Episode 226 - Crackerjack

Welcome

00:00:21Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 226 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm joined by athlete number A1067880.

00:00:36Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. I should be quoting your athlete ID in return, but I haven't prepared that. So showing my true lack of preparation there.

00:00:45Melissa Ellis: That's because I like to surprise you, Ollie. You didn't know I was doing that.

00:00:48Oliver Spake: Not at all. I was ready to start quoting my password, though. The password always comes straight after quoting the ID. I must be logging in quite a lot. But look, thank you, Mel. Hello. How are you? I'm good. How was your weekend? My weekend was a bit more relaxed. than the previous weekend. It was a quieter one. It was good to be home, have some home time, had a hot parkrun day or a warm parkrun day. And then a really almost wintry feeling Sunday, I suppose, by comparison. So went into hibernation, which was kind of awesome.

00:01:21Melissa Ellis: That sounds good. I like a quiet parkrun weekend. I need one of those and I'm looking forward to one of those.

00:01:28Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. No, look, it was lovely. It was fantastic to be at home, you know, dust off the purple, throw it on and dust off the RD bib. Oh, no, not dust that one off. It's been well looked after in my absence, but good to be back. Good to be back with the Shellharbour family there and to see the familiar faces again was fantastic. I'd say an up and down parkrun day. We had a couple of your stock standards and a parkrun challenges here and there. But all in all, it was a lovely morning. Nice to welcome a few visitors. We had our volley roster struggling for a couple of volunteers later on. So I had Hannah jump in and help out. So she did the double job of the Marshal whilst being photographer.

00:02:13Melissa Ellis: Well done, Hannah. Good girl.

00:02:15Oliver Spake: Yeah, what would you do without good helpers like that, hey?

00:02:18Melissa Ellis: I know. Well attended this weekend, Ollie.

00:02:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's becoming a very average sort of sounding number, but 202 this week. And yeah, a couple of first finishes visiting our parkrun for the first time and we didn't lose them. So I take that as a success. That's a bonus? It's a bonus. No, that was quite nice. I think good to settle in. I don't know how you all do it. I mean, I have a lot of admiration for all of the adventurers out there. You've all inspired me. I have been trying, but I was tired. I had to get back.

00:02:51Melissa Ellis: And did you get to run this weekend though? You obviously gave up your Saturday morning to volunteer and thank you for doing that. But did you get out? Did you have another opportunity over the weekend to do your own run?

00:03:03Oliver Spake: Oh, thank you for asking. I did have another opportunity to have my own run. I mean, as I think I've mentioned, I'm training, but I didn't take that opportunity. I took hibernation a little too seriously. So yeah, seven weeks and counting, it's going to be an interesting seven weeks as we get closer to the big run.

00:03:23Melissa Ellis: Oh no, Ollie! So what's been your longest run so far?

00:03:27Oliver Spake: Well, it was the other week. So I did a, I've forgotten whether that was 34 or 35. 35. Yeah. So I guess, you know.

00:03:36Melissa Ellis: That's pretty good though. So like really, you're only looking at what, maybe you're doing a 38, something around there. One more run, mate. You're in.

00:03:46Oliver Spake: You've got these mind-blowingly incredible athletes out there that go and do ultra marathons and things like that. And one of our very own event team said to me, oh, look, you know, for a marathon, yeah, just go and do 34. As soon as you do 34 and a couple of long runs around like that, you'll be right. So, hey, I'm done. I'm done early.

00:04:05Melissa Ellis: How many weeks out from the event are you?

00:04:10Oliver Spake: Yeah, no, no. I'm not that delusional.

00:04:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah, no.

00:04:16Oliver Spake: not that I'm any kind of expert but yeah I would normally go up to maybe 36 to 38 for the last one yeah so we'll build back up to that we will take the opportunities but uh it was good to have the rest oh for sure uh it's been busy busy in in you know in the other life in the work life and and the family life and things like that we've got some exciting times coming up what What's that? I'm just excited about Palm and everything around there. So there'll be opportunities to run and to walk and squeeze in a couple of Ks. I think I might have been a bit ambitious. I've booked my flight and I'm getting up there nice and early on Friday.

00:04:53Melissa Ellis: So Palm's before the marathon? It is. Right. Okay. So we can send you out during that weekend.

00:05:00Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah. I'll get the others on board. Turn me around a couple of times. Yeah. Yep.

00:05:06Melissa Ellis: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:05:07Oliver Spake: Appreciate it. But enough about me. You did Adventure Mel. How was your parkrun, darling?

00:05:12Melissa Ellis: I did. Oh, I had another really, really good weekend. I went to the Cascades on Clyde Wetlands, event number two, with I think about 70 other parkrunners. And the exciting thing for me was I got to take my grand doggie,

00:05:30Oliver Spake: Your grand doggy.

00:05:31Melissa Ellis: My grand doggy, Dustin, came for his very first parkrun. I know I sound like I'm 105, don't I?

00:05:38Oliver Spake: Grand doggy. I've not heard the term grand doggy. It's fantastic. I hope there are lots of grand doggies out there.

00:05:44Melissa Ellis: Yeah. So my eldest daughter, Sarah, she lives out that way. And I stayed Friday night with her so that I could be in close proximity to the event. And yeah, she's got a puppy, a nine month old Cavoodle called Dustin. And I said, oh, can I take Dustin to parkrun? Because my little chihuahuas are a little bit past doing a 5K run. They do accompany us and we take the dog pram. I was excited to take Dustin. She went, yeah, sure, Mum, no worries. And so I got up early and Dustin was awake because he's a nine-month-old Cavoodle. The rest of the house was in darkness and we snuck out and, yeah, it was fabulous. He did so well too. He really did. We actually walked the first four Ks because I previously was living in the area and I have moved away.

00:06:38Oliver Spake: Mm-hmm.

00:06:39Melissa Ellis: So the trip back to my old stomping ground was an opportunity to catch up with a lot of my old friends and they came along to the event to run with me. Well, walk. So I had a nice four kilometre walk with my friend Michelle. Well, she brought her dog as well. And then at the 4K mark, I said, oh, I'm going to run with Dustin and see how he goes. So we ran the last kilometre and yeah, he did really well.

00:07:04Oliver Spake: Oh, well done, Dustin.

00:07:06Melissa Ellis: I'm bonding with him.

00:07:07Oliver Spake: It's really cute. And did Dustin, I would imagine being a nine-month-old Cavoodle, Dustin did enjoy it. I think so. But that look, that response at the end of it, crossing the line, was Dustin disappointed to not get a finish token or was it straight to the water?

00:07:25Melissa Ellis: He just wanted water, to be honest. It was quite a warm morning in Melbourne and So the good thing was the girlfriend that I walked with, she was there with her dog as well. And Dustin kind of, he took the lead of the other dog. So we were walking along and the two dogs are side by side. Never met the other dog before. It was like a first time. So he's like got a parkrun doggy friend. Fabulous. But he, yeah, he took Entei. Entei is the other dog's name. He took her lead. Yeah. She was sort of like coaching him on this is how you are a parkrun dog. Yeah.

00:08:00Oliver Spake: That's a whole new level to bring a friend to parkrun.

