Episode 225 - Who let the dogs out?

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 225 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm joined by the man rediscovering his touring mojo, Ollie Spake. Please exclude the chihuahua barking in the background, Ollie.

00:00:38[other]

00:00:43Oliver Spake: That's really bad timing. Oh, no, no. Hi, Mel. And who are we speaking to in the background?

00:00:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, I think it's Lucy. Yeah. We haven't heard from Lucy previously in the podcast.

00:00:54Oliver Spake: No. Well, hello, Lucy, and hello, everyone. It's all about dogs. It seems to be. Yeah. And it was great to go on adventure again. Absolutely. It's really becoming a thing.

00:01:07Melissa Ellis: Tell us where you were.

00:01:09Oliver Spake: This parkrun day just gone. I was fortunate enough to already be handy to a whole gamut of fresh new parkruns that I'd never been to officially. So I went to Greenway, Greenway in Sydney. So I had been there a couple of years ago as part of the longest run. And this time around, it was just a little too easy to duck out there, have a nice parkrun and get to soak in some different surroundings once again.

00:01:35Melissa Ellis: What were you doing in Sydney?

00:01:36Oliver Spake: So this weekend just gone was my lovely wife's birthday.

00:01:40Melissa Ellis: Oh happy birthday Cathy.

00:01:43Oliver Spake: And we'd been fortunate enough to have an offer of babysitting a long long time ago so yeah this one had been on the cards for a while to duck up there do a couple of things up in the city and yeah duck out for a parkrun. I thought I could entice Cathy to come and join. I did have plans to meet up with a fellow parkrunner and but uh In the end, it was just me. Cathy took the birthday rest option.

00:02:07Melissa Ellis: Oh, don't blame her, but I did see the photos that you posted on Instagram and she looked amazing.

00:02:15Oliver Spake: Yes. Well, yeah, she's got a good knack at doing that. And it was a lovely time. We got to go and wander the city and really truly see just how quiet things still are. Because of course, we're still in this environment where we are distancing, where we are being careful. And Sydney without the international tourists had a very different feel to it. I don't live in the city. I don't live terribly close to the city and hadn't really experienced it. So, you know, I feel very fortunate that I was able to go and enjoy it like that, but it really did feel different.

00:02:50Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:02:51Oliver Spake: But a lovely weekend. Thanks, Mel.

00:02:53Melissa Ellis: Yeah, what about you? I had another adventure. I had a five-hour, five-plus-hour... car trip that's a bit bigger than normal just yeah I know it was an overnight trip so I did have accommodation I wasn't just driving up on the morning and I had a co-driver in my lovely friend Cheryl so we drove up together on Friday took the day off work um And we drove up to Ted Scobie Oval parkrun in New South Wales, which was maybe not my NENDY. I've still got Jindabyne sitting there in the background taunting me as my NENDY, but it was a nice five-plus-hour trip due north from where we are into New South Wales. So, yeah, we... Had a lovely overnight adventure, just overnight, because I have to be back Sunday morning for Junior parkrun. So I can't stay any longer than just the one night.

00:03:52Oliver Spake: Yeah, got a cram in the parkrun experience. And what was it like visiting Griffith?

00:03:58Melissa Ellis: When we arrived, we just took a walk in a local park to see some art sculptures in the, I think it was called City Park, and it was interesting to note that the town of Griffith had been planned by Walter Burley Griffin, who also designed Canberra. So that was very interesting to note.

00:04:26Oliver Spake: I've heard of a few planned areas by Walter Burley Griffin. Certainly, yeah, been quite an influential architect across the countryside.

00:04:37Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so he planned Griffith in 1914. And one of the things that Griffith is also known for is its Hermit's Cave complex, which is heritage listed. Have you ever heard of that?

00:04:50Oliver Spake: I have not heard of this. Very interested.

00:04:54Melissa Ellis: Neither had I, Ollie. And you know what? So when I just initially Googled it and saw that, oh, okay, there's some cave, you know, this is my understanding and interpretation of what I read. There's some cave in Griffith where a hermit lived for 10 years, like, and I was like, oh, yeah, it's probably some, like, little cave thing, woo-hoo, not that exciting, and kind of dismissed it. And to her credit, at the finish line, ED did tell me and sort of point to the vicinity of the caves because I have to also add that Ted Scobie Oval is sort of situated directly beneath the escarpment that... encapsulates the cave area.

00:05:46Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:05:47Melissa Ellis: And she did sort of point and say, oh, yeah, well, there's a cave up there where the hermit lived. And I'm like, oh, you know, some cave where some homeless man lived, years like oh yeah not that interesting well I've come home and I've actually looked into it and I've googled it and I'm like oh wow this is actually heritage listed this is some this is quite significant and I'm really disappointed that I didn't go and look at it so I think a return trip to to uh Griffith is going to be in order because yeah this area this uh european immigrant had come into the Griffith area and gone into the caves and he had a background in stonemason.

00:06:40Oliver Spake: I see, yep.

00:06:41Melissa Ellis: So he had carved and created and built a whole complex of retaining walls and gardens and, you know, really created a home for himself in this escarpment. So it is very significant and would be obviously really interesting to see. Sad that I drove all that way and didn't see it and kicking myself, damn it.

00:07:09Oliver Spake: So definitely one for the tourist list for anyone that's heading out to Ted Scobie then.

00:07:14Melissa Ellis: Don't make the same mistake.

00:07:16Oliver Spake: Look it up, yeah.

00:07:17Melissa Ellis: Oh, here comes Chico.

00:07:20Oliver Spake: Hello, Chico. We've got all the animals tonight. I can hear in the background either you've got the door open or they're in.

00:07:29Melissa Ellis: Well, there's no point shutting the door because then they'll just scratch at the door. So it's free for all. The budgies are not on the back deck, Ollie. I haven't bothered. They are in the family room. If they carry on, you're going to hear them.

00:07:46Unidentified speaker: Yep.

00:07:46Melissa Ellis: And that just reduces... Bye, Chico. He's leaving. Yeah, that just reduces the requirement for you to have to remind me about the budgies because they're just there.

00:08:00Oliver Spake: I hope either they're keeping you in good company or maybe it's just pity because I can never remember, but it's good to know that they'll sleep comfortably tonight.

00:08:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, good grief.

00:08:09Oliver Spake: And so another parkrun ticked off. You mentioned it's not your NENDY. That's some trip. It was a Wilson Index number. Ooh, which number did this give you?

00:08:18Melissa Ellis: Not worthy of mention from the informant, I may add.

00:08:22Oliver Spake: Oh, okay.

00:08:23Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, I have jumped to a Wilson Index of nine.

00:08:28Oliver Spake: Ooh, well done. Well, okay. I think I might have already been behind you there. I could be mistaken. What were you before that, Mel? I was four. Four. Okay. Yep. No, that's right.

00:08:41Melissa Ellis: I needed a five.

00:08:42Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:08:43Melissa Ellis: And now I need a 10.

00:08:45Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:08:46Melissa Ellis: It was, yeah, a timely event five at Ted Scobie Oval. And I should really describe the event. Yes. It is four laps of an oval. And while that may seem to be perhaps a little tedious, can I just say it is a very lovely oval. Very wide green. It's actually two ovals on sort of a split level.

00:09:09Oliver Spake: Oh, okay.

00:09:10Melissa Ellis: So it's just over a kilometre around the circumference of the two ovals that you need to run, therefore making up the five kilometres at the end of the fourth lap. And because of the split level, there is a bit of a hill there which you have to do four times.

00:09:30Oliver Spake: Over and over, a bit of an incline, yeah.

00:09:33Melissa Ellis: But very pretty and, you know, very enjoyable, very green, very picturesque, a lovely environment for a run. I think Ted Scobie, from what I could gather, is a local boxer because there was a sign for the Oval which had some boxing gloves. So I'm taking it that he was, so the Oval was named after some sort of local boxing identity.

00:09:59Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, that was my understanding. Just a curiosity, so what sports do they play on that oval with that much space?

00:10:06Melissa Ellis: Oh, I don't really know. I'm tipping it's not AFL because we're... What's that rugby game?

00:10:15Oliver Spake: Ah, yes, yes, yeah, the other egg-shaped one.

00:10:18Melissa Ellis: I don't know. This is your territory, Ollie. You tell me. I'm the tourist.

