Episode 234 - Mothers Day

Welcome

00:00:23Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 234 of the parkrun adventurers. I'm Ollie Spake and I'm joined by my co-host and lover of park dogs, Melissa Ellis. Mel, how was your Mother's Day?

00:00:35Melissa Ellis: Hello, Ollie. It was great, thank you. How was yours?

00:00:40Oliver Spake: Good, good. Great. All amongst the fun, but it was a fantastic Mother's Day. Yes.

00:00:47Melissa Ellis: What were you up to in Shellharbour Land?

00:00:51Oliver Spake: Yeah, another week in Shellharbour Land. Surprise, surprise. Couldn't get away this weekend. Too much going on, yeah, with birthdays, Mother's Day, anniversary. It was just everything packed into one tight weekend and a bit. So I was lucky enough to have a – let me do the maths – should have done the maths beforehand. I'm going to say 70% of a parkrun with mum.

00:01:17Melissa Ellis: Excellent. She had a big weekend, didn't she? She had a birthday as well as a mother's day.

00:01:22Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, that's right. She was absolutely certain she wanted to parkrun on mother's day. And mum's Mum's not living next to the course practically like I am. She's a good hour or so away, but she wanted to make the point of coming up on her birthday, going for a parkrun, you know, tutuing up and everything. And, yeah, I got to enjoy that with her.

00:01:44Melissa Ellis: That's pretty good. And every year she has to share her birthday on Mother's Day weekend.

00:01:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. Just as well, she's a very accommodating person. You know, she's a mum. She's always been that accommodating person. So I'm very, very lucky. But yep, she shares Mother's Day and it's kind of like that... The people that have the birthdays near Christmas. I know my oldest, Hannah, celebrates a half birthday in the middle of the year because she's got an early January birthday and she figures that's only fair. Mum hasn't taken that liberty in true mum style. So yeah, birthday one day, Mother's Day the next. Yeah. And, look, we were sure to get out and enjoy that too because it was an important one for mum. So, yeah, we hit up a winery for lunch. So it was good fun.

00:02:37Melissa Ellis: Excellent. And she had a cake.

00:02:40Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. We organised the cake, but, again, in true mum style, she showed up at Shellharbour parkrun with her own cake that she baked.

00:02:50Melissa Ellis: Aww.

00:02:52Oliver Spake: So I felt a bit slack there, but again, that's her style. And yeah, we took on the course. It was really muddy, really, really muddy as it's been raining a lot. So very slippery on course, even more erosion, but still good. fun dancing around the puddles. And as I said, followed around to about the three and a half K mark. So please check my maths. Feedback welcome if my maths failed there. And yeah, she'd been encouraging me to run on, I think, you know, because I... hadn't run much since that big run the other week and um I uh yeah took off up the hill but my watch could tell I had a guilty conscience because uh it was about 10 seconds after I'd parted with her and started heading up a watch the garment beeps with a notification it says hey it's uh it's your mom's birthday so we made sure because Hannah came on up we made sure we had a coffee waiting when she finished

00:03:47Melissa Ellis: Oh, excellent. Well done and happy birthday, Galen.

00:03:52Oliver Spake: Yeah, thank you on her behalf.

00:03:55Melissa Ellis: And you had a few cakes that weekend, I believe.

00:03:57Oliver Spake: Yeah, Mel, I've had a lot of cake. I've had five cakes. That's a cake for every parkrun K in that week.

00:04:05Melissa Ellis: Lucky you just ran a marathon, Ollie. You could afford to. You were refueling after your big effort.

00:04:10Oliver Spake: Hey, look, I've taken marathon refueling to a whole new level. I put on weight running a marathon, so I'm proud to say that's my record. But thank you, Mum, and thank you, Zali, because, of course, it was Zali's birthday on the same day, so between them. And how old was Zali?

00:04:25Melissa Ellis: She's turned eight. Eight? Eight. Happy birthday, Zali.

00:04:30Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. And, you know, she was off doing her thing. No parkrun for her. But, yeah, very celebratory weekend. But great to enjoy Mother's Day with, you know, with my mum, with Kathy, of course, on our wedding anniversary.

00:04:44Melissa Ellis: Wow, how many years?

00:04:46Oliver Spake: It's 12 years for us. Wow.

00:04:47Melissa Ellis: Awesome. Congratulations.

00:04:49Oliver Spake: Thank you. And, yeah, extended family and everything. So, yeah, big, big family weekend. But Mother's Day is always special. And I understand you had a special Mother's Day meal or a special Mother's Day parkrun at least.

00:05:02Melissa Ellis: I did, Ollie. So like you were running with your mother, which was mother-son. Yes. I ran with my son, which was also mother-son.

00:05:11Oliver Spake: Yeah. We didn't even plan this, did we?

00:05:13Melissa Ellis: We didn't. No. But I headed over to the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne to be in the vicinity of my older kids, and my son joined me for parkrun, and I took my daughter's dog, Dustin, to parkrun. Yeah, so that was really good. I really enjoyed that. Again, that was Dustin's second parkrun or his bark run. And Jake came along. He brought his dog as well and, yeah, we shared a few kilometres and much like you, Ollie, I ran off on him at the end as well.

00:05:53Oliver Spake: Excellent, excellent. That makes me feel a little better. Thank you. Yes. Did Jake mind?

00:05:59Melissa Ellis: Well, he did indicate that he minded. He did do a bit of a run walk for the first few kilometres, but he wasn't, he's not a runner. So he wasn't really wearing active wear. He wasn't really wearing correct footwear. He started to complain, you know, mid-event about his feet hurting. He was actually complaining a little bit more than maybe Zoe usually does. Yep. Yeah, but, you know, he wasn't in the correct gear, so that was understandable.

00:06:33Oliver Spake: Yeah, so legitimate. Okay.

00:06:35Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it was legitimate, yeah. But Dustin just wanted to run. He was pulling the whole way. He's only a baby still. He's just about to turn 12 months old. I was a little bit reluctant to, you know, overwork him. As I know, you know, you shouldn't run young dogs too much, but he was just pulling, pulling, pulling. So we got to that last kilometre and Jake was spent. He was just wanting to walk and Dustin still wanted to go. So we just jogged it easily the last kilometre. And then waited at the finish line. So, yeah, it was a fun morning. He's getting into this parkrun swing. He loves parkrun, Dustin. Oh, good work, Dustin. It's a match made in heaven, Ollie.

00:07:17Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, he's clearly appreciating the visits and the chance to go for a parkrun with you.

00:07:22Melissa Ellis: He is. He is. He is.

00:07:24Oliver Spake: Likes the course?

00:07:24Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah. Well, no. So I thought it's important for me to take him back to the same course. I want him to have familiarity.

