— open the full-size coverEpisode 222 - Crickets
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Episode 222 - Crickets · 2021-02-19
Enhanced transcript — Produced by an automated editing pass — speakers named, sound described, segments marked. NOT yet checked by a person.
Speaker names appear only where they could be established with confidence; others are shown as “Unidentified speaker”. Non-speech sound is in [square brackets].
Source: https://log.5kadventures.net/transcripts/ep222.html · The Adventurers Log · An independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by parkrun.
Welcome
Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 222 of the parkrun adventurers. I am Ollie Spake, and I'm joined by the person who can relaunch a (not)parkrun with less than 17 hours notice and still outdo any parkrun brunch I've ever seen, Melissa Ellis. Welcome, Mel.
[other]
Melissa Ellis: Do you like the awkward pause crickets? Yes.
Oliver Spake: The crickets, yes.
Melissa Ellis: That ties in with crickets, too, too, too.
Oliver Spake: I think that was perfectly tied in. We knew that sound effects app would come in handy.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ollie, I did the awkward pause. Appreciate your lovely intro.
Oliver Spake: That's all right.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, Ellis Palace parkrun was relaunched this week. Last minute, Friday, snap circuit breaker lockdown in Victoria, which broke my heart.
Unidentified speaker: Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Sent me into, well, initially a bit of a downward spiral, but then it was, oh, hang on a minute. Ellis Palace parkrun can come back. There's a silver lining. Daryl's been a bit neglected, so he can feature. Yeah. Yeah. So we had a Valentine's Day themed not parkrun and Daryl bought me flowers because seriously, if Daryl didn't buy me flowers, I probably wouldn't get any. Never mind. However you get them, it doesn't matter.
Oliver Spake: Well, I'm glad Daryl was prepared and that you all had that opportunity. Look, it looks spectacular. Daryl looks spectacular. Doesn't he scrub up well?
Melissa Ellis: He does. He does. Zoe's red 50 milestone shirt, which fitted him quite well. Yeah, I think he was quite happy to be back in the spotlight this week.
Oliver Spake: Look, he wears the spotlight well.
Melissa Ellis: And you know what, Ollie?
Oliver Spake: What?
Melissa Ellis: It was my parkrun anniversary.
Oliver Spake: Happy parkrun anniversary, Mel. What anniversary number is this one?
Melissa Ellis: Seven. Seven years.
Oliver Spake: Fantastic. Well, I think that was an apt way, a long way from a preferred way, but an apt way to celebrate your seventh year of parkrunning because let's face it, Ellis Palace parkrun has been a highlight of this seventh year of parkrun.
Unidentified speaker: Yeah.
Oliver Spake: And I hope just a little bit of you enjoyed being back out on the course there.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, I guess so. Doing the wave at the waving corner and, you know, just having this Saturday morning brunch with Paul and Zoe. It was a throne together. I baked some scones. and some heart-shaped pancakes. And it didn't matter. They enjoyed it. Yeah, it was nice to spend the morning, a quiet morning together after running parkrun by myself again.
Oliver Spake: Hey, look, there's that first finisher spot for you. You have been aiming for that sometimes or close to that.
Melissa Ellis: First female, first finisher.
Oliver Spake: Yep, well done. But I did see some of the photos and I mean it. What a great brunch. You guys at Ellis Palace really know how to turn it on. So I do hope that the Palace crew all enjoyed that special brunch.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, and we've got all our fingers and toes crossed that we will be back this Saturday to continue the plans that we had in place for last week that didn't eventuate. And tonight I'm hoping the sound quality is going to be a little bit improved this week because I am relocated up into the control room.
Oliver Spake: The control room, the bridge. Excellent.
Melissa Ellis: So we are away from budgerigar and chihuahua issues and we might have some better acoustics. It will remain to be seen.
Oliver Spake: Does that mean the budgies are locked in?
Melissa Ellis: Yes, they haven't been banished. So there's no need to remind me tonight to bring the budgies in. They have not had to be evacuated.
Oliver Spake: That's probably a good thing because my record of remembering that myself is pretty shocking.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I know. You suck at that.
Oliver Spake: Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah. However, I have got the window open because it's a little bit muggy here in Victoria today. The control room's a bit steamy, so I've got the window open and I can hear the boot. So anyway, it'll just be a nice ambience. It won't matter.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. At one with nature. Look, I'm just going to get rattling garage doors. I think Shellharbour Central here is not the most glamorous of locations and there's a bit of wind. So apologies if you get that rattling in the background here. It'll sound like I'm on one of the old train's
Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, I need to ask you about your parkrun.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, thank you for asking. Let's, I suppose, start from the start. I did change things up a little bit this week. Importantly, this weekend we did have our third new Run Director in a row, but I wasn't there. So I was convinced and it fit in with the plans very well to go elsewhere. Thank you, Hannah. And so convincing was she that I even was convinced to try and record a little.
Melissa Ellis: And you brought up last week, Ollie, that you actually have never had to do any recording. So you've just slotted straight into co-host role and have never done a roving report. So your very first one.
Oliver Spake: Well, look, I think I've recorded audio by myself in the bush. If you record audio by yourself in the bush and no one hears it, does it really happen?
Melissa Ellis: What episode was that?
Oliver Spake: Oh, look, it was back on the Freedom Run episode way, way, way back.
Melissa Ellis: Okay.
Oliver Spake: Look, I'm convinced I've gotten worse. Sorry, everyone.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew
Roving report Oliver Spake — Wagi Bridge parkrun
Oliver Spake: Let's have a listen. Good morning, Hannah.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Good morning, Oliver.
Oliver Spake: Where are we?
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Well, we've just gone up Macquarie Pass, so I'm going to guess we're somewhere around Robertson. And what are we doing, Hannah? We're going to a different parkrun. Why are we doing that?
Oliver Spake: Because why not? Honestly, why not? So which parkrun are we going to adventure to?
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Currently, we're undecided. We've got a few options, including Riverbank.
Oliver Spake: Yep.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Gundagai.
Oliver Spake: No, not Gundagai. That's a bit far.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Oh.
Oliver Spake: Gungahlin.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Gungalan. Gungalan. Yep. Wagga. Wagga.
Oliver Spake: Wagi Bridge.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: And Queanbeyan.
Oliver Spake: Queanbeyan.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: I'll get there eventually.
Oliver Spake: Yes.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: One year I'll learn how to say it.
Oliver Spake: That's all right. You and me both. Pronunciation runs in the family. The world is our oyster, Hannah.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: We have a plethora of options.
Oliver Spake: We do. Pretty much because we never adventure, right?
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Yeah, that's pretty much it.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. So, New parkrun, how have you been keeping yourself ready for this one, Hannah? Yeah.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Well, I did partake in one or two Bass Point not parkruns.
Oliver Spake: You did. You did.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Yeah, I saw you there.
Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. Big crowd. Big turn up.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: All three of us.
Oliver Spake: Yes. And have you done a parkrun in that time? Have you done a parkrun since last year?
