediction is wrong.

00:38:00Melissa Erbacher: The thing is, it might not be open to everybody, but what about the astronauts, Scotty? Do you not feel like we're excluding the astronauts just because they don't have access to a parkrun? Is that fair?

00:38:12Scott Trickett: But on that logic, you could say that we're excluding the population of Ghana at the moment. And we're not. It's just not possible at the moment.

00:38:22Melissa Erbacher: Well, if Ghanim want a parkrun, we'll give them a parkrun. If the International Space Station wants one, we should give them one.

00:38:29Scott Trickett: Okay.

00:38:30Melissa Erbacher: I'm making a stand.

00:38:31Scott Trickett: Okay. I'm noting this down. I don't need to because we're recording it, but I'm noting it down. Any other predictions?

00:38:40Melissa Erbacher: No. Well, see, I came into this unprepared. So you tell me what you've been thinking.

00:38:45Scott Trickett: So I came into it a little bit prepared. So I want to be like in two years' time. So you and I think, and the people listening to this podcast, think that parkrun's a pretty big deal. Everybody knows about it. I've got newsflash. It's not. It's popular, it's growing, but it's still not that big. To give you an example, you know, when people ask you, what do you do for a living? I say, I work for parkrun. And they go like, oh, what's that? A music festival or something.

00:39:15Melissa Erbacher: They say it's a music festival.

00:39:16Scott Trickett: Yeah, one guy said it was a music festival to me once. So I don't want, I don't want, when I tell people I work for parkrun, they'll go, oh yeah, parkrun. I know what that is. That doesn't happen now. Like, Like nobody in my street. There must be 50 people that live in my street. I don't think anyone outside of my house knows about parkrun. So I want to get into a position in two years' time. In Australia, we're talking where we're a bit more on the public... Radar. ...psyche. Yeah, yeah. So we've got a bit more prominence.

00:39:49Melissa Erbacher: Think global, act local, Scotty. I reckon you need to do a letter drop in your neighbourhood.

00:39:55Scott Trickett: Well... I also want to, and like, so I want parkrun to be recognised in two years time as like this social movement, not this physical movement. So when you do explain to people that it's not a music festival, it's actually this free 5k run walk in the park every. All they ever hear is, oh, parkrun. Okay, so it's a run. So it's just you go for a run. And we know that that turns people off. But you and I know, and everyone listening knows, that the social benefits of parkrun are so much more prominent. So I want us to be recognised as a social intervention, not a physical. That's what I reckon could be happening in two years' time.

00:40:36Melissa Erbacher: Okay. So, you know, like those running clubs. I can't remember what it's called. I think it's the one up in Townsville that they – I can't remember the name of them. It's something like the Townsville Beer Runners or something. And they're a drinking club with a running problem.

00:40:52Scott Trickett: Yeah. Yeah. So we're a social group with a running problem.

00:40:56Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Those are very lofty kind of – you have really thought about this, Scotty. Yeah.

00:41:06Scott Trickett: Yeah, well, I could go on. We're going to grow Australia maybe 500 events in two years' time. We should get that just because the bigger we get, the more people know about it, the more events we launch. I'd love to see more events in the Northern Territory, like the ACT. Not the ACT. What's that place in the middle called? Alice Springs?

00:41:29Melissa Erbacher: That's in the Northern Territory.

00:41:30Scott Trickett: Yeah, that's what I meant. So we've done the ACT. The ACT is going gangbusters. They love us.

00:41:37Melissa Erbacher: They do, and we love them.

00:41:39Scott Trickett: But the people in Alice Springs, they don't have parkrun, and we need to get a parkrun there. So, you know, when I go visit Uluru, I want to do a parkrun.

00:41:49Melissa Erbacher: Fair enough.

00:41:50Scott Trickett: Yep. So two years' time, parkrun. I'll be running parkrun and then visiting Uluru.

00:42:01Melissa Erbacher: Probably I would recommend not doing that in summer necessarily.

00:42:05Scott Trickett: It's hot, doesn't it?

00:42:06Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, it does get really hot. Unless that's something that you enjoy, then by all means. I'm sure the locals are just used to it and so it's fine for them. But we all know that parkruns aren't set up for the tourists. No, no.

00:42:20Scott Trickett: So there we go. We can lock up the time capsule now.