00:10:23Oliver Spake: Possibly a whole combination, but, yeah, I would be guessing there'd be rugby. No, look, it sounds like a beautiful event, beautiful location, and I'm actually quite fond of the Oval parkruns. I remember the trip up to Zillmere, and it was quite nice. Yeah. Liked being able to see everyone. I liked being able to, you know, run on grass, which is sometimes a bit nicer than the hard path. Was this one on grass?

00:10:50Melissa Ellis: Oh, no. So most of the event was run around a concrete path on the perimeter. However, there was a section where you have to deviate sort of around the car park, which was over grass.

00:11:04Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:11:05Melissa Ellis: A small section on each lap.

00:11:07Oliver Spake: And you had a few fellow adventurers.

00:11:10Melissa Ellis: Oh, we did. Yes. I went up with some Victorian friends, Cheryl, Irene and Parth, and we were all ticking off an interstate event because we've exhausted our Victorian.

00:11:27Oliver Spake: That's tough. Yeah. So we need a few more Victorian events, huh? Correct.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:11:33Oliver Spake: Hopefully not too far away.

00:11:34Melissa Ellis: But we have had some reports come in, Ollie.

00:11:39Oliver Spake: Yeah, we've had a great number of reports. So firstly, thank you, everyone. So let's have a listen.

00:11:44[16 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving report Oliver Spake — Greenway parkrun

00:12:00Oliver Spake: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Ollie here. Staying up in Sydney for the weekend, so I thought I'd catch the light rail across the Greenway parkrun and visit it for my first official visit and see it post-lockdown. Greenway's a beautiful little parkrun along a canal and on a nice, flat, hard concrete course. It's, I suppose you'd call it a double out and back, but well attended. You can see a few of the finishes over there, so let's have a chat.

00:12:31Andrew: So it's Ollie here with Andrew. That's right, Andrew. Just finishing Greenway parkrun. How did you go? Not too bad, just coming back from injury. So I'm pretty happy with it. I did 18, about 18.55, I think. 18.55. Is Greenway your regular parkrun? It is, yeah. Home parkrun? Yeah, it is. I just live around the corner, so it's fantastic. What's a PB for you at Greenway?

00:12:49Tim: About 17.21. Okay, yeah.

00:12:51Andrew: Yeah, which I got about probably about a month, six weeks ago. Right, right. Yeah, so... You must have been flying that day because you're flying today. I was flying. Yeah, it's good. It's actually feeling good. But yeah, coming back from the injury, volume is down and just feeling a bit heavy. But it's all good. The car's holding together. That's good. That's the main thing. Touch wood. Exactly. I've got a bad habit of jinxing things, so I'm going to say anything. I heard you talking about running plans and the year ahead. What's your goals? Yeah, well, I was intending to do the Canberra Marathon. But just with the injury, I've decided to go back to the half. I've never done a marathon before, so I just wanted to take it off. But, yeah, I just think I'm 40, so I'm not getting any younger. And injuries, I'm just like, I don't want to be injured the whole year. So I'm comfortable that I can get through the half with my fitness as it is. I might not be able to PB, but, you know. Yeah. Still be able to do it and enjoy it. Tick it off and enjoy it. Hopefully not get injured. Part of the journey, yes. Exactly. Maybe later in the year, maybe Blackmores. Blackmores. Might do the marathon for that. Have you done the half at Blackmores or any of the others? I've done the 10k. Yeah, quite a bit. I love the 10k.

00:13:50Oliver Spake: So it's still across the bridge for the 10k. Yeah, it is.

00:13:52Andrew: I just love that course, the 10k. So that's why I'm torn between the 10k and not doing a fast one or... having to go up the marathon. We'll see what happens.

00:14:00Oliver Spake: I see the shirt, the Delta, so you're part of the Delta Running Project?

00:14:03Andrew: Yeah, I met Jerome from Delta through the Hurt Squad in the city. Yes. And then just, yeah, as my running improved, just got in with them and did a few sessions with them as well. So Jerome puts programs together, and he's a fantastic guy. It's a great group. Yeah. Had Lauren Reid, who got the world record parkrun for females. Wasn't that fantastic? Yeah, fantastic. Yeah. Did you make it out for that one? I didn't. I was at Shellharbour that day, actually. Ah, right. You were down. Yeah, okay. Yeah, so. Yes. Yeah, which is a beautiful, beautiful course. Very different, as I said, but yeah, a lot tougher. Yes. The hills and the sand, but yeah, it was great. I loved it. Yeah, yeah. So that was your first visit down to Shellharbour. Second. Yeah, yeah. And I came second that day too, which is good.

00:14:42Oliver Spake: Yes, well done. Well done. Any other course highlights you've visited across the travels?

00:14:46Andrew: Yeah, I went to Fingal Bay in early Jan this year, which was a beautiful course as well. That's pretty special. Yeah, so it's flat up, which, you know, similar to this Greenway one here, which suits me. Yeah, that's probably... The other one I've done is I was in Singapore last February, just before COVID, which was good. So I was glad to get a parkrun over there as well.

00:15:05Oliver Spake: Which one did you pick? It was the West Park.

00:15:07Andrew: West Park, right. Yeah, I visited the East Coast. East Coast, yeah. I'd love to get out to West Park. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was good. Yeah.

00:15:14Oliver Spake: Okay. Well done. Thanks for the chat.

00:15:17Andrew: And all the best for Canberra and everything beyond. Thanks. Cheers.

00:15:21Oliver Spake: Alright, it's Ollie here and I'm here with Yash, who's volunteering at Greenway today. How are you?

00:15:27Yash: I'm good, Ollie. It's a really lovely morning to be volunteering.

00:15:31Oliver Spake: Yeah? You volunteer often at Greenway?

00:15:33Yash: Yeah, quite often.

00:15:34Oliver Spake: And you're in the barcode scanning role today?

00:15:36Yash: Yes, that's correct.

00:15:38Oliver Spake: So is volunteering usually as a Barcode Scanner or have you done other roles?

00:15:41Yash: Oh no, like you can do marshalling, usually a marshalling, or I like backwards scanning because you get to see everyone finish.

00:15:48Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:15:48Yash: But there are lots of other roles. You can do the timekeeping, marshalling, yeah, mainly that.

00:15:53Oliver Spake: Yep, I'll wait here while you scan everyone in here, getting you in action there yeah and it's a great setup you've got so you've got people coming through the funnel and across to you guys all distance out which is good to see yeah how things been since the return of GreenWay parkrun since COVID it's been a couple of months now yeah no it's been great actually it's been quite busy I think people was just dying to get out

00:16:19Yash: and do something as a community so yeah it's actually getting busier and busier now which is great so yeah I think it's just been fantastic to see people just out enjoying themselves in there with their friends yes that's been good yeah and it's a pretty healthy crowd here so um would this be a normal size week in terms of programs I feel like there's a lot of people here because it's yes good weather yeah um no thanks yeah sorry it's gonna yeah absolutely yes so who have we got here helping you scanning um lungi he is my volunteer puppy

00:16:57Oliver Spake: You're doing a great job, Lungi.

00:16:59Yash: He's doing a great job. He's usually... I mean, look, when I'm marshalling, I usually have him with me because he's just so cute and he likes to say hi to everyone and give them a little sniff. So, yeah. So, he usually, when I'm running, he runs with me. Ah, right. So, when I'm volunteering, he volunteers with me.

00:17:13Oliver Spake: So, Lungi, you're the total park dog. You volunteer and you...

00:17:16Yash: He's a volley dog.

00:17:17Oliver Spake: Yes, volley dog.

00:17:18Yash: You're the parkrun dog, aren't you, puppy?

00:17:20Oliver Spake: Fantastic. And what a welcoming sight when I staggered across the line there. I know, right?

00:17:23Yash: Thank you, Lungi. Yeah, he'll lick anyone. Yes. Anyone. Anyone.

00:17:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, we need to have a chat with you around distancing, don't we?

00:17:31Yash: No, there's no such thing.

00:17:32Oliver Spake: No, not with a friendly pup like that. And so has Lungi done many parkruns here at Greenway?

00:17:38Yash: He has, he usually runs parkruns with me. So if I could get him his own barcode, that would be awesome. But yeah, he's done a fair few as well. He enjoys it. Again, there's so many dogs here. It's just everyone runs, walks. Whatever you want to do.

00:17:53Oliver Spake: And look, the paths here are quite wide, so I found a surprising amount of space.