00:07:31Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:07:31Melissa Ellis: You know, he's got expectation now when he sees me turn up on a Saturday morning that he's going somewhere. I want him to sort of, I want to take him to the same place so that he feels comfortable and it all goes well. The only thing, Ollie, I've got to do is I've got to get one of those little Gucci drink bodily things so that I can give him water.

00:07:50Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:07:51Melissa Ellis: Yeah, we had a drink fountain at the event, but it had been vandalized and you couldn't press the little button that put the water down for the dogs at ground level.

00:08:02Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:08:03Melissa Ellis: And Dustin was thirsty, so the bubbler was working, the human bubbler. So my son, Jake, lifted him up so that he could lick the water coming out of the human bubbler, which he was quite happy to do, not like my little chihuahuas who absolutely refused blankly to drink out of anything that isn't their very own water dish.

00:08:22Oliver Spake: Beneath them, yep.

00:08:23Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Yes, he was very, he's very accommodating. He's a happy as a dog. He's just beautiful. So, but yeah, no, I've got to get one of those little Gucci water bottles that you can, you can bring along and carry with you and then have water on hand for your dog. So that is my mission in life. I've been visiting all the Kmarts around my local area, trying to source myself one of these such water bottles.

00:08:48Oliver Spake: Ah, okay. Well, yeah. You'll have to share a picture when you find it. I'm really curious about a doggy drink bottle.

00:08:52Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they have a little like flip-down flap that acts as a dish so that you squirt the water out of the water bottle and it pulls in the dish and then the dog can lick it out of the dish. I only know because I've got a friend that's got one. I said, where did you get it? And she said, Kmart, $6.

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

00:09:11Melissa Ellis: But do you think any of my local Kmarts have got one? No, they're all sold out because clearly they're really good. Okay, well, all right.

00:09:18Julie Collard: Do you think cats would, like, I'm just thinking. Sphinxie.

00:09:22Oliver Spake: I usually get Sphinxie in the middle of the night coming into the bathroom next to the bedroom there and usually have to fill up my drinking glass and relinquish that to him because it's such a long walk to the kitchen. So maybe if I get one of these doggy drink bottles, that'll save me the effort.

00:09:38Melissa Ellis: Maybe. It's worth, yeah, it's worth trying, Ollie. I'll see how many I can locate.

00:09:46Oliver Spake: Okay. Appreciate it. You let me know.

00:09:50Melissa Ellis: But, yeah, no, so, yeah, brilliant weekend. And there was no juniors this weekend, Ollie. No. Not for us.

00:09:56Oliver Spake: Not for Eynesbury. There's something else special happening, of course.

00:09:59Melissa Ellis: Yes. So, yeah, in the forest in the Eynesbury – in the Eynesbury forest –

00:10:06Oliver Spake: Just quietly, I'm glad you get tongue-tied because it hides the fact that I always get tongue-tied.

00:10:13Melissa Ellis: In the Eynesbury Forest, there was a Mother's Day event. There was the Mother's Day Classic going on, which has previously run in the past. So we were quite happy to cancel juniors because most of the RD team were gone, volunteering the event lovely so uh yeah we we put the event on pause and we put our um efforts behind that yeah and we were still out there Sunday morning still at ainsbury and it was beautiful weather we had a lovely fine Sunday um morning you know the sun was out and it was a big success which was really great for the uh cause uh so yeah juniors juniors will be back this week

00:10:54Oliver Spake: Oh, lovely. And look, I'm pretty sure I saw some of the pictures. It looked pretty snazzy.

00:11:00Melissa Ellis: Well, we dressed up, Ollie, if that's what you mean, with snazzy. That's right.

00:11:06Oliver Spake: Yes. Pink is snazzy.

00:11:08Melissa Ellis: The pink tutus and the pink wigs and the sunny and the, you know, the big oversized Elton John sunglasses came out because you've got to act the part. And let's be honest, I've got a house full of dress-ups after the last year of COVID. All are Dazza's props.

00:11:26Oliver Spake: You should have just offered the local costume store a spot in your garage or something.

00:11:32Melissa Ellis: They actually closed down over COVID, the local costumes shop, which is a bit sad. I think maybe I just bought them out and maybe I should be the local costume shop now. That was it. That was my weekend.

00:11:44Oliver Spake: Wonderful. Sounds like a lovely weekend. We've certainly seen some great pictures and updates of people travelling around. Mel, there have even been people bubbling around, enjoying the travel bubble.

00:11:55Melissa Ellis: There have. Yep, people zipping over to New Zealand and people popping over here.

00:12:00Oliver Spake: Yeah, isn't it nice to see? Wish that for everyone before too long. Great to see and just share a bit of others' enjoyment of that opportunity. We've heard, of course, from New Zealand this week.

00:12:11Melissa Ellis: Yes, we should have a listen. We've got Alison with a report. Where was it from, Ollie? I've forgotten.

00:12:17Oliver Spake: It was from Barry Curtis parkrun.

00:12:19Melissa Ellis: Thank you. Let's listen to Alison now.

00:12:21[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Alison King — Barry Curtis parkrun

00:12:34Alison Fraser (King): Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Alison King here for the Channel 5 News crew reporting in from Auckland, New Zealand. And today I'm running at Barry Curtis parkrun. Now, avid listeners who would have heard the March Madness episode way back in a couple of months ago will remember that Barry Curtis was my very first parkrun way back in January 2016. And I've come back today to run it for the fifth time to help with my P index. So Barry Curtis parkrun is the most southern of all of the Auckland parkruns. And it's so close to the airport that we are under the flight path for Qantas Air New Zealand. It's pretty cool these days with the flights coming back. And so if you're coming over to New Zealand for some parkrun adventures, come on over to Barry Curtis parkrun. So let's see who we can find today. So I'm here with Grant Lincoln at the finish of Barry Curtis parkrun. How was that today, Grant?

00:13:39Grant Lincoln: Really enjoyed it today.

00:13:40Alison Fraser (King): Yeah. What made it enjoyable?

00:13:43Grant Lincoln: Just being out front the whole way and trying to go for the sub-18 right at the end.

00:13:49Alison Fraser (King): So you're quite one of our faster tourists in New Zealand, aren't you?

00:13:53Grant Lincoln: I think so, but not quite the quickest out there yet. No.

00:13:56Alison Fraser (King): How many of the different events have you done around the country?

00:13:59Grant Lincoln: I'd be 25 or 26 now. Yeah.

00:14:03Alison Fraser (King): And I hear that you go around trying to chase the age records.

00:14:06Grant Lincoln: Yes, I try. Yeah.

00:14:09Alison Fraser (King): So can you tell us about some of your recent adventures?

00:14:12Grant Lincoln: Last week I was at East End, which is New Plymouth, and I had 18.14 to try and beat and managed to do 17.57.

00:14:20Alison Fraser (King): Oh, well done.

00:14:21Grant Lincoln: Yeah.

00:14:22Alison Fraser (King): And I got told by the Invercargill Event Director earlier on in the year that you were down there chasing too.