00:08:02Melissa Ellis: I know. I'm really excited and I'm already penciling in the next time I can get back to take Dustin to his next parkrun. So I'm actually thinking Mother's Day weekend because, you know, obviously the Saturday before Mother's Day and my kids are all over that side of town. I thought I might go back over on that weekend and take Dustin to another parkrun.

00:08:25Oliver Spake: Lucky Dustin. And so tell us about the course and the parkrun itself.

00:08:29Melissa Ellis: It is within a relatively new residential development area. And it's a little wetlands and it's pretty flat and it's not an out and back. You wouldn't call it an out and back. It's sort of a – I don't even know. You do it twice, whatever you do. You do this sort of circuit, circuit of the wetlands and you do it twice. Okay. Yeah, pretty flat and a nice little wetlands area and –

00:08:57Oliver Spake: Sounds lovely. So birds then? I mean, Dustin didn't get distracted with the wetland wildlife?

00:09:02Melissa Ellis: I saw pelicans. He was not distracted, no. Okay. He mostly just wanted to greet every single runner. I have him on a pretty tight lead because he's just that. He's a nine-month-old and he just wants to jump up and say hello to everybody. And I'm not really used to having that kind of restriction on a dog because my dogs – Chico is beside me and he's snoring. I apologise. I know people have said to me that they don't even notice it unless I point it out and I'm sorry for pointing it out. It's because I can hear it. So, yeah, my dogs don't do that kind of thing. So it wasn't instilled in me to have to have him on such a tight lead and stop him from jumping up with his claws onto people to say, ''Hello, my name's Dustin.''

00:09:27[other]

00:09:49Oliver Spake: No, I love Dustin's enthusiasm. I mean, if we could all high-five still, I think I could relate quite a lot to Dustin's feeling.

00:09:56Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, on the back of last week's pod when we, you know, well, we had all the interruptions from my dogs but then we had Harry the hover dog. Yes. Plus the volunteer dog.

00:10:06Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:10:06Melissa Ellis: That was also at Greenway. It just felt like this whole park dog theme is continuing.

00:10:12Oliver Spake: Thanks for getting on board, Mel. Yeah, it's clearly something I've been missing out on for some time I mean I come from a parkrun where park dogs unfortunately can't share the love so it's been quite a novelty for me you're not allowed to have dogs at Killalea that's right yeah being a state park so domestic pets not allowed we've you know we sadly have to turn away some people that come along make the trip with their dogs Because, of course, we've got to adhere to our state park rules. So, yeah, I really do fancy doing a few more parkruns with some park dogs.

00:10:46Melissa Ellis: Have you ever had a dog? I know you've got.

00:10:49Oliver Spake: I've got a cat and he wouldn't take too nicely to being encouraged around a course. Not my 13-year-old cat. No, the answer to the question is yes, I had a dog growing up that was certainly pre-parkrun days, so Layla, but no dog at the moment. I have had Ava say to me, when Sphinxie dies, can we get a dog?

00:11:11Melissa Ellis: They're so thoughtful, aren't they?

00:11:13Oliver Spake: Actually, she might have said, when's Sphinxie going to die so we can get a dog? She's straight to the point, that girl.

00:11:19Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ava.

00:11:22Oliver Spake: Yes. So balance the emotions there and hopefully it's a little time away until I have to have a park dog with me. But look, if anyone's got one and happen to be at your parkrun, I'd love to come and share.

00:11:36Melissa Ellis: You just do what I do, Ollie. When you tour, you borrow the dog.

00:11:40Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:11:41Melissa Ellis: Because it was a whole new experience for me running with a dog. I haven't, well, like I've walked with my chihuahuas, but I haven't ran with a real dog that can actually run.

00:11:53Oliver Spake: No, this could be a thing. Now, I mean, what's the rule with juniors, Mel? I mean, I take it dogs on leashes with kids is not a thing. So, you know, Chico and Bambi, no. Actually, Ollie, no.

00:12:04Melissa Ellis: We can't have dogs at juniors. Which I understand.

00:12:07Oliver Spake: This is for the kids, not necessarily for the furry little ones or hairy little ones as well. I was just thinking, you know, maybe there's an option there for Chico and Bambi and Lucy there. But no, just doggy pram.

00:12:19Melissa Ellis: No, no dogs. And that, I believe, is just purely because young children can still be a bit nervous with animals around. And we don't want to have any environment where kids may feel uncomfortable or nervous. So... No dogs on course. Even if dogs are allowed in the park where they are at Eynesbury, on any other time in the forest, you can turn up and run around with your dog. Yep.

00:12:45Oliver Spake: But at juniors, no, unfortunately. No, I understand that.

00:12:50Melissa Ellis: Just so all the kids are at ease and they're not faced with any situation that may make them feel uncomfortable.

00:12:56Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, you want to encourage them to have the opportunity to just go for it at their pace and in their comfort zone. Well, it sounds like you had a fantastic parkrun out there. There did seem to be a number of visitors, I suppose, it being an event number two. There were lots of parkrun visitors checking out the course.

00:13:13Melissa Ellis: Oh, there were. So, yeah, there was basically all the Victorian statesmen who would normally previously have gone to the launches and now we are all respecting the fact that there's the new silent launches happening. So, we are all respecting that and not turning up at event one. So, everybody turns up at event two.

00:13:38Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:13:40Oliver Spake: Everyone gets one week grace after their trials. Hey, that's fantastic. I'm sure the event teams appreciate that extra settling in time.

00:13:48Melissa Ellis: Well, this is the thing, Ollie. So what I used to enjoy so much about going to the very first event, it wasn't about being at the first event. That wasn't what it was about. It was about meeting up with all the tourists.

00:14:03Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:14:03Melissa Ellis: Being a tourist, you're very rarely at your home event. Well, I'm very rarely at my home event. So you don't really have that community feeling because you're touring every week. But the launches are where your community, your tourist community, all come together and they're your people. That's right. So that's when you have that feeling of... community at the launch that's what was the hardest thing when you know we know that parkrun wants to discourage people coming to launches or inaugurals and it was really kind of hard to accept that at first because we valued that so much for our community of tourists coming together but we just paused that and we just do it on week two and this week was the perfect example yeah and most well Not everybody, but a high proportion of the Victorian tourism group was there at that event. And that was lovely because there was a lot of people there that I had not seen since prior to the pause.

00:15:06Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's fantastic. Just to have that opportunity to catch up, you know, and as you say, replicate that feeling that was a part of launches. You know, I experienced a couple myself, you know, from both sides of the ledger, the volunteering and the parkrunning. Of course, that extra time for the team to bed in and get used to it is fantastic. But, you know, the feeling was very exciting to catch up with those familiar parkrun faces and enjoy the moment.

00:15:33Melissa Ellis: It's just a big reunion.

00:15:34Oliver Spake: Yeah, we just like the chance to catch up, which I will say was fantastic to do online again Saturday.

00:15:41Melissa Ellis: Yes. Good throw, Ollie.

00:15:44Oliver Spake: Thank you. Did that sound rehearsed?

00:15:45Melissa Ellis: Good segue.

Dazza's

00:15:46Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:15:47Oliver Spake: Once again, coffee was much more enjoyable this weekend, seeing a couple more coffees and a couple more experiences out there. So thank you once again, everyone.