00:42:24Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:42:25Scott Trickett: And unlock it in two years' time and see if we were right. I think it still works. I'm still sticking with my time capsule.

00:42:34Melissa Erbacher: Analogy. Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you for that one episode only segment, Scotty, although I feel like there does need to be a follow-up episode. So Mel and Ollie, there's a job for you in two years' time.

00:42:49Scott Trickett: Well, they can add their prediction to the time capsule next week. And we can ask our listeners to submit their predictions, but we know they won't.

00:42:59Melissa Erbacher: No, we know they never do that. So there's no, like, yeah, there is no point. You didn't want this to fizz out, Scotty. So let's just make it, let's just cut it off right here. Okay. Mel and Ollie will open the time capsule in the future. That is their role. Okay. And then they can discover whether or not we are actually parkrunning in zero gravity or not. And we'll see who was right about what, Scotty.

00:43:27Scott Trickett: So that's it. I'm done. All my ideas for this episode.

00:43:31Melissa Erbacher: Spent. Spent. Yep. Well, that makes things hard because now we're at the end part where I have to kind of say goodbye.

00:43:43Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:43:46Melissa Erbacher: Not sure I'm ready for that yet.

00:43:47Scott Trickett: No? No. What role do you want me to play in this?

00:43:58Melissa Erbacher: What roles are there? Give me some options.

00:44:01Scott Trickett: Well, I can prompt you with questions and you can answer them, but I don't think that would be saying goodbye in your own words. That would be responding to my questions. I could just shut up and let you talk. I'm good at that.

00:44:20Melissa Erbacher: This is hard. I'm not ready to not be a podcast co-host anymore.

00:44:25Scott Trickett: Well, look, you've thought about it for a long time, haven't you?

00:44:30Melissa Erbacher: Yes. Yeah, so you knew it was coming. Yeah, I've known it's coming for a long time. That is true. And I'm excited. I'm excited for the change of the guard and I'm excited for what's going to happen with the pod in the future. That's all good.

00:44:50Scott Trickett: I'll lead you here, Mel. So the one thing that's been great is that, and when we started out, we never really wanted it to be about us. And so with handing it on to Mel and Ollie, I think that's, What's the word I'm looking for? You're good with the words. I'm not. I'm the worst communications team in the history of communications, according to some people on Facebook.

00:45:16Melissa Erbacher: That's a bit sad.

00:45:18Scott Trickett: No, but you know what I mean? So it's not about us. So the parkrun adventures will live on through other people.

00:45:23Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, okay.

00:45:24Scott Trickett: The spirit of the podcast will live on.

00:45:26Melissa Erbacher: Yes. And look, I mean... I certainly don't want anyone to think that I have lost any love for the podcast because that is 100% not the truth or not the situation at all. I will say that leaving wasn't my idea, but it's what I, I have to do. So, um, and, and as I said, I'm very excited about Mel and Ollie taking over. And if I didn't love the podcast as much as I do, I would just let it end, but I'm not, I'm not ready to let it end. I still want everyone to be able to listen to the adventures of parkrun adventurers getting out there and

00:46:10Scott Trickett: experiencing new courses and sharing their love of parkrun with everyone else and so that is why the pod will go on I think it's important that we have an Aussie voice too so again going back to the start we wanted this to be the global voice of parkrun but we probably soon identified that this was a uniquely Australian podcast servicing the massive parkrun community here in Australia but we definitely have listeners from the UK and New Zealand and

00:46:39Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, we do reach an international audience and we love them all as well. It's been awesome to have them as part of our extended family, that's for sure. Yeah, well, oh, I need to thank people. I can't wrap the podcast up without thanking people, primarily some super important people that everybody has come to know and love as the Channel 5 News crew. I'm going to thank them in alphabetical order so you know that I love them all equally.

00:47:10Scott Trickett: I reckon you should have gone favourites first. Once Mel's done hers, I'll give you my list from top to bottom.

00:47:18Melissa Erbacher: Top three. Who are your top three Channel 5 News Crew members? Go. No, we're not going to do that. I'm just going to say thank you to Cam, Dave, Gary, Greta, Lyndell, Mark, Melissa, Ollie, PK and TOC for all their wonderful support, not just as roving reporters, but as co-hosts for the last year. I mentioned it in the episode where I was announcing that I was leaving that the pod hasn't been the same without you, Scotty.