00:17:56Yash: Yeah, and they've actually redone the path here at Greenway. So I don't know if you know this, but there was a lot of construction happening and it was a narrow path earlier. Yes. They've widened it and it's looking quite good now. Yes. So it's actually been, it's just meant that now, you know, it can accommodate more people.

00:18:13Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:18:13Yash: Nice work. Well done.

00:18:15Oliver Spake: No, look, I'll let you go. Thank you very much for talking with me and multitasking there. And thank you for volunteering. Thanks. Cheers. So it's Ollie here again with Jill, who's just finished Greenway parkrun with Harry. Harry Hoverdog. Harry Hoverdog. And Jill and Harry, how was parkrun today?

00:18:34Jill: Oh, it was great. It was probably my fastest time this year. Well done. It's nice and flat.

00:18:39Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:18:39Jill: Been doing a bit of touristing and we've been to some with a few hills, so not good on hills.

00:18:44Oliver Spake: No. Where have you been recently?

00:18:46Jill: There's St. Peter's.

00:18:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, there's a bit of a mean thing.

00:18:51Jill: A couple of weeks out of Big Hill. And last week we were at Keme. Yeah, yes. And that was like rolling up and down. They call it undulating, but I call it hilly.

00:18:59Oliver Spake: It's nothing but undulation, yes.

00:19:01Jill: You weren't going up, you were going down.

00:19:03Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, yeah, that's right. Well, congratulations on the fast time. And I'm very impressed to see Harry's tricks here. Harry's a bit of a celebrity.

00:19:13Jill: He is, he's on Running Mums Australia site often and sometimes I put him on Australian Tourist.

00:19:20Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah.

00:19:22Jill: Facebook.

00:19:23Oliver Spake: No, and look, I think Harry's tricks are quite impressive. He was just answering some questions before.

00:19:29Jill: Harry? Harry? Harry, do you like parkrun? That's good. Thank you.

00:19:31[other]

00:19:35Oliver Spake: That sounds like a resounding yes. Yeah. No, thank you, Jill. Thank you, Ollie.

00:19:40Jill: Thank you, Harry. Nice to talk to you today.

00:19:41Oliver Spake: And you. So I'm here with Rachel, the Event Director for Greenway parkrun.

00:19:47Rachel: Yeah, good morning.

00:19:48Oliver Spake: Thank you for... Thanks for having me, first of all.

00:19:51Rachel: Oh, it's... Yeah, beautiful day for a run, isn't it? Yeah. And our shiny new course at Greenway.

00:19:57Oliver Spake: Yes. So you were just explaining there's been a bit of work done on the Greenway course.

00:20:01Rachel: Yeah, well, I was saying, I don't want to say lucky, but with the COVID shutdown, uh that's when the council was digging up the course and in I I actually don't know what we would have done um along the way because yes yeah there were months and months and months of a muddy um path with uh tractors parked on it yeah yeah but anyway it's all um wider flatter no tree roots sticking through so it's good

00:20:31Oliver Spake: It's fantastic. I can't think of a single incline in the course. Yeah, they've done a good job there.

00:20:37Rachel: And I definitely think the word's got out around the Sydney running groups because there's definitely some very fast people coming along.

00:20:46Oliver Spake: I think so, yeah. I was just chatting to a few before who were saying that they almost attempted the world record here instead of Parramatta. Oh, right.

00:20:54Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:20:54Oliver Spake: Back when Lauren Reid broke the female parkrun record.

00:20:59Rachel: Yeah.

00:20:59Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah. And so how's things been since the return after COVID for the event and the team?

00:21:06Rachel: We went straight back, back as soon as we were allowed to and um council were really supportive we got our paperwork through really quickly and uh this year we also did a Christmas parkrun which we haven't done before yeah yeah I was really pleased to do that oh that's fantastic I mean a lot of events you know weren't able or didn't choose to do it so how was Christmas for parkrun agreement yeah no it was a We didn't have a, I think we had about 140, so it was a really nice turnout and I just thought with such a strange year, it was a nice thing to be able to offer people. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, Christmas, particularly in Sydney, was quite disrupted with the Northern Beaches outbreak. Well and truly. Yeah, it was good to have a little shining light. Positivity. Yeah. Yeah.

00:21:54Oliver Spake: And so how long have you been Event Director here?

00:21:57Rachel: Since we started it. Launched it, yes. So we just had our third birthday. Yes, yes.

00:22:02Oliver Spake: Happy birthday Greenway and the team.

00:22:04Rachel: Yeah, yeah.

00:22:05Oliver Spake: And what got you into parkrun?

00:22:08Rachel: Um... I think I just love the community nature of it. I'm a nutritionist, so I'm all about public health and, you know, making it accessible and easy to people. So, yeah, and when I just see, you know, 250-odd people out on a Saturday morning, it just makes me feel really happy, yeah.

00:22:30Oliver Spake: It's lovely to see, and obviously you've got a good crowd of regulars here. Yeah, exactly, yeah. Very welcoming.

00:22:35Rachel: Yeah, yeah, and lots of locals volunteer, so...

00:22:39Andrew: Yeah, it's good.

00:22:40Oliver Spake: Yeah. No, look, thank you very much. Any other sort of parkrun highlights on the horizon? Any plans coming up, local or visiting other parkruns?

00:22:50Rachel: Just slow and steady would be good at the moment. We don't want any surprises. That's right.

00:22:56Oliver Spake: That's right. I'd say stability, but I don't want to jinx you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's what we like. No. Well, all the best. Thank you again for having me.

00:23:04Rachel: Oh, thanks for having me on the podcast.

00:23:05Oliver Spake: And thanks for, yeah, having a fantastic parkrun here.

00:23:08Rachel: Thank you.

00:23:09Oliver Spake: That's all from me today. It's another fantastic parkrun morning wrapped up, back on the tram, back to the city.

Roving report Alison Fraser — Puarenga

00:23:17Alison Fraser (King): So I'm with Dave, who's the Event Director down at Greytown Woodside Trail parkrun. And we're at Puarenga parkrun or Puarenga Not parkrun today because there are no parkruns in New Zealand. But Dave was coming up for an event that's also been postponed and we've just done a freedom lap, one lap of the Puarenga course. So how was that this morning, Dave?

00:23:38Dave White: oh that was beautiful the weather's nice there's no rain um it's really nice course very dramatic lots of different terrain um I wish I'd have done it as a parkrun today but not parkrun works too oh you got a bit of a guided tour really a guided tour yeah I might have got lost without the Event Director so thank you for that and what did you think to the steam oh the steam is great um it feels like you're on another world really well that's how a lot of people have described us

00:24:06Alison Fraser (King): So tell us about your home parkrun, Dave, because I probably won't get down there to profile it for the podcast because it's a bit of a drive.

00:24:13Dave White: Well, yeah, it is a bit long distance from here. So our home parkrun is in Wairarapa in the little town of Greytown. And it's on what used to be a rail trail. So there's a rail line that goes from Wellington to Masterton. And there used to be a spur line from Greytown out to Woodside, which is this tiny little hamlet, outside of Greytown and that's where we start the parkrun and then we run two and a half k's down what used to be the the railway line which is now a trail and then we turn around and come back and what we don't tell people if they're the first time doing it is that it's really nice and fast downhill going out and then it's a really sort of challenging slight uphill on the way back because a railway line you can do that But it's really nice and scenic, lots of views of hills, sometimes we have cows who visit us on the course, are very nosy and want to know what all these runners are doing early on a Saturday morning and that sort of thing, but it's a really nice rural place and we get visitors who tell us that they would like to come back.

00:25:19Alison Fraser (King): I loved my visit down, it was August the 1st last year I went to Greytown to do my 50th different event, so my Cowell run. You did a Cowell! Yes, specifically for the cows.

00:25:30Dave White: Nice, and the cows were there.

00:25:31Alison Fraser (King): Yes, they did not disappoint.

00:25:33Dave White: That's right, we got a little decal for you to wear I think as well, had the cow signs at the start in that. Oh that was great, that's right, I remember that, nice.

00:25:41Alison Fraser (King): And it's one of the smaller events in New Zealand which is really awesome for getting to know like everyone who's at your parkrun, I suppose.

00:25:50Dave White: Yes, we do have a smallish crowd and we average 40 to 50. Our highest has been 81 so far, but we find that two thirds of our people then go to the cafe afterwards. So we've sort of built this nice community as well. So that's been really rewarding.

00:26:06Alison Fraser (King): Going to the Offering, that's the name of the cafe, was a highlight for me. I think we were there for two hours.