00:14:28Grant Lincoln: Yes.

00:14:29Alison Fraser (King): Yeah.

00:14:30Grant Lincoln: Yeah, I'd just turned 50, so I saw that as one of the ones that was fairly achievable, so I thought I'd do that.

00:14:36Alison Fraser (King): Yeah. What do you like about this course here?

00:14:38Grant Lincoln: It's a variety, and I know it so well now. I just run it basically. I could do it in my sleep. You know, it's probably not the quickest of courses, but... Despite that, I still got my best time on this, my quickest overall times on this course. I think just because I know it so well.

00:14:56Alison Fraser (King): So not counting this parkrun, what would be your top three?

00:15:00Grant Lincoln: Gisborne would be number one. Balclutha is quite unique in the way that it's quite a different sort of course.

00:15:06Alison Fraser (King): Can you describe that to the listeners?

00:15:11Grant Lincoln: It's got cattle stops through the course. You go over the iconic Balclutha Bridge and then under the bridge and then back over it again. And I guess Flaxmere may be another top one. Nice and flat, paved all the way.

00:15:23Alison Fraser (King): Perfect for a PB. Yes. Cool. Thanks very much.

00:15:27Grant Lincoln: Thank you, Alison.

00:15:30Alison Fraser (King): So I'm with Julie Collard, who I ran part of today's run with. So how did you find that today, Julie? Yeah, it's great.

00:15:36Julie Collard: I love the two laps of this place, Barry Curtis. It's always good not to do a third.

00:15:42Alison Fraser (King): And you've done quite a few parkruns around the country. Just 15, not like you, Alison. How did you get into parkrun?

00:15:52Julie Collard: I'd heard about it, been told about it and thought it sounded too good to be true but nevertheless signed up and did Cornwall Park for my first and that was four and a half years ago. And then from Cornwall Park? Yeah, well now I've done 15 in New Zealand, one in Australia and then I got involved with Western Springs and became a Run Director there and then just over six months ago opened up Ōwairaka, the newest parkrun in Auckland, but not for long. And you've had an international visitor there already, haven't you? Yes, yeah. A few weeks ago we had someone from Melbourne coming over for her brother's wedding. So that was great, yeah. And today you brought another international visitor with you. Yeah, so my brother ran his first ever parkrun here, or walks. He's still out there. He's still walking. Hopefully he'll finish. And he is from Sydney and his closest over there would be Curl Curl, which I ran just over a year ago, but he's up late with hospitality work on Friday evening, so I don't know if he'll get to many more, but maybe when he visits New Zealand.

00:16:58Alison Fraser (King): Well, he had a rapturous applause today, didn't he? Yes. Can you tell us your top three parkruns in New Zealand, not counting your home parkrun?

00:17:07Julie Collard: Well, I would actually rate Barry Curtis here. It's my fifth time here today, and I love their sense of community here. The run brief this morning just was, you know, said everything positive about parkrun. And I do like the two laps here. I've come here a lot for other events like cross-country, so it is a favourite. But on scenery, it would have to be Queenstown, which I ran last year. It was awesome. And then my third, I think, in Auckland is Hobsonville Point because I love the online community, you know, and their course is great and the history around that location is really cool as well.

00:17:42Alison Fraser (King): Awesome. Thank you very much. Great. Thanks, Alison.

00:17:46Unidentified speaker: So I'm with Anna Willis. How was your parkrun day today, Anna? Oh, it was really nice. Good temperature today and yeah, it was fun. So this is your local? Yes, yeah. I usually come here. And so how long have you been running here? Oh, I'm coming up 100 runs next week. Congratulations for next week. A couple of years now, yeah. What got you into parkrun? I think I just heard about it through a friend and just came along to see what it was all about, but I was really hooked as soon as I started. So yeah, I love it. Bring all the family now as well. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. And you were telling me before you've done a bit of a tour of New Zealand the last few weeks. So which parkruns did you get to do? So we've just done a family road trip in the school holidays and we did Blenheim and then we did Invercargill and Rotorua on the way back home. So... Yeah, so they were all really lovely parkruns actually. Yeah, good selection. Yeah.

00:18:40Alison Fraser (King): Have you done much touring?

00:18:42Unidentified speaker: Not a lot. We've done one up north and yeah, we've done, yeah, that's probably all we've done at the moment, at the present, yeah. So what would be your favourite parkruns that you've run? I really love Invercargill actually, just the flat and through the gardens there is really nice. Blenheim was beautiful too and Rotorua was quite different but really cool as well. So I actually really enjoyed all of those three, yeah. So you've got plans to celebrate your 100? I don't know, actually. I haven't thought about that.

00:19:14Alison Fraser (King): I'm just looking forward to completing it. Surely you've got to have a cake.

00:19:19Unidentified speaker: Oh, maybe. Yeah, maybe we'll have to suss that out. Yeah. Well, thanks so much. No problem.

00:19:25Oliver Spake: Thank you, Alison, for the roving report. Sounds like a fantastic day and good work chasing the P index at Barry Curtis parkrun there. And a special shout out to Anna. Hope you enjoy your 100th parkrun next parkrun day. Mel, isn't it nice to hear of some bubbling parkrunners, some parkrunners travelling across the ditch and getting in a parkrun in New Zealand now that we've got the travel bubble accessible most times at least?

00:19:53Melissa Ellis: Definitely, Ollie. It gives us hope that we can... do similar things in the not-too-distant future.

00:20:00Oliver Spake: Yeah. It looks like there's a few people travelling across too. There's a few thousand every day and clearly these visits are being noticed. So, hey, if you're making those trips, yeah, let us know. We'd love to hear about the experience.

00:20:16Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, we had some visitors today. Sorry, that took me a while.

Dazza's

00:20:22Melissa Ellis: We had some visitors to Dazza's Cafe that we need to discuss.

00:20:27Oliver Spake: Yes. Thanks, everyone, for dropping by once again. Wonderful to hear from everyone. We heard first and foremost, I believe, from Bruce, Bruce Purdy. Bruce was decked out immediately. In the cheetah ears and responding to our question, did you walk, run or drive or do you like to find different ways to get to parkrun? And this was obviously carrying on from last week's parkrun report from Dawn who took the ferry. Bruce had a few different in the combination there. So ours was planes, trains and automobiles to the amazing and scenic Mosman parkrun. And yes, cheetah ears get more cheers.

00:21:06Melissa Ellis: Good to see Bruce at Mosman joining in the cheetah fun, with our friends there, namely Simon, the Quizmaster.

00:21:16Oliver Spake: Yes, it is a nice parkrun there.

00:21:19Melissa Ellis: Yes, definitely. And Ollie Dinella, Dinella Taylor. I ran 6.8 kilometres from home to my home parkrun, then did parkrun and got a car ride home with hubby. Good effort, Dinella. Yes. And I was wondering, Ollie, do you think that was in Dolly? No.