00:15:56Melissa Ellis: Shall we read out the comments we had? Yes. Alright. Right. So we had Janet Reid who said, kids in charge at Lochiel Park today, 18 of them. A great event. It's so good to see these juniors oozing confidence and running the event so competently. Most relaxing cup of coffee I've had in a long while.

00:16:18Oliver Spake: I mean, 18 is a fantastic number of juniors there. The kids in charge parkruns are something else. They really are. And to see the kids just taking on those roles and completely owning it. Yeah. Have you had a kids in charge week, Mel, at any of your parkruns?

00:16:34Melissa Ellis: You're talking to a tourist.

00:16:36Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, true, true, true, true. We used to do it at Shellharbour, technically still do every 50. I think we may have missed one, but yeah, it was always good fun. Now they've all grown up, so we've got to find a whole bunch of new kids.

00:16:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, well, luckily they just keep coming.

00:16:51Oliver Spake: They've got a good habit of that, kids, don't they? And Mark, congratulations, Mark. A new course PB at Burley Griffin parkrun and the fastest time for 2021. Clearly you've been training, Mark. Well done.

00:17:04Melissa Ellis: I know, what's happening to the dad bod? I think that's a thing of the past now. I haven't seen that hashtag for a while.

00:17:10Oliver Spake: Yeah, speeding away. It was good to see Mark leading the pack out there.

00:17:14Melissa Ellis: Yeah, well done, Mark. And Tammy Taylor, happy fourth parkrun anniversary for me at beautiful Sandgate.

00:17:21Oliver Spake: Happy anniversary, Tammy. Always good to celebrate a parkrun anniversary and Sandgate parkrun. Not one I've done, but I've heard good things about it, that's for sure.

00:17:30Melissa Ellis: And Lyndell?

00:17:31Oliver Spake: Yes, Lyndell. Lyndell volunteered at home with Bonneville. It was good to see another park dog volunteer in the video there too.

00:17:38Melissa Ellis: Definitely. And yourself, Ollie, post-parkrun volunteering for two of us, an excuse for a babycino for number three. So that was Ava with the babycino.

00:17:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, I was trying to joke to Ava that I was having a babycino too. But, yeah, clearly, you know, Dazza has got my order, so I just tried to stay true to the order this week.

00:17:57Melissa Ellis: The skinny piccolo.

00:17:59Oliver Spake: And Bruce. Bruce, take a look at the size of these bowling balls at the Dandenong parkrun. It was a cracker morning with a fab community. Maybe it could be even better described as a crackerjack.

00:18:12Melissa Ellis: Did you get that reference, Ollie?

00:18:14Oliver Spake: I haven't seen Crackerjack.

00:18:16Melissa Ellis: Ah, what?

00:18:18Oliver Spake: I certainly know Mick, Mick Molloy. Yeah, it was one on the list for some time.

00:18:22Melissa Ellis: You've got to watch that movie.

00:18:24Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:18:25Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it's a classic.

00:18:27Oliver Spake: All right, that's on the list.

00:18:29Melissa Ellis: Do it.

00:18:29Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:18:30Melissa Ellis: I've been to Dandenong and I have seen those bowling balls that Bruce describes and they are indeed impressive.

00:18:38Oliver Spake: So this is obviously recommended. I mean, there's probably plenty of our viewership that have seen Crackerjack, an Australian movie. Yes, and one that everyone should run out and rent or download or, sorry, subscribe to or whatever the method is these days.

00:18:54Melissa Ellis: We are not endorsing illegal downloads in any shape or form.

00:19:01Oliver Spake: I'm still in trouble in this household for saying that I wanted to be handed performance-enhancing drugs on my marathon turnaround. So, yeah.

00:19:09Melissa Ellis: Did they listen?

00:19:11Oliver Spake: I didn't think they did. They do.

00:19:14Melissa Ellis: Oh, and Tony O'Connell, TOC. He was back at the Stump this weekend. Got to play on the Stump celebrating Shirley Dell finishing her 14,080-kilometre run down under as well as a guest visit by Casey Hyde and 100th runs by Joe Taylor and Trish Nicholson. Big day and it was sunny. They like to say it was sunny at Inverloch.

00:19:39Oliver Spake: Of course it was. It's always sunny at Inverloch. No, it sounds like a massive day.

00:19:42Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they had heaps going on down there.

00:19:44Oliver Spake: Finishing run down under is just amazing. A lot of respect. Well done, Shirley. And congratulations, obviously.

00:19:51Melissa Ellis: I don't think that's the first person that's finished run down under at Inverloch. I don't know how they managed to wangle that. People finishing at Inverloch. It's just the place to be, I think.

00:20:00Oliver Spake: I think they'll need to make sure. I mean, does the rundown undercourse take you through Inverloch? Because, you know, maybe there should be a campaign, if not.

00:20:07Melissa Ellis: I don't know. Still, it is a wonderful place, and especially this time of year, tourist season, still, weather's still pretty good.

00:20:17Oliver Spake: No, it sounds dreamy, to be honest.

00:20:19Melissa Ellis: And to be passing through with the man himself in residence, I've got to be happy with that.

00:20:24Oliver Spake: That's right. And Alison, new course PB at the University of Waikato parkrun. So I stopped off at Tirral on the way home for a celebratory ice cream. Congratulations, Alison.

00:20:36Melissa Ellis: That looked pretty nice.

00:20:37Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:20:38Melissa Ellis: I'm not sure that she mentioned what flavour that ice cream was. Was it like a tiramisu kind of? I don't know. Ollie, did you figure that out?

00:20:48Oliver Spake: No, I haven't, but, yeah, now I know what I'm doing after this. Well earned, though. That's fantastic, Alison.

00:20:58Melissa Ellis: Yeah, well done, Alison. Thank you for updating us with your parkrun PB. And Aaron Hardy volunteered at Parramatta parkrun. Nice and warm this morning. So Aaron was out at the current world record-holding event at Parramatta.

00:21:15Oliver Spake: Yes, big crowd. I mean, Parramatta is a busy parkrun, but I'm sure it would have been a special morning. And then we had Michael Charlton had a lovely morning parkrun at Narromine Wetlands. Nice alternative course, great weather. Thanks, volunteers, for a lovely morning.

00:21:30Melissa Ellis: Another new event for Michael. He's on a roll. Oh, sure is. And Erica Liotta, a tourist five kilometre at Australia's most southern parkrun, Geeveston, which included a stay over at the Bear Wint over the Mountain B&B. Tiny Teddy included in the Berry Good Morning Coffee. Wonderful.

00:21:51Oliver Spake: Love the coffee picture.

00:21:52Melissa Ellis: Yes. I've been to Geeveston. So I want to know if Erica actually got to see any platypus in the creek.

00:21:59Oliver Spake: I think it only shows its face sometimes.

00:22:02Melissa Ellis: Only those very special people get to see the platypus.

00:22:06Oliver Spake: I'm still weighing up whether it's going to be Geeveston or one of the other Tassie parkruns down south when I finally get over there. Every time there's a flight sale to Tasmania, I'm holding my hand back because I just need more opportunities to run these Tassie parkruns. And that's a pretty good advertisement.

00:22:23Melissa Ellis: I think you should do Geeveston. Do Geeveston. Do it. Do it. It's a compass point.