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: No, I haven't parkrun in almost a year.
Oliver Spake: Ah, well, this is exciting then.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Bit nerve wracking, but also very exciting to get back out there.
Oliver Spake: but we have had the ride and runs.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: We have the weekly science lessons.
Oliver Spake: Yes, with Hannah. Well, this day, we'll parkrun. We'll be back. Now, question is, how are we going to decide which parkrun? Are we going to use the World Cup decision-making process?
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: That is a fairly standard procedure in our family to use a World Cup to make a decision.
Oliver Spake: Important decisions.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Yes, we are a very indecisive family.
Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, that does run in the family as well. Oh, well, let's get World Cupping.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Let's do it.
Oliver Spake: And decide.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Can't wait to get out there.
Oliver Spake: Good morning, it's Ollie here, reporting in from a parkrun other than Shellharbour parkrun, Wagi Bridge parkrun, where I've been fortunate enough to catch up with Event Director and today's Run Director, Ian. Ian, how are you? Good, thank you. Thanks for having me. It's turned out to be a beautiful day, a bit different from last week.
Ian - Event Director and Run Director, Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yes, yes. Yeah, we've had a few struggles over the last 12 months. But, yeah, today is typical, hopefully, of what we get on a Saturday morning. Yeah, it really heats up. It does, yep, yep. Especially on those hills. Yeah. It's a deceptive course because the far side of the course, you get some undulations. And when you have a steep downhill, people think the hills are out of the way. Yes. But the closer side to where the finishing of the lap is, you get a steady uphill. So, yeah, people tend to burn themselves out if they're not aware of that. I can certainly back that up.
Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. And obviously familiar with you from the pod. We've had you a couple of times. We've had you once and Wagi Bridge certainly reported in from a couple of times. But how have things been, obviously, through COVID and since the unpause for yourself and the team here?
Ian - Event Director and Run Director, Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, it's a good indication of how people rely on parkrun for the community connection because once it's down, we've had – yeah, people just have commented on their struggles of, you know, the ritual of going to parkrun on a Saturday morning and the midweek meet-ups and the runs. And since COVID and when that all stops – People have let us know how vital or how crucial parkrun is to them. So, yeah, it's really affected people, yeah, mental health, yeah, socially. So it's great to have it back up and running again.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, well done to yourself and the team for getting it back up and running. And for you personally, a bit of a break from running at the moment?
Ian - Event Director and Run Director, Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yes, yeah, under an injury cloud, so... I'm off to get a cortisone injection after parkrun today, but hopefully in four weeks I should be back on the rebuild. So, yeah, looking forward to getting some parkrun, faster parkrun times back in again. Well, I hope you ease it in and enjoy that comeback when it comes. Oh, absolutely.
Oliver Spake: Thank you very much for having myself and Hannah as well and a couple of other visitors.
Ian - Event Director and Run Director, Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, always welcome. Yeah, we are very proud of our course, so you're always happy to welcome visitors here. I certainly recommend it.
Oliver Spake: Thanks very much, Ian. No worries. All right, I'm here at the finish to Wagi Bridge parkrun with? Dottie. Dottie.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): And Nick.
Oliver Spake: And Nick. And you guys were just giving me some tips on how to actually take on the Wagi Bridge course rather than perhaps what I did. So if you want to share that secret information. Oh, no, you have to come here and then we'll share it in person.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Excellent. But, yeah, no, certainly there's a few little tricks you need to know to make it flow. Yes. Where to rest and where to hit.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, a few little undulations, but you get the downhills. Yes. You get some recovery.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, I think I reversed those today. Yes.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: You know, apply it. We can see you right up front. Yeah.
Oliver Spake: It was just the enthusiasm and eagerness of being out there.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Beautiful course you spotted in kangaroos and all the birds.
Oliver Spake: I did. I certainly heard the birds, which was fantastic. Going up over that, what is it, the one, two, three, did we cut that, the third or fourth undulation? Yeah. Yes.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Or ninth if you've gone on the second lap.
Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah, but the birds were wonderful. I didn't see the wildlife, so how often would you see some of it?
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Every week, yeah.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Excellent. So I think the grass is really long at the moment. Every so often they'll poke their heads up like meerkats, you know.
Oliver Spake: Yes. No, that's – yeah, I'll have to keep an eye out just on the walk afterwards and hopefully Hannah's spotted some. And you guys were just sharing your love for hills as well. Yeah, well – We're trail runners.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Trail runners, yes. So, yeah, you've got to love the hills.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: We tried our first 100 this year or last year. Yes. Yeah, the Sri Chinmoy one in Canberra. How did you find that? Yeah, it was 16 and a half hours it was. Yeah. But we did it. Yeah, we're pretty proud. Well done.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. So, you'd never done anything like that scale before?
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Oh, just a couple of 50s. Yes. Yeah, but nothing like that. Like the Sri Chinmoy goes like up Black Mountain and then Ainslie and Mount, yeah. Beautiful. Taylor, Mount Majura. Yeah, yeah. In the dark. Yep.
Oliver Spake: What other way to do it, right? Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: It's a learning experience. You learn about yourself as well.
Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. And would you do it again? Yes.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Heartbeat?
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, I want to do it again. Well, we're meant to be doing UTA 100 this year, but it just hasn't panned out for us this year. So we're having to sell our tickets. Yes. Yeah. But, no, we've certainly got some big stuff on the horizon. We're hopefully going to build up to our first miler. Wow. Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, you like the distance. When you get older.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah. Yeah, we can't run fast, but we can go for a long time.
Oliver Spake: Like a fine wine. Yeah. Yeah. No, well done. Well done. So will it be more of Wagi Bridge style or obviously you're out in the trails as well?
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, we like trail running the best. Yeah, we love parkrun too. The community is just awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: And for us, like parkrun is like when we're in full training, it's kind of like our easy run sort of thing. And like Nick said, it's the community. Yeah. We'll go to the cafe here and have a coffee. Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: So Kate's Run Director once a month or so. Excellent. And helps set up and wash the bibs. Yes. Yes. All those great things. Then we get to have breakfast with our friends.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. Yeah. It's a nice way to start the weekend really, isn't it? It is. Oh, it's perfect. Yeah. And I did cut you off before when we were talking about Lawson. So you enjoyed Lawson?
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah. Yeah, it was super cool.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: I think it's my favourite park, right? Yeah. Yeah, like in terms of what we like, the trails and things like that. Yes. Yeah. And there seems to be a good spirit there as well.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, it was really friendly.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, we went there to practice after the UTA. We did. Yeah. Yes. Just running on the course.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Appropriate spot. Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: It was really cool. But, yeah, we haven't done too many. Okay, yeah. So Shellharbour's definitely on our bucket list.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, we'd like to do that. Once all the restrictions are lifted and we're back to normal, we can do some travelling.
Oliver Spake: A bit more predictability, I suppose, is going to help in that respect. But, yeah, any other parkruns that we'd rate that you have done, whether in the ACT or...?
