Episode 242 - Dog Assisted

Welcome

00:00:00Oliver Spake: We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri, Dharawal and Yuin people, traditional custodians of the lands on which we record this week, and also acknowledge the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to the elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

00:00:33[music]

00:00:49Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 242 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm joined by a man who's not parkrunning at the moment, but did enjoy a freedom run with his daughters. Welcome, Ollie. Thank you, Mel. How's it going? It's really good. And I believe you took Zali and Ava out on the weekend for a junior parkrun or a not junior parkrun.

00:01:18Oliver Spake: A not junior parkrun because that's the closest thing we have here, so it kind of suited. It's very generous to call it a not junior parkrun, I must admit, but the intent was there, can I say. We covered two Ks, so it was slightly disrupted. One was skipping. The other one, should we just call her the lead bike in the end? But, yeah, nonetheless. Yeah.

00:01:43Melissa Ellis: Oh, well, I think skipping's okay. I'd accept that.

00:01:47Oliver Spake: Oh, look, and seeing how well she covered the 2K skipping, obviously we'd need to go back at the pack or something like that, but I think she's up to it.

00:01:57Melissa Ellis: That's like a level up.

00:01:59Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:02:00Oliver Spake: Yeah, maybe so.

00:02:01Melissa Ellis: The weather looked fine up there in New South Wales. Yeah. You had a good weekend.

00:02:06Oliver Spake: Yeah, we had a pretty good weekend. And, hey, look, you know, we're all still in lockdown up here in this part of New South Wales at least. And with such fine weather, everyone was out exercising. And it was a nice winter's day. It was not too cold. It was sunny. It was quite calm on Saturday at least on not parkrun day. So, yeah, look, Mel, I did take advantage. I got up and decided to do things a little differently. So after the Euro soccer had finished, jumped on the bike and And went for a bike ride with Hannah, 5K bike ride. So I can't say I've done that very often. Then I did my own Not parkrun. So I reinvigorated Bass Point Not parkrun. Been a long time since I've done that one.

00:02:53Melissa Ellis: Good to hear.

00:02:54Oliver Spake: And then, yes, the Junior Not parkrun, which I have to admit did include all five members of the household. Excellent. So I did have support, yeah.

00:03:04Melissa Ellis: Oh, good. So Cathy came and...

00:03:07Oliver Spake: Kathy came, Hannah came. Hanny came. Hanny came, yep. And, yeah, it was quite an active morning. Oh, that's good to know. So no parkrun. Don't know whether there will be one this week at this stage. Suggestion that the lockdown will finish, but it was still nice to enjoy that time.

00:03:26Melissa Ellis: Do you think? Because, like, I don't know, from down here looking from afar, it doesn't look promising.

00:03:33Oliver Spake: No, it really doesn't. And it has been positive to see some of the positive changes. We've seen lockdowns across, well, what has it been? Northern Territory, Queensland, WA, New South Wales, and some of those have improved, the situation's improved, and hopefully they continue in the same trajectory. New South Wales, not so great. Yeah, yeah, people still seem to be celebrating, having parties, celebrating lockdown. So we'll see.

00:04:05Melissa Ellis: Well, our fingers are crossed for you.

00:04:07Oliver Spake: Thank you. And what about yourself, Mel? How was parkrun Day? The first parkrun Day, that is. The first one? The first parkrun Day.

00:04:15Melissa Ellis: Saturday parkrun Day, yeah, fabulous. It was really, really good. Well, as I mentioned in social media, I think I mentioned it at the end of the pod last week, I went out to Pakenham parkrun, which was an event I've done a few times before. However, it is situated halfway between where two of my kids live. So I went out Friday night and stayed with Jake, my son, and then in the morning got up and travelled a short distance to my daughter's house to pick up her dog, Dustin, my grand doggie, who I have previously mentioned that I've done parkrun with, a bark run with. And yeah, Pakenham is like halfway between where Sarah and Jake live. So it's just perfect. The perfect location, a lovely flat out and back course, a very fast course for Victoria. I really think it's underrated. I've done one of my fastest times out there at Pakenham. Yeah, Jake came down with his girlfriend, Leah, and they bought a collie. And my other daughter, I do have five kids. So My other daughter, Olivia, and her partner, Sean, they joined us as well. I had Zoe there and, of course, I had Dustin. So it was a real family occasion and the weather was wonderful. The sun was out. It was a little bit cold but, you know, not overly.

00:05:31Oliver Spake: I did hear it was kind of cold down that way.

00:05:34Melissa Ellis: On the news there was this whole issue about Victoria having an Arctic blast. I don't know, Ollie, I didn't feel any Arctic blast. It was quite fine in Meltown and it was quite fine in Pakenham, so I'm not really sure.

00:05:50Steve: Soft.

00:05:51Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I think they overplayed it a little bit just quietly. But this is the thing. Okay, so Dustin, he was so excited when I turned up to get him He's now starting to associate seeing me with going for a run, which is great. And he's so good in the car. He has his little doggy seat belt and everything. And we get to parkrun and I have to stand completely away from any other human person because he just wants to jump up and say, hello. So we just stand really far away on our own where he can't jump up and put mud on anybody. And then I'm not really accustomed to standing at the back of the group when you start to run. But we had to do that just to keep him away from humans.

00:06:37Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:06:38Melissa Ellis: Because he's not mean or aggressive. He's just too friendly. He's not very well trained. Maybe that's the problem.

00:06:46Oliver Spake: Yeah. Oh, look, he's a new parkrunner. That's to be expected.

00:06:50Melissa Ellis: Yeah, he's got to learn etiquette.

00:06:52Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:06:52Melissa Ellis: I'm working on it. Anyway, so we started way at the back and ready, set, go, and off we go. And he just ran. Oh, my goodness. He pulled me and I have a new appreciation for dog assisted because we were doing a cracking pace. And for the 5K, I definitely had a post-COVID PB. Well done. 100%. My official results don't reflect that because we did have to have a toilet stop, unfortunately. Okay.

00:07:22Oliver Spake: So Strava tells me what my – I'm not going to ask which of you it was for. That's okay.

00:07:26Melissa Ellis: It wasn't me.

00:07:27Oliver Spake: Save that for offline.

00:07:28Melissa Ellis: Hint, hint, it wasn't me. Yeah, Strava tells me what my actual running time was, which I was very impressed with and very happy with.

00:07:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, I prefer that one usually, that version of the truth.

00:07:40Melissa Ellis: Yes, but that wasn't what my official result was recorded at, sadly.

00:07:44Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:07:45Melissa Ellis: But he pulled and he just would have gone faster than me. Until about four kilometres, I noticed at about the 4K point, he was still running.

00:07:54Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:07:55Melissa Ellis: He wasn't dragging me along as much. He must have started to tire slightly.

00:08:00Oliver Spake: Well, it just settled into your, I suppose, your relative pace. Yes. It took a bit of familiarisation, re-familiarisation.

00:08:08Melissa Ellis: So that's great. So I thoroughly enjoyed that. I think we'll continue back and probably Pakenham will be our regular parkrun of choice, which will help me to build my P index out there. Yeah.

00:08:18Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:08:19Melissa Ellis: Which was great. Now, Olivia turned up, didn't have her barcode. Her partner, Sean, it was his first experience with the parkrun. He's not registered yet. So, you know, work in progress there. But Jake and his girlfriend, Leah, they turned up with their barcodes.

00:08:35Oliver Spake: Well, I think on the balance of things, you've still got the majority registered, registering a result. And hey, everyone was there. It sounds like a great morning.

00:08:45Melissa Ellis: Good numbers out at Pakenham. It was event 310, which I did not have, so yay. Well done. Tick. 102 participants and having a little look at the results list, that included three first-timers.

00:09:00Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:09:01Melissa Ellis: But taking Dustin and my experience with being dog-assisted led me to investigate further on Have you ever actually recorded anybody as being dog-assisted officially in results?

00:09:12Oliver Spake: I've not come across nor certainly ever had to record anyone as dog-assisted. Typically I would parkrun at courses where dogs aren't allowed, so I haven't come across dogs parkrunning, to be perfectly honest.

00:09:25Melissa Ellis: Oh, you can't have dogs at Shellharbour.

00:09:28Oliver Spake: Mentioned it, not me.

00:09:29Melissa Ellis: Damn it!

00:09:34Oliver Spake: I don't know what they allow at Toolern Creek. But, yeah, look, my understanding as it goes is that it's – is it all based on – maybe you better explain it, Mel, rather than me guess.