00:22:29Oliver Spake: True. And so touching back here, Casey Hyde, I got to catch up with my favourite parkrun couple. We got to see the countryside down in Inverloch, Helen Jane Davis and Stephen Davis. Fantastic, Casey.

00:22:43Melissa Ellis: Yes, that's good. So Helen was being a VI Guide for Casey.

00:22:48Oliver Spake: Oh, fantastic.

00:22:49Melissa Ellis: Yeah, Helen and Steve are my friends, so I know them quite well. So well done, Helen and Steve, for helping Casey to get to Inverloch and to tick off her I.

00:22:59Oliver Spake: Nice work.

00:23:00Melissa Ellis: And friend of the podcast, Chris Fraser, no parkrun and no sausage roll today. So frustrating knowing that I was just a few hundred metres away from Penrith Lakes, but conflict in schedule. Don't know how long it has been since I've missed a parkrun day other than COVID. Long time. I'm playing in the water today instead, hopefully graduating to this next weekend. So that would have hurt for Chris Fraser. He is a massive tourist. He does not like to miss a parkrun and to be that close would have really hurt.

00:23:33Oliver Spake: And what's more to have no sausage roll either, for you, Chris.

00:23:37Melissa Ellis: He could have had that. I don't know what his problem was. Jeez, Chris. He was out kayaking. Maybe we should give some context. I think we've been lacking in our context, Ollie. We've got to up our game a bit with that.

00:23:48Oliver Spake: Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, Chris's kayaking is pretty impressive. Now, I did see a couple of pictures or even videos. I'm not sure which one was Chris or even if one was Chris, but it's serious stuff.

00:24:01Melissa Ellis: Well, he must be taking it seriously if he's giving up parkrun to do kayaking courses.

00:24:05Oliver Spake: Wow.

00:24:06Melissa Ellis: Anyway.

00:24:07Oliver Spake: The other New South Wales statesman chasing the statesmanship there, they'll be watching that closely. Chris is pausing.

00:24:15Melissa Ellis: I don't think it's going to be for long, though. No. He's not going to let them catch too many up on him.

00:24:19Oliver Spake: No, that's right. And Peter Pohlman, another friend of the podcast, at least I got a (not)parkrun done. Ooh. That's, yeah, I don't think that gets any easier.

00:24:35Melissa Ellis: No, that hurt.

00:24:36Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:24:37Melissa Ellis: And did I get from the comments that perhaps Sonja also forgot her heartbeat?

00:24:45Oliver Spake: Yeah, it sounds like the family were 50% represented.

00:24:48Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:24:49Oliver Spake: Ouch. Tough gig, guys, but I guess it's just part of the deal. It won't happen next week. I'm tipping that much. That's how we learn, isn't it?

00:24:58Melissa Ellis: Is that on the back of last week's?

00:25:01Oliver Spake: boat beaching yes that's right a couple of tough weeks there they've got palm to look forward to yeah we do look forward to seeing you and uh do forward us a couple of copies of your barcodes if you need a bit of a hand oh yes I'm good I'm good at having them in my glove box

00:25:19Melissa Ellis: I've got my whole family's barcodes in my glove box.

00:25:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's advisable. Mind you, that's something that Cathy and I did forget when we went to Sydney. What? I brought Zali's barcode, but it didn't bring Cathy's. So I think that was the selling point last week when she decided to stay in bed. She didn't want to have me go down and print it out at reception.

00:25:39Melissa Ellis: Oh. Well, my son did come to Cascades on Clyde.

00:25:45Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:25:46Melissa Ellis: And his girlfriend, Leah, she registered and printed out her barcode and did her very first parkrun, which was very exciting.

00:25:55Oliver Spake: Oh, congratulations, Leah.

00:25:57Melissa Ellis: Yes. Yes. And Jake has previously done three parkruns but could not locate his barcode or... find his login details so that he could print one out. But he didn't care. You know what? He was just happy to be there. And I was more stressed the fact that he couldn't reduce park rent. He didn't care at all. He was like, it doesn't matter, Mum. I don't care.

00:26:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

00:26:24Melissa Ellis: After the fact, I was out with the parkrun website and I have forgotten my barcode. I don't know. I put that into Google.

00:26:36Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:26:36Melissa Ellis: I've lost my barcode and I made him type in his email address and I made him follow the bouncing ball and remember he's like, oh, I've forgotten my password and all that kind of stuff and I now am the proud holder of his barcode in my glove box.

00:26:54Oliver Spake: Excellent job. Added to the collection. Nice work.

00:26:58Melissa Ellis: I've got everybody's, my whole family, my mum, my sister, everybody.

00:27:03Oliver Spake: Well, you'll be prepared for next time. And look, Dustin's waiting. So I'm glad you're ready.

00:27:09Melissa Ellis: Are they ever going to have barcodes for doggies? People would love that.

00:27:12Oliver Spake: They would. There's an opportunity there, parkrun. I hope you're listening.

00:27:16Melissa Ellis: I don't think it fits the keep it simple framework, unfortunately.

00:27:19Oliver Spake: No, that's true. Well, it was wonderful to get to share Dazza's Cafe with everyone. Special thanks to the coffee pictures in that, but nice to hear all of your parkrun weekend's excitement and the different experiences.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:27:34Oliver Spake: We did hear... from one of our Channel 5 News crew out roving the parkruns at the weekend. And that was marvellous, Mark. So, Mel, let's have a listen to Mark.

00:27:45[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Burley Griffin parkrun

00:27:58Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News Crew. Today we have adventured within Canberra and we've headed to Burley Griffin parkrun. Unfortunately we can't record any audio at the actual course today because the cockatoos were flying around screeching quite loudly overhead so it just wouldn't have been good audio quality for us. But yeah, Burley Griffin parkrun, it's on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. It's an out and back course where you've got a good chance of seeing some of the good views around Canberra, taking the sights of Black Mountain Tower as an example, and you might even see some kangaroos hopping around and plenty of bird life in the area as well. Now this is a good time to visit Canberra in autumn because the colours are starting to change in the trees and we also have a number of key events on such as Enlighten Festival which is like Vivid held in Sydney. We also have the Balloon Spectacular with hot air balloons taking off from the lawns of Old Parliament House and floating across the Canberra skies and plenty of other entertainment around as well this time of year. Autumn is a great time to come and visit Canberra. It's not too hot, not too cold, and plenty to actually see and do. Anyway, we'll catch you next time on the parkrun adventurers.