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Oh, Mount Ainslie is a good hit out. Yep. But they're all pretty good here. They've all got a good spirit. Yep. If you want a really fast one, the Gungahlin one just over the hill here is a really fast one.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: I enjoyed Jindabyne. It was beautiful on the lake. Yeah. Spectacular.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: I'd love to try that one. Yes. That's a nice one too, yeah. Yeah. And especially if you're down there for an event or something like that, because they all just turn up to it. Yes. Yeah. That's one for the list.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: There's so many I want to do. My hometown casino has just started theirs up, so I can't wait to go back and run it.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. Well, it sounds like you've got some good plans there and obviously some other big ones. Yes. One day, Western States.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yes. Yes. Yes.
Oliver Spake: On the cards or it's just a pipe dream? No, it's just a pipe dream.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, he's got to get in. What about UTMB in the UTM? Yeah. That would be awesome.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: We'd like to get at least one of the big ones. Yes. If we can get that.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Even if we're on walking sticks and wheelchairs.
Kate - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Win the lottery and get into it.
Oliver Spake: It's a pretty solid plan, that. Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: No, good luck to us.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. Oh, that's what keeps you going, doesn't it? Yeah.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Oh, you watch them all on YouTube. How cool would that be?
Oliver Spake: Yes, especially now. I think we've got that extra motivation to just get out there and do something.
Nick - parkrunner and trail runner interviewed at Wagi Bridge parkrun: Yeah, get one shot at life. Yeah, exactly.
Oliver Spake: No, thanks very much, guys. Nice to chat. Thanks again for having us. Tony and Wendy, welcome. I can see on your shirts, Mount Barker. Yes.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): This was our leaving present from our friends at Mount Barker. As we left, they sent us these so that we could celebrate being part of the Mount Barker community.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, it's a beautiful community. I was fortunate enough to be there last March. Got out just in time before everything got locked down. So, yeah, gorgeous course. Great course. You must miss it.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): Oh, we do, yeah.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): And all the people, we've got lots of friends there, so it's really nice.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): And all the organisation team, it's fantastic.
Oliver Spake: They're a really great community. Yeah, wonderful spirit there.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): So now we've moved here, we're going to see what we can do here as well. It's going to be lovely, I think. I hope so, yes. Nice course, very pretty. A bit undulating. The hills are a bit of a challenge, but it's all right.
Oliver Spake: And had you been to Wagi Bridge before today? No, this is our first time. Excellent. Have you parkrun at a few other courses here?
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): Yes, we've done Gungahlin a few times. We've run at Coombs. We've run at Burley Griffin.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): Yeah, we did the…
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): the half marathon and marathon festival was it like two years ago two years ago yes um so we've been to visit in Canberra a few times yes but now that we've made the move we're looking for somewhere gungahlin's quite a big parkrun yes and uh so yeah we thought perhaps just be a bit smaller in number but yes yes strong in spirit yes that's right yeah
Oliver Spake: Oh, well, it certainly seems like a nice community here and I'm sure you'll settle in. No, look, thanks very much for the brief chat and hello to everyone at Mount Barker too. Yeah, hi, Mount Barker.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): Hi, everybody at Mount Barker, especially Kim and Jodie and Sonia and everybody else.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): Thanks very much. Thank you.
guest - unnamed (either Tony or Wendy, former Mount Barker parkrunners): Have a good one, guys.
Oliver Spake: Right. So that's Wagi Bridge parkrun. I'm not sure how we've gone at actually recording this roving report.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: I gave it a go. You know, parkrun podcasts are, you know, secretly not my thing.
Oliver Spake: Yes, and look, it is our first roving report.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: That you've done?
Oliver Spake: At all, yes.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Yeah, I'm experiencing Hamlet podcasts myself. I can also talk about science in a podcast. But, yeah, parkrun is unfortunately something I am yet to be familiar with.
Oliver Spake: But I have to say the small group at Wagi Bridge were lovely. The course was lovely. Thank you for having us, everyone. Well done to Hannah.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Thank you.
Oliver Spake: How did you go today, Hannah?
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: I honestly could have done better, but I think I should give myself the benefit of the doubt given I haven't run in months. And, you know, I did well. I finished, which is always a plus. I think I was 47th to finish, which is the lowest number I've ever had.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, I still don't know my token number. I was a little too high on endorphins and low on oxygen. I think you were like number five.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: I was counting people. You were around top 10.
Oliver Spake: No, it was very exciting to be out there. So thank you, Hannah, for getting me out.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: Thank you for driving me. I'm glad we made it.
Oliver Spake: Yes.
Hannah - Oliver Spake's daughter: After Macquarie Pass.
Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right. So it's off to coffee. Oh, for sure. And off to plan where we're going next week.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, I loved hearing from Hannah, Ollie, and how cute that she called you Oliver. That's very formal. Does she always call you Oliver? Is it just because she felt that she couldn't call you Dad on the podcast?
Oliver Spake: It's been a little while since she's called me dad. I get Oliver at the serious times, that's for sure. What has she called me usually? Padre. Really? Yeah, Padre. Okay. Which, you know, like all good family names we have in our, well, on my mum's side of the family at least, we have no real reason for it. So, yeah, Padre it is. Okay. But, yeah, this time it was formal. So I must have been in trouble. I don't know what I did.
Melissa Ellis: Okay, so I've got another question. Yes. What is the World Cup decision process, please?
Oliver Spake: Yes. Oh, look, and might I just say, I have been watching With Me Now's World Cup of parkrun Beauty and the next upcoming one. And I'm a huge fan because being a soccer fan, love a good World Cup. And whenever there has been a difficult decision in life, I've rope the family in and we've had a world cup which simply means hey you if we've got lots of options we throw them into group stages they have face-offs they get into a knockout round we get to the the final and we're always disappointed with the final outcome so I go and pick someone that went out in the round of 16 um just helps the process that sounds really complicated And so this has been my process for, I'm a bit of a t-shirt hoarder. So when it's time to donate some t-shirts, running singlets and whatnot, we go through the World Cup process. I will say that not Hannah, but certainly Zali and Ava, neither of them won their World Cup final, but they were definitely in the semifinals.
Melissa Ellis: They were part of the decision process for choosing Wagi Bridge?
Oliver Spake: Well, no, their names were decided with thanks to some inspiration from the World Cup decision-making process.
Melissa Ellis: You chose your children's names via World Cup process?
Oliver Spake: Yes.
Melissa Ellis: Okay. I would have just let Cathy, I mean...
Oliver Spake: Well, and I suppose the process is just as much to highlight if a decision is made and we don't necessarily have full control over it, how comfortable are we? And that's why we pick a different one.
Melissa Ellis: I'm so sorry, Cathy, you poor thing.
Oliver Spake: It's probably just reflective of how indecisive I am.
Melissa Ellis: Well, it's unique, Ollie. Anyway, I'm glad that you got to a parkrun, bearing in mind that you had such a difficult decision process to get there.