00:21:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm curious about that too, Mel. Was it Dolly Dinella? You have to let us know.

00:21:43Melissa Ellis: And for context, Ollie, we should say that we discovered when we were up there visiting the lovely parkrun at… Majimba Beach. Majimba Beach. Majimba. Yes. When we were there. That one. And Danella's lovely husband had a little, what do you call those types of cars, Ollie? A classic?

00:22:06Oliver Spake: It was, yeah, it was an impressive one. Yeah, certainly noticed it and noticed the name.

00:22:11Melissa Ellis: Yes. Couldn't miss the name. It was called Dolly.

00:22:14Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:22:14Melissa Ellis: Stood out to us.

00:22:16Oliver Spake: That's right. I think that'd be a fantastic way to get home from a parkrun. I agree. We also heard from Tracey Wood. Morning all. I'll have a cup of tea, please, while I sort through the photos from this morning. This pic is of me about to get run over because I haven't gotten out to a good spot yet. And yeah, Tracey was putting herself in a precarious position there out at Bunyaville parkrun, where I think there was a pretty... ready and set group of parkrunners about to trample her.

00:22:47Melissa Ellis: And Ingrid Botha. Quick car trip to beautiful Dolls Point this morning where the kayakers were out in full force enjoying the bay. My run was more of a walk this morning due to a sleepy 11-year-old and Paris the dog wanting a quick lie down a few times. I can't blame her. I usually want a quick lie down in the middle of a parkrun too. And Ingrid gave us a photo of Paris. It was nice to see Paris.

00:23:15Oliver Spake: Yeah. Look, we hear about these parkrun tactics. I'm sure Paris, you know, just was just planning, you know, a bit of an energy boost for later on.

00:23:24Melissa Ellis: No doubt.

00:23:25Oliver Spake: And we heard from Alison King. Hello from Ōwairaka parkrun Café Lyuff. I ran at Barry Curtis parkrun for my P Index, drove up from Rotorua and stayed the night and then drove to Ōwairaka to catch up with Steve, Andy and Helen. Coffee's all round except for Helen with an English breakfast tea. Great to see everyone there.

00:23:46Melissa Ellis: Well done, Alison, because, yeah, she read at one parkrun and then continued on to join the morning tea for a different parkrun.

00:23:57Oliver Spake: Yeah, that is fun. You get double the parkrun fun. It's like doing a double, but probably a bit smarter.

00:24:04Melissa Ellis: And Rebecca Bailey had some park faff this morning at Shellharbour, taking it nice and slow down some of the hills, but embraced my inner kid and jumped in all the puddles.

00:24:16Oliver Spake: Of which there were many.

00:24:19Melissa Ellis: That's fun. I think I need gumboots. I think I need to get myself some funky gumboots and... Take a leaf out of Rebecca's book and jump in some puddles. That's what I want to do, Ollie. That's on my next to-do list.

00:24:34Oliver Spake: Look, each parkrunner has their own style, don't they? There were certainly some gumboots at Shellharbour. Bec did not have gumboots and she certainly did jump in all the puddles. I tried to dance around them as much as possible. Puddles make for fun.

00:24:47Melissa Ellis: Hey, Ollie. I didn't really expand on what you said last week and listening back to the audio, I felt bad that I didn't um comment on the event that happened at Shellharbour last week the protest I glossed over it oh which was kind of wrong of me because you did tell us there was a protest at Shellharbour yes did you want to expand on that you know is Shellharbour parkrun are they at risk of you know their future oh let me just put down my my Dazza's cafe piccolo um I've put you on the spot. I'm sorry. But it did occur to me when I listened back to the audio last week and you mentioned it and I kind of glossed over it and continued on and I didn't really pay it any importance.

00:25:36Oliver Spake: Well, firstly, I don't think you glossed over it and... I think it's important we respect the listeners. Maybe you don't want to hear always about Shellharbour as much as I firmly believe all of you need a dose of Shellharbour every week. But, yeah, look, the protest has been a developing story locally at least and one that's been taken up in particular in the surfing community because Shellharbour parkrun is in the Killalea, what was a state park. It's a reserve park. that is managed by a not-for-profit organisation appointed through the government. And it is a national surfing reserve as well. So much loved across the surfing community. And amongst a number of different events as part of that protest, the paddle out that was conducted, we had parkrunners joining that and all. Naturally, a number of different people locally and further afield broke a world record for a combined paddle out. But yeah, coming back to the point as I tried to, Shellharbour parkrun naturally is very fortunate to be able to run each week in such a beautiful location. We've had fantastic support, both from set up, from the previous management, from the people managing the park, the rangers. And from the group that run and operate that park now, the development proposal that is put forward is one that they claim is to raise money and provide essentially a revenue source that isn't currently available as it was previously before they were appointed. So there are concerns around the viability of their current approach, but many options are on the table and there appears to be a lot of community support for change. It's great to see. I think I mentioned last week, it's great to see people's passion. So there are lots of things being discussed, some of which might see the park completely speculating. This is my words, not necessarily anyone else's, but... The park transitioned to even a national park organisation. But interestingly, there are suggestions there that there could be a park fee. So, yeah, watch this space, I suppose. Naturally, we want what's right for the park. Of course, we want what's right for Shellharbour parkrun and the community to provide that free weekly access. But... I think the care of the sensitive environment and the beautiful environment of the park needs to be front of mind as well. So there's a while to go, but we will see.

00:28:11Melissa Ellis: Well, Ollie, we want what's best for Killalea, but I am sensing some points from what you said that there's a potential that if the park wants a fee that this could potentially be the demise of Shellharbour parkrun. And this isn't something that we want. This is going to be a contentious issue potentially.

00:28:37Oliver Spake: Yeah. And it will play out over some time yet. So it's being discussed in state government as to how the park got into the condition it's in and the situation. There's been a lot of criticism around the process for consultation for these development proposals. So we will see. And naturally, we do hope that it gets taken into consideration. For context, you've got to cast your mind back several decades for those that, I know I wasn't one of them, but for those that lived locally, it was actually a farm or a group of farms, I believe, but there was access for people that wanted to go down to the beach, you know, through Killalea there. They put money at the gate and head on down. Of course, it wasn't terribly expensive back then, so... Yeah, I think there's maybe an acceptance of a gate entry fee if it's preserved for what it was originally intended, which was a gift to the community from the farmer. And again, I haven't checked all my facts there, but that's what's commonly referred to. But naturally, as you say, there could be implications.

00:29:43Melissa Ellis: Well, we shall keep all our fingers crossed and we shall await updates from yourself for the fate of Shellharbour parkrun. And let's hope that there's the chance that it can continue on for years to come. And we wish you all the best, Ollie.