00:26:10Dave White: We were. We had a great chat. A couple of coffees I think were had and some breakfast. But yeah, they've been really good for us. It's a big space inside and there's this massive table in the middle that they reserve for us every week. So we routinely bring 30, 40 people there on a Saturday morning. So they like us. Donuts.

00:26:28Alison Fraser (King): Yeah, they do doughnuts there.

00:26:29Dave White: They do doughnuts as well. They're really good. Yes. Yeah.

00:26:33Alison Fraser (King): And I know that you were one of the originals at Lower Hutt's very first parkrun.

00:26:39Dave White: I was their very first parkrun in New Zealand, number one, in Lower Hutt. I used to live over there, and so that's where we started. And there was quite a competition for a while, and I think the one person did 19 in a row before missing one. So, yeah, it started there in 2012. I read about it in the newspaper and just decided to show up. And it's been a life-changing experience. It's just amazing. You can turn up and not pay anything and get a timed result. It's awesome.

00:27:10Alison Fraser (King): You only got your 100 quite recently.

00:27:12Dave White: Well, yeah, I got to 50 very quickly. And then I moved over the hill into Wairarapa and became an Event Director. And you don't run when you do that. So I did get to my 100 just a couple of weeks ago. So, yeah, that was quite an achievement. I'm very proud of that. Yep.

00:27:28Alison Fraser (King): Well, congratulations on that.

00:27:30Dave White: Thank you.

00:27:30Alison Fraser (King): Now, one thing I know that the pod listeners like to hear is a top three of parkruns that you've run at. So let's hear your top three.

00:27:39Dave White: Well, the home one has to be number one. So Greytown, I think, is number one. Lower Hutt is a close second because I've done it, I think, 67 times. So that's the one I've done the most, obviously, because I started there. It has its own challenges. There's a lot of wind that comes off the river, so that usually you run back into a headwind so they call it the parkrun northerly because you're going back to the north at the finish and I would say Taupo is number three I haven't done your parkrun officially but Taupo is really pretty around the lake so I would say those are my top three I have done one in the UK but not Bushy Park so which one did you do there I did Horsham okay yeah that's nice it's in a reserve and you do three laps on that um I would say flaxmere would be a close fourth though I really like um the park that flaxmere is in the trees are really welcoming and the people there are just amazing

00:28:30Alison Fraser (King): Well, we'll have to get you back here when parkrun's on officially so you can put us in your top three.

00:28:35Dave White: Absolutely. You would definitely be in the top three. This landscape is just amazing.

00:28:39Alison Fraser (King): Cool. Well, thanks for your time, Dave.

00:28:40Dave White: Oh, thanks, Alison. Cheers.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Batemans Bay parkrun

00:28:44Mark Scarborough: Hello, parkrun adventurers. This is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. And today we are at Batemans Bay parkrun. We come here every year for the Canberra Day Long Weekend with... rest of Canberra to visit the south coast and yeah, so we're at Batemans Bay parkrun and today is event number 209 and on average they have 62 and a half parkrunners each week but I expect some big numbers today here with a lot of tourists from Canberra for the long weekend. They've got an average finish time of 31.14. This parkrun runs along the water's edge, it's like a double out and back course but We'll go have a run and have a chat to a few of the other parkrunners that are here today. Got Graeme here at the finish line at Batemans Bay. How was your run?

00:29:34Graeme: Pretty good. I've been over for a wedding and I think I've celebrated the wedding a bit too hard. But no, it was a really good run. Nice and flat. Yeah, no, really liked it. Really enjoyed it. It was great.

00:29:45Mark Scarborough: First time at Batemans Bay?

00:29:46Graeme: Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, first time out this way for sure. Yeah, no, it was really good. Everyone's pretty welcoming too.

00:29:53Mark Scarborough: That's just parkrun for you, isn't it?

00:29:54Graeme: Yeah, it is.

00:29:55Mark Scarborough: Where's home parkrun?

00:29:57Graeme: Wynyard in Tassie on the beautiful northwest coast. Yeah, we usually get about 40 runners roughly a week. We've got a beach section in our track, which is a bit more challenging, but I love it. Yeah, it's great.

00:30:11Mark Scarborough: Have you got out and done many other parkruns in Tasmania?

00:30:14Graeme: Yeah, I've done about eight, I think. It's my goal this year to do them all, to get around them all and just have a look and meet all the different people and that. Yeah, I've done a few around Australia. Yeah, it's a great, great thing. I really love it.

00:30:29Mark Scarborough: Without naming your home parkrun in your top three, which would be your top three parkruns?

00:30:34Graeme: Definitely be Albert Park in Victoria around the lake. Risdon Brook in southern Tassie. I did another one in Adelaide. I think it was Glenelg. That was nice too. Very similar to this. Run along the sea beside the marina and that. Yeah, it's very nice.

00:30:53Mark Scarborough: Well, thanks for having a chat. We might bump into you. We'll be in Tassie in a couple of weeks. So not sure which parkrun is exactly we're going to do yet, but yeah, we might see you down there.

00:31:01Graeme: No worries at all. Yep, come and see us. We'll welcome you with open arms.

00:31:05Mark Scarborough: All right, now I'm with Penny. Good morning, Penny.

00:31:07Penny: Hi, Mark. How are you going?

00:31:09Mark Scarborough: Good, thank you. So you're from Wagi Bridge parkrun as well. And what brought you to Batemans Bay today?

00:31:15Penny: We're camping up at Lake Tabourie with a few other families and we've actually brought all 12 of them down to parkrun with us today. Four of them brand new to parkrun and they've all had a lot of fun.

00:31:24Mark Scarborough: Well done bringing some more people into the parkrun family and I did turn around at one point and I saw half of Canberra here we all knew.

00:31:32Penny: Yeah it was strange running into people we knew.

00:31:34Mark Scarborough: It's not unusual at Batemans Bay though is it? Is this your first time here?

00:31:37Penny: It is actually yeah. We've not made it down to Batemans before.

00:31:41Mark Scarborough: And what did you think?

00:31:44Penny: I reckon it would be a good course to do a PB on. I had five kids with me, so it was fairly slow. Sprint finish once Dad took over. But yeah, it was a pretty course.

00:31:54Mark Scarborough: You're all holding hands the whole course. That's a pretty bit of a challenge.

00:31:58Penny: Yes, running with a five-year-old and a four-year-old. Yeah, it was fun.

00:32:04Mark Scarborough: Yeah, well, this course does, it's a PB for my wife, Nicole, and for young James. But no PB today, but that's all right. There's always another day. Last week, where were you last week?

00:32:14Penny: Dubbo last week. Yes, you remember. I've done a few different parkruns the last few weeks. Northparkes Oval, a couple of weeks before that for their second parkrun. Yep, what's what's your report on Parkes uh the course was a little bit long um it had been raining before we went so the mud was a bit slippery but I think I'm keen to go back and try it again it's at a better time and how did you find Dubbo it's that's a pretty it's pretty good course down by the river that was really pretty I was surprised because I assumed stupidly that being by the river meant it was going to be flat. And as soon as I arrived and they showed us around, you could quite quickly see that it wasn't quite as flat, but it was a good run nonetheless.

00:33:01Mark Scarborough: Do you have any plans for tourism next week?

00:33:04Penny: I'm Run Director at Wagi Bridge next week, so back to home.

00:33:08Mark Scarborough: Good, good to see you volunteering as well as the tourism. Yay for volunteers.

00:33:12Penny: Yep, keeps it ticking over.

00:33:15Mark Scarborough: That's it, it does. Yeah, we can't do parkrun without the volunteers. So if you're out there touristing, make sure you're putting your hand up and volunteering as well and consider volunteer tourism. All right, Penny, thank you. We'll see you back at home one day.

00:33:26Penny: See you then. Thanks, Mark.

00:33:30Mark Scarborough: All right, I'm with Tim now, who is the Run Director. Good morning, Tim. How are you?

00:33:33Tim: How are you, Mark? Yeah, good, thanks, mate.

00:33:35Mark Scarborough: It's a nice day down at Batemans Bay today for parkrun. How was it for you?

00:33:38Tim: brilliant day perfect conditions really yeah light wind the winds only just started to get up now so yeah the most of it was perfect running conditions so hence we saw a pretty quick first finisher I think he was 18 and a half minutes or something like that that's pretty quick there was a few few fast runners out there we had one of our local gun runners from Canberra who came in second place behind him so it's good to see oh yep yeah he looked pretty fit second place yeah yeah

00:34:02Mark Scarborough: It was a big Canberra contingent today for the Canberra Day long weekend, as we expected. How long have you been involved with Batemans Bay parkrun?