Oliver Spake: You had a good time. So you spoke to a few people. I did. It was lovely to get to bump into some voices and some names that I had, well, and some faces that I had crossed paths with before.
Melissa Ellis: You bumped into voices.
Oliver Spake: Bumped into voices. Yeah, it was an out-of-body experience. Yeah, the group at Wagi Bridge were very friendly, very welcoming. So huge thank you to Ian and the welcoming group of volunteers there and the other parkrunners. It was really quite nice to have a fairly modest number of parkrunners and such a beautiful surrounding too.
Melissa Ellis: How many did they get? Oh, wow.
Oliver Spake: Now you're testing me. It was in the 60s, I thought. I should have remembered that. But suffice to say, we were both ecstatic with our positions.
Melissa Ellis: So Hannah and I. Hannah indicated that you had a nice high top 10 finish.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, so I was determined to enjoy the hills as much as I could. I paid the price, but great to be out there and running around. Did you see the troll? Well, funny you should say that. So obviously when you go through a World Cup, there are different pros and cons of each potential outcome, and the troll featured heavily. So Wagi Bridge was the outright number one seed in the World Cup process. We went looking for the troll. We completely forgot when we got there to look for the troll. And we did not see the troll, but we had a great time.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's good.
Oliver Spake: And it was listening to Mark's scheduling of troll dating, really, that was the inspiration there. So we had to try it.
Melissa Ellis: Try the event and then forget to look for it.
Oliver Spake: That's right. It was great. We did bump into some familiar faces. So Kathy Ray was out there as well. So it was good to see Kathy ticking off another event. And look, she's certainly clocking up those numbers there. Yeah, I suppose, yeah, a bit of inspiration for the next destinations as well.
Melissa Ellis: So you've hatched a plan?
Oliver Spake: Hatched some plans. That's right.
Melissa Ellis: I have to live my adventuring life through you at the moment.
Oliver Spake: Fingers crossed by the end of this podcast when it's actually out there this weekend, you're back out there too. But in the meantime, I'll do my best, Mel.
Melissa Ellis: Appreciate you stepping up this week, Ollie. It's a very good co-host.
Oliver Spake: I had to try. And look... Someone else who stepped up this week, fittingly in episode choo-choo-choo, was marvellous Mark. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Mark too. What? Yes. What? Yes, post-parkrun coffee.
Melissa Ellis: I didn't see that on social media.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, funny that. You snuck that in. So, yeah, great to meet Mark and the whole family and have a quick coffee and chat with them. And, look, that mic, that mic is impressive.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, it popped up on social media. I did see the photo posted of Mark posted it himself, but I haven't actually seen it. And, incidentally, here's the lovely synchronicity. It was exactly 12 months ago this last weekend that Mark was in Melbourne and I met up with him at the launch of Warringal Parklands. And he whipped out his big microphone.
Oliver Spake: Yes. So once again, we're fortunate enough to have a report from Mark. So let's have a listen. Excellent.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew
Roving report Mark Scarborough — Coombs parkrun
Mark Scarborough: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. And today we are adventuring in the ACT, so not far from home, which is good. And today we have come to Coombs parkrun, which is in the western area of Canberra. And Coombs parkrun started in March 2018, so nearly three years ago. And today's event number 114. And the average finishes here is about 98 each week, and they've got an average finish time of 32 minutes and 9 seconds. So we're going to have a bit of a parkrun here and have a chat to other people that are here today. I'm here with Mel from Running Mums Australia. Good morning, Mel. How are you? Good, thanks. How are you? Good, thank you. So RMA is taking over Coombs parkrun today, filling all the volunteer roles. Well done.
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: Thank you. It's something that we kind of try and do with every parkrun in the ACT and surrounds every year. At least once a month, we go to one of the parkruns and take over the volunteer roles just to give back to the community.
Mark Scarborough: That's awesome. And what can you tell us about Running Mums Australia?
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: It's founded probably around 2013 as just a small Facebook group and has exploded to be a national community of about 40,000 mums that run, walk, you know, all of that sort of stuff. And it's just an inclusive community where we sort of empower each other and support each other to reach our goals.
Mark Scarborough: And you organise other like training and other events outside of parkrun to support the running mums?
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: Yeah, so we do have some coaches within the group and you can do some online coaching and things, but essentially it's more around a social aspect and we set up lots of social events where we go for trail runs on the weekends and meet during the week to go for a hike and see the sunrise and, you know, all that sort of stuff and keep each other accountable. So it's really good.
Mark Scarborough: And what can you tell us about your parkrun story or journey?
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: I'm a bit of a volunteer, not runner, actually. I've probably volunteered more than I've run. I did a lot of parkrun when I was pregnant because I found, you know, it was a really good way to keep active while I was pregnant. And, yeah, just come along and helped out at different events and, you know, run the ones around the local area, yeah.
Mark Scarborough: And where's your home parkrun?
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: I'd say Coombs is my home parkrun. Yeah, I live in the Weston Creek area. So, yeah, I love this parkrun.
Mark Scarborough: Do you get out much to the other parkruns in Canberra?
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: Yeah, look, probably the other ones that I would frequent would be like Mount Ainslie because I'm a bit of a trail runner. I like that one. And maybe Tuggeranong. They're probably the ones, the closest ones. But as I said, you know, we get out and do the volunteering. So at least get to all of them once a year.
Mark Scarborough: Excellent. Well, thanks for doing that and supporting the Canberra parkruns.
Mel - Running Mums Australia representative: No worries. Thanks.
Mark Scarborough: So I'm here with Terry, and good morning Terry, how are you? Good morning, I'm very good, thank you. And how long have you been coming to Coombs parkrun?
Terry - Coombs parkrunner: I came to the very first, in fact I came to the pre-trial before they could actually run it officially, so that's about two years, just over two years.
Mark Scarborough: And what got you stuck into, started into parkrun in the first place?
Terry - Coombs parkrunner: Needing the exercise, and the fact that you can run, walk, or anything in between.
Mark Scarborough: Do you get out and volunteer much here as well?
Terry - Coombs parkrunner: Yes, I do a lot of volunteering stuff.
Mark Scarborough: What's your favourite volunteer role? Oh, Tail Walker actually because you still get a time.
Terry - Coombs parkrunner: And where else in Canberra have you parkrun? I've done the Tuggeranong one before Coombs started just to see what it was all about. And who introduced you to it then to get you to Tuggeranong in the first place? My brother and his family run out at Tuggeranong every week. So, yeah. That was the reason.
Mark Scarborough: Excellent. Well, thank you for your time today and enjoy your parkrun out in Coombs today.
Terry - Coombs parkrunner: Thank you.
Mark Scarborough: I'm here with Jeff. Good morning, Jeff. How are you? G'day, Mark. Good. So Gungahlin's your normal home parkrun, yeah?