00:30:01Oliver Spake: Thanks, Mel. We also wish all the best for Shellharbour parkrun. We enjoy having people there. So fingers crossed. Thank you. Importantly, there's a coffee to finish and some more reports. Yeah, look at we also heard this week from Caro. So, Caro Vos, a trip to Pioneer Dairy parkrun for another Wilson index number. Always good to visit the cows. And the cows look happy, Mel. I mean, I know the expression is pig in mud, but, you know.

00:30:31Melissa Ellis: I know. I was curious and I did ask Caro, are the cows always there? It just looks like, you know, Caro was trotting past a gate and there was a heap of cows just hanging out. But, you know, probably the key is that it is a dairy, so there's likely to be always an abundance of cows. We shall go with that.

00:30:52Oliver Spake: Yes. Sounds like a very reasonable explanation and beautiful cows. I'd love to visit for that reason on the list.

00:30:59Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Mark. Marvellous, Mark. Back home as Run Director at Wagi Bridge parkrun after our Tassie adventures. Enjoyed catching up with the crew. Thanks, Mark. And we're glad you're back on deck at Wagga. Wagga.

00:31:19Oliver Spake: I butcher it frequently.

00:31:21Melissa Ellis: I know it's not waggy. It's just I struggle because it isn't pronounced how it's spelt.

00:31:29Oliver Spake: My approach to pronunciation with Wagi Bridge is just to try and abbreviate the second syllable as fast as possible. Yeah.

00:31:39Melissa Ellis: Gloss over it, Ollie. No one will notice.

00:31:42Oliver Spake: But honestly speaking, I would like to be corrected. I should know. Slow learner here. We also heard from Val, Val Warwick. We took the first 100 kilometres of our road trip today to go to Kate Reed as volleys. And after coffee and sausage roll for Steve, we will do the next 200 kilometres to Hobart where we will catch up with TOC and Jacqui this week. But there was an update, not catching up, wrong week. Yeah. Yeah, Tassie's the place to be.

00:32:10Melissa Ellis: It is. Kate Reed is an absolutely beautiful place. And well done to Val and Steve for volunteering there. Yes. I was wondering about the sausage roll report. There's another person on board with sausage rolls, Ollie. They're taking off.

00:32:24Oliver Spake: Well, I think they're a cuisine of choice.

00:32:26Melissa Ellis: Maybe it's just not as hard to say as, what was the other one?

00:32:35Oliver Spake: Are you referring to a pasty?

00:32:36Melissa Ellis: Yes, that's what I'm thinking of. Yes, a pasty. They're obviously more popular because they're easier to say.

00:32:43Oliver Spake: Less controversial. Less controversial. I don't know if I've weighed into the pasty pasty thing before. Yes.

00:32:51Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Birgit Rainbird, walked three kilometres from home to South Bank parkrun and back, On a spectacular sunny day.

00:33:00Julie Collard: Lovely.

00:33:01Melissa Ellis: I need to get to South Bank, Ollie, because I need a south for my compass.

00:33:07Oliver Spake: You have a few of the other compass points?

00:33:09Melissa Ellis: I have two of them. I haven't got a south. Have you?

00:33:13Oliver Spake: I'm thinking. No. No south.

00:33:16Melissa Ellis: Right. Well, you need to get there too. Let's make a plan.

00:33:19Oliver Spake: All right. We also heard from Sam Schroder. Drove a few Ks to our home run at Picton. I was barcode scanning and Luke walked his 50th parkrun from 30 locations. Congratulations, Luke.

00:33:32Melissa Ellis: Well done, Luke. That's awesome.

00:33:35Oliver Spake: It's a well spread out 50.

00:33:37Melissa Ellis: And Bernadette Bennett. Drove in early for set up at Newy and first time as briefing, but then also managed a slow run. Hubby ran in and then scanned. Coffee, hot choc, almond croissant afterwards at Cafe Inu, close by to our course start point. Excellent, Bernadette. Sounds like a good morning.

00:34:00Oliver Spake: I like the order too. Yum. And Cam. Cameron Drake. Totally forgot to fill up yesterday. Luckily, the battery still had charge, so I slowly potted to the local and watched my GPS make a meal of the course. Thank goodness I could find the coffee afterwards. And yeah, it really did look like a bit of a park stagger on the Strava feed there, Mel. It did. Yeah.

00:34:25Melissa Ellis: And Janet Reid, good morning all, back at Lochiel Park after three weeks away. It was so good. Parachuted in, landing perfectly in the car park. Packed away my chute and donned the highly sought after orange vest and proceeded as car park marshal. Had a fast trot to catch up and pass the Tail Walkers. Got back, did some barcode scanning, maintaining the 1 to 50 ratio. Then it was coffee time, a perfect skinny flat white, and some of Australia's best hot chips. It's all true, I tell you. Well, except that I arrived in the car park courtesy of my husband chauffeuring me in the car. Doesn't have the same degree of excitement compared to a parachute, does it? And no, it doesn't, Janet. But I kind of do wonder if it would be possible to parachute into a parkrun. I like the idea of that challenge.

00:35:22Oliver Spake: North Wollongong.

00:35:23Melissa Ellis: Hey.

00:35:24Oliver Spake: North Wollongong. Why? I mean, it would have been perhaps even better from their original start point. But, yeah, you can parachute and land right there.

00:35:33Melissa Ellis: North Wollongong is not in South Australia.

00:35:36Oliver Spake: Well, no, no. But if you want to parachute to a parkrun, North Wollongong.

00:35:41Melissa Ellis: Have you got a kind of context there, Ollie, as to why North Wollongong?

00:35:46Oliver Spake: Oh, they have a parachuting. Yes, yes, yes. The plug there, Skydive the Beach, they have a parachuting business there that you can land at North Wollongong.

00:35:59Melissa Ellis: Okay. And can you drop him some coin and set that up so that you can parachute in in time for parkrun?

00:36:07Oliver Spake: Not sure I'd chance it.

00:36:08Melissa Ellis: Because that sounds like a challenge to me. I'm up for that.

00:36:12Oliver Spake: Well, you'd likely land at the halfway point. So you'd probably buy yourself a bit of time, but it's not really something I want to approve of. So you'd have to catch the early flight, parachute in, run two and a half k's to the start line. So you get bonus parkrun k's as well.

00:36:30Melissa Ellis: Oh, well, that could work.

00:36:32Oliver Spake: It's all assuming that that could work, but I like Janet's story better.

00:36:35Melissa Ellis: I do know with these hot air, oh, and it's not a hot air balloon though, is it? I was going to say these hot air balloons are a bit weather dependent, but parachuting maybe isn't so much.

00:36:45Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, it's not that pleasant when it's raining, but kind of stingy, but you would be somewhat weather dependent, I believe.

00:36:53Melissa Ellis: You sound like a man who's parachuted before.