00:47:49[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:48:03Melissa Erbacher: I don't know how to say it. There's a reason I couldn't pick a co-host for myself. And that's because I know that after... Well, it certainly didn't take the three and a half years and now it's been five. But I don't know how I could pick somebody that I didn't know well enough so that I could learn about that person and so that our listeners could learn about that person and we could become friends. Like, how do you pick somebody that you don't know? knowing that they're going to become a really big part of your life in the future. That's just... I could never do that. So hence the Channel 5 news crew basically saved me, so I didn't have to make that decision. But Mel and Ollie get to start fresh, so, you know, they've... yeah, everybody's going to get to know them instead. So, um, Big thanks to the Channel 5 News crew and thank you to you as well, Scotty, because if you didn't ask me all those years ago ahead of us becoming good friends, then I wouldn't have you in my life. One of my favourite people, the guy who always sends me dad jokes at the really most inappropriate times to make me laugh when I really need it usually as well.

00:49:39Scott Trickett: He carries over into real life, people.

00:49:41Melissa Erbacher: It does. It does. Hey, look, if anyone's ever wondering if they should just send somebody else a dad joke, don't hesitate because even if they didn't think they need it or know they needed it, everybody always needs a dad joke. So go ahead and do it. I'm going to blow my nose because I've got snot dribbling. So excuse me for a moment.

00:49:59[other]

00:50:04Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:50:06Scott Trickett: I'm editing this episode, listeners, so I'm leaving that in too.

00:50:12Melissa Erbacher: I would have muted myself otherwise if I wasn't okay with snot being expelled from my nose.

00:50:19Scott Trickett: I'll jump in here. Please. When I left, I got emotional too and I muted my microphone there while you were speaking too because yep our friendship is very important and the bottom line is this sucks that we can't do this podcast together anymore but like I've always said I'm really proud of what we created for three and a half years and what has continued on for the past couple of years and will continue on for many more and don't forget people that We all love parkrun and we all love just listening in on a conversation about nonsense, about what happens in the world, in people's lives, and continue to do that as this goes on to episode 216 and beyond.

00:51:09Melissa Erbacher: I'm sure they're going to do an amazing job.

00:51:11Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:51:11Melissa Erbacher: And I can't wait to tune in definitely myself. So please support Mel and Ollie and don't leave them in the dark. You know, if they ever put a call out for, hey, let's hear from the listeners. Maybe drop them a Facebook message or something. Just let them know that they're not talking to the blackness of the air. I'm sure they would really appreciate that.

00:51:34Scott Trickett: And the thing is, coming out of 2020 where we haven't had parkruns, I mean, you've got it back, Mel. I still don't have it back. But what I do see is that people have identified that it comes back, it comes back, and it's everything that it was before we left. And people have cherished it perhaps more than they thought they did. Now, naturally, you know, that might wear off over time, but always kind of remember that 2020 was when we didn't have it and how much we missed it. And it's still a fun thing to talk about and to have this conversation shared hobby that we all have and can relate to, which is what you and I did many years ago. And it's extended way beyond parkrun for you and I. And hopefully all our listeners have experienced a little bit of something like that in their lives and they can relate.

00:52:28Melissa Erbacher: And it goes, well, no, it doesn't go without saying, it has to be said, thank you incredibly much to all the listeners as well, because without you guys, there wouldn't really be a point. Yeah, it's always great to have a chat with a mate about parkrun every week, but without... building that community and knowing that you're all out there and you're listening to us and you're enjoying those conversations and you're having similar experiences yourself when you're on adventures at parkrun it means a lot and it's always always wonderful to bump into some of you when we do go to any parkrun anywhere a lot of you now are recognizable by the Ugly Christmas Singlets during the festive season which is awesome uh but it's Yeah, thank you. Thank you for listening all this time. Thank you for getting to know us and we've had the joy and the pleasure of getting to know so many of you as well via your messages and Instagram and comments on Facebook and just sharing this journey with us. It's been a privilege and we've loved talking to you.

00:53:37Scott Trickett: And don't forget to treat parkrun as an adventure too. There's always possibilities every Saturday morning. Are you going to meet somebody new? Are you going to experience something different? Are you going to visit somewhere that you haven't been before? And we need more of that in our lives. We do. Continue that legacy as well.