00:09:47Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay. So, Ollie, I did look up what the official line was for assisted runs, and this is what I found. The option to mark a performance as assisted has been created in order to protect course records and age records from being set by participants being aided by running with a dog. As such, where a record is set by an individual running with a dog and using a canicross-style harness, this performance is to be marked as assisted on WebFMS. Where a record is set by a participant using a handheld lead, then it is up to the local event team on the day as to whether or not they believe the performance was assisted and they should mark the performance accordingly. In the latter case, the event team's decision is final. So I think, you know, had I been perhaps in the top ten finishes for the day with the obvious assistance I had from my said dog, I could have potentially been marked as dog assisted. There was no course records being set by myself and Dustin. Yeah. We weren't threatening any course records. And I had a handheld lead for him. I don't know what this canicross style harness is. Is that one of those ones that goes around your waist maybe?

00:11:09Oliver Spake: Yeah, having seen the images, that's my understanding. Again, haven't done the research. Apologies. But clearly it's leaning towards those that are, as you say, geared towards pushing the records, pushing the boundaries. Okay.

00:11:23Melissa Ellis: Who knows? Dustin and I could get there. You know, we could train. Yeah.

00:11:28Oliver Spake: Yeah. Just hang on for dear life, basically. Got the right leash. You're halfway there, ticking the criteria.

00:11:34Melissa Ellis: I'll have to get one of those fancy round the waist leads now.

00:11:37Oliver Spake: Yeah. And hey, what about age grades? You could be, you know, you never know with different respective course records. Like every course has different records at different brackets and whatnot. So it's very difficult to tell. So...

00:11:51Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I kind of assume, Ollie, that I don't threaten any kind of records in any category. Okay, yeah. I'm not really thinking that I'm a threat in any of those. So if I did, that would come as a complete surprise. But it was fun. I just loved having him. He's just the happiest dog. Yeah, it was just a great morning having him there. He's still a puppy, so he needs a little bit more etiquette when it comes to being at parkrun and not jumping up with his little muddy paws on people, you know.

00:12:25Oliver Spake: You get all kinds of dogs from what I have seen that the few I have been to, you've got those that are just rearing to get out there. Some that I think they're pros, you know, they just take it all in their stride. Then you've got the dogs that want to be part of the run brief as well.

00:12:39Melissa Ellis: Well, the good thing is Ollie is not one of those barky dogs. Oh, okay. He's not vocal during the event brief where... You know, I am aware there are times where some people have trouble to keep their dogs quiet during the event brief because they're so excited. They know parkrun's about to start and they're very vocal.

00:12:56Oliver Spake: And that's right. To clarify, I'm certainly not trying to be anti-dog. I value everyone's contribution. I think to each dog their own. And the one thing Dustin needs to take away, rookie error, toilet break beforehand.

00:13:10Melissa Ellis: I know.

00:13:11Oliver Spake: You go to the port-a-loo first, just in case.

00:13:14Melissa Ellis: Yes, exactly. Empty out. Goodness me.

00:13:17Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:13:17Melissa Ellis: But luckily we were prepared, so that's okay. Well done, Mel. Yes. And on Juniors, Ollie. How was Juniors? parkrun Day 2. Yes. I got down there and the event course check person said, had been out and back and the Run Director for the day was there and I inquired on the course and I think I might have said something along the lines, there's no water in the puddle, is there? And Adam, who had gone out and checked the course, his eyes lit up and he goes, yes, the puddles are full. Wow.

00:13:55Oliver Spake: It was so exciting. Yes, we had puddles.

00:13:58Melissa Ellis: We had two puddles, Ollie. So not only is there Puddle Marshal 4 at the 400 metre mark, there was Puddle Marshal 2 at the 200 metre mark. We had multiple puddles. We had puddles everywhere. It was puddle-a-palooza. Is that a word?

00:14:11Oliver Spake: Well, puddlepalooza. Love it. Love it. And that's good because, look, Mel, I have been studying the course description for Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun and given the mention of potential puddles, yeah, it's good to see that, you know, it is actually showing up and legitimate. I suppose the question is you had puddles. Did you have ducks?

00:14:32Melissa Ellis: Yes, I ran back quickly to my car and got said duck out of the car. And I actually have a couple of other little, you know, regular rubber ducky size because I bought a giant duck for said Puddle Marshal.

00:14:45Oliver Spake: The duck, yes.

00:14:47Melissa Ellis: Yeah. But I've got a couple of other regular-sized rubber duckies, so we grabbed them out too and they were quickly given to Puddle Marshal 2. The puddle at Puddle Marshal 2 basically spanned the whole track. So the kids had to be directed sort of off the trail and around the puddle to get past that one. But that's okay. It's a water feature.

00:15:09Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:15:11Melissa Ellis: It makes us unique.

00:15:12Oliver Spake: Yeah, we operate in our environments.

00:15:14Melissa Ellis: Exactly. So it's now a matter, Ollie, of naming that Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun duck.

00:15:23Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's quite right. And, hey, it looks like we have had some feedback to that.

00:15:28Melissa Ellis: There's a bit of interest.

00:15:29Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:15:30Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so Tracey in a Tutu, she suggested the Eynesbury Puddle Duck.

00:15:35Oliver Spake: Feeding.

00:15:36Melissa Ellis: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And then Adrian Hillyer, he did suggest that we either called the duck Bruce or Purdy, and Dawn Branton she liked Bruce she gave the thumbs up to Bruce what did Bruce like Bruce Bruce had a suggestion that we we can't mention on a p rated podcast p pg oh pg yep yep yeah uh he did suggest ernie which I thought was a clever suggestion do you get the reference for ernie

00:16:08Oliver Spake: Well, I remember Ernie singing a song about his rubber ducky.

00:16:11Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:16:12Oliver Spake: There we are.

00:16:12Melissa Ellis: Yes, Ernie from Sesame Street had a rubber ducky. Yes. But Tanya, Tanya likes Jemima Puddle Duck.

00:16:21Oliver Spake: Ah, yes, a bit of a literary reference there.

00:16:23Melissa Ellis: From Wind in the Willows. Yes. Hmm. So they're the suggestions that we've got to mull over. Oh, how do you possibly pick? Oh, I've got a favourite already.

00:16:33Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:16:34Melissa Ellis: I'm not sure if I should divulge it yet or I'll leave it till next week.

00:16:38Oliver Spake: I think of it as suspense. Give more people an opportunity to name the duck.

00:16:42Melissa Ellis: Yeah, good idea. More suggestions would be good.

00:16:44Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:16:45Melissa Ellis: We'll leave it open for another week.

00:16:47Oliver Spake: And let's just cross our fingers and toes that there'll still be puddles for that duck to enjoy.

00:16:51Melissa Ellis: So here's the funny thing, Ollie. So I took off on Friday morning to the other side of town, because that's where I was headed for the day and staying the night over there for parkrun the next morning. So I had no idea that we'd had torrential rain in Meltown on Friday. I didn't know. That's why I was not expecting the puddle to be full.

00:17:11Oliver Spake: Yeah, well... As I understand it, you need rain or essentially flood to fill that puddle.

00:17:17Melissa Ellis: Correct. Yes. That's why my expectations were pretty low because I thought, oh, there hasn't been any rain. There won't be a puddle. But unbeknownst to me, there was torrential rain. Thank you, rain.

00:17:30Oliver Spake: And in terms of the junior parkrun itself and the morning.

00:17:33Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes. I should actually mention that, shouldn't I?

00:17:37Oliver Spake: Details.

00:17:38Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I know, right? It's all about the puddle. We had 14 kids. So we had one more than the previous week. And look, the weather was fine. It was a beautiful morning in the forest. Everybody had a good morning. It was a success. Down at Eynesbury at the moment, there's a bit of a festival going on. The local developer has got an ice skating rink happening. We had brunch afterwards, a short walk from where Junior parkrun finishes, like I'm talking a couple of hundred metres from the parkrun to the area where we have our brunch, where the ice skating rink is. That's fantastic. They had... drums you know with firewood and little fires so we sat drinking our hot chocolates and coffees and the kids were stoking the fire and I came home stinking like a bushfire I had to get up the next morning. Oh, my hair stunk of bushfire. My clothes, everything had to get washed.

00:18:36Oliver Spake: Just like camping. But the kids had fun. Wonderful.

00:18:39Melissa Ellis: Yeah. How often do kids get to stand around poking a fire and putting kindling and, you know, it was a great experience for them. They loved it.

00:18:47Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's true.

00:18:48Melissa Ellis: It was all good fun.

00:18:49Oliver Spake: I don't think my kids have had that anywhere near enough. I'm a bit afraid of introducing Ava to stoking fires. But aside from that, it's a nice time. And That sounds like, yeah, Eynesbury really had it going this weekend.