00:36:56Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:36:57Oliver Spake: Yeah, back before I realised that I was scared of it, yeah. I was given a skydiving ticket for my 21st birthday from Kathy. Oh, wow. So a long time ago now, but yes.

00:37:09Melissa Ellis: Oh, my gosh. You guys have been together since then. That's so cute.

00:37:14Oliver Spake: Yes. I bought her one back in revenge.

00:37:18Melissa Ellis: So Paul and I don't hate each other that much. Yeah. We go hot air ballooning. It's much more kind of, I don't know, passive. Oh, no, that's cool. That's cool. That's not something I ever want to do.

00:37:33Oliver Spake: No, me either. Yeah. It was great fun. Trust me. Highly recommend it. I just don't want to do it again. But anyway. We also heard from Mandy Oliver, had planned to go to my home parkrun at Surfers, but was a bit sluggish this morning. So a drive to my nearest at Paradise Point. Have ridden my bike before. Am a little in awe of one of the local tri groups that ride to Surfers, run parkrun, then swim in the lake after. If anyone wants to do that, Surfers has the best amenities of any parkrun I have seen. Heaps of toilets and showers and change rooms as well.

00:38:11Melissa Ellis: I was very impressed with this one, Ollie. You know, that's a triathlon parkrun. It really is. I'd be interested to do that, only I don't do the swimming bit. I've had friends try to lure me into triathlons in the past, and I keep telling them I don't swim. I mean, I can swim. I pass my military swim test, not in the most elegant of ways. So I prefer not to do a swim. I certainly can't do that really cool kind of Aussie crawl swim that most people do when they go out in open water. I could breaststroke for a few hundred metres perhaps and do a bit of backstroke. I could mix it up a bit. It wouldn't be awfully competitive though.

00:39:01Oliver Spake: Well, I think the point you're making is you could do it. So maybe there's an opportunity there, Mel.

00:39:06Melissa Ellis: If it wasn't a race, I could manage that. Anyway, Mandy, that's awesome, and well done to those who do that.

00:39:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, a lot of respect. I don't think I would pass the swim test, so a lot of respect.

00:39:18Melissa Ellis: And Dawn Branton, no ferry for me this week. I walked to Kirra parkrun. Not all the way, though. I did take a plane to Coolangatta. Lovely to see the big koalas on the course. I do miss my Melbourne UUs. And Dawn was touring. I think it was a bit of uber-tourism for Dawn. Just a quick overnight up to Kirra, enjoying the Kirra koalas up there.

00:39:45Oliver Spake: Yeah, nice to see the koalas there. Good work, Dawn. And another from Team Warwick, Stephen Warwick. As Val said, we drove for over an hour through some fog as well to get to volunteer at Kate Reed parkrun, which in my humble opinion is Tassie's best kept secret of a parkrun and one of the best in Australia. Well, we hope to break that secret, Stephen. We hope to get it out there.

00:40:10Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:40:11Melissa Ellis: I don't profess to have done all the parkruns in Tasmania. I've done a few, but I do believe that Kate Reed is one of the best. It's a brilliant trail event.

00:40:24Oliver Spake: Well, I haven't heard a bad thing yet, so I'm going entirely off everyone's personal opinions, but it sounds convincing.

00:40:30Melissa Ellis: yeah, you don't know any better. We'll just tell you what we want.

00:40:33Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. I'll just follow along. And we should mention Val and Stephen, you looked amazing in your orange in that photo there. Good work.

00:40:41Melissa Ellis: It was nice to see them too.

00:40:42Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:40:43Melissa Ellis: And Vicky Thompson, if I had have stayed at a different motel, I could have walked less than a kilometre to parkrun instead of driving four kilometres. Well done, Vicky. It made me consider the fact that, yeah, it It's always a bit of a game with us tourists to see just how close we can manage to book accommodation to the start line.

00:41:05Oliver Spake: Yeah, what's the closest you've managed, Mel?

00:41:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, we went a couple of years ago in South Australia to Christies Beach. It was our last see to join the Pirate Club and the caravan park that we were camping in was directly in front of the start location for Christies Beach parkrun. So, I mean, I don't know technically what the metre different distance was, but it literally was we walked out of the gate of the caravan park and were at the start line of Christies Beach. So, yeah, that would be the closest one I've done. It's always fun to see how close you can get. to the start line of a parkrun. I know, TOC's pretty good at that. Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He is the master. You want to get good accommodation, you just check where TOC's been.

00:41:57Oliver Spake: Noted, noted. No, I'll have to plan some. I don't believe I have stayed terribly close to any parkruns. I mean, the closest I've probably stayed at is my house.

00:42:07Melissa Ellis: far are you from Shellharbour?

00:42:10Oliver Spake: Oh, it's a kilometre or so now. It's about two k's to the start line now, actually. Yeah, it used to be closer.

00:42:16Melissa Ellis: How did it used to be closer? What moved, Ollie, your house or the parkrun start?

00:42:22Oliver Spake: My house, my house.

00:42:23Melissa Ellis: Your house moved?

00:42:24Oliver Spake: Yes. So you moved house? I moved house, yes.

00:42:30Melissa Ellis: Because everybody out in podcast land is imagining your house like getting up on its tiptoes and moving a kilometre away from the start line.

00:42:39Oliver Spake: No, no, that's right. I chose to get up and move to this lovely, quaint, porous little shack.

00:42:45Melissa Ellis: The one that leaks.

00:42:49Oliver Spake: The one with the bricks that like to drink, yes. Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, context. I have had a little bit of water damage and we have a little bit of a history of water damage. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be laughing about that.

00:43:00[laughter]

00:43:02Melissa Ellis: I'm very sorry for your seepage.

00:43:07Oliver Spake: It's quite okay. I'm sitting next to my rolled up carpet here recording as we speak. But nonetheless, I look forward to a parkrun later this year where I hope to rival some of those in terms of staying close to the start line. Got one up the sleeve.

00:43:24Melissa Ellis: Oh, that sounds intriguing. You're not willing to share. Is this going to be just a mystery?

00:43:30Oliver Spake: A mystery for an awful long time too, a good segue into longest run Ollie yes there was a reference to a long time so yeah I think that was seamless yes how's the plans for the longest run oh they're going great I'm uh

00:43:46Melissa Ellis: Pulling up stumps from Victoria and I'm planning to set sail for North Brisbane longest run. And plans are well underway, Ollie, to join in with the North Brisbane community. Hopefully they will be embracing the tourists from down south. Looking forward to coming up and sampling some very nice flat parkruns.

00:44:13Oliver Spake: Is there a particular parkrun along the way that you are excited to sample?

00:44:18Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ollie, don't put me on the spot. No.

00:44:22Oliver Spake: All of them, I think, is the answer. Yeah.

00:44:25Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes, it is. Yes. No. I'm very excited because none of the events in the North parkrun Longest Run are events I've done, so they will all be bonus events.

00:44:39Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:44:39Melissa Ellis: Of future parkrun tourist destinations.