00:29:08[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

the Informant

00:29:22The 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 that the ferrets will come to pass. There was one event launched this week in Victoria. It's not cause for widespread excitement, however, as it is inside the grounds of Puckapunyal Military Facility, and therefore closed to the general public. But New Zealand is back. We had 463 runs held worldwide, 422 were in Australia and New Zealand, the remainder taking place in Japan, Russia and the Falkland Islands. Down under we had 49,754 runners out of 50,813 worldwide. We had 7,018 PBs, while 2,261 people participated for the first time. 226 reached their 50 milestone, 137 reached their 100 milestone, and 19 people reached their 250 milestone. A new regular feature to the stats is bingo callers. 23 people called bingo last weekend, which is the second highest tally of all time, only being beaten by 28 on New Year's Day 2020. Darrell Madden took the longest with 379 events, Kylan Mayne was the quickest with 179 events. We have 18 new or returning statespeople this week. We have Rebecca Ann Rackley, Oliver Bray, Rathen Bolton, Katrina Hubbard, Stuart Munro, Lucy Bray in the ACT, Amanda Hardy and Emma Zamet regain New South Wales and Triple Stateswoman status, James Dunleavy, AJ Cowley in the Northern Territory, Cheryl Smit, Melissa Ellis, Maxime Sylvester, Sean Hill, Parthen Irene Bonacanti in Victoria, while Michael Schultz ends the drought up in Canto country, regaining his long-lost statesmanship to be the only Queenslander. The biggest movers on the Most Aussie New Zealand Events list are Barry and Katrina Crossley who jumped 20 spots from being ranked 207 to 187. In contrast to last week the top 20 is quiet. Gary Nisbet was equal 9th last week but finds himself down 1 in 10th spot after Alan Burrell ran at Waterloo Plains. Biggest Wilson mover of the week is Martine Barrot who increased her index from 12 to 63, a big jump of 51. Errol Poole, not too far behind, jumped 40 from 15 to 55. Carol Parise remains our highest windexer, now on 170. The informant is filling the love with another listener question from Bruce Purdy. While park faffing with Brendan Peel, they jointly wondered how many people have ran the first 10 Australian events, which are Main Beach, New Farm, Albert Melbourne, St Peters, Keira, Ginninderra, Newy, Coomera, Claisebrook Cove and Balyang Sanctuary. The answer to that question is three. Neil Barnett and Ros and Alan Burrell. Five parkrunners sit just one away on nine. Sarah Jane Alley, Carol Cunningham, Dave Robertson, Brendan Peel and Tim Oberg. But that's pretty boring. So let's crank it up a notch. What about a new index? Those who have the longest run of Aussie events from start to finish. If you haven't run at Main Beach, you're on zero. If you run at Main Beach and Albert Park, you're on index one until you fill the gap with New Farm and then you'll jump to three. Perhaps it's easier to see when you write it down. I call it the III index, ignoble informant index, because who doesn't love a cup of alliteration tea with their stats? It turned out that Neil Barnett is on an III of 20, followed by Ros and Alan on 19, followed by Sean Fitzgerald, Jim Woodruff, and Russ Jeffries, all on eight. Brendan Peel, you're down on one, but will get a big jump with New Farm. You can still give Bruce a nudge off the elbow, though, as he hasn't run at Main Beach and is therefore not on the table. If you're keen to look at these stats in more detail, they can be found on my blog, theinformant.me. That's theinformant, all one word, dot M-E. This has been The Informant, and my spreadsheet is bigger than yours.

00:33:44Melissa Ellis: And thank you to Marvellous Mark from his brief report from Burley Griffin. I can really relate to the issue of bird noises in the background. Ollie?

00:33:54Oliver Spake: Yeah, I noticed no birds this week. Are they outside, Mel?

00:33:59Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they are. Please remind me at the end.

00:34:02Oliver Spake: Noted. I'll do my best.

00:34:03Melissa Ellis: And the informant. Some new content from the informant. We had a listener question, Ollie, from Bruce. Bruce Purdy.

00:34:13Oliver Spake: I have to say, I was slightly surprised at the count there. I would have expected a few more.

00:34:18Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so Bruce's question was how many parkrunners have completed the original 10 events, they being Main Beach, New Farm, Albert Melbourne, St Peter's, Keira, Ginninderra, Newy, Coomera, Claisebrook Cove and Balyang Sanctuary. Now, Ollie, how many have you done?

00:34:37Oliver Spake: Oh, on the spot, one, two, three. Correct. Three and I'm out.

00:34:45Melissa Ellis: Do you want to know how many I've done?

00:34:48Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:34:49Melissa Ellis: Four.

00:34:51Oliver Spake: I mean, I've done a Freedom Run at Newy, but I don't think I'm going to count that, clearly.

00:34:55Melissa Ellis: No, that doesn't count. No, sorry. No, it has to be official.

00:34:58Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:34:59Melissa Ellis: I've got Albert Melbourne, St. Peter's, Ginninderra, and Balyang Sanctuary.

00:35:04Oliver Spake: Okay. Well, yeah, we do have a crossover.

00:35:08Melissa Ellis: And after my upcoming holiday, which hopefully will go ahead, I will also tick off Main Beach and Keira.

00:35:16Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:35:17Melissa Ellis: And I'll be on six.

00:35:18Oliver Spake: Touch wood there, Mel.

00:35:19Melissa Ellis: Don't you go jinxing us, Oliver Spake.

00:35:22Oliver Spake: We are following things very carefully and, of course, we wish everyone well.

00:35:27Melissa Ellis: La, la, la, la, la.

00:35:30Oliver Spake: But, yeah, you will certainly surge forward if that's the case.

00:35:34Melissa Ellis: It's going to happen. We are going to have this listener meetup.

00:35:37Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:35:38Melissa Ellis: Oh, we should say, like, can I interrupt?

00:35:41Oliver Spake: Sure.

00:35:42Melissa Ellis: Should we have a plan B? Like, worst case scenario, the borders are closed and neither you or I can get to Palm.

00:35:51Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:35:51Melissa Ellis: What could we do for plan B? Like what about we did like a live, a Facebook live? We could do that.

00:36:02Oliver Spake: Yeah, stream it straight from the cafe, straight from Dazza's.

00:36:05Melissa Ellis: Yes. Instead of having like the live recording, we will just broadcast live.

00:36:15Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:36:16Melissa Ellis: Warts and all.

00:36:17Oliver Spake: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, I'm not sure how kindly Fluffy would take to us and the Nambour team, of course, and the entire Sunshine Coast parkrun family of us quickly replacing them. But we have to stress that this would not be intentional. Well, yeah, exactly. We could.

00:36:35Melissa Ellis: We could cross to Melissa Taylor. She could be on the ground at Nambour.

00:36:39Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:36:40Melissa Ellis: Work with me here, Ollie. And then we could do a live cross to the cafe for brunch.

00:36:47Oliver Spake: No, I think we've got a solution there. That stacks up.

00:36:50Melissa Ellis: I think so. Just plan B, of course.

00:36:52Oliver Spake: We just need to work out this live streaming side of things. Look, I'm apparently challenging you with the background noise here. Sorry, Mel. Helicopter flying over.

00:37:01Melissa Ellis: Are they? Yes. I can't hear a thing.

00:37:04Oliver Spake: Oh, good. Okay. I digress. Hopefully we'll still be in situ, but just in case, yes, we'll have to get the hang of this live streaming side of things.

00:37:13Melissa Ellis: Should we probably tell the listeners too, Ollie, about our exciting news of hosting the live for the return of parkrun in England on the 5th of June for With Me Now. Danny and Nicola have entrusted us with the hosting duties. That's so exciting. I can't wait for that to happen.

00:37:35Oliver Spake: And everything's crossed. I'm not saying a thing. No, shush. Yep. Yeah, we're just over the moon in terms of, you know, our thrill for everyone over there in England and hopefully the rest of the parkrun UK and global to all experience that soon. But whether it's the 5th, whether it's some other date soon, we're counting down and we're really hoping for all you guys and stoked at the idea of actually getting to share it with you. That'd be fantastic.