00:19:02Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it's still going. It's been going for a couple of weeks. It's yet to continue for a few weeks. So we encourage anybody that's in the local area to come down and join us at Junior parkrun and take advantage of the ice skating rink that's currently down there at Eynesbury. Definitely.

00:19:16Oliver Spake: Fantastic. Well, it sounds like two very successful parkrun days. And thank you for enjoying it on the behalf of many across the country.

00:19:26Melissa Ellis: Aww.

00:19:28Oliver Spake: Not at all, not at all. And, hey, Mel, look, it has been nice to hear from, yeah, more of the Channel 5 and the Channel 2 news crew who have been out adventuring across the country and even those in the (not)parkrun world. So, look, is it time to savour a bit of the actual parkrun and not parkrun delight?

00:19:48Melissa Ellis: I think so.

00:19:49Oliver Spake: All right, let's have a listen.

00:19:50[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

SPF and TCC stats

00:20:04Tracey Wood: I guess you want to know the numbers. All right. The SPF, meaning the Shellharbour parkrun Factor, was 8. And the TCC, meaning the Toolern Creek Count, hope I got the pronunciation right this week, was 42.

00:20:19Melissa Ellis: Awesome.

00:20:22Tracey Wood: Okay, that's all from me. Toodles from Tracey. See you on the B-side. Let's hope that Brisbane resumes its normal operations next week. Bye.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Mount Barker parkrun

00:20:32Mark Scarborough: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. This is Mark reporting in for Channel 5 News crew. And today we are in South Australia and we're at Mount Barker, the famous Mount Barker. And I'm actually here with PK. Good morning, PK.

00:20:43Paul Kitching: Mark, what a pleasure it is to meet the man behind the voice far out. I haven't even said that to you yet. Just hearing your voice, mate, is magnificent. Brilliant to have you and the family here.

00:20:53Mark Scarborough: It's good to be here at Mount Barker, and thankfully the rain held off for us to get out there and do our 5K.

00:20:59Paul Kitching: I know, right? Yeah, no, I was very pleased with that. My wife and I, we drive up here. It's about a 20-minute drive, and so we do drive through clouds and whatnot, but usually they break as we get through. There was a bit of a pitter-patter as we arrived, but we do have a bit of coverage. So Harley, being the RD, did have to come to us and find us, everyone gathering under the cover. But, yeah, it's beautiful. We love it. What did you think of Mount Barker?

00:21:22Mark Scarborough: I was actually quite surprised. Like, I don't know what I was expecting. I was actually expecting something hilly. But we've got a couple of your actual old parkrunners with us. Wendy and Tony have moved to Wagi Bridge. Yeah. So I was talking to them not long ago and I talked about Mount Barker and they said, no, it's not hilly, it's flat as. But I was really quite surprised, like, especially with the wetlands you've got here.

00:21:44Paul Kitching: It's just quite, quite a beautiful area. It is absolutely stunning, isn't it? So the Laratinga Wetlands is beautiful, a beautiful area. So we're out the back of the Homemaker Centre, which is like a beautiful big area. We're going past a creek here, no crocodiles or alligators. It's okay. But then you get out there and there's all kinds of wildlife, depending on the season. Quite a few bird watchers don't always love us because, you know, we scare away the birds, the local wildlife but um you're right absolutely flat flat as a tack there's a little dip on the way out but apart from that I am I was amazed as well when I first started coming here I'm like where's the mountain it wasn't actually until three years in to doing Mount Barker that I realised there is a mountain it's that way beyond if you kept on going another 5k so you get to the top of the mountain

00:22:26Mark Scarborough: All right, I think that's enough about Mount Barker. Let's talk about PK the parkrunner.

00:22:31Paul Kitching: How long have you been parkrunning for? Five years now. So, gosh, Jan 2016 was my first parkrun. And, yeah, magnificent. When I first started doing it, there were only three here in South Australia, and I think there's 30-odd now, 33, 35. Gosh, they keep opening probably more. And what got you involved in parkrun? A mate was coming up here and doing... I had no idea I was not a runner, right? He was doing this thing called parkrun. He'd just bought a new car, a van, and I seriously, legitimately... thought he was coming up here to do drives like car runs through different parks had no idea seriously that was the first time because it wasn't really talked about very much and then but then I realised because then he was certainly wasn't runner then I realised he was taking the photos so he was come up here and taking the photos so I then came up and thought oh yeah I'll check it out and we're about to go overseas at the time and I thought it was a great way for the family to keep fit and did not look back So Mount Barker was your first? Indeed. Yes, it was. We went to Torrens the second week because I think there were only three parkruns at the time. We went to Torrens in town, but it was nice, but it was a really tight path. Lots of people. It was when there was only the one parkrun in town, in Adelaide. And then we thought, you know what? Beautiful to drive up through the Adelaide Hills. And it's been the best thing ever. I love it. Not including Mount Barker, what is your top three parkruns? Oh, mate, great question. I would have to say I do love doing Lochiel, which is a beautiful parkrun out on the Adelaide River, on the River Torrens, which is a beautiful parkrun through there. I did my first interstate parkrun the other day in Sydney, which was amazing. Centennial Park reminded me of here, Thrill Park. That was my second and my number one. I've got to sound like a bit of a tosser, but Bushy Park. Oh, my gosh. I did Bushy. I did Bushy on its 12th birthday four years ago, and that was just stunning. You've got to, yeah, everybody who's been there will say it, and everybody who's heard about it wants to go there. So just one moment. Go, Dorney! Sorry, one of our legends is going over the line. Keep going. Where? Sorry. You're all right.

00:24:42Mark Scarborough: Good to cheer on the people coming through. If you could go anywhere in the world next week for a parkrun, where would you go? So borders are open, passports are open, free flights, free accommodation.

00:24:56Paul Kitching: Is there a parkrun in Iceland or Norway? I think there might be a Norwegian one. I'd love to go to one of those, but if not, South Africa, because I want to go to one of the parkruns where there are insane numbers and just to experience that. I think we were talking before, there are thousands that go to a South African parkrun.

00:25:11Mark Scarborough: How many was at Bushy Park when you did that?

00:25:13Paul Kitching: It was the 12th birthday and there were 1,212. Rigged. Sure there was. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that was amazing. What's your favourite volunteer role? Definitely Run Director. I absolutely lap it up. I am the RD next week and I bring the tunes. I always have music going. I just love the energy. I love giving back. I bring some of my crew on board as all the volunteer crew and we just have so much fun. And then second to that is just, well, not even a role, it's just encouraging everyone along the way, mate, and just seeing everyone have a good time.

00:25:48Mark Scarborough: Most important question, where's coffee?

00:25:51Paul Kitching: Coffee? Well, Laratinga, right here, the Laratinga Cafe, a great supporter of our parkrun here, is right on the end, and Sally and her crew look after us, so get on in there, mate, and enjoy it.

00:26:01Mark Scarborough: All right, thanks for having us at Mount Barker, PK.

00:26:04Paul Kitching: Let's go get some coffee. Let's do it, Mark, and thank you so much to your family and to you guys for everything that you do for parkrun, and it's been fantastic hearing your travels, and I can't wait to see where you turn up next. Thanks for everything you do, mate.

00:26:15Mark Scarborough: We're hoping to be at Port Lincoln next week. So if you're in the area, pop to Port Lincoln and say hi. Yes. Pending travel arrangements.

00:26:23Paul Kitching: That's right.

00:26:24Mark Scarborough: Port Lincoln is the plan for next week.

00:26:25Paul Kitching: Brilliant. Thanks, PK.

00:26:28Mark Scarborough: Well parkrunners, while we're waiting for our coffee and breakfast here at the cafe at Mount Barker parkrun, I thought I'd let you know what we've also been up to this week. We did a Freedom Run at Renmark parkrun down by the Murray River and we also visited Victor Harbor and did a Freedom Run there. And after completing our run at Victor Harbor, You may recall the other day there was a conversation on the podcast about the Pie Challenge and Victor Harbor was mentioned with a bakery nearby called the Port Elliot Bakery. So we went along there and had a taste of their sausage roll pie and vanilla slice and The sausage roll there, not bad. I'll give it a 7 out of 10. The pie, steak and onion pie, I'll give that a 9 out of 10. So if you're in the area at Victor Harbor, do go and check out the Port Elliot Bakery and give the sausage roll a go. But also I would highly recommend a pie. All right, well that's us done here at Mount Barker parkrun. We'll catch you next time on the parkrun adventurers.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report James Scarborough — Thorndon Junior parkrun

00:27:26James Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is James reporting in for the Channel 2 News Crew. Today we're at Thorndon Junior parkrun. So I'm here with Bethany today. Bethany, why did you come to Junior parkrun?

00:27:38Bethany: Because I really like to run and I think it's really fun.