Jeff - Gungahlin parkrun Run Director: Yeah, yeah. I've been going there for a number of years and I do a bit of run directing up there as well. So what brought you out to Coombs today? Well, I had a new course and other people had told me it was very scenic and a good course to run and that proved to be correct. How did you find the course today? What were your thoughts? It was a little bit more hilly than I expected, but yeah, a well thought through course and good for an out and back because the paths are wide enough. So yeah, a pretty good venue, I'd say. I know you like to get out and visit other parkruns. Where have you been lately? Well, COVID-wise, the restrictions have been on a bit, so I haven't gone too far from home. But, yeah, Coombs is, oh, and Ginninderra, that's about it this year. But, you know, I have been around all the ones in Canberra and a couple down the coast and Cairns and Queensland and all over. Yes, we have cross paths at Batemans Bay parkrun on a couple of occasions.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, that's right. So tell me, without calling on Gungahlin in your top three, what is your top three parkruns?
Jeff - Gungahlin parkrun Run Director: Okay. I'd say Darwin. I like Darwin. I like that there's one in Western Australia I did call Manjimup, which is through a very old forest. And Got some historic trees and things in it, so that was great. And probably the other one would be, I don't know, Burley Griffin, I guess. So where's Manjimup in Western Australia? Manjimup? It's sort of south-west of Perth. Okay. Yeah. On the way back from Margaret River to Perth.
Unidentified speaker: Yeah, okay.
Mark Scarborough: Might skip an hour for that one. We're hoping to be in the West Coast later this year, so thank you. Well, good to see you out here today, and I'm sure we'll cross paths in Canberra soon.
Jeff - Gungahlin parkrun Run Director: Yeah, okay. Thanks, man.
Mark Scarborough: So I'm here with Tim, who's the ED for Coombs. Good morning.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: Good morning, Mark. How are you?
Mark Scarborough: I'm good, thank you. Let you know that the chatter out in the course today, that there was a lot of talk about, thankfully, there was no rain this week.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: It was a wet one last week and we had a number of waterfalls across the course. A lot of people came and really enjoyed themselves. It's a sign that parkrun continues, rain, hail or shine, and it really did rain last week, but we still had a great spirit and people had a lot of fun.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, I saw the photos and there was a few of our running group that came out and visited last week and seemed to enjoy themselves. Big turnout today. This seems like it's bigger than your average, I suppose.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: I think we've seen over the past couple of weeks as we've established this new course that numbers have increased steadily each week. We're very lucky here at Coombs that we've got space to host a fairly sizable group of people. Around 150 would be our average, but each week we see that increasing. Again, a lot from... the local region that we're in here. So we're based in a new area of Canberra, Molonglo Valley. It used to be a forest. It was destroyed in the 2003 fires and we've now had a lot of development here. What's really pleasing for us to see is that many of our participants are new residents to that Molonglo Valley and the suburbs within it.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, it's good that parkrun can come into these new communities and establish a community service, which is fantastic.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: Yeah, I think when you look at the composition of runners here at Coombs parkrun, what you see, and this is all completely anecdotal, is a very social parkrun, a very friendly parkrun, which you'll get pretty much at any other event. But I would argue that a lot of our participants here have never ventured to any other parkruns. They've found exactly what they're looking for. And if you're in a new suburb, if you're in a new town, that is the social aspect. So we often see people... who have built friendships, that neighbours that are running here, people are running and find out that they only live two or three doors down from each other. And I think that's a very valuable aspect of parkrun beyond the fitness aspect itself.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, certainly the social and community side is a big part of it. Now, you did mention about a new course and Coombs is just coming up to his third birthday next month. And this is the third course for Coombs.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: I think we should be running for a bit of a prize in parkrun events. So this is our third location in the three years that we've been running. We started in March 27, so we're just coming up to our third anniversary, as you said. This course includes shades of our original course way back from 2017. One of the reasons that we've had to change the course, I think, is, as I mentioned before, in a new area, there's always going to be development. There's always going to be change from the original plan. This course has, our course has had to change, as you said, three times. And that's in relation to making sure that other users, other park users can use the space that we're doing, be that cyclists, be that walkers, be that equestrians.
Mark Scarborough: And how have you found, I suppose, those changes over times and the community reacting and adapting to the change?
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: I think parkrun places a great focus on accessibility. Accessibility for our own participants, but those people that are using the spaces that we enjoy. I think you'll find that most parkrunners are pretty open and accepting of change. Our approach at Coombs parkrun has been to consult early and to consult often and to stop and to take the time to listen to what the concerns of other park users are. I think we've done that and that has resulted in acceptance by the broader community and an acceptance by parkrun participants that change is going to be inevitable.
Mark Scarborough: It's good that you've been able to grow and change and evolve with the surrounding suburb. That's excellent.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: Being pragmatic, our new course here, as you can see, and I know we're on radio and over the years, we're standing, we're looking over a pond here and we've got a great big pine tree that gives us some beautiful shade. And when our first event happened, we were across the pond in a really open space, no infrastructure, no trees or no shade. So again, sometimes change can bring silver linings. And one of the benefits of where we are now is that we've got a beautiful space. And just again, looking around, I see that lots of people have finished their run. Lots of people are standing around having a yarn to each other, which to me, epitomizes that spirit of a parkrun, bringing people together. This will probably raise eyebrows among our listeners. It's not about the run. It's not about the walk. It's about coming together on a Saturday morning and having a yarn about the week that's been, the week that's had, and other things that are going on in people's lives.
Mark Scarborough: I think that's pretty consistent with most parkrunners, to be honest. For our listeners, do you want to give a description of the Coombs course?
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: This is an out-and-back course. It starts with a nice, open, flat, slightly downhill straight course. It goes out, hits the Murrumbidgee River. We run along the Murrumbidgee from there and we get out to around two kilometres. We have a turnaround point there. Again, a lot of space. Beautiful run in terms that you're looking over the old forest and you're looking on the way back towards the Canberra CBD. Very picturesque and we're now seeing the suburb developing lots of beautiful houses to look at, lots of ideas if you're into landscaping and gardening. Then we come back and we do a loop of the pond and there's another little tight turn and then back to the finish line from here.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, the turnaround point is unique in that it's quite a nice, big, wide turnaround point, which is good for virtually the numbers that we saw today.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: Yeah, we're very fortunate. I mentioned before that we've got lots of space so we can have lots of people come to Coombs parkrun and not feel as though they're congested or they're crowded. Not too many hills. There's a couple of little bumps on the course, but it's a very accessible course. We also see people we've got today. Our event team has been taken over by Running Mums Australia and we're very proud that we've got a course that is accessible for people that have got prams. We're very fortunate to have lots of dogs here and we love that as well.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, it was good. We had lots of barking dogs itching for the start this morning. Thanks for your time, Tim, and thanks for Coombs parkrun today.
Tim - Event Director, Coombs parkrun: Thanks, Mark. Always a pleasure.
Mark Scarborough: All right, parkrun adventurers, that's us done here at Coombs parkrun in the ACT. We'll catch you next time on the parkrun adventurers.