00:34:10Tim: Three years. Three years? Yeah. It would be the first six months as a participant and regular volunteer, and then probably two and a half years as Run Director slash ED now. Okay.

00:34:29Mark Scarborough: And what got you into parkrun in the first place?

00:34:32Tim: Ah yeah, good question. So it was a mother-in-law of mine who literally dragged me along to parkrun. And I just could never understand why people ran for enjoyment. I never understood why people just made a choice to go out and run. So that was me. I was never a runner. I couldn't fathom why people did it. But that was before I knew how good it was and before I actually gave it a go myself. So hence, she dragged me along with her and I went along with her. That was to Forster parkrun. And I ran it and from then on I was absolutely addicted to it and I still love running to this day three years after. So yeah, it was awesome. So that judgment of runners and why people do it, I fell right into. I know exactly why they do now. So I understand it from both perspectives. The sedentary perspective as to not understanding why people exercise so much or run so much, but I also understand it why You can have the other end of the spectrum of people who can get quite obsessed about it. There's no doubt about it as well. But I understand it from both perspectives, yeah.

00:35:40Mark Scarborough: Yeah, I think there can be a few obsessive people within parkrun with tourism and challenges. We might be some of those people, but that's okay.

00:35:48Tim: Absolutely. We need those types, that's for sure.

00:35:52Mark Scarborough: And so for our listeners, do you want to describe the Batemans Bay parkrun course for us?

00:35:56Tim: Yeah, fairly quick. If you want to break a PB, your 5k PB, it would be definitely, you'd be up for a chance of doing that here at this course. It's fairly level, predominantly concrete slash bitumen with a little grass section. The grass section is only fairly brief but it's all in all I'd say a quick course and along the water's edge, the ocean's edge, it's a very pleasant course as well with a great outlook. But, yeah, hit it on the right sunny day like we have today, and it's awesome for both runners and walkers. But, yeah, I think I might be a little bit biased, but it's pretty good. It's quite a good course. Yeah, I think so.

00:36:49Mark Scarborough: It is a good course, and if you're on the south coast in New South Wales, definitely recommend checking out Batemans Bay parkrun. Thank you much for your time, Tim, and thanks for parkrun today.

00:36:58Tim: Thank you, Mark. It's awesome what you do, and we really appreciate it, and I'm sure parkrun does also. Thank you. Thanks for your effort.

00:37:05Mark Scarborough: All right, parkrun adventurers, that's us done here at Batemans Bay. We're off to go find some breakfast and coffee. We'll talk to you next time on the parkrun adventurers podcast.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — SS Koopa Trail parkrun

00:37:17Lyndell Murray: G'day, parkrun adventurers. It's Lyndell here, and today I am checking in from the nearly new, but not quite new, SS Koopa Trail parkrun. This parkrun is located on Bribie Island, on the shores of the Pumicestone Passage. Pumicestone Passage runs between Bribie Island and the mainland of Queensland and we're in the Moreton Bay region which is about an hour or so, an hour and a bit's drive north of Brisbane. Now there is quite a crowd gathering here I said that it is not quite brand new, but relatively new. I am at parkrun number seven, no, number eight for SS Koopa Trail parkrun. You got it. I'm here for the Wilson Index. I'm hoping that one day the informant might mention me, but who knows when that will be. I'm going to check in, do the parkrun and talk to some people later on. Alrighty, just in after finishing SS Koopa Trail parkrun. That is really a mouthful, isn't it? So I'm here with a gang from Bribie on the Run. What's your names? Hilary Rose. Sarah Moyle. Mel Stewart.

00:38:30Dave White: Richard Figueroa.

00:38:32Lyndell Murray: Now, tell me about Bribie on the Run. What's the story there?

00:38:36Unidentified speaker: We're just a like-minded group of people, both men and women, that enjoyed running. So we thought we should run together because that would be more encouraging. So hence, just Bribie on the Run came about one day after a few runs and a few rums.

00:38:52Lyndell Murray: I was going to ask about rum because on your shirts you've got Bribie on the rum with an exclamation mark after it. No, no, no, that's Bribie on the run. On the run with an exclamation mark. But it looks surprisingly like Bribie on the rum. Is that a, you know... Happy coincidence or was it planned that way?

00:39:12Unidentified speaker: Happy coincidence, definitely.

00:39:15Lyndell Murray: All right, so you guys have been running here at SS Koopa since it started. Have you been to any other parkruns? I've been to, yeah, Ocean View and North Harbour, Central Lakes, Redcliffe, yep, North Lakes. So a few... Maleny. Maleny.

00:39:31Unidentified speaker: Maleny was a great run, yes.

00:39:33Lyndell Murray: Oh, haven't been there yet. Okay, so I'm going to put somebody on the spot here. Does somebody want to name their top three that isn't their home parkrun?

00:39:42Unidentified speaker: Ocean View, Nambour and... Let's say Redcliffe. So two hilly ones, one flat one? That's right.

00:39:52Lyndell Murray: I don't mind a hilly parkrun.

00:39:55Unidentified speaker: My home's at Bunyaville, so... Oh, look, it keeps it interesting. It's different from flat Bribie, so something different, yeah.

00:40:03Lyndell Murray: It's a pretty nice course here, though, along the Pumicestone Passage. On a clear day, it's a bit cloudy today, but on a clear day you'd get a view of the Glasshouse Mountains? You do, yes, yeah it's beautiful yeah and the bridge and the water yeah really pretty yeah and Moreton Island out there across the bay so I'm like not sure what else to ask you what else would you like to tell me about your home parkrun hey I've got a question who or what is SS Koopa

00:40:32Unidentified speaker: That's a big question, isn't it? SS Koopa used to be the barge that come across when the bridge wasn't here.

00:40:39Lyndell Murray: Oh, someone knows. OK, so there is a bridge between the mainland and Bribie Island, but before that there was SS Koopa. Excellent.

00:40:47Unidentified speaker: And the path is SS Koopa along the front here. Yeah. Excellent.

00:40:53Lyndell Murray: Well, that's really nice, isn't it? A bit of local history. All right. Well, thank you guys for talking to me on the parkrun adventurers podcast. I hope you get a bit more adventuring in. Enjoy your parkrunning.

00:41:03Penny: Thank you.

00:41:06Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, now I've found a couple of likely ladies from the Bribie Island Roadrunners and Walkers Club. So locals here, what's your name? Debbie. And I'm Cathy. And you were here at SS Koopa Trail parkrun, but this is not your first rodeo. How did you get into parkrun and what's your parkrun story? I started at Kawana, so I know Mel.

00:41:29Unidentified speaker: Oh, awesome. Hey, Mel. And then we moved to Bribie, so we all got together and wanted to get one for Bribie. Yeah, we do a lot off Bribie. We just all meet, carpool and go to different ones each week.

00:41:44Unidentified speaker: Okay, and? And I was part of the Bribie Island Road Runners and Walkers Club. And Kevin and Elaine would continually tell us about the brilliant parkruns happening around the place. And I then decided to carpool with them. And I have visited many on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane. And I got hooked. Love it. Look, I tell you what, there's worse things to be hooked on than parkrun, isn't there?

00:42:13Unidentified speaker: Yeah, no.

00:42:15Unidentified speaker: I love to, you know, see my times each week and try and make sure I beat those times every week. Yeah, motivating.

00:42:24Lyndell Murray: Okay, now you've both done a bit of adventuring. Apart from your home parkruns, so you're not allowed to mention Kawana or SS Koopa, okay, can you give me a top three of your favourite parkruns?

00:42:37Unidentified speaker: Oh, I can definitely. Ocean View Estates at Mount Mee, even though it's hilly and very hard, I just love the scenery while you're running. The other one that I really love is actually North Harbour parkrun, where you run along the Caboolture River in with the cows. And the third one is actually... It's down along the Brisbane River. New Farm? Yeah. Yeah, New Farm. It's along the Brisbane River again. The scenery. Yeah. And the people. I always love all the people I talk to.

00:43:16Lyndell Murray: Yeah. Me too. It's one of the things about parkrun, isn't it, where it's not – it's really fun if you just start chatting to someone. It's one of the really lovely things about parkrun, isn't it? Yeah. Okay, over to you for your top three.