00:38:06Melissa Ellis: We need to practice because we've got to get it right, Ollie. So we'll have a few practice runs. Yes. But the informant, he's invented a new index and it's got a very unique name. It's Ignoble Informant Index. Yes. That's not half a mouthful, is it?

00:38:25Oliver Spake: The III. I mean, that's a very interesting message there. I think it's a fantastic index. Yes.

00:38:33Melissa Ellis: So to explain the Ignoble Informant Index, it is to rate... Oh, Ollie, I can't even... Can you explain this?

00:38:45Oliver Spake: The Ignoble Informant Index is your index based on the parkruns that you have done in order of sequence from when they commenced in Australia. Is that it?

00:38:59Melissa Ellis: Yes. Oh, well done.

00:39:01Oliver Spake: I totally knew what I was saying there. But yes, as the informant tells us, if you participated in event number one, not at event number one, but you have completed event number one being Main Beach, which we're also counting down. We're very thrilled to see Main Beach's anniversary coming up. If you have completed that parkrun, hey, you're off the mark. And then so forth, two, three, four, et cetera.

00:39:27Melissa Ellis: Yes, in order that they were launched in Australia. And the word ignoble means not honourable in character or purpose or of humble origin or social status. I have never heard that word before.

00:39:43Oliver Spake: Hey, you learn something every day, especially with an informant around.

00:39:47Melissa Ellis: I know. We should feel privileged, I guess.

00:39:50Oliver Spake: Look, I'm just a little more thrilled because I think we've said, you know, maybe it's 10-1 in terms of relative parkrun achievements. And look, I know they don't matter, but maybe a little bit. What would be your ignoble informant index, Mel?

00:40:05Melissa Ellis: Oh, I haven't done Main Beach, Ollie, so I'm on zero.

00:40:09Oliver Spake: Oh.

00:40:09Melissa Ellis: I mean, of the 10, I've done four. Yeah. But you have to have done the first one.

00:40:15Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah. I mean, I haven't done New Farm, but I've done Main Beach. So I'm on one. You're in front of me. I'm in front of you. Yes.

00:40:24Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, after our holiday, then we'll be equal because I will have also done Main Beach.

00:40:30Oliver Spake: That's right. So yeah, next trip to Queensland obviously needs to be planned. New Farm, here we come.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:40:36Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, there's some other exciting news that happened this week.

00:40:39Oliver Spake: And what's that, Mel?

00:40:40Melissa Ellis: There was a launch in Victoria.

00:40:42Oliver Spake: So there was.

00:40:44Melissa Ellis: And it was a little bit under the radar. Was Puckapunyal parkrun quietly launched with 36 runners? on the weekend. Now, the interesting thing about Puckapunyal parkrun is it's one of those closed parkruns, like the prisons, only it's not a prison. Listeners to the pod might remember last January when I was at Puckapunyal and actually filed roving reports and co-hosted the podcast on site at Puckapunyal. So back then I was, like, frustrated because I couldn't get to a parkrun. The closest one was more than 40 minutes away.

00:41:29Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:41:29Melissa Ellis: Fast forward a year later, Australia has their very first parkrun within a military establishment. Wow.

00:41:36Oliver Spake: Wonderful initiative to see it set up. Obviously, it would have been fantastic to see a year ago for you, Mel, but nonetheless, it's great to see them getting that one up and going.

00:41:48Melissa Ellis: Absolutely.

00:41:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, well done to everyone involved.

00:41:51Melissa Ellis: And having a little look at the results, 17 people brand new to parkrun, 17 people ran their very first parkrun and seven unknowns. So you could probably assume that of those seven unknowns were also brand new to parkrun. Probably just, you know, hadn't even registered. So, yeah, so really exciting, Ollie. I'm just super pumped about that.

00:42:17Oliver Spake: So do you think this is the start of a few, Mel? Will there be more?

00:42:21Melissa Ellis: Well, parkrun keeps their cards pretty close to their chest, Ollie, so I can't profess to being a privy to anything like that.

00:42:29Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:42:30Melissa Ellis: I would say there is a very strong call for it within the military establishments, I think. We've heard reference previously in roving reports come through that military members completing parkruns or being involved in events... have commented that it's a very good way when they are posted from area to area to have a connection straight away with the local community and I think that is the benefit that parkrun offers and I think there is a very strong call for this type of thing and not just for the actual military members but for the families that travel with them because those families are uprooted every so many years with the posting cycle of the military and they have to go every few years from area to area to area and that's difficult for them. And often military bases, they will have their few core sporting events that the soldiers will take part in and probably the families are involved with in a removed manner. They'll all have their rugby team or their AFL team or their soccer team, on the base but having a parkrun that enables the whole family to take part and not just in a spectator role but to actually be involved and from base to base to just slot in and and have that familiarity I can just see huge benefit for the military community and I'm just so excited so excited

00:44:05Oliver Spake: I think you make some good points there, Mel. It's about accessibility. And obviously, in providing accessibility, it's ironically not accessible to everyone. But at the same time, as you say, it's really delivering some important opportunities for people to you know, to have that balance. I remember obviously listening to the pod and hearing your experience and, you know, it sounds like that sort of opportunity now for others going through, you know, that situation and hopefully never in the same circumstances with everything we've seen. But as you say, you know, whether they're moving from place to place or integrating, you know, with a new community, yeah, what a fantastic way to do it.

00:44:46Melissa Ellis: And another thing with the military as well, like often it's quite a leap when a serving member leaves the military and has to reintegrate into society and move away from the environment that they're accustomed to. And if they can, them and their family, can have that constant like parkrun, much like the prison parkruns, continue that on the outside when they're no longer part of you know the establishment that's some continuity and that's something familiar that they can continue on the outside because you know often that's a big adjustment to a military person when they when they leave we can celebrate for now the the launch of Puckapunyal well done once again to everyone involved great to see you know something that you wished for Mel come to fruition

PALM update

00:45:36Melissa Ellis: I know I'm so proud yeah okay Ollie so yes let's talk palm let's I was gonna say something we wish for palm is absolutely one of those we have a palm update we do oh Ollie we need we need a sound effect damn it I'm not prepared I'm going to my sound effects yep you just have to put up with the sleeping snoring chihuahua until I can um find my any requests Ollie car engine oh that's a car alarm oh that's all right that's unbeeping the expensive ferrari right the ferrari yes yeah but it was a bit underwhelming yeah okay I really should have been more prepared that's quite okay oh I'll just go with this Because, you know, I've just been dying to use that one.

00:46:02[other]

00:46:38Oliver Spake: Absolutely.

00:46:39Melissa Ellis: Okay. The palm21 theme is go.

00:46:45Oliver Spake: Oh, I'm saying it right. You put me on the spot, Mel.

00:46:53Melissa Ellis: One job, Ollie.

00:46:54Oliver Spake: One job. No, you can't rely on this co-host. I'm sorry, Mel. After some great suggestions, and to be honest, we would have happily picked virtually any one of those, the palm21 fancy dress theme is parkrun.

00:47:10Melissa Ellis: No big stretch there, is it? To be a little more specific.