00:44:44Oliver Spake: Certainly some familiar names there. It looks like an exciting line-up and a finish at Kedron there.

00:44:49Melissa Ellis: Are you Googling? Because, you know.

00:44:51Oliver Spake: I'm Googling.

00:44:52Melissa Ellis: Ollie Spake, I've got a bone to pick with you. When I go back and do the edit, I hear your tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Ha, ha, ha. I can't always hear it when we're recording, but when I go back and I do the edit, I hear tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap while I'm talking. I know you're looking up stuff while I'm speaking. So I'm just guessing that you're doing it right now. You're bringing up the event list of the North Brisbane... Yeah, curiosity did get me there.

00:44:58[laughter]

00:45:18Oliver Spake: Yes, absolutely. Come clean.

00:45:19Melissa Ellis: Okay. So I'm going to put you on the spot. Please list the events and the North Brisbane longest run.

00:45:25Oliver Spake: Well, Mel, I'm glad you asked. So... So from what I understand, you'll be getting underway at Central Lakes nice and early and then off to Harris Avenue, North Lakes, Redcliffe, Sandgate, Chermside and finishing at Kedron.

00:45:41Melissa Ellis: Nice. Oh, I'm so pleased. Thank you for enlightening me.

00:45:46Oliver Spake: We are both enlightened.

00:45:48Melissa Ellis: So, I haven't done any of those events. However, Sandgate, on our recent trip for Palm, we did do a freedom walk of Sandgate. So, I'll be super excited to return there.

00:46:00Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:46:00Melissa Ellis: But yourself, Ollie, are you going to partake in a bit of Longest Run yourself?

00:46:07Oliver Spake: I wouldn't miss it. It looks like I'm headed back to familiar stomping ground and eagerly anticipating the release of some plans. I haven't reached out to those that regularly do it, so I look forward to chatting to everyone and hopefully seeing a few familiar faces again. Very jealous of your travels.

00:46:26Melissa Ellis: How many longest runs has New South Wales got planned?

00:46:30Oliver Spake: I haven't seen one for Newcastle yet, I must admit. I've been just seeing a lot of longest runs pop up in terms of different events, and I'm a little excited, although I don't expect to be able to travel interstate across those weeks, unfortunately, but a little excited at the fact that they do span a few weeks, Mel. So, I'm sure that there are a few listeners or a few adventurers at least out there that are planning some multiple longest runs, surely.

00:47:02Melissa Ellis: Ollie, so in Victoria, we've got five or six different events.

00:47:09Oliver Spake: It's another level over there in Victoria, isn't it? You're sort of coming at it from every direction into Melbourne.

00:47:15Melissa Ellis: And just in the west, out my way, there's two separate events. Yes. Two separate longest runs. And one of them, I'm a little bit excited, but one of them is going to feature a course at Eynesbury where my Junior parkrun is. Ooh. Now, obviously, Junior parkrun is a 2K event. There's going to be a special extended five-kilometre course. Yes. Because you know what? There is the potential out at Eynesbury for a 5K parkrun. It doesn't currently exist, but there's the potential there. So we're a bit excited for some people to come along and see, see the forest, to see Eynesbury where juniors occurs and maybe get a little bit excited.

00:47:57Oliver Spake: I think that is pretty exciting. It would be fantastic to see some interest there and potentially a bigger version to follow. I mean, nothing surely will ever match the fantastic junior parkrun that's been set up there.

00:48:11Melissa Ellis: Oh, naturally, yeah.

00:48:13Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:48:14Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so that's really exciting. So I'm, you know, as much as I'm not going to be there

00:48:21Julie Collard: I'm skipping town.

00:48:22Melissa Ellis: I'm very excited for all the events that are going to be happening in Victoria. There's a huge following down here for Longest Run and fabulous for all the people that have got behind the events down here.

00:48:37Oliver Spake: Yes. Great work, everyone. It's fantastic to see. It's been nice just tic-tacking with a few people, getting excited about it and look forward to seeing many of the pictures and hearing many of the stories. Bring it on.

00:48:49Melissa Ellis: What's next, Ollie?

00:48:52Oliver Spake: I think we don't know. We may have to see you on the V-side.

00:48:58Melissa Ellis: We might.

00:48:59Oliver Spake: Or some stats. Yes.

00:49:01Melissa Ellis: Oh, the informant, Ollie, the informant's not back this week.

00:49:05Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:49:05Melissa Ellis: I don't know what's happening. Have you had any more comms with HR?

00:49:10Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, look, I've been told to wait.

00:49:14Melissa Ellis: Really?

00:49:15Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah.

00:49:16Melissa Ellis: Do we know what the issue is? Is it a pay dispute?

00:49:21Oliver Spake: I mean, this is parkrun, Mel. It's always about money. But look, sadly, no, HR haven't given us an update. The informant is still on extended leave. We miss you, informant. And in the meantime, Mel, I guess we just have to make do.

00:49:40Melissa Ellis: Okay, well, Ollie will call back the agency casual. He might not be awfully impressed about having a comeback, but we will endeavour to engage his services again and see what we can get. We didn't get any feedback of what people might like to hear.

00:50:01Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:50:01Melissa Ellis: Sadly. That's okay. We're used to not getting much feedback.

00:50:07Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:50:07Melissa Ellis: So no harm, no foul there.

00:50:10Oliver Spake: Gives the agency casual just a license to be creative. And with that enthusiasm, I'm sure it'll be magical.

00:50:18Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I agree. So let's hear what we've got from them.

the Informant

00:50:33the Agency Casual: This is the Agency Casual. That's right sports fans, I'm back. I could get used to this place. Comfy chair, big screen TV, free coffee. Not bad. So let's get into it and just rip the band-aid off and let's go. This week Australia had 42,811 runners across 394 events, up 2,725 on last week with an average of 109 runners per event. New Zealand had 3,735 runners across 32 events, down 296 with an average of 117 runners per event. The top three largest events in Australia this week was New Farm,

00:51:12[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:51:28the Agency Casual: 446 runners, up 8. South Bank, 429 runners, returning from a cancellation last week. And the Ponds, 391, down 10. The top three events in New Zealand were Hagley, 330, up 24. Cornwall Park, 264, down 4. And Lower Hutt, 264,

00:51:45[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:52:00the Agency Casual: Australia had three 250 milestones this week. Brie Broussard running Westerfolds, Glenn Claydon at Lilydale Lake and Diane Colerady at Petrie. We also had 117 100 milestones and 197 50 milestones. with 10 100 milestones and 18 50 milestones. The top three fastest females in Australia were Alexandra Blake running a new PB at Kedron in 16 minutes 44. Victoria Mitchell running Wangaratta for the first time setting a new course record of 17 minutes 12. Amy Carriggs record by 47 seconds, and Lauren Reid running Orange in 17 minutes 39. Top three females in New Zealand were Hannah Oldroyd running a new PB at Hagley in 17 minutes and 11 seconds, Nancy Xieng running Queenstown in 19 minutes flat, and Pip Mio running Western Springs in 19 minutes and 10 seconds. Top three fastest males in Australia were Gordon McClemon, setting a new PB at Kirra in 14 minutes 52, Dale Zabioa setting a new PB in Rockingham in 15 minutes 35, and Brandon Martin breaking his own course record at Bathurst by 38 seconds, running 15.38. The top three fastest males in New Zealand again taking out the top position, running Palmerston North in 14.58. Fabian Downs running Millwater for the first time in 15.38, taking Mark Royce's record by 8 seconds. And Samuel Kenoch Walden running new PB of 16.03 at Cornwall Park. So there you are, sports fans. Short, sweet, and to the point. Go out there, take it easy, have fun, and try not to hurt yourselves. Oh, look at that. Informant's left some beer in the fridge. Finders keepers.