00:43:30Unidentified speaker: I do love Nambour and Glasshouse Conservation. I love that one as well. That's really relaxing. It's beautiful. It's gorgeous, just the scenery. And probably Maleny. I want to get back up to Maleny one. That was nice as well. Just in the bush there, it's nice. Fantastic. Maleny's on my list.

00:43:47Lyndell Murray: I haven't been there yet. Yeah. All right. And so we've talked a little bit about the community. How would you guys say the community is here at SS Koopa? I know it's only a new parkrun, but do you feel it building here? It's great. Yeah, I think so, don't you?

00:44:02Unidentified speaker: Yeah, very friendly. Very friendly. The best community I think I've met.

00:44:08Lyndell Murray: Better than you're running and walking for?

00:44:15Unidentified speaker: Oh, it's a bit of both, isn't it? Everyone's here. Well, mostly.

00:44:21Unidentified speaker: No, it's nice to meet new people and also have your friends that we already know. But, yeah, it's lovely, actually, because each time you run, you do, you chat to other people and, yeah, hear about other runs and people's lives. Yeah.

00:44:39Lyndell Murray: Absolutely. That's so great. Well, thank you so much, ladies, for chatting to me on the parkrun adventurers. Nice to meet old friends as well as meet new friends on the podcast. Fantastic. And keep enjoying your running. Thank you very much. Alrighty, I have finally tracked down the Event Director and today's Run Director. Just introduce yourself. Elaine Rogers.

00:45:03Colin Hatfield: Colin Hatfield.

00:45:04Lyndell Murray: Now, Colin, first time in the RD vest today.

00:45:07Colin Hatfield: Yes, it was a baptism of fire, but it was good fun.

00:45:11Lyndell Murray: You're still smiling.

00:45:12Colin Hatfield: Yes, I know. It's a grimace. No, it was good fun. I really enjoyed it, actually. That's great.

00:45:20Elaine Rogers: So, Elaine, how many runs... Do we want to tell him the bad news? Because he hasn't set the results up yet, so that's still to come. So he hasn't got a pass mark yet? Not yet.

00:45:29Colin Hatfield: Okay. 150%.

00:45:30Lyndell Murray: Oh, I'm sure you can turn that around. There's still a job. I believe in you.

00:45:35Unidentified speaker: Oh, that's great.

00:45:36Lyndell Murray: All right. Yes. All right, so this is good news. You've got another run directed at. How is the event team going here at SS Koopa Trail parkrun?

00:45:45Elaine Rogers: Really, really good. We've had a lot of support from the Bribie Island Roadrunners and Walkers Club. Probably without them, we couldn't have got it off the ground to start with and kept it running. They have multiple blue shirts here every week, which is great. So, yeah, thank you to all them. And we're slowly getting new people in, so... Fantastic.

00:46:05Lyndell Murray: Well, you're only eight weeks old. That's right, yes. Got a long way to go yet. A long way to go. So, tell us about the course here and the journey to get this parkrun set up.

00:46:17Elaine Rogers: Well, with the walking group, the Bribie Island group, we... had a discussion and we started going off the island on a Saturday to do different parkruns and people kept saying we should have one on the island we should have one on the island so my husband and I Kevin we decided okay we'll get it started and everybody chipped in and helped out um Then it was just a bit hard getting the course because on the island we have lots of roads, we have lots of boat ramps so that's why it's a two course lap along the passage which we think is pretty spectacular and a lovely spot to go for a swim after you run.

00:46:53Lyndell Murray: so yeah I would agree it is a lovely spot um it's a bit cloudy today but normally you'd have a beautiful view of the glasshouse mountains which is absolutely spectacular on any given day and then you get the bridge the other you turn the other way you've got the bridge so I think you've got the best of the island right here yeah it's it really is a lovely course so well done on picking this now all this venturing off the island pre parkrun on Bribie Island tell us some stories about your adventures

00:47:23Elaine Rogers: Well, my husband and I are originally from Melbourne. We've been up here for three years. So while we were living in Melbourne, we used to do the Maribyrnong parkrun. That was our home base. But we also travelled quite a bit with our slide-on camper. So we made sure every Friday night we were somewhere where there was a parkrun the next day. Yes. So multitudes. We've done beach. We've done bush. We've done trail. We've done path and grass. Yeah, so we've done quite a bit. We take our dog with us each week. Yes. And she just loves it. So, yeah, we've really enjoyed our journey with parkrun. All right.

00:47:59Lyndell Murray: So can you name for me your top three parkruns that are not your home parkrun?

00:48:06Elaine Rogers: Top three. I'd have to say Shellharbour would have to be one of my favourite. Oh, there you go, Ollie. That's bush, beach, grass, hills. And a track. And a track, a bit of everything. Really enjoy Nambour. Go up and have a talk to Fluffy and see how she's going or he's going. Oh, what would be the third one? It's tough, isn't it?

00:48:30Lyndell Murray: It's really hard to just put you on the spot. Anybody else like to chip in a third one or their own top three?

00:48:36Colin Hatfield: I like the Glasshouse Mountains one. That's one of our favourites. That's a great one. Really is nice. North Harbour's great. So if you like the cross-country kind of thing, that's really good. I come first there, so that's why I like it, and then probably Caboolture, Caboolture's good it's just a hard run in the heat but no that'd be my top three

00:48:58Lyndell Murray: That's the one. What's the name of the one at Caboolture? It's not called Caboolture, is it? Central Lakes.

00:49:02Colin Hatfield: Central Lakes, yes. Yeah, but that's a good one.

00:49:05Elaine Rogers: Petrie's really good because Petrie has the shade and it has some really tough hills. Just when you think you've finished the hills, you get another one thrown in right at the end. I think they refer to them as mounds of opportunity at Petrie. Is that what it is? Yeah. I didn't feel like that at the time. Yeah, but it's good. There's a lot of great ones around, and even some of the ones in Victoria. We enjoyed Shepparton while we were down there, which is around the lake. They're all very scenic, and I think that the organisers at every parkrun really look at the site that they're going to place them on, and everyone's done a fantastic job. We did one in... Germany no stockholm we did a parkrun in stockholm fantastic and that was a great you know great experience to do one overseas so yeah it's just a fantastic event concept yeah concept um love being able to go anywhere in the world and just just and still get registered you know yeah you take your barcode anywhere have barcode will travel and And everybody is so friendly. It doesn't matter, you know, the volleys, the people there. You can stop and talk to anybody. And we wear our club shirts. So everyone says, oh, you're from Bribie Island, you know. So that's really a good thing too.

00:50:23Lyndell Murray: Thank you so much for everything that you've done for parkrun, for SS Koopa Trail parkrun. That's right, isn't it? SS Koopa Trail parkrun. Yeah. Oh, gosh, yes. I did get the story. SS Koopa was the barge that used to cross Pumicestone Passage, so well named. Thank you very much, and hopefully I'll be back here again another time. Thank you.

00:50:47Unidentified speaker: That'd be great. You're always welcome. Yes.

00:50:50Melissa Ellis: And it was great to hear from you, Ollie, at Greenway parkrun, plus Alison from, where was Alison from? She was doing a Freedom Run at Puarenga.

00:51:04Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:51:05Melissa Ellis: With Dave White.

00:51:06Oliver Spake: Yeah, so a bit of New Zealand parkrun royalty and the EDs out there making the most of a weekend without parkrun in New Zealand. Once again, won't say anything further except I hope it was a nice not parkrun.

00:51:21Melissa Ellis: No, it was good to hear from Dave. I enjoyed that. And he gave his top three in New Zealand. Which were Greytown, Lower Hutt and Taupo? Taupo?

00:51:35Oliver Spake: Taupo. I'd always pronounced it or read it as Taupo, which, you know, would be stunning around that lake. I still think any parkrun in New Zealand would be fantastic. But I'm really curious about, you know, Greytown as well after that. So the list keeps growing.

00:51:50Melissa Ellis: And we had Marvellous Mark coming to us from Batemans Bay for the Canberra Day long weekend, and it sounds like there was an inundation of Canberrans in the area, Ollie.

00:52:05Oliver Spake: Well and truly, and many holding hands, which was lovely to hear. And Lyndell at SS Koopa Trail, which I'd actually been quite curious around where that particular name came from.

00:52:17Melissa Ellis: I know. It was the barge that went across before the bridge was built, Ollie. Is that correct?

00:52:23Oliver Spake: That's right. And what was it called? The Pumicestone Passage?