00:47:14[laughter]

00:47:14Unidentified speaker: LAUGHTER

00:47:16Oliver Spake: Yes, I suppose technically that means you could just wear your apricot shirt, but come as, you know, it could be your home event, it could be your dream event, it could be any parkrun-related activity. The more imaginative, the better. Well, I mean, you could come as a forgotten barcode. I haven't quite worked out how to do that, but, yeah, on the theme of parkrun challenges. What else could you come as, Mel?

00:47:40Melissa Ellis: I don't know. You could come as a cup of coffee. You could be brunch.

00:47:42Oliver Spake: Yes. I think I might have said previously. I guess I cover myself with a bit of sand and some trees and a couple of snakes.

00:47:50Melissa Ellis: No, I'm sorry. No, no. You are banned from being Shellharbour parkrun. We have to put some rules in here.

00:47:59Oliver Spake: It's a good conversation starter. Yeah.

00:48:03Melissa Ellis: You know how in your top three you cannot name your own home parkrun? Well, here's the new rule for palm dress-up themes. TOC, are you listening? You cannot be a stump.

00:48:17Oliver Spake: Oh, really? Does that mean we cannot go as a home parkrun? Is that what you're saying?

00:48:21Melissa Ellis: Correct.

00:48:22Oliver Spake: Oh, okay.

00:48:24Melissa Ellis: No, you are not going to be sand or shells.

00:48:28Oliver Spake: Well, I could be the beaches, but yeah. Okay. Noted.

00:48:31Melissa Ellis: Well, yes, you can. You can be the beaches, but you cannot be Shellharbour. That's my rule. I'm sorry. I'm going to instill that rule. So who else may be severely affected by this?

00:48:45Oliver Spake: I'm really hoping to see Chris Fraser, the sausage roll.

00:48:52Melissa Ellis: That would be fabulous. Oh, he's involved in local theatre. I'm sure that wouldn't be hard for him to rustle up a sausage roll costume.

00:48:59Oliver Spake: I mean, that's a decent gig for a local baker.

00:49:02Melissa Ellis: Or a lamington.

00:49:03Oliver Spake: Giant sausage roll. Yeah, lamington.

00:49:05Melissa Ellis: Oh, I know. I've already got an idea. I've already been Googling.

00:49:09Oliver Spake: Oh, okay.

00:49:11Melissa Ellis: I'm not giving anything away, of course.

00:49:13Oliver Spake: All right. Okay. So time to put the mind to work and the fancy dress costume making skills that we know some of you certainly have in multitudes. And we look forward to seeing it on Fancy Dress Night.

00:49:30Melissa Ellis: I look forward to seeing Mel Erbacher as a giant lighthouse. Oh no, that's her home parkrun. She can't be a lighthouse.

00:49:38Oliver Spake: I think Mel Erbacher can have any costume she likes, yes. That's okay.

00:49:43Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay. I guess. So, moving swiftly on, it's the anniversary of a significant event.

00:49:50Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah, I mean, I was just reflecting, Mel. I remember one year ago now, so... parkrun froze. I can't recall exactly which day of the week the news came out, but I certainly remember being at parkrun, at the parkrun that shall not be named, on a Saturday, the week after Palm, and run directing and directing. Just kind of thinking, well, you know, we might not be enjoying this next week, and bang, we saw parkrun pause. I'm not sure we celebrate this milestone, but it certainly has given us a whole new perspective. It's given us not parkrun. And interesting to see, Mel, the participation numbers in Australia were very, very similar to exactly one year ago.

00:50:36Melissa Ellis: Where were you one year ago, Ollie, on the 14th, Saturday the 14th of March?

00:50:41Oliver Spake: Funnily enough, I was run directing at Shellharbour.

00:50:44Melissa Ellis: Oh, surprise what about you Mel I was at Bendigo Botanic Gardens and I remember standing posing with the selfie frame with my with me now buff pulled up over my mouth in a bush ranger type scenario you know at the time thinking it was all just a little bit Silly and really not having a good understanding of what was upon us and what was about to happen. I mean, I don't think anybody really knew and nobody could have anticipated that we were going to lose what we loved so dearly for so long.

00:51:23Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:51:24Melissa Ellis: And we didn't definitely appreciate that we just ran our last parkrun for a very long time. If only we could have appreciated it that little bit more and savoured it. Anyway, I mean, of course, we're very fortunate here in Australia and our friends in New Zealand that we have been able to return, but we're also very mindful that the rest of the world is yet to experience that and they're waiting so patiently to get back to it and we hope that they do very quickly. Yeah.

00:51:53Oliver Spake: Huge credit to all of those event teams that are just cranking into gear in England. Now, for example, the juniors teams starting to prepare for the return next month of juniors there in England. The event teams preparing for June and for all of those events that have cranked back into gear. We still haven't seen some events return. I'm still watching to see Dolls Point, for example, up in Sydney to see its return.

00:52:20Melissa Ellis: What's held them up?

00:52:22Oliver Spake: So as with all parkruns, we need to work within local approvals. In the case of Dolls Point, they've had to work with their local council to ensure that they're staying compliant with their council's COVID safe plans. So my understanding there, I mean, I haven't spoken to anyone at Dolls Point, of course. So from what I've seen is that they're patiently waiting for the right time to restart that event. It has been a longer process, a longer wait for some of those Australian events, despite the, you know, the opportunity to restart a bit earlier. So, you know, we look forward to having everyone in the family back up and parkrunning again. Yeah, it's clearly impacted us in many ways that we really didn't foresee.

00:53:04Melissa Ellis: And I don't know, so I'm a little bit excited, of course, with the return in England for Junior parkrun and the ability to connect with Town Moor Junior parkrun that I have self-proclaimed connection with now. That's right. Whether they like it or not. So, Ollie, how do you think I could mark the occasion? How can we, you know, what could we do at Eynesbury to reach out and show our allegiance with Town Moor Juniors? Have you got any suggestions? Yeah, well, I mean, I know that. Not to put you on the spot or anything.

00:53:44Oliver Spake: I know that there are still aspects of our COVIDSafe plans we need to work within as Event Directors and Run Directors for different events. I was going to say, obviously, yeah, there's nothing like a good country theme, but maybe there's an aspect of that that you can take forward.

00:54:01Melissa Ellis: Oh, we can do that on social media. It doesn't have to be on the day.

00:54:04Oliver Spake: Well, that's quite right.

00:54:05Melissa Ellis: If we do that through social media and do some research and find a way to spread their word and enlighten our community with some facts about the area that our sister parkrun is in.

00:54:23Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:54:23Melissa Ellis: That could be a good connection.

00:54:25Oliver Spake: I think it would be. I think it'd be lovely.

00:54:27Melissa Ellis: Good plan. We might have some Union Jacks flying around in the forest perhaps.

00:54:34Oliver Spake: Maybe, just maybe our prospective Channel 2 news crew member might record some fantastic English accents or attempts at.

00:54:43Melissa Ellis: That would be a fabulous occasion to debut Abby.

00:54:47Oliver Spake: How is Abby? How did Abby go anyway?

00:54:50Melissa Ellis: Thank you for asking, Ollie. She was number 19 this week and I have to say, Abby has previously been number 19. I searched her history and on event one of Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun, she was also number 19. However, on this occasion of number 19... Abby took one and a half minutes off her time.

00:55:15Oliver Spake: Abby, wow.