00:27:43James Scarborough: Yeah, I feel the same too. How many times have you been to Thorndon Junior parkrun?

00:27:49Bethany: I think today it was my seventh.

00:27:52James Scarborough: Cool. What do you like about Junior parkrun?

00:27:55Bethany: Well, some of my friends come and I can talk to them in the holidays and it's really fun. Have you done a normal parkrun? Yeah, I've done over 100.

00:28:06James Scarborough: Wow. Where do you normally parkrun?

00:28:10Bethany: At Lochiel Park.

00:28:11James Scarborough: Thanks for having us chat, Bethany. You're welcome. Bye. So I'm here with Michelle. Why do you like being the Run Director?

00:28:21Michelle: I love seeing the kids' smiley faces and the sense of accomplishment they get as they come over the finish line.

00:28:28James Scarborough: How long have you been volunteering for?

00:28:30Michelle: I started volunteering in the UK at the junior parkruns there. So at least...

00:28:38James Scarborough: Four years, maybe five. Wow. Are the Junior parkruns in the UK bigger than the ones in Australia?

00:28:45Michelle: Well, the only one I've got experience is at the Milton Keynes one, and it certainly did have more children participating, but it had been running for a lot longer. And I think for me, what I'm learning about the Thorndon parkrun is it's not about... how big it is, it's just about the fact that we've got kids coming out and having a go.

00:29:05James Scarborough: Yeah, that's true. Thank you for talking to me, Michelle. That's a pleasure. Thanks for coming today. That's us done at Thorndon Junior parkrun. See you next time on parkrun adventurers.

Roving report Grette Wilkinson — the Avenues parkrun

00:29:20Grette Wilkinson: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Greta here, and I am at the Avenues parkrun in South Australia, which is a new one for us here in South Australia. And I'm here with Steve, who's the Event Director. How are you going, Steve?

00:29:32Steve: Good, thanks.

00:29:34Grette Wilkinson: So tell us about the Avenues.

00:29:37Steve: It's been a while in the making.

00:29:39Grette Wilkinson: Because I think we talked about launching before COVID.

00:29:43Steve: Yeah, about two years ago. Yeah. Got the ball rolling and then COVID hit, so it was pretty hard to get funding and things like that. So, yeah. But you had your course very early. Had the course very early, ran it a few times myself, rode it a few times, had a few other people look at it to check it out and all thumbs up. And it was just a matter of, yeah, getting the funding going. We got some very early funding. We got some from the Mount Barker Council and Trail Running SA. And it was just that last little amount sort of stopped for about a year and a half during COVID.

00:30:15Grette Wilkinson: And then I think everything opened up and then suddenly the funding came forth.

00:30:19Steve: Yeah, we got some funding from WGA and then, yeah, it was all system go. I think we had it up and running within about five weeks of that funding.

00:30:29Grette Wilkinson: So where is the Avenues parkrun?

00:30:31Steve: It's in Kuitpo Forest, but Kuitpo Forest is a fairly large area. So it's at an area called the Avenues Picnic Ground and it's right near Chookarloo Campground as well and probably only about maybe 800 metres from the ranger headquarters. So it's pretty central.

00:30:49Grette Wilkinson: So it's in the Adelaide Hills. So for people who aren't in South Australia, it's in the Adelaide Hills and probably the nearest town is Meadows.

00:30:56Steve: Yep. You can either come through from Meadows or if you're a tourist, you could come up from the lovely wine region of McLaren Vale and come up through that way as well.

00:31:06Grette Wilkinson: And it is, I mean, I must say, it is beautiful, isn't it?

00:31:09Steve: Yeah, we start in a pine plantation, which has probably been cut down maybe about seven years ago. So it started to grow back nicely. But then we go into eucalypt forest, which basically hasn't been touched because they've got bandicoots and things in there. So plenty of wildlife to see while you're going walking or running or riding or hiking or whatever you want to do when you come up to visit Kuitpo.

00:31:32Grette Wilkinson: And for South Australia, it's quite unique. because it's a loop. It's a loop course.

00:31:38Steve: Yep. I had feedback from people, mostly trail runners and ultra runners, that they wanted a single loop. Some of them wanted a trail as well, so it's 100% fire tracks. So, yeah, I think we're the first in the state that's a single loop course.

00:31:54Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:31:55Grette Wilkinson: And I know the trail runners are very excited about it coming to South Australia. So tell me a little bit about yourself. What made you want to start a parkrun and what's been your running journey?

00:32:07Steve: I got back into running probably about two years ago and I used to be a professional footballer in Aussie Rules. So I used to be quite fit and after having children... Who did you play for? North Adelaide in the SANFL, only for a short while, mostly reserves and sort of under-19s.

00:32:25Grette Wilkinson: When the kids came along?

00:32:27Steve: Kids came along, bought a house, got into teaching, fitness went downhill, so I got back into running. But yeah, I was actually in national parks before that, so Kuitpo sort of was the prime location, mixed my running with the environment.

00:32:43Grette Wilkinson: That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for bringing the Avenues parkrun to South Australia. It's been very, very popular. And I think the other unique thing, and as we're talking, we're standing around a campfire, which is a really lovely thing to have at the beginning of a parkrun and at the end. Yes.

00:33:00Steve: Bring your marshmallows or you can even cook things on there if you want.

00:33:04Grette Wilkinson: Or your billy, you could have your coffee.

00:33:06Steve: Yeah, have your coffee or pancakes or something, bring it along. And you can, apart from fire season, but that's only in the summer.

00:33:13Grette Wilkinson: That's right, that's right. Yeah, so thank you very much. All the best for the Avenues parkrun and we hope to see you at a parkrun nearby sometime soon.

00:33:20Steve: No worries, thank you.

Roving report Alison King — Trentham Memorial parkrun

00:33:22Alison Fraser (King): Good morning adventurers, it's Alison King here reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew from Trentham Memorial parkrun. It's located in Upper Hutt which is in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It's pretty cold this morning, one degrees, frost on the ground, but hoping it's going to shape up to be a beautiful day. So let's go and see who has come out this morning. I'm with Judith. We just finished Trentham Memorial. How did you find that today, Judith? Good. Cold, but beautiful. I'm glad I got up.

00:33:54Judith: It was a bit of a struggle to get out of bed, but I'm glad I did it. I feel good now. And you ran in short sleeves. Yeah, well, I am Scottish. And I'm roasting now, sweating. I would not get a tip around in my jacket. So there was no doubt in your mind getting up and coming for a run? Oh, there was. My alarm went off at seven and I pushed the snooze until quarter past And then I threw myself out of bed and had a coffee once I'd done that. I know how good I feel after it, so it's just think ahead. In an hour, it'll be done.

00:34:20Alison Fraser (King): And what do you enjoy about this parkrun?

00:34:22Judith: Oh, just the people. I know some of the people. And I just like the friendliness and it's easy. And I know the run now, so I know I can do it. It's a psychological thing. I know I can do it now, so I do it. And I just like how good I feel after it. How many have you run? I think I've done 13. Awesome. Lucky for some. Yes.

00:34:39Alison Fraser (King): Well, keep on going and get those milestones.

00:34:41Judith: Thank you.

00:34:42Alison Fraser (King): Thanks for joining us. Thank you. So I'm at the finish with Cara. Cara, you've got a Kiwi accent, but you've come probably the furthest, haven't you?

00:34:50Cara: Yeah, yeah. I grew up in Lower Hutt and I have lived the last 18 years in North Queensland. So I've come from North Queensland to do parkrun at Trentham Memorial. Don't tell your family that. No, of course I came here to see them. And so what's your home parkrun? Airlie Beach, which, yeah, it's, friendly it's scenic it's beautiful we love it and yeah love parkrun because of it Very different to this one though, I imagine. Yes, yes. In winter we might start with something long sleeved, but it wouldn't last very long and usually it's just t-shirts, singlets.

00:35:26Alison Fraser (King): Yeah, and how did you feel this morning when you rocked up?

00:35:29Cara: Yeah, I took lots of photos. It was so novel for me, but yeah, really cold. And I knew it was going to be, I think, three degrees, but it was one degree. So yeah, but good fun. Yeah. And what did you think of the course? It was beautiful. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I took several photos along the way, so no PB today. But, yeah, no, beautiful course. Yeah, and so when you come back to New Zealand, where else will you be going? Kapiti's next on my list because I've got family in Lower Hutt. So, yeah, maybe Greytown, maybe Palmerston North. Yeah, try to get around all the Lower North Island ones.

00:36:02Alison Fraser (King): Yeah, that's right. Cool. Well, thanks for coming. You're welcome. Thank you. So I'm with Alan, who's the Event Director for Trentham. Thanks for putting on an awesome parkrun for us.