[12 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]
the Informant
the Informant - unnamed: This is the informant. These are unofficial stats. They may differ from the stats you read elsewhere. They are only current at the time they are collected with a 100% chance of an error from time to time. There were no event launches worldwide this week, and all Victorian runs were cancelled due to COVID lockdown. 338 events ran worldwide. We had 299 events run in Australia and New Zealand, the remainder taking place in Japan, Russia and remote UK territories. Down under we had 37,355 parkrunners, which is down around 13,500 on last week. Once again, those that did run ran hard. Proportionally, the number of runners getting a PB was up almost 1%. We had 5,572 PBs, which is down from 7,113 last week. 1,986 people in Australia and New Zealand participated for the first time. 154 reached their 50 milestone, 85 reached their 100 milestone, and 20 people reached their 250 milestone.
[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]
the Informant - unnamed: For the ACT, we had three new statespeople in Sara Jurek, who ran at Ginninderra, and Robbie Costmeyer and Melissa Clark, who ran at Wagi Bridge. In the NT, we had Philip Healy, Megan White, Sally Bogdanovich, who all ran at Nightcliff. In New Zealand, we had Nigel Milius, Binda Darity, Wendy Hare, who became North Islanders and Altea Rowans at Trentham Memorial. Over on our Most Aussie New Zealand Events list, the biggest movers of the week are David Cliff and David Ray, who moved up the rankings nine spots from 226 to 217. In the top 20, Jan Biggan, Janine Sellers and Brendan Sellers dropped down the rankings by one ranking each, while Aaron Hardy moves up one to be equal six with Jim Woodruff after running at Casula Parklands. Now there has been a lot of talk around the Wilson Index on the forums of late, so I thought I would take a little look and see if I couldn't introduce some interstate rivalries. To clarify the stats, I have made an assumption of a person's state. When I calculated Ollie's index, I assume he is from New South Wales, not because he has two heads, but because the majority of his runs are in New South Wales. His Wilson Index of course includes all of his runs worldwide. But the highest Wilson indexes per state are as follows. ACT, 27. Northern Territory, one higher on 28. New Zealand and the whiny WA are on 108. Tasmania on 117. Victoria, 122. Queensland, 133. New South Wales 137, and South Australia tops the ranks, with one runner having a lofty Wilson index of 166. If you want to see where you fit within your state's average, then New Zealand is on the bottom with 10, but they are used to that. ACT and Queensland are on 11, Northern Territory is on 12, New South Wales 13, WA 14, South Australia, 15. Victoria, 16. And Tasmania, you're on top with 18. Well, that should go part way to resolving some of your insecurities. This has been The Informant, and my spreadsheet is bigger than yours.
Melissa Ellis: Wonderful to hear from marvellous Mark coming to us from Coombs and our informant again. He is definitely getting cheekier and cheekier as the weeks go on, Ollie.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, he's got some sass, hasn't he?
Melissa Ellis: He does. So all about Wilson Indexes this week.
Oliver Spake: Yes, another thing I'm not doing so great.
Melissa Ellis: I know. I'm trying to give you something to beat me on. So would you like to share with everybody what your Wilson Index is?
Oliver Spake: My Wilson index is lonely old one.
Melissa Ellis: Can you actually get less than one? You can. You could, if you'd never been to a first event, you could be on zero.
Oliver Spake: True. I'd never given that any thought. Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better. So I'm one step along the board. And look, I might be on one, but I just need one number to advance to 10. So with a bit of foresight and careful planning, which probably should have been taken into consideration, the parkrun day just gone. If I'd gone to an event number two, then I'd be on 10.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, well, it's not high on everyone's agenda. It's not something that I particularly work towards. Mine's only four. Four, yeah. And I think I have to get a couple more before I would hit 10. So potentially you've got the ability to leapfrog me, Ollie. There you go.
Oliver Spake: There we go. Something to plan for, Mel. All right. I'll have to keep my ear to the ground for the not so new events, but the follow-up.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, and Mark from Coombs. Have you been there?
Oliver Spake: Haven't been to Coombs. Looking forward to getting to Coombs one day.
Melissa Ellis: How far away would Coombs be from you? Because you're at Wagi Bridge, so you were in ACT.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, I was quite close and maybe again with some better planning. I might have visited Coombs and caught up with Mark there instead, but... happy with where I went, absolutely. So yeah, Coombs is on the list. I think Hannah was a little less keen to go to Coombs. I think I mentioned a hill at some stage, but I probably haven't researched the course enough. That is the current course.
Melissa Ellis: It sounds like you had hills at Wagi Bridge anyway. Wagi? Waggi? I can't say it. I've been to Coombs. Yes. But I did a Freedom Run walk and that would have probably been the second version of their course. So probably nothing like what its current version is. So another reason to return to ACT. I do like visiting the ACT.
Oliver Spake: There are some lovely parkruns and they're building themselves a healthy district there, that's for sure. And well done to the Coombs team. It's not easy to work always with the local community and the authorities and to get a course up and running, but to continue doing that, to work with them, to work for their parkrunners, well done to them with course number three and keeping Coombs going like that.
Melissa Ellis: Exactly. And they had the support of the Running Mums, which is always great.
Oliver Spake: Fantastic takeover. Well done to the Running Mums. What a way to spend the day.
Melissa Ellis: I reckon.
Emails
Melissa Ellis: And do you know, we had emails. Emails. Excellent. Did I tell you? Maybe I forgot. Guess what? Maybe I forgot. We got some feedback, a suggestion for our New Zealand countrymen terminology as opposed to an Aotearoan? Say it again. Aotearoan? Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, I'm sorry. I look forward to continuing to practice and to actually get it right one day. But this suggests that we are inching closer to a poll. What's the option?
Melissa Ellis: Oh, so we heard from Pippa White and her idea was a New Sealander. So that's a play on the fact that they'd seen the whole country, New Sealand.
Oliver Spake: I love it.
Melissa Ellis: Thank you for sending that in, Pippa. We really appreciate that. So now we've got two options.
Oliver Spake: Excellent. All right, pressure's on. Need to work out these polls.
Melissa Ellis: And I probably can't produce. I probably can't pronounce either of them properly. Anyway.
Oliver Spake: That makes two of us.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, good grief.
Oliver Spake: Well, look, here's something a little easier to pronounce. Listen to me butcher it. But something we are looking forward to, something we're definitely excited about and have been promising we'd talk about soon, Mel. Let's talk about palm.
Interview Tony O'Connell — organiser of palm21, the show's annual listener meetup; Inverloch, Victoria
Melissa Ellis: we have to speak to you about all things Palm related, Inverloch's favourite son, TOC. Welcome, TOC, and tell us all about what you've got in store for palm21.