00:55:17Melissa Ellis: I know.

00:55:18Oliver Spake: I hope she realised the significance of that. That was fantastic.

00:55:21Melissa Ellis: Yeah, she's doing really well. And I was marshalling at marshal point number one this week and I was just standing there waiting for the kids to come along and all of a sudden I heard this little voice go, okay, when we get to Mel, we'll run. And I looked across and And it was Abby and her little friend and, yep, they were scheming that as soon as they approached me and when they made it to marshal number one, they were going to sprint for the finish. And her little friend who's a little bit older than Abby, well, I assume she's older because she's a little bit taller, when they reached my marshal point, Abby took off like a little lightning bolt and her friend, who I think her name is Ava – Same as your daughter, Ollie. Yes. Stood there for the count of 10, very patiently, and when she reached 10, she then took off after Abby. So, yeah, she gave Abby a head start, which was so cute.

00:56:21Oliver Spake: Oh. Yeah.

00:56:22Melissa Ellis: Always warming my heart, that kid, always finding another way to make me melt.

00:56:26Oliver Spake: That's right. Nice to hear her partner in crime was rising to the event as well.

00:56:32Melissa Ellis: I know. So we had another seven first timers at juniors this week. Great. And five PBs. And we awarded our first junior half marathon wristband. So are you aware of what they do at juniors, Ollie, with the wristbands? Yes.

00:56:50Oliver Spake: I can't recall all of the milestone celebrations there. I'm going to have to ask you to remind me again. Sorry, Mel.

00:56:57Melissa Ellis: So juniors don't have T-shirts as a milestone, but when they have completed 11 events, they qualify for a little plastic wristband, which signifies the fact that they've achieved the equivalent of a half marathon distance.

00:57:14Oliver Spake: Mm-hmm.

00:57:15Melissa Ellis: Then there's also a full marathon distance and an ultra marathon distance with the wristbands. So, yeah, we had one of our RDs, Andrew. His son accomplished his 11th parkrun this weekend, so he was the first one that we awarded. Oh, well done. Which was very exciting for us. And well done to Andrew for being a fabulous RD.

00:57:38Oliver Spake: And I suppose does that mean well done to Eynesbury for achieving its half marathon? Yeah.

00:57:44Melissa Ellis: No, because we're only up to event eight.

00:57:46Oliver Spake: Oh, okay. My bad.

00:57:47Melissa Ellis: Andrew's son, who achieved his 11th parkrun, had previously ran at Westerfolds.

00:57:54Oliver Spake: Ah, yes.

00:57:55Melissa Ellis: And I think has also ran at Thorndon Juniors in South Australia. Oh, wow.

00:57:59Oliver Spake: So he's a real little tourist. Does that technically make him a countryman at this stage?

00:58:04Melissa Ellis: No, because he has not done the event in Bellevue yet.

00:58:10Oliver Spake: Ah, yes. Okay.

00:58:12Melissa Ellis: I do believe it's being planned though.

00:58:14Oliver Spake: Looking forward to it. But Mel, you were going to say something before I so rudely interrupted.

00:58:19Melissa Ellis: Oh, no, Ollie, I was going to tell you about our peacocks. Peacocks? Yes. In the Eynesbury community, which is a small township planned around a golf course, there is some resident peacocks, and two of them are albino peacocks. I believe there's four all up. I've only ever seen three together, so I'm not sure where the fourth one is.

00:58:43Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:58:43Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they roam the community and they are often in residents' front yards and I've seen them before at the homestead when we've gone for brunch, but they turned up in the forest and we were packing up. The event team was packing up and wandering back with all the gear to the car park and there was the peacocks wandering just in the forest, just foraging in the forest, enjoying their natural environment, and it was amazing. Very special to see them.

00:59:15Oliver Spake: That would be a sight.

00:59:16Melissa Ellis: And they do have names.

00:59:18Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:59:18Melissa Ellis: They are known as Echo, Duke, Marley and Scout, although I have no clue as to who's who. But anyway, so Nambour may have Fluffy and Muffy, but Eynesbury Heritage junior parkrun has got the Peacocks.

00:59:37Oliver Spake: Oh, okay. We're setting the bird trail up.

00:59:40Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that can be a club.

00:59:42Oliver Spake: I mean, I haven't seen our albino burra for some time, but yeah, Shellharbour parkrun did for some time have an albino kookaburra. Now we more often than not have the magpie chicks, but I suppose a lot of places have magpie chicks.

00:59:56Melissa Ellis: I have heard reference to that albino burra before, actually. Yeah.

01:00:00Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:00:02Melissa Ellis: But, yeah, no, it was very special to spot the peacocks on the morning and, yeah, we got a big thrill out of that. Everybody was whipping out their cameras and taking photos and I did share photos of that on the Aussie parkrun tourism page for those who may be interested to have a look.

01:00:20Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:00:20Melissa Ellis: Oh, and they also do feature on the Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun Insta.

01:00:25Oliver Spake: So a few places to check it out and obviously encourage everyone to take a look. And if they're in Melbourne on a Sunday or west of Melbourne at least, Mel, come and check it out.

01:00:36Melissa Ellis: Exactly. So I'm thinking that any keen parkrun tourists that have kids, why wouldn't you want to be touristing around the junior events as well? Come and visit us. Come and see Westerfolds. Come and see us and obviously the other events, which is Thorndon Park. Junior parkrun in South Australia and Bellevue parkrun in Queensland. Yes. And you can be on the top of that list, Oliver Spake. Bring those girls down to see us soon.

01:01:03Oliver Spake: Yeah, I would like to get them out there. I think Zali's got the legs. I don't know who would win in an argument between Ava and I to do a parkrun. So, hey, it's worth a try.

01:01:14Melissa Ellis: I think we can coax them along. And they can have Abby as a host.

Sign-off

01:01:17Melissa Ellis: Well, that's right.

01:01:18Oliver Spake: Zali will be on board and Ava will follow along. So with Abby's guidance, yeah, I think they'll be in good hands. They could do with that head start though. Well, Mel, it's been a lovely catch-up. Good chat on the pod this week and nice to enjoy everyone's feedback on parkrun experience at the cafe. Obviously, look forward to hearing more again this coming parkrun day. So wherever you are, please drop us a line at Dazza's Cafe. Share us your picture. Coffee picture's very welcome. Please, as always, feel free to reach out. Ask us a question. Give us a suggestion. Give us... Maybe a suggestion of some non-Shellharbour parkrun dress-up themes for the parkrun adventurer List and the Meetup Dress-up Night. And you can email us any time with those at parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. Of course, if you would like to prompt the informant to create another new index, you can also reach the informant or check out the informant's page at at theinformant.me. Yeah, I think we'll have a few chases for the III coming up now, surely.

01:02:30Melissa Ellis: My goodness. Let's not get any more tongue twister indexes.

01:02:36Oliver Spake: Anyway, thank you, Mel. I will say, please don't forget to bring back the budgies.

01:02:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah.

01:02:42Oliver Spake: Bring them inside.

01:02:44Melissa Ellis: The dogs have been so well behaved today.

01:02:46Oliver Spake: They have. Everyone's behaved. I think they got the message. Have a lovely parkrun day when it comes, Mel. And thank you, Athlete ID A860793. Oh, well played.