00:36:13Alan: Not a problem.

00:36:14Alison Fraser (King): Would you like to describe the course for our listeners?

00:36:18Alan: Our course is an out and back course. We begin right beside Barton's Bush and we head around the outside of Barton's Bush along a sealed path. And when we get to the stop bank, we head over the stop bank, get to the river, turn left, follow the river trail along. We get out to about 2.6 kilometres where we turn around and we come back, back over the stop bank. But instead of coming the way we ran out, we go through the back of Barton's Bush and come through a nice bush section. And when you come out of the bush, you've got about a 94 metre sprint to the finish line.

00:36:51Alison Fraser (King): It's a really cool course. Can you tell us your parkrun history, Alan? Because you're one of the unique parkrunners in this country.

00:37:00Alan: Unique? Okay. I started at Lower Hutt parkrun on the very first day, and back then I was part of an organisation called NZHL and to cut a very long story short I got the head of marketing and the CEO together with Paul Sinton-Hewitt when he came out and the parkrun operational people at the time and New Zealand Home Loans ended up sponsoring the event for about six or seven years from memory so yeah so that was quite cool and I left about two and a half years ago and I've been living in Upper Hutt for six years but running at Lower Hutt so high time that we had a course closer to home. The strange thing is I actually get up earlier now to come to an event that's closer than what I used to when I was just running as an athlete down at Lower Hutt.

00:37:58Alison Fraser (King): That's what happens when you decide to set up your own. Yeah. Not parkrun dogs, just to add, because parkrun we're just wrapping up for the morning, so are you pleased with how it went?

00:38:09Alan: Yeah, we've got a bit of a course issue at the moment with some river erosion, so you might have heard it here first, but we're looking at a B course whilst some works are in place to fix up the problem that we've got.

00:38:25Alison Fraser (King): And it was a cold but a beautiful morning.

00:38:27Alan: The coldest I've seen it. When I got out of bed it was negative 2. That's not right.

00:38:31Alison Fraser (King): No. Oh, thanks again for an awesome day.

00:38:34Alan: No worries.

00:38:35Alison Fraser (King): So I'm with Sarah at the finish of Trentham Memorial. So welcome Sarah. Hello. So you are probably the most recent parkrunner in New Zealand to complete all, well, up until today, all 33 parkruns.

00:38:49Sarah: Yes, I did it in the middle of May this year. And I've got plans to go up to the new Sherwood Reserve parkrun pretty soon.

00:38:58Alison Fraser (King): Yeah. So this morning at 7.59 you were a countryman, but at 8.01... Not anymore, unfortunately. No.

00:39:06Sarah: What brought you to New Zealand? So I moved here with my partner and while I was on a two-year visa and the plan was to do all of the parkruns because it would get me around the country and I can go and explore New Zealand while I'm doing parkruns. Your accent is a German accent, isn't it? Yes, so I'm originally from Austria. There are no parkruns there. But I lived in the UK for 10 years. Yeah. And can you tell the listeners what your home parkrun is? So now my home parkrun is Trentham Memorial. Previously, it was Riddlesdown. So I've done 183 events there.

00:39:44Alison Fraser (King): Yeah. And I guess doing parkruns is a great way to explore a new country, isn't it?

00:39:49Sarah: Yes, it was really good to get around and meet everybody and also see the countryside. Yeah.

00:39:55Alison Fraser (King): Did you have a particular favourite?

00:39:57Sarah: No, they're all different and they're all really good so I don't really have favourites. That's cool and this morning a bit cold? Yes, actually I said to the people if the Austrian comes with a hat and her ski jacket it is cold.

00:40:12Alison Fraser (King): Well I think we all warmed up eventually didn't we on that run? Yeah and it's really nice and sunny now. Yeah and off to the fig tree.

00:40:19Sarah: Yes, caramel scone and a latte.

00:40:21Alison Fraser (King): Cool, thanks so much. Cheers, bye. And that's a wrap from Trentham Memorial parkrun here in the Upper Hutt city of New Zealand. This is part of the Greater Wellington region. So if you're in Australia and you're wanting some parkrun tourism, you can fly into Wellington, see into the airport there, Wellington International. And there's a train that goes all the way to Upper Hutt too. But I understand that if you do rely on the train, you may just about reach the start on time, maybe a little bit late. I think they should petition the train company to see if they can change the train times on Saturdays. Anyway, there were 56 finishers. And just going through the results, as well as Cara, who is a Kiwi based in Queensland, I spotted another first timer to this event who also came over from Australia. So a shout out to Miles Savage. He had run in another New Zealand park around the week prior. But it looks like from his results that he is a Victorian parkrunner, having run most of his 200 and something parkruns at Maribyrnong. So I had to look through his events to see which ones he'd run and he hasn't yet visited Toolern Creek. So maybe Miles needs to add that to his parkrun adventures in the future. Anyway, that's all from me. I hope everyone's rugged up in this winter and I'll hopefully see you at another adventure soon.

00:41:42[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:41:58Melissa Ellis: And we had heaps of reports this week, Ollie. Great to hear from everybody, all the Channel 5 news crew coming in and Tracey in a Tutu as well.

00:42:07Oliver Spake: It was. And nice to see that Mark and the family did make it across the border.

00:42:12Melissa Ellis: Yes. And, Ollie, they went to the Port Elliot Bakery. Yes.

00:42:16Oliver Spake: Tick for the sausage roll club.

00:42:19Melissa Ellis: I know. Although the sausage roll didn't rate awfully high, but the pie did.

00:42:24Oliver Spake: Yeah, I didn't hear how the snot block rated, but maybe that's not even a consideration. It's a moot point.

00:42:30Melissa Ellis: Yeah, there was no reference to the snot log.

00:42:33Oliver Spake: Yeah. Well done, Mark. Fantastic effort.

00:42:36Melissa Ellis: And, Ollie, we now have a TCC as well as a SPF.

00:42:42Oliver Spake: You can never get enough acronyms.

00:42:45Melissa Ellis: We're all about creating acronyms here on the parkrun adventurers. But the TCC was 42. So that's just blown the SPF previous record out of the water.

00:42:58Oliver Spake: Well and truly, well and truly. And it just shows that there is a lot of love for Toolern Creek. And it was nice to hear said love for Toolern Creek. Hey, I'm all about balance.

00:43:11Melissa Ellis: It was very well received. I think the Toolern Creek community appreciated the love they received.

00:43:16Oliver Spake: Nice to also hear from our fellow parkrun family over in New Zealand as well.

00:43:21Melissa Ellis: Yes, Trentham Memorial, where Alison could be found this last parkrun day. She spoke to quite a few people over there.

00:43:30Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, it sounded like a particularly cold one, maybe not mild cold that I heard described Victoria as. This one was legit cold. And another launch in New Zealand.

00:43:42Melissa Ellis: There was, yes. And there was a Victorian over there running at Trentham Memorial, I believe. Alison mentioned Miles Savage, another Victorian parkrunner who has ran most of his events at Maribyrnong, but yet, I believe, to run at Toolern Creek.

00:44:00Oliver Spake: Ah, okay. Well, there's still time. There's still time. But yes, coming back to the South Australians, great to hear. Thank you, Greta. And thank you, James.

00:44:10Melissa Ellis: Yes. Greta previewed the avenues and spoke to ED Steve out there.

00:44:16Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:44:17Melissa Ellis: The avenues is situated in the Kuitpo Forest in the Adelaide Hills. And as has previously been mentioned, is the only one loop course in South Australia. It's held 100% on fire tracks. So is being very well received by the trail running community out in South Australia. Yeah.

00:44:35Oliver Spake: Yeah, and the fact that it has a campfire there, Mel, that makes it a winter favourite.

00:44:39Melissa Ellis: That's very unique for a parkrun, isn't it? BYO marshmallows, Ollie.

00:44:43Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:44:45Melissa Ellis: James did brilliantly talking to Bethany, who, as well as being a junior parkrunner, has also done over 100 events of 5K events, mostly at Lochiel. And he also spoke to the RD, Michelle.

00:44:59Oliver Spake: Fantastic report, James. Always a pro. Thank you very much. We look forward to hopefully hearing a little more. I understand that there aren't necessarily more junior parkruns on the trail planned for the Scarborough team, but...

00:45:13Melissa Ellis: I think James has exhausted his southern junior parkruns experiences at the moment because he has already been to Eynesbury and I believe he's been to Westerfolds and now he's been to Thorndon.

00:45:25Oliver Spake: Yeah, he's covering the junior circuit pretty well. Thank you, James.

00:45:29Melissa Ellis: He's a little gun. Well done, James.