00:52:27Melissa Ellis: Oh, you're telling me.

00:52:28Oliver Spake: No, some fascinating history there. And I looked up the pictures there. It looks like another beautiful location as well. So, yeah, look, thank you, everyone, for those roving reports.

00:52:43Melissa Ellis: I know. Great.

Dazza's CafeSaturday morning online cafe post

00:52:44Melissa Ellis: And we really appreciate them all. But hey, Ollie, we surprised everybody this week with our Saturday morning post. We had our online cafe launch.

00:52:57Oliver Spake: Yeah, which was nice being off, you know, having coffee and then something other than coffee, my not coffee. Afterwards, it was nice to connect with some other parkrunners adventuring around at Dazza's Cafe.

00:53:10Melissa Ellis: Yes, Dazza's Cafe. So Daryl was so popular through my Alice Pellis not parkruns, through the parkrun pause episode. And he just sat and looked so forlorn, like he was really missing out on parkrun, the parkrun fun. So he just needed to be involved. He is now the face of our Saturday morning parkrun cafe.

00:53:35Oliver Spake: Oh, and he makes a pretty mean piccolo too. So thanks, Dazza. I won't lie, usually it's a bucket of a latte for me, but Dazza is leading me down the right path of trying the skinny piccolo instead. As always, he had the fashion sense too.

00:53:52Melissa Ellis: Yes, somebody asked me about his background. He's, what do you call it, Ollie?

00:53:59Oliver Spake: Do you mean to say Dazza's ethnicity?

00:54:02Melissa Ellis: Yes, his ethnicity. But really, the moustache, I mean, hello, they're quite trendy these days, the moustache. You've got to admit.

00:54:11Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:54:12Melissa Ellis: So it's just him being a hipster barista.

00:54:16Oliver Spake: Yeah, absolutely. I think it goes totally with the pinstripes too. So I'll have to take a bit of fashion tip from Dazza there.

00:54:23Melissa Ellis: So I can explain to everybody the idea behind our Saturday morning post is that there would be a lot of people out there that don't have the benefit of being able to go after parkrun to the cafe because you might have to race home to take over carer's duties for the kids. You might have to race off to work. You might have kids sporting activities and you just can't go to the cafe. But wherever you are, you might be able to jump on your phone and connect with us in an online format. So come and tell us how your morning was, engage with us in our online cafe.

00:55:03Oliver Spake: And let us know your coffee order too, even. So whether it's a photo from your parkrun or your (not)parkrun in this case, or exactly that, if it's a picture of your coffee, it's just nice to connect and nice to share in a bit of that post-parkrun hangout that is always nice at a cafe.

00:55:22Melissa Ellis: Yeah, just some of that post-parkrun chat that you might not necessarily get to do in a real sense, but we can help out with an online sense.

00:55:32Oliver Spake: I found it quite handy. Certainly we heard from a lot of parkruns, so there were about a dozen or so parkruns and a couple of not parkruns. Mel that we heard from, good to see the picture from Puarenga there from our roving report crew and also the parkrun that didn't happen at the Beaches.

00:55:50Melissa Ellis: Oh, the beaches. They had a boat on course. Now, that might have to be the most unusual. I don't know how you rate the most unusual cancellations, Ollie, but when I saw Peter Pohlman share the photo of the reason for their cancellation, which was a boat beached in the middle of their course, I thought, wow.

00:56:13Oliver Spake: that's unique you wouldn't want to be that boat owner but clearly they've had a rough trot at The Beaches we we hope that they can uh they can have a bit no I'm not going to say it actually I was going to say a little more consistency of their you know their course no stand down stand down But also the essential sausage roll photo as well. So good to hear the reports of some of the different food for post-parkrun and indeed the elements.

00:56:49Melissa Ellis: Chris Fraser, he gave a fabulous report. So I jumped over to the Aussie Tourism Group and saw the report that Chris did earlier, for Pioneer Dairy was it yes that was a fabulous report he had some wonderful photos that gave a really good insight into what the course was like plus you know Chris is known for his post parkrun the bakery report yeah that that's what we're thinking of thank you Ollie Chris loves his bakeries and he loves his sausage rolls and lamingtons so always good to hear from Chris in that respect

00:57:28Oliver Spake: Lovely to hear from you all and keep sharing. I've picked up a few tips, you know, the pram-friendly parkruns and where we can find chickens. So I think we're going to keep finding out a lot, Mel.

00:57:41Melissa Ellis: That's the plan.

00:57:43Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:57:43Melissa Ellis: Come back next weekend. The cafe is going to be open.

00:57:45Oliver Spake: That's right. Just dial up Dazza and, yeah, we'll see you all on parkrun Day, hopefully, at the cafe.

00:57:52Melissa Ellis: And it was the weekend for International Women's Day, Ollie. Yes.

00:57:57Oliver Spake: It was. And look, we're even recording this on International Women's Day. So how fitting and happy International Women's Day, Mel. But more so, thank you as the, I think, the driving force behind this podcast. I think this particular podcast, actually, now that I mention it, has been very fortunate to have some incredible women at its helm and part of the Channel 5 News crew and part of the wider family. Yeah, it was nice to see some acknowledgement at parkrun across the country, certainly, and beyond for International Women's Day and to show some acknowledgement.

00:58:35Melissa Ellis: Thanks, Ollie. I certainly see myself as the custodian for the podcast. Obviously, the fabulous Mel Erbacher has... made all the groundwork for this wonderful podcast and has graciously entrusted it to us. And we take our hat off to Mel. We hope Mel had a wonderful International Women's Day herself.

00:59:01Oliver Spake: On that note, certainly extend that acknowledgement and thanks to all of the great women of parkrun I know I can certainly thank a lot of of the event team at Shellharbour and all of my other park friends out there in the parkrun world for everything that they do lots of fabulous women involved in parkrun Ollie but someone who's not a female I don't know how how do we throw from here to the informant I'm not sure there's a natural segue except to say that we're pretty sure he's not a woman much to his disadvantage perhaps.

00:59:37Melissa Ellis: Much mystery surrounds the identity of the informant.

00:59:40Oliver Spake: That's right. So I think it's time now we catch up with our regular source of the parkrun facts that you may have missed. Let's catch up with the informant.

00:59:51[20 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

the Informant

01:00:11the Informant: 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 was one event launched this week, Cascades on Clyde Wetlands in Victoria. However, with New Zealand under lockdown, all other stats are down. We had 429 runs held worldwide, 385 were in Australia, the remainder taking place in Japan, Russia and the Falkland Islands. Down under, we had 46,862 runners out of 48,271 worldwide. We had 7633 PBs, while 2143 people participated for the first time. 200 reached their 50 milestone, 118 reached their 100 milestone, and 14 people reached their 250 milestone.

Statesmen update

01:01:07the Informant: We have 10 new statespeople this week. In the ACT, we have Philip Hogland, Michael Smith, Brian Thomas, who ran at Coombs, Mount Ainslie and Gungahlin, respectively. While at Wagi Bridge, we have Tracy Scarlett-Arundel, Neil Hewitt, Chris Gammon, Hilary Caldwell and Ricky Somerville. We have one new Northern Territorian, Roger Hinton, who ran at Darwin. In Tasmania we have Brendan Peel who ran at Whitemark Wharf. Brendan is currently the only parkrunner to hold statesmanship in three states, with the others being ACT and Northern Territory. The biggest movers on the Most Aussie New Zealand Events list are Tony Caglioni, Bruce Flaherty and Gary Light who jumped 11 spots from being ranked 204 to 193. In the top 20, there is a bit of shuffling. Last week's three-way tie for 18th is broken as Robin Richworth ran at Fairpark Reserve to be 18th outright, dropping Brendan and Janine Sellers to 19th. The two-way tie for 14th is now a two-way tie for 13th, with Tony Jennings moving up one to draw level with Kathleen Wallington, leaving Neil Schultz down one in 15th. Alan Burrell moves up one to 9th after running Gayndah River Walk, Gary Nisbet drops from equal 8th to be equal 9th with Alan, and Aaron Hardy drops from equal 6th to 7th. Phew. Biggest Wilson mover of the week is Ian Kraska, who increased his index from 27 to 109. A huge move of 82. Last week's Cowpub stats caused a bit of hurt over ACTWay. It seems that there is actually a member down that way. So they are on one and par with New Zealand. Except not par, because New Zealand is nice, with hobbits and stuff, or the ACT is too hot, unless it's too cold, and it's always too dry. It wouldn't even exist if New South Wales didn't have to give up a bit of land for federation. But I digress. Michael Charlton is in fact an ACT runner with Tuggeranong registered as his home. The reason for this mix-up is that there is no way to get a person's nominated home run from parkrun pages. For my stats, I use the parkrun that someone has attended the most. In Michael's case, he had 107 events at 107 different locations. Because he has attended all the events just the once, the first one he attended was the one that is used, which happened to be in New South Wales. Fix for next time. Sorry, not sorry. Getting on. Another listener question. This time Jack Cork will ask, who has run the most parkruns without completing stopwatch bingo? Well Jack, this is very interesting. I'm just using Australian New Zealand runners here. The fastest we've had to call bingo is 114. The slowest is 404. The average number of runs taken is 220. Of course, the theoretical probable average is 280. This indicates that there may be a bit of fudging and waiting at the finish line for the numbers to come up. The informant doesn't like that idea, but of course it's up to the individual, and no harm is done either way. If you tend to look at those stats in more detail, they can be found on my blog at theinformant.me. That's the informant, all one word, dot m e. This has been the informant, and my spreadsheet is bigger than yours.