Tony O'Connell: Hi, team, and welcome listeners. Yeah, we've got a pretty packed agenda for Palm this year Mel and Ollie we've got a great team behind us putting it all together and we're trying to feature some natural landmarks this year and so I'll be reaching out to a couple of people up on the sunny coast to get a bit of advice up there but we're trying to get things like lighthouses involved maybe some some animals so perhaps we'll have a fluffy involved which would be pretty cool yes I think the Saturday morning we'll be encouraging everyone to wear their ugly singlets or ugly t-shirts and and get a real showing up there. So our program for those listening at home, Friday night we have our traditional freedom run. We've always done it and then we go out for dinner somewhere, fairly casual. So this year we've picked Kawana parkrun right along the ocean. And the beautiful thing about Kawana is you park where tea is so you don't have to move. That's one great thing. But you run to a lighthouse and back. And the thought of running along the coast, hitting a lighthouse and coming back I just reckon it's pretty awesome. We move on from there to Kawana Surf Club, and that's where we're going to have tea, and it's pretty casual, pretty informal there. How's that sound for a Friday night, guys?
Melissa Ellis: I like the lighthouse. That's feeling very Surf Coast Century, Tony.
Tony O'Connell: I think it's going to be pretty cool. I've often heard Mel talk about Kawana. I think we'll stick to the course on the path. We won't do the beach course. I believe that's a lot harder. For those that don't know, Kawana run along the beach for a month of the year when it's high tourist time. So I think we'll be in pretty good shape to be able to stick to the track and not get too sandy between the toes. Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Have either of you guys done Kawana before?
Tony O'Connell: No. Safe to say I haven't. Yep. Mel, the beauty of Palm 2021 is the four courses that are programmed in at this stage. I haven't been or seen any of them, but I've seen so many photos of them and I really want to go to them.
Melissa Ellis: I am the same. I am looking forward to it because everything is brand new for me. I, to this point, have not done a parkrun in Queensland. I do hope to throw one in prior to Palm because I'll be on holidays in the area. But yes, it's very exciting. Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, and I like the Kawana start. I think while I'd love to run on the beach, I'd love the sand. I appreciate you saving the legs for us for a bit more of the weekend.
Melissa Ellis: Nambour.
Tony O'Connell: Yes, I think the Saturday morning parkrun, as you've probably guessed by now with the Fluffy reference and the Nambour reference, will be Nambour.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, spoiler alert.
Tony O'Connell: And for all our Southerners, we'd like to point out that it will be starting at 7am, not the traditional 8am start that we have down south. It's an early start, it's hilly, and it's going to be great fun.
Melissa Ellis: That sounds good to me.
Tony O'Connell: Talking to Melissa Taylor, who's the ED up at Nambour. We're going to head into Endless Time Cafe in Nambour, catch up there. So that'll be great for a fair bit of park faff and just sitting around and having a chat. Really hoping we get the guest appearance by Fluffy out there. There's never any promises or guarantees in life, but we're really hoping at that time of the year that we get a Fluffy appearance because that'd just be so cool. That'd make my parkrun highlight, I think.
Melissa Ellis: Can we just stay there, Tony, until we find Fluffy?
Tony O'Connell: Spread out and do a line search.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah.
Tony O'Connell: I've seen so many Fluffy pictures at parkrun and I just fall in love every time. I can't wait to get up there and actually see the bird in person.
Melissa Ellis: Do you think Fluffy might get freaked out with all of us like, Fluffy, this mass of people?
Tony O'Connell: I'm wondering how Fluffy's going to handle 30, 40, 50 people or however many turn up in Fluffy tops. Are emus attracted to tinsel? This could be an interesting experiment. I might have to go in the back, I think. For those that have seen Melissa up there with Fluffy, Fluffy looks like a very friendly bird. So I don't think we'll have any dramas there. Really looking forward to Nambour. As everyone knows, I really love my hills. And apparently the cafe has really good cake, so I'm in heaven.
Melissa Ellis: Excellent. And what are we going to do to fill in the time after the Park Faf brunch before the Saturday night dinner?
Tony O'Connell: Probably the highlight of any Palm is the get-together and the podcast recording. where we record a live episode. Friends of the show may remember a couple of years ago, it probably didn't go off so well at the Beaches. Last year went significantly better at Mount Barker, and this year hopefully will be a cracker. We're still going to – haven't announced the location of that yet. We're still hunting around. We've got our talent scouts out looking for areas that are suitable to record. But San Diego, we – I thought we'd slip another Freedom Run in because what better thing to do when you're away on a parkrun weekend than experience other courses and different courses. So Saturday afternoon will be Brightwater parkrun. We thought we'd get out and have a run around that one.
Melissa Ellis: Is it flat? I hope it's flat after Nambour.
Tony O'Connell: Oh, they're all flat, Mel. Even Nambour's flat.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, you lie.
Tony O'Connell: Mel, you start and finish at the same point, so it must be flat. You don't go up or down.
Melissa Ellis: Is it along a ridgeline? That's what I told Paul last year.
Tony O'Connell: And you keep dry feet too at Nambour too. Then Saturday night dinner, location still to be confirmed, but it will be our traditional dress-up dinner for those that wish to partake in that. We have had lots of interesting people looking in on us as a group of parkrunners all dressed up. We don't seem to think it's unusual, but apparently other people do seem to think that.
Melissa Ellis: Okay, so how are we going to do this poll? Ollie and I have looked into it and Facebook pages don't want to let us do polls. So how can we get listener feedback on a dress-up theme?
Tony O'Connell: I think we might have to put a post up, Mel, and just ask for comments.
Melissa Ellis: That would be the logical thing, I suppose. Okay.
Tony O'Connell: And it will run something and see if there's a theme that comes out of that, that might end up being the theme for Palm.
Melissa Ellis: Okay.
Oliver Spake: I think that'll work. I'm sure there's a way we can make a call or a decision. It'll shine through, surely.
Tony O'Connell: Remembering too, we have the parkrun Listener Meetup group as well on Facebook. We will be putting events up for all of these different things so that you know when and where and what time and all that. So I'd encourage people to jump over onto that, because it doesn't just end at Saturday night. Sunday morning, we get out and do another Freedom Run for those that have got time. Freedom Run, Freedom Walk, or if you've played up at the dinner, it could be a Freedom Stagger. Let's play that one by ear. Potentially, it's a couple of different courses we're still looking at. And once again, we'll be reaching out to the Sunny Coast parkrunners this week on their page, and asking them for a few ideas as well, getting some local involvement up there. Hopefully they can steer us in the right direction and find us a nice flat course.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah, this sounds brilliant. Thank you for all the work that you've put into putting all these plans in place, Tony. I reckon we're going to have a blast.