Dazza's

00:45:32Oliver Spake: And Mel, whilst there wasn't necessarily as much parkrunning going on on Saturday, there was clearly a lot of park faff at the cafe.

00:45:42Melissa Ellis: There was. It was all about France. Ollie, it was all about croissants and profiteroles.

00:45:47Oliver Spake: Well, it was in my house in any case. I feel like I missed out.

00:45:50Melissa Ellis: Yes, and everybody jumped on board. Firstly, we heard from Adelina Trott who said, And I'm sorry for potentially making a mess of that. I did my best. Schoolgirl French. Oh.

00:46:01[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:46:15Oliver Spake: You will look disclaimer there. That was the best possible coverage we could have provided, the French-speaking side of things today because I was clearly not to be allowed near the French language today. So thank you, Mel, and thank you, Adelina. Thank you for volunteering. I hope barcode scanning was fun. And we also heard from Sally Heppleston. A pictureless adventure to Warrnambool. Cup also full. Mud, sand, gravel, grass, wind, rain. An adventure.

00:46:47Melissa Ellis: Sounds like a wild time down there at Warrnambool, Sally.

00:46:51Oliver Spake: That sounds like my kind of parkrun, just to mention. I like that combination.

00:46:56Melissa Ellis: Sounds like a bear hunt to me. And we heard from Andrew Turner, run directing at Maribyrnong this chilly morning, followed by a long black at the boathouse. Great to meet Scott and Joanne Watkins, touristing from Albert Park. Oh, excellent.

00:47:12Oliver Spake: Thank you for volunteering too. And Tanya Bailey, also volunteering. Thank you, Tanya. Timekeeper today on a very chilly minus three at Pegasus. Lovely sunrise and 90 participants. Wow. And it did look like a lovely sunrise too.

00:47:27Melissa Ellis: and Bruce Purdy. Today's adventure was to the Churchill parkrun, my first ever uni-based parkrun. Churchill is a town that was created to cater for the many powerhouses in the area and was named after Winston Churchill, against the wishes of the locals. They preferred the name Hazelwood. In the centre of the shopping area is this giant cigar-shaped monument which is known as Churchill's Cigar. And thank you, Bruce. I have previously visited Churchill parkrun on a couple of occasions and I had no idea about that monument. So I shall have to check that out if I'm back in the area. And I do know about the reference to Hazelwood because the power station that's out that way was called Hazelwood, which is now shut down.

00:48:13Oliver Spake: Oh, okay. I remember the Hazelwood Power Station. Do you? Yes. Well, not that I've been there, of course, but I certainly remember the reference.

00:48:21Melissa Ellis: Ah, there you go.

00:48:22Oliver Spake: We also heard from Tracy Leiper, not parkrun for me today due to Brisbane's lockdown.

00:48:28Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:48:29Oliver Spake: With dear Tracy.

00:48:29Melissa Ellis: But well done for getting out for a (not)parkrun.

00:48:32Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:48:33Melissa Ellis: And Sam Schroder. Bonjour. Today, after a cheeky sleep in and a listen to the pod with coffee in bed, we eventually got up and completed the Love Shack Not parkrun, a nice out and back with a decent hill. Back home, we enjoyed homemade roulade de... Oh, Ollie. [French: "we enjoyed homemade sausage rolls (roulade de saucisse) and coffee with milk (café au lait) at Luke's Cafe"]

00:48:54Oliver Spake: De Saucisse.

00:48:56Melissa Ellis: De Saucisse and Cafe au Lait at Luke's Cafe. It was Luke's first time making sausage rolls and they were delicio. Is that how you say that?

00:49:05Oliver Spake: You're wrong point of reference. Yep.

00:49:08Melissa Ellis: A very enjoyable lockdown parkrun. Indeed, we're getting caught out with all these French words. Yes.

00:49:14Oliver Spake: And we heard from Rebecca Bailey. Oh, Bec. LAUGHTER Bonjour et bon retour à parkrun France. [French: "Good morning and welcome back to parkrun France"]

00:49:17[laughter]

00:49:26Melissa Ellis: Well done, Ollie.

00:49:28Oliver Spake: Which is good morning and welcome back to parkrun France. Is that right? I believe so. Well, happy return. Yeah, I'll just be quiet now.

00:49:35Melissa Ellis: Okay. Hang on. There's more, Ollie. You missed some. Oh.

00:49:40Oliver Spake: I missed some. My apologies, Bec. All right. Good morning and a happy return to parkrun France. I checked out Warilla Bakery this morning for some baked goods. Lived in the area three years and never been to this bakery. Two out of ten sausage roll. Pastry a bit firm and not flaky. Meat a bit bland. Better check out a different bakery next time. And I'm going to continue the French roll here, Mel. We also heard from Val Warwick. Bonjour, mes amis. parkrun at home this morning. As I slowly made my way along our puddle field course today, I thought of you all in lockdown and knew how lucky we were. A very small, for Devonport, group today, with Steve being Tail Walker and me getting tokens 85 and 86. In my lone walking reverie, I did see a Marie Antoinette moment, sort of. A juvenile Pacific gull had caught a fish and was being pursued by another juvenile Pacific gull and a much smaller, loudly squawking silver gull demanding said fish. A few seconds later, those two juveniles flew back past me sans poisson. Marie Silvergull had her way and the hapless young ones went hungry. Coffee on the way home, where an omelette was the order of the day in Le Hotel de Warwick. P.S. Excuse my schoolgirl French. After all, it was 1965 when I did my New South Wales leaving certificate. Val, I've just butchered your schoolgirl French, so... You've done fantastically. [French: "Hello, my friends"] [French: "those two juveniles flew back past me without the fish"] [French: "an omelette was the order of the day at the Hotel Warwick (mock-French for the Warwick household)"]

00:51:21Melissa Ellis: I'm still trying to figure out how Val got token 85 and 86.

00:51:25Oliver Spake: Well, I think that's the way I read it. Steve being Tail Walker and her. So the two of them. Oh. Yes.

00:51:33Melissa Ellis: Okay. I understand now.

00:51:35Oliver Spake: Yeah. It's all in the delivery of which I failed. Sorry, Val.

00:51:38Melissa Ellis: No, no. You did well. You did well. Okay. And Mandy Oliver. Surfers parkrun today with the GCM Gold Coast Marathon cancelled and Main Beach, Paradise Point and Broad Beach cancelled. We had increased numbers despite the rain.

00:51:56Oliver Spake: That's right. And my understanding there, of course, is that, as Wendy says, with a few of the parkruns there having been cancelled due to the marathon, before the marathon itself was cancelled, yeah, they had a slightly lighter load in the Gold Coast of their usual parkruns. I was not aware, despite my parkrun experience so far, that you could not uncancel a parkrun.

00:52:18Melissa Ellis: Oh, but Surfers Ran, they weren't part of obviously COVID restrictions.

00:52:25Oliver Spake: Yeah, the Gold Coast.

00:52:27Melissa Ellis: And Main Beach, Paradise Point and Broad Beach. Main Beach was cancelled because of the Gold Coast Marathon, but Paradise Point and Broad Beach, were they COVID restrictions? Yes.

00:52:37Oliver Spake: No, my understanding is that they were a part of the course or a part of the event impact for the Gold Coast Marathon. Okay, roger that. Having not done the course myself, couldn't be sure. But yes, fortunately for the Gold Coast, their restrictions were lifted in time.

00:52:53Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:52:54Oliver Spake: So well done, Mandy.

00:52:55Melissa Ellis: Yes, and Ingrid Botha did my local not parkrun today. It's a flat out and back with a couple of optional loops if you're feeling energetic. Terribly disorganised. Started three hours late after a sleep in. No marshals, so it ended up being six kilometres and the Run Director was too busy making pancakes in the cafe to log my result until later in the day. On the plus side, being out on the course so long gave me time to reflect on how lucky we have been and how wonderful this community is.

00:53:24Oliver Spake: Excellent. It's nice to see the silver lining of that extra kilometre. Made the pancakes all the sweeter too, I'm sure.

00:53:30Melissa Ellis: Bonus kilometre.

00:53:33Oliver Spake: Gail Weston, I ran at Bendigo Botanic Gardens. It was cold, so cold, but a beautiful course.

00:53:40Melissa Ellis: and Vicki Thompson. Didn't venture too far today, Tail Walker at Cascades on Clyde Wetlands, followed by a very tasty raspberry and coconut porridge at Cafe Duro. Back to touristing the next couple of weekends.

00:53:53Oliver Spake: Mark Scarborough, we've just run at Mount Barker with PK. Now at Laratinga Cafe for breakfast and coffee.