00:53:58Melissa Erbacher: And another one we need to thank, Scotty, is our mate Yo, who way back when used to let us use all these little snippets from his music, which we loved, we still love. And in fact, one of his songs in particular has always been my favourite. And every time you used to pop it into a podcast, that episode immediately became my new favourite because it just took me to another level, fond memory and uh that one was called always open and yo has very kindly allowed us to use that as our final song this episode it's not going to be the normal outro music it's going to be a full song which we've played before and we hope you remember and enjoy okay Scotty I think that's it

00:54:48Scott Trickett: Okay, well, dad jokes. There's no singing this year. Thank God for that.

00:54:53Melissa Erbacher: We could never top what we've done in the past, so we're not even going to try with the singing. But I do have one more bonbon. You have another bonbon. Let's try to end it on an up, on a happy note and get some of that Christmas frivolity happening again. Shall I do mine first or you?

00:55:13Scott Trickett: Well, just before, have you heard of Murphy's Law? Man, you've heard of Murphy's Law, but have you heard of Cole's Law?

00:55:20Melissa Erbacher: Is that the joke? Have I heard of coleslaw?

00:55:24Scott Trickett: It kind of is, yeah. It's just thinly sliced cabbage.

00:55:29Melissa Erbacher: Okay. I think if you want to deliver that more effectively in the future, you need to just have a bit more of a pause between coles and law. Have you heard of Cole's Law?

00:55:40Scott Trickett: Yeah, okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay, good. I'm writing notes. This is all part of the friendship here. I'll put a line there between Cole's and the law. Yeah. You've heard of Murphy's Law. Have you heard of Cole's Law? Yeah, okay.

00:55:55Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. Okay, but have you got a bonbon joke or should I open my bonbon joke while you prepare? You go for yours. Yep, you go for yours. I'll try to make it snap properly this time. Hold on to the right pieces. Oh, that one definitely went. Oh, jeez, I was a bit unoriginal. I had a Rubik's Cube in that one too, a mini Rubik's Cube.

00:56:10[other]

00:56:18Scott Trickett: See, they're no good. Like your fingers have got to be really small to manipulate it.

00:56:22Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, the only thing is that the colours are a little bit insipid. They're not as bright as, you know, an Ugly Christmas Singlet, for example. Just a bit pastel for my liking. I promise there will never be a pastel Ugly Christmas Singlet. I'm all about in your face.

00:56:39Scott Trickett: Remember that year I tried to introduce pastels into the colour palette? That got knocked back pretty quickly.

00:56:46Melissa Erbacher: That is a no from me. All right.

00:56:49Scott Trickett: Yeah, I'm a fan of pastels. Pastels, blackcurrant pastels as well at the moment. Darrell Lea released them. Have you tried them yet? You know those Darrell Lea chocolate balls?

00:57:01Melissa Erbacher: I do know them, but everything you say now, Scotty, I'm waiting for a punchline. Is this an actual conversation about lollies or is it a joke? I don't know.

00:57:11Scott Trickett: Carry on, carry on.

00:57:17Melissa Erbacher: So there's not a punchline? I mean, I was going to read my joke.

00:57:21Scott Trickett: No, no, it's just – Well, just my treat of choice at the moment is these pastilles, these blackcurrant pastilles as the Darrell Lea balls. They're delicious. But they're really chewy and they get stuck in my teeth. But they're still delicious.

00:57:40Melissa Erbacher: Note to everyone, if you're planning on sending Scotty some fan lollies, that's what he wants, Darrell Lea pastilles.

00:57:47Scott Trickett: Oh, no, no, no. If you want to send me fan lollies, I want minstrels. Our UK listeners, send me some of those minstrels, the ones like big smarties. We call them big smarties. Okay. I think, well, that's what they are. They're big smarties. I don't know what I'm saying. I'm just putting in orders for my trends.

00:58:04Melissa Erbacher: Just send Scotty all the lollies, please.

00:58:08Scott Trickett: What a way to end five years of podcasting.

00:58:11Melissa Erbacher: Can I please read my Bon Bon joke? Okay. Yeah. Where do snowmen go to dance? I hear the cogs turning. That would sound a bit like this.