Tony O'Connell: Yeah, look, Oli, I think it's going to be great fun again. Every year's just grown and grown. It's got better and better. It's a great chance to make new friends. It's a great chance to rekindle old friendships. There's people I'm already looking forward to. Janet from South Australia, I'm really looking forward to catching up with Janet again. There's just different people you love to catch up at these events with. I'd encourage people to jump on board with the events and
Oliver Spake: actually let us know if you're planning on coming particularly the dinners because I do have to book to make sure we've got space especially at the moment of course there have been people before that have joined for just a portion of the palm weekend but it is great to get to enjoy the whole weekend of course
Tony O'Connell: Yeah, look, and we do welcome people, even if you just want to come along on the Friday night Freedom Run and come and hang out with a whole heap of parkrunners and talk parkrun stuff on Friday night, you're more than welcome. But yeah, the whole weekend will be full of activities and bits and pieces. And no doubt there'll be other parkrunners that'll sneak off and do some of the other great courses that are in the area. There's a couple a little bit further away like Maleny that you know, a couple of people have said they'd love to jump out and do. So there's plenty of opportunity up there on the sunny coast.
Oliver Spake: Not a bad idea. And there's the pineapple, right?
Tony O'Connell: Yep. There's the pineapple, the big pineapple. In Australia, we like our big things. So go along and get your photo, get a selfie with the big pineapple.
Melissa Ellis: And we better do a call out to our quiz master, Simon Mackley, and check that he's started preparing the questions for the quiz that is synonymous with the listener meetup. And, Ollie, we need to find some more pineapples for the trip.
Oliver Spake: Oh, yes. Yeah, we'll get the scouts onto eBay quickly.
Melissa Ellis: I was looking today.
Tony O'Connell: Yeah, no, look, I think it's just going to be a really good fun weekend. Guaranteed sunshine. I'm going to bring the Inverloch sunshine up with me. I'll live a bit at Inverloch as well because they love the sunshine at Inverloch, but guaranteed sunshine the whole weekend, even if it gets damp. That's an actual little disclaimer there. I think if you go back in Palm history, we've had pretty good weather up at Newcastle. It got damp on the Friday night while we were off for tea, but it was beautiful while we were out doing our freedom runs. And then on the Saturday through the beaches. And then for those that went out and did Lake Mac and the others, we've had great weather. So the last couple of years have followed that theme. So I'm sure this year will be great weather as well.
Melissa Ellis: We were lucky last year. We just snuck Palm in before the whole world went into COVID lockdown. So we got back and we only had one other week, I believe, of parkrunning before the lockdown. So what a year we've had.
Tony O'Connell: What a year we've had. And I'm sure this will be a great cap off and everyone will be looking forward to getting up there.
Melissa Ellis: for sure. Nothing better than getting back together with your parkrun friends to lift the soul.
Tony O'Connell: And meeting some new ones.
Melissa Ellis: Oh yeah, love meeting new parkrun friends.
Tony O'Connell: Yeah, it'd be great to see a heap of the sunny coast people come along and get involved in it. Everywhere we go, we seem to get the local crowd as well as a crowd of people that go to the different palms. We seem to get a good group of the locals and get a really good interaction between them. It's one of the good things about parkrun is you've got something common to sit and talk about.
Melissa Ellis: We just collect friends. And so hopefully some of the Mount Barker crew from last year, they'll be coming up to the sunny coast. And then next year, the sunny coast people will come on to wherever it is the following year.
Tony O'Connell: Gee, I thought we almost had an announcement there, Mel. I thought you were going to give us next year's.
Melissa Ellis: No.
Oliver Spake: I'm sure there are some good options there. And that's part of the beauty of Palm too, is we can plan more Palms into the future.
Melissa Ellis: Ollie, we better start talking about that so we can make an announcement.
Oliver Spake: Oh, we really need to plan this. Okay. Yep. Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: It might be our call this year. We can say wherever we want. Okay. I already got somewhere in mind. I won't say.
Tony O'Connell: Okay. Where does Mel need to go to finish off her Peel Club?
Melissa Ellis: Oh, no. Mel's got a couple of places where she may have visited the state already. That's high up on her wish list. But thanks, Toc, for coming on and thanks for all the work you're putting in behind the scenes to plan the event. We really appreciate that. And I know that it's in good hands and it's going to be a fabulous event.
Tony O'Connell: Now, look, guys, I look forward to Palm every year. It's one of the highlights. I just love Palm, catching up with people and having a yarn, coffee, cake, maybe a few quiet ones on the night activities and just sitting back and talking all things parkrun. It's a really great opportunity.
Melissa Ellis: Have you got a preference for dress-up?
Tony O'Connell: I reckon I'll wait till you put a post up and I might lob an idea up there. Okay.
Melissa Ellis: We better do that this week, Ollie. I think that's our post this week.
Oliver Spake: We'll have to get cracking. Yeah, we look forward to that. Thank you so much, Toc, and look, can't wait to spend a weekend with you all.
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Melissa Ellis: And thank you, TOC. I can't wait for palm21 to roll around. But in the meantime, Ollie, what plans have you got this weekend?
Oliver Spake: Yeah, so look, this weekend I won't be at Shellharbour.
Melissa Ellis: What?
Oliver Spake: Yeah, back to back.
Melissa Ellis: Are you feeling okay?
Oliver Spake: I've got a very patient event team now. This week or this weekend marks the annual family holiday. Cathy's family have, for the last 30 years or so, been going down to a small sleepy town, Lake Conjola, on the New South Wales south coast. And, you know, for the last, I don't know how many years it's been, 10, 15 years, I've been lucky enough to be invited along. So... It'll possibly be a revisit to one of the favourites on the south coast there. Yeah, we'll go to one of those instead of Shellharbour.
Melissa Ellis: Excellent. That sounds fun.
Oliver Spake: What about you, Mel? What's your plan for this weekend?
Melissa Ellis: Please, Mr Andrews, please, may we have parkrun back.
Oliver Spake: I was going to say, what's plan A and plan B?
Melissa Ellis: I do have a plan A and B. So, yeah, hopefully I can continue on with what I had planned last week, which was Fairpark Reserve. I had planned to meet my mum there because it's local to where she lives and she comes occasionally on my parkrun adventures. So hopefully, fingers and toes all crossed, that can happen. If not, we have got a theme prepared for Ellis Palace parkrun, but I'm hoping we don't have to use it.
Oliver Spake: Well, it'll be good to have that one in the tank for a week to come down the track when you just feel like having a day away from parkrun.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, what?
Oliver Spake: When you could travel somewhere. Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Hello, have we met? No, no, no, no.
Oliver Spake: Or you're, yes, you're not parkrun double after a parkrun, extra special brunch.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes, yes, whip it out for special occasions. Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Well, I certainly hope you look forward to it, both plan a and and maybe in a sort of way plan b but fingers crossed for yourselves and everyone else still in lockdown we do hope that you have some good news coming your way please continue to reach out to us you know we appreciate any kind of correspondence email us uh and hey if you've got tips on how to actually set up a poll on Facebook I love those two But you can email us anytime at parkrunadventurers, all one word, at gmail.com.
Sign-off
Melissa Ellis: I think that's it for another pod. And I look forward to following your adventures and getting a surprise to see where you tune up with your lovely family.
Oliver Spake: In the meantime, take care out there, everyone. We'll see you next week.