00:54:01Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Sounds like it was a good morning at Mount Barker, and Alison King celebrated with an omelette au fromage at the Fig Tree Cafe following a chilly Trentham Memorial parkrun. The omelette was très bien. [French: "a cheese omelette"] [French: "The omelette was very good"]

00:54:19Oliver Spake: Kate Dull listened to the pod on... my longest run back from injury after injury to Warringal Parklands parkrun, then finished by smashing my parkrun PB, a sub-30 minutes PB finally, after being on 30.26 since my first event in May 2017. Not a bad way to finish off a 15K run and my first parkrun since our lockdown. I was RD Coburg parkrun on parkrun's return last week.

00:54:48Melissa Ellis: Nice work, Kate.

00:54:49Oliver Spake: Smashed it, Kate. Well done.

00:54:51Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:54:52Oliver Spake: That's brilliant.

00:54:53Melissa Ellis: That's excellent. That's a big jump.

00:54:56Oliver Spake: That's huge.

00:54:57Melissa Ellis: And after a 15 kilometre run.

00:55:00Oliver Spake: What?

00:55:01Melissa Ellis: Who does that? And Chris Fraser. I'm late to the party because I didn't start my (not)parkrun till late afternoon, which delayed brunch till Sunday. What is he doing? Went for a walk to find croissants. Had given up and on the way back home, pleasant surprise, when coffee shop had both croissants and sausage rolls just 700 metres from front door. I'm surprised there's a bakery that he didn't know about. within that kind of a distance from his house.

00:55:32Oliver Spake: Just feeling it out. Feeling it out. Cameron Drake, this morning I had to reprimand some kids on a trail bike. Choice words were used and afterwards I had to pardon my French.

00:55:44Melissa Ellis: No comment. Jacqui O'Connell, we did a pea parkrun. Phillip Island parkrun. O'Connell's out touristing again this week.

00:55:54Oliver Spake: Excellent. Not a bad spot. Claire Stutchbury, grateful to be out of lockdown for parkrun. 89th different event, 26th Queensland event and number 33 for our tourist streak at the very welcoming Gatton parkrun. Happy to fit in between the rain. Followed by a delicious brekkie at Tins and Trays.

00:56:15Melissa Ellis: Wow. Still out and about, those tourists, Claire and Jack.

00:56:22Oliver Spake: Yeah, Claire and Jack, clocking it up. Well done.

00:56:24Melissa Ellis: I haven't done Gatton. Have you done Gatton?

00:56:26Oliver Spake: No, well beyond my experience.

00:56:28Melissa Ellis: I don't know anything about Gatton. We need to get on the job. Brett Bailey ran Pegasus with Brunner in a brisk minus three degrees, and that concludes our Bailey shot for this week.

00:56:43Oliver Spake: A bit of an iced Bailey shot this week. Tony O'Connell, last-minute decision to cross the bridge to Phillip Island. Listened to the Toolern Creek podcast.

00:56:54Melissa Ellis: Ah, Toolin'. Toolin' Creek.

00:56:57Oliver Spake: See, you know, when you say something that much, you start to question if you're saying it correctly.

00:57:05Melissa Ellis: Well, it could be to learn, but that might be the posh way to say the event.

00:57:11Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:57:12Melissa Ellis: But down here, grassroots, we say it's Toolin'.

00:57:16Oliver Spake: Toolin'. All right, Toolin'. Excellent.

00:57:19Melissa Ellis: And Tracey Wood, morning team, no parkrun from me, but myself and Hound came down to check out Kedron course anyway. And I believe the water under the bridge was quite high down at Kedron this week.

00:57:33Oliver Spake: Yeah, a couple of puddles there. Faye Morgan, parkrun at Varsity Lakes.

00:57:39Melissa Ellis: And a brilliant photo that Faye posted of herself in front of the Varsity Lakes sign. Did you see that, Ollie?

00:57:46Oliver Spake: Yes, evidence there, absolutely. Yeah, the letters were bigger than Faye.

00:57:52Melissa Ellis: And Simon Mackley, no parkrun for me today. It's been a long and disrupted week, but for all the greater good. Hopefully we are back next week. We hope so too, Simon.

00:58:03Oliver Spake: Cathy Lambert, no parkrun for me. Brisbane lockdown, but I did see a photo of my family and I at Fontainebleau parkrun three years ago.

00:58:13Melissa Ellis: Wow, that's pretty impressive memory to pop up.

00:58:17Oliver Spake: I reckon.

00:58:17Melissa Ellis: Timing. Karen Hamilton. Locked down and missed the Gold Coast Marathon. Did it as a virtual. Ran a new PB from my watch. And if you look closely, the northern turnaround of the route is at Sandon Point parkrun.

00:58:31Oliver Spake: Very well done. Just a tidy little marathon PB there.

00:58:35Melissa Ellis: Yeah, impressive.

00:58:37Oliver Spake: Errol Poole, coffee with my daughter in Williamstown after ticking off South Para Reservoir parkrun to regain my South Australian statesmanship.

00:58:47Melissa Ellis: Double bonus, Errol. South Australian statesmanship, tick. Coffee with your daughter, tick. And Marg Prowse, we volunteered at Wallaby Track parkrun but had done a (not)parkrun before we went with Maxine Johnson. So double the parkrun fun on set day for Marg. Yes, well done.

00:59:08Oliver Spake: And last but not least, Riccardo Rambini, born chance, Mesimi. Thank you, Riccardo. Thank you, everyone. [French: "Riccardo Rambini: "Bonne chance, mes amis" — "Good luck, my friends""] [translation uncertain]

00:59:18Melissa Ellis: Great to hear from everybody this week at Dazza's in our very French-themed post.

00:59:23Oliver Spake: Look, and I think with a bit of luck we can see a few more out on the parkrun circuit next parkrun day. But, hey, we're all happy to embrace a good parkrun cafe on a (not)parkrun day if that's what it takes. Thank you, Dazza, for hosting us.

00:59:40Melissa Ellis: Ollie, if we haven't got a country coming back next week, what are we going to do? I'm going to be struggling to know what theme Dazza's can have.

00:59:49Oliver Spake: Good question, Mel. Good question.

00:59:51Melissa Ellis: Maybe it'll have to be the tennis. Haven't we got Wimbledon going on at the moment?

00:59:54Oliver Spake: We do have Wimbledon.

00:59:56Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay.

00:59:56Oliver Spake: Oh, look, and as I may have mentioned, I am a bit partial to the soccer as well. We've got the Euros. We've got the Copa America in South America. Sorry. Sorry, Mel. Hang on.

01:00:07Melissa Ellis: Hang on. I think those Englishmen might get a bit upset about you calling it soccer.

01:00:12Oliver Spake: Just trying to be a bit balanced here. No, it is called football in this household. I think our English listeners will subject to what happens between time of recording and actual podcast release will either be very upset or very excited as running the risk of that old trick of podcasting of saying something when you know something's going to change before it actually gets released. There's a semi-final standing between England and I think a first ever Euro grand final.

01:00:43Melissa Ellis: Is Australia not in it?

01:00:44Oliver Spake: No, no. So this is just the European championship.

01:00:47Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's not interesting.

01:00:49Oliver Spake: Well, it's interesting for any of our listeners that follow England, just as much any of our listeners that might follow Denmark, Italy or Spain as well, of course.

01:00:58Melissa Ellis: And in our defence, that game with the funny round ball, we do call soccer in this country.

01:01:04Oliver Spake: That's right. I think I spent a good decade or two trying to call it football and I... Gave in again.

01:01:09Melissa Ellis: Because out here, footy, footy is AFL, which we embrace and love, our AFL.

01:01:17Oliver Spake: We're inclusive. We enjoy many, many different sports, don't we, Mel?

01:01:22Melissa Ellis: Okay.

01:01:24Oliver Spake: Some of us do anyway.

01:01:25Melissa Ellis: Getting back to the tennis.

01:01:27Oliver Spake: Moving right along. I'm sure there's a theme for Dazza. In any case, I think it's- Do I have to buy a soccer ball?

01:01:34Melissa Ellis: I've got to buy a soccer ball, don't I?

01:01:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, do it, Mel. Do it.

01:01:40Melissa Ellis: The budget extends to all these props.

01:01:43Oliver Spake: Yeah, fair enough.

01:01:44Melissa Ellis: I need a sponsor. What are we going to get a sponsor, Ollie?

01:01:48Oliver Spake: Oh, I don't know. Maybe Lombards could sponsor me. We spent the entire budget on parkrun adventurers Towers.

01:01:56Melissa Ellis: I know. Yes. What was with that? Hang on a minute. You talked to the other week about there being no consultation. I don't remember being consulted for the fact that the new informant now has her own office. What happened there?