01:04:31Melissa Ellis: And thanks, as usual, from the informant. ACT is copping the sass this week, Ollie.

01:04:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, that sass is back. And, well, was that a correction or an admission from the informant, Mel?

01:04:46Melissa Ellis: I'm not sure, but it's no coincidence that Michael Charlton was at Ted Scobie Oval with me this week and I ran with him. Ah. Definitely a really lovely man. I did interview Michael, at Mansfield Botanic parkrun in January of 2019 because I spotted him wearing his Ugly Christmas Singlet.

01:05:07Oliver Spake: Aha, yes. Yeah, unmistakable, isn't it?

01:05:10Melissa Ellis: It is. It's a really good way to spot the listeners. And I have to say that this week at Ted Scobie, Michael was there in his apricot parkrun shirt, which says, you know, they're apricots that we could have branded...

01:05:27Oliver Spake: The self-branded ones, yes, yeah. Yes, yes.

01:05:30Melissa Ellis: That's okay. So Michael says 100% parkrun adventurer.

01:05:35Oliver Spake: Nice. Well, look, Michael pops up everywhere, so I'm not surprised, and I'm very jealous. I long promised myself to get one, and I still haven't, Mel.

01:05:45Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and I had actually enjoyed to run part of the course with Michael and noticed that by the time he finished his parkrun, he wasn't wearing his apricot anymore. He'd whipped it off and underneath he had his fluffy version of the Ugly Christmas Singlet.

01:06:06Oliver Spake: So he did the mid-parkrun Superman outfit change? Ripped it off and there it is, fluffy.

01:06:14Melissa Ellis: Exactly. And as the informant did rightly point out, Michael has 107 different events from 107 parkruns. So he has not doubled up. It's quite an impressive feat.

01:06:28Oliver Spake: That's phenomenal. Well done, Michael. And look, obviously doing it in style. I will say, Mel, I was actually a little unsure as to which shirt to wear myself. I mean, it's a common parkrun problem when you start collecting all the shirts. So I really wish I'd heard that tip beforehand because I would have given it a go. In the end, I did opt for Fluffy, just incidentally, given it was Mardi Gras weekend, Mardi Gras day in Sydney. So I thought Fluffy just has a nice touch of rainbow. But that aside, I'm going to have to employ Michael's method on the shirts. That is a complete respect for the number of events. It's going to take me a long time to get to that.

01:07:07Melissa Ellis: Yes, and Michael had mentioned to me that when he can't get to a new event, he just volunteers. So that's also a really good idea.

01:07:16Oliver Spake: It's a nice way to contribute, certainly, and gives him a completely different flavour each time because volunteering gives you that access to everyone's parkrun day. Everyone that comes past you when you're volunteering, you get to share their parkrun. So that's a nice touch. Good idea. Yes. Now, you also volunteered at the weekend on Sunday, didn't you, Mel?

01:07:37Melissa Ellis: I did. Juniors. How was juniors? Okay, Abby came number 17 this week. She got a PB. Well done, Abby. I know. Oh, she was so cute. She came up, Mel, I was number 17. And I said, that's great, Abby. And she held out her little hand and showed me the grazes and she said, I fell over, Mel.

01:08:03Oliver Spake: Oh.

01:08:03Melissa Ellis: I know. And my heart kind of went, oh. She said, it's okay. I pushed through.

01:08:12Oliver Spake: So would this be Abby's first entry into the stack club, Mel?

01:08:15Melissa Ellis: It must be.

01:08:16Oliver Spake: I'm sure it wasn't a fantastic way to, you know, earn that particular accolade for her, but it sounds like she bounced back, hopefully not too literally.

01:08:26Melissa Ellis: And, you know, Ollie, I've got a feeling that we might have our first roving report not too far away from a Channel 2 news crew member, just quietly.

01:08:38Oliver Spake: Wow, branching out. I think there's a real opportunity there to hear some fantastic insights. I know what I've heard before, so I look forward to hearing it again.

01:08:52Melissa Ellis: Yeah, no, it was a beautiful day. I got down to Juniors to set up the course and with the approach of autumn here in Melbourne and the mornings are darker, so by the time I arrived there Down at the course, it was pre-dawn. I just love that pre-dawn time and the sky is just starting to filter through with its morning light and there was a twinge of colour in the sky, a bit of a sunrise and the forest was all calm and just, you know, there's nobody around. It's just a beautiful time of morning when I was going out and setting up the course. So the forest was...

01:09:38Oliver Spake: really peaceful. And there really is something about being in that moment. I mean, any day that that's a special moment where the light starts creeping through and you just have that sort of sense of peacefulness.

01:09:51Melissa Ellis: But, yeah, Ollie, that pre-dawn, that's just the most magical time of day as far as I'm concerned. You get sunset. You can get the same colours. You can get magnificent sunsets. But sunset can still have that hustle bustle. It's still a lot of people that are, you know, busy in there and around. But that time of morning, it's just such a quiet time. Before most people are up and about, it's just very peaceful. I really love it.

01:10:17Oliver Spake: Yeah, you and the birds.

01:10:19Melissa Ellis: Yeah, pretty much.

01:10:20Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:10:21Melissa Ellis: And some kangaroos.

01:10:23Oliver Spake: Ah, do we have roos on course?

01:10:25Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes, we have kangaroos down at Eynesbury. Lots of little bunny rabbits as well, plenty of birds. It's a protected environmental area, so it's teeming with natural wildlife. I don't profess to be able to name everything that's in the forest. I think there's some swallow-tailed somethings.

Sign-off

01:10:46Oliver Spake: It sounds like it was a nice morning. On that note, does that mean you'll be volunteering again at Juniors next weekend, Mel?

01:10:54Melissa Ellis: Yes, Ollie, I'll be there next week.

01:10:56Oliver Spake: I really do look forward to getting there one day. I have to tee up that trip to Melbourne. I know my sister has even mentioned that she's listened to the pod now, so now I've got no excuse.

01:11:05Melissa Ellis: Oh, really? What's her name?

01:11:06Oliver Spake: That's Lily. Hi, Lily. If you're still listening.

01:11:10Melissa Ellis: And you said last week that you've got a brother as well.

01:11:12Oliver Spake: Yeah, brothers and sisters all over the place. I've got a brother up not too far from Curl Curl parkrun and another one up in Darwin, actually. Yeah, a sister in Melbourne and a sister out in Cornwall. Well, pretty much on the border of Cornwall and is it Devon? I'm going to show my gap in the UK knowledge, so please correct me, which is a nice segue, in fact, Mel. If anyone would like to give me feedback on my UK parkrun geography or UK geography in general, please feel free to email through on the parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. I was going to say The Informant too, but, yeah, since we're here, he's got his own page. You know where to find him.

01:11:51Melissa Ellis: Yes, he's branching out, Ollie.

01:11:53Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:11:54Melissa Ellis: You can find him at theinformant.me.

01:11:56Oliver Spake: That's it.

01:12:01[music]

01:12:01Melissa Ellis: damn it is is Bambi winding us up now yeah it must be the outro music yes yeah there we are gone into a percussion theme he's telling me it's time for bed okay hurry up all right Bambi well look thank you Mel for another great week no worries Ollie I shall look forward to chatting to you again next week maybe you'll have another adventure who knows who knows

01:13:19Unidentified speaker: Thank you.