Sign-off

00:54:33Oliver Spake: So, Mel, it's been another good catch-up, another good parkrun day passed, and another parkrun day quickly approaching. What have you got planned next week?

00:54:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, wow, Ollie. I have to get planning for this Panorama Punish, so... I'm looking for hills this week. I'm going to search out one of my local events, which I think might be Sunbury parkrun. So what about you?

00:54:57Oliver Spake: I won't be running any official hills. I'll be back in the purple slash orange, or actually slash blue, back behind the megaphone.

00:55:08Melissa Ellis: Blue. Oh, the white and blue.

00:55:10Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:55:11Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Run directing.

00:55:13Oliver Spake: Looking forward to that. So yeah, another local week before we go a bit further afield. It'll be nice.

00:55:20Melissa Ellis: Any of the family joining you this week?

00:55:23Oliver Spake: I don't know, actually. That's a good question. I'm sure there's a chance of Hannah popping up. I think mum has said she's coming up to have a parkrun anyway. No, I have to see. Maybe I have to get Ava out.

00:55:34Melissa Ellis: Oh.

00:55:36Oliver Spake: Yeah, I think she could help.

00:55:37Melissa Ellis: Excellent. That would...

00:55:39Oliver Spake: good if I could rustle her up nice and early how old's Ava she's five yeah soon to be six and she's she's got a megaphone voice so how did it work yeah beautiful but yeah my money's on Hannah really but uh yes we we shall see I've also discovered you know Facebook pops up

00:56:01Melissa Ellis: Ollie with these memories all the time so I'm getting a lot of Facebook memories every Facebook memory I see I'm wearing the same jacket I've been wearing the same jacket the same running jacket pretty much my whole parkrun career yeah yeah I reckon I'm due for a new one I'm starting to Google.

00:56:24Oliver Spake: Now, is there a parkrun jacket? There is a parkrun jacket. I mean, there's Contra, of course.

00:56:29Melissa Ellis: Is there?

00:56:30Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm trying to think of what the range is.

00:56:32Melissa Ellis: Okay, maybe I need to investigate that because I've just been going Nike because that's what I currently wear, which I'm getting holes in my pocket. Yeah, because I've had it a fair few years now. And I'm not one to – apart from, you know, obviously whenever you do running events, you always end up with the obligatory T-shirt and perhaps buff. So you're saying I should look at – At the parkrun.

00:57:00Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, it's been a long time since I've checked out any of the parkrun gear, but I've certainly noticed that the Contra range has a few jackets.

00:57:10Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:57:11Oliver Spake: As part of that. So there could be some good options there for you, Mel.

00:57:14Melissa Ellis: Righty-o. I shall look into that. Thank you very much.

00:57:18Oliver Spake: That's all right. But, hey, if anyone else has any suggested ranges, that could be part of the feedback, couldn't it, Mel?

00:57:25Melissa Ellis: They might like to write in. And let us know on our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. We love to hear.

00:57:34Oliver Spake: Always.

00:57:35Melissa Ellis: We would actually love an email.

00:57:37Oliver Spake: Yeah. And look, it wasn't via the email, but I must shout out, because we were speculating around returns of parkruns recently, last week, I believe. And yeah, there are still some parkruns out there that haven't returned. So Peter Pohlman actually let us know that Callaghan parkrun's yet to return. Yeah.

00:57:59Melissa Ellis: Yes, I know. I'm not quite sure why. Peter, please, if you could give us a bit of context as to what is the issue with Callaghan and what other parkruns we are still waiting on in Australia. I don't think there's many, Ollie.

00:58:16Oliver Spake: No, I'd only just heard of Nepean Rivers return, but that was following flood damage. I think they're on an alternative course there at the moment. But, yeah, can't be many, but I would dearly like to be educated there. So, yeah, feedback welcome. And, yeah, for those parkruns still hanging out for their return in Australia and obviously for everyone globally, we're looking forward to you rejoining the parkrun world on a Saturday sometime soon.

00:58:45Melissa Ellis: Definitely, Ollie, and I don't know that it's actually going to be of any benefit. But for Mother's Day, Ollie, I got a gimbal. I'm very excited, and today Paul and I were setting it up, and I was, you've got to install an app. It's very high tech.

00:59:05Oliver Spake: So it's a big adjustment. So have you had a chance to take it for a run yet, Mel?

00:59:09Melissa Ellis: Well, we were going to today. Paul and I went for a run today, and... We took a bit of time to try and set it up. We're having a bit of a play around with it. And then I decided that it was maybe a little bit more than I was prepared to, um, to try to do on my actual run because it's, it's, it's, it feels like it's a bit complicated, Ollie. I think I need to go out more on a walk, maybe on a parkrun course and play around with it before I actually try and run with it.

00:59:41Oliver Spake: Yeah. Yeah.

00:59:42Melissa Ellis: And, uh, To be honest, there's a lot of features that I need to get my head around. I'm determined to do it because, yeah, I think it would be really beneficial. We could maybe do some lives.

00:59:54Oliver Spake: That would be the fun of it, wouldn't it, just being able to share a bit more of the parkrun day experience? And you'll be a pro before you know it, Mel. I'll be having to take lessons.

01:00:04Melissa Ellis: I'll commit.

01:00:05Oliver Spake: Yep.

01:00:09Melissa Ellis: Thank you to my beautiful family for gifting me this for Mother's Day. It was lovely, even though I did ask for it. But never mind.

01:00:17Oliver Spake: That's beside the point.

01:00:19Melissa Ellis: Well, I think, Ollie, we have exceeded our limit for today, potentially.

01:00:26Oliver Spake: Always nice.

01:00:28Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it has been good. I look forward to chatting to you again next week. Excellent. Thanks, Mel.

01:01:43Unidentified speaker: Hi Mel and Ollie. We really missed Junior parkrun today. But we still took mum for a walk. A (not)parkrun. Happy Mother's Day Mel. Bye.