00:58:32Scott Trickett: The disc snow? No, that doesn't work.

00:58:36Melissa Erbacher: I like where you're going with this, but no. You're close. Do you want me to tell you?

00:58:41Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:58:42Melissa Erbacher: To a snowball, discs no that's better than a snowball to be honest you should have we had this conversation I think that this needs to be your job and you should write bonbon jokes if I ever lose my job I've got a lot of unemployment jokes but none of them work so I don't know where to go

00:59:12Scott Trickett: You know where I'm going to go? This is one of the ones that seeped into real life for you and I. And you know the punchline, Mel, but I think you've forgotten it.

00:59:21Greta: I think I have forgotten it.

00:59:22Scott Trickett: And this is not really part of my regular repartee.

00:59:28Melissa Erbacher: I'm a Star Wars fan.

00:59:29Scott Trickett: Yeah. So why don't the Jedi take off their shirts to greet each other?

00:59:36Melissa Erbacher: Because they're not in Queensland?

00:59:40Scott Trickett: No, because only a Sith deals in absolutes. I don't get the Star Wars part of it, but I just like the absolutes part. I love that abs are saluting.

00:59:51Melissa Erbacher: And, Zena, it's different too because the delivery this time is audio versus last one. I think you just messaged that to me as well. I did. Oh, still a classic though, still a classic, especially given Mandalorian just finished too, the most recent season. And it was very exciting.

01:00:09Scott Trickett: Yeah, I'm sure it was. Yes. If you're a Star Wars nerd.

01:00:13Melissa Erbacher: Which I proudly am. And, hey, look, Star Wars might feature in a future Ugly Christmas Singlets if you're not careful, buddy. So watch what you say.

01:00:21Scott Trickett: I'm still going to exercise my 0.5% right of the design process of the ugly singlet.

01:00:28Melissa Erbacher: You're right to have a say, let's say, and then have me ignore your say.

01:00:37Scott Trickett: Yeah.

01:00:38Melissa Erbacher: No, I always appreciate your input, Scott.

Sign-off

01:00:42Scott Trickett: We always aimed to do an hour-long episode, Mel, with or without a guest. Without a guest, it was a struggle at times. But this week we've nailed it. So it's a complete 60 minutes of nonsense. And some bonbon jokes. Yeah. Are you happy with that as a swan song for your career as the parkrun adventurers co-hosts?

01:01:04Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, look, Scotty, we've always winged it, you and I. We've never really planned or prepped or scripted anything. This is us. This is, yeah, this is raw, natural us. And I think people are okay with that.

01:01:19Scott Trickett: Yeah, Mel shared the run sheet with me two minutes before we were recording and it was four lines, intro, blank, blank, outro.

01:01:28Melissa Erbacher: Well, I told you I didn't really know what to say. Thank you for guiding me through this. But actually I do know and I've figured it out months and months and months ago because obviously, as you said earlier, this has been on my mind. I knew it's been coming for a long time, there's a book that I read to Wes which has got a nice little line in it, and that's going to be my last two words for the podcast. So when you're ready to finish up your goodbye, Scotty, thank you. Wait, I should say thank you for joining me on this last episode. I've appreciated you bookending the podcast with me this way.

01:02:09Scott Trickett: Absolute honour. It had to be done.

01:02:11Melissa Erbacher: It did. It really means a lot, so thank you.

01:02:15Scott Trickett: What about if you're invited back as a guest of Mel and Ollie's?

01:02:20Melissa Erbacher: I will have to ask if that's okay. Okay.

01:02:23Scott Trickett: But then this wouldn't be your last word. What is my point?

01:02:26Melissa Erbacher: This is my last word as a co-host.

01:02:28Scott Trickett: Oh, okay. Okay. Well, I'll shut up, I should say.

01:02:32Melissa Erbacher: I'll shut up. If you're done, if you're done and you want to say goodbye to everyone, because my words have to be the last ones.

01:02:38Scott Trickett: Yeah. Okay. See you, everyone. It's great to be back. You may never hear from me again.

01:02:45Melissa Erbacher: done really really yeah all right thanks everybody for tuning in and if you need to remember anything about what I've said at all it's these two words go adventurously

01:03:47[music]

01:03:47[the recording continues here — the words are not reproduced]

01:06:50Scott Trickett: You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go.