01:02:11Oliver Spake: Look, management said it had to be that way, so I wasn't going to challenge in this particular one.

01:02:18Melissa Ellis: Right.

01:02:18Oliver Spake: And there's plenty of room for all of us.

01:02:20Melissa Ellis: Okay.

01:02:20Oliver Spake: There's a desk for everyone in the Channel 5 News crew. Okay. There's even a separate office with the Channel 2 news crew on the door.

01:02:28Melissa Ellis: Wow.

01:02:28Oliver Spake: So, yeah.

01:02:30Melissa Ellis: This is clearly where all the budget's being spent.

01:02:32Oliver Spake: It was a good deal.

01:02:36Melissa Ellis: Speaking of such things.

01:02:38Oliver Spake: Speaking of such things, maybe it's time we check in to parkrun adventurers Towers with the informant.

the Informant

01:02:54The Informant: Hello Parkies, this is The Informant, coming to you live from level 2 with a view. And this week's views were pretty disgusting. People are like animals. Anyhow, these are the unofficial stats. They are only current at the time they are collected, and may differ from the stats you read elsewhere. But you wouldn't do that, because you can get it right here at parkrun adventurers. Last weekend, there were 559 runs taking place in 9 countries. There were 307 in Australia and 34 in New Zealand. Denmark had 8, Japan had 11, Poland had 74, Russia 53, UK 35, USA 29, and we welcome back the Frenchy Froglegs. Oh, far out. Ollie, he called France the Frenchy Froglegs.

01:03:44[crosstalk]

01:03:48Oliver Spake: I don't care. Just figure something out.

01:03:51The Informant: Now I'm going to have to start over. Just continue on. Well, I can't call them Frenchie frog legs on air.

01:03:58Melissa Ellis: Just leave it and I'll edit that bit out.

01:04:00The Informant: Oh, you'll forget, just like the budgies.

01:04:02Melissa Ellis: I won't forget.

01:04:03The Informant: You will forget. You always forget.

01:04:05Melissa Ellis: Just leave it and hurry up. We're running out of time.

01:04:08Oliver Spake: If you want to be the regular informant, you're going to have to learn to get on with the rest of the office.

01:04:13The Informant: I get along with beige trousers. It's beige trousers that keeps putting bad stuff in the stats.

01:04:18Melissa Ellis: Hurry up.

01:04:20The Informant: Oh, far out. We welcomed back France with eight events. There were four launches, Dorset Recreation Reserve in Victoria, Sherwood Reserve in Auckland, New Zealand, and two in Poland at Bologna and Bologna at Whistler, or something like that. Aussie New Zealand attendance was down a massive 7,700. We had 25,034 runners out of 36,382 worldwide. We had 2,815 PBs, while 852 people participated for the first time. 66 juniors reached their Junior 10 milestone. 146 people reached their 50 milestone. 97 reached their 100 milestone. And 13 people reached their 250 milestone.

01:05:06[16 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

01:05:22The Informant: 15 people called bingo. Jane Tully was the quickest with 158 events. Noah Sullivan was the slowest person taking 315 events. We have nine new statespeople and they all come from the ACT. Angus Lamb, Kate Irish, Greg Lane, Graham Patrick, David Irish, Lil Broomby, Melissa Edmondson, Fiona Whiteson and Stephanie Pell. On the top 20 most Australian New Zealand events list, Kevin Muller drops one place after Tony Jennings ran at Anderson to be outright 15th. This drops Kevin down to 16th. The biggest winners on the overall most events list was Nadine Crawford who jumped 13 from 242 up to 229 when she ran at Warringal Parklands. Other notables are Brent Radoslavich plus Marilyn and Bradley McCann, who all moved up nine places. 189 people increased their Wilson Index. Most of these, 145 of them, are people who got their one by attending the launches. Kate Corner was the biggest mover, up 12 points to 16 points. Carolyn Vandermeer moved up 9 places to 118, which is pretty impressive. And Wendy Beckhouse also moved up 9 to 77. To see these stats in full, visit www.theinformant.me or follow The Informant on Facebook. This has been The Informant, and my stats report... Well, my report is... is a report of stats.

01:07:05Melissa Ellis: And great to hear again this week from our new informant, Ollie. Very nice.

01:07:11Oliver Spake: Thank you to the informant. Very comfortable there.

01:07:13Melissa Ellis: Yes, and welcoming back France as well.

01:07:17Oliver Spake: So nice to see parkrun returning in another country. We're really looking forward to seeing a few more returns, hopefully not too far away.

01:07:26Melissa Ellis: Yes, we're creeping closer to England's return soon.

01:07:30Oliver Spake: Yeah, touching wood here. And, of course, a few others maybe a little uncertain, but who else is coming up? Is it the Germans? Is it parkrun Germany?

01:07:41Melissa Ellis: I think so.

01:07:42Oliver Spake: Yes. We'll keep our eyes peeled. We look forward to sharing a bit of parkrun delight as you all return.

01:07:48Melissa Ellis: Definitely, and getting our German flags ready.

Sign-off

01:07:51Oliver Spake: That's right. So, Mel, hopefully another parkrun day coming. What are your plans next parkrun day?

01:07:58Melissa Ellis: Well, I think I might head off to event two of our recent launch at Dorset Recreation Reserve.

01:08:08Oliver Spake: Ah, New parkrun, yes.

01:08:09Melissa Ellis: Yeah, check it out. It is local to my mum.

01:08:13Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:08:13Melissa Ellis: And my plans are to go over and visit mum, take her to parkrun and bring her back over for a visit over in Meltown. So that's all going to work nicely for me next week. Fantastic.

01:08:26Oliver Spake: And another weekend at Junior's, I'm sure.

01:08:28Melissa Ellis: Yes.

01:08:29Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Oh, sorry, Mel. Hang on. It's the 11th of July, isn't it? Is it longest run day?

01:08:37Melissa Ellis: Oh, it is. I think we're going somewhere else with that. I got confused for a minute. Yes. So I will be at Juniors on Saturday, obviously, for our regular event. Sunday. However, as part of one of the Western Victorian longest runs, Eynesbury is throwing in a 5K course. So I'll hang out there for that and take part in that and then continue on maybe with some more events on Sunday. Okay.

01:09:08Oliver Spake: Fantastic. And so Melbourne in its return to the longest run, it is returning to the western side event, the eastern side event. So how many do we have going on here?

01:09:21Melissa Ellis: There's Gippsland, there's southeast, there's north and two in the west.

01:09:26Oliver Spake: Excellent.

01:09:26Melissa Ellis: Far as I'm aware, I'm not aware of any of those cancelling. So yeah, I believe they'll all be going ahead.

01:09:33Oliver Spake: Fantastic. Well, yeah, look forward to seeing some pictures. Good luck to you and to everyone taking part.

01:09:38Melissa Ellis: Thank you. May there be water in the puddle.

01:09:43Oliver Spake: Complete with duck. Yet to be named duck.

01:09:45Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes. I was going to take the duck around with me on all the events, wasn't I?

01:09:49Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah. It sounds like you've, what should I say? It sounds like your puddle will be full this weekend, Mel.

01:09:55Melissa Ellis: Is that like my bucket's full?

01:09:57Oliver Spake: That's right. My puddle's full?

01:09:58Melissa Ellis: Yes. Definitely. I think so. And, yeah, we're not confident that you'll be back this week, Ollie. There's a chance, I believe, that there could be an announcement on Friday, but to be honest, it's not looking overly optimistic for you guys. No.

01:10:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, not entirely. With the current lockdown in the Greater Sydney area, which this time includes this particular local government area, we'll see. I think it's ending midnight on Friday night and, yeah, the cases are not tracking in a positive direction. So provided this sore back of mine fixes itself up, either it's out to Bass Point, not parkrun again, or maybe I have to go and find the maypole.

01:10:41Melissa Ellis: Well, that's always a silver lining.

01:10:43Oliver Spake: That's right. And look, I'm pretty sure I've got to catch up on some croissants, probably a sausage roll. And I swear there's a snot to catch up on. So I've got plans.

01:10:53Melissa Ellis: That's good to hear. Ollie, you've got to make your own fun.

01:10:55Oliver Spake: That's assured. Excellent.

01:10:58Melissa Ellis: Well, Mel.

01:10:58Oliver Spake: Thanks for another catch-up. And everyone, thank you for your time. As always, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. I'd like to obviously wish everyone a, I'm not sure if you say it's a happy NAIDOC week, but we'd like to acknowledge that it's NAIDOC week and anyone out there taking part in any events or naturally acknowledging their local community, Please feel free to share it with us and tell us what land to be your parkrunning on or not parkrunning on. And we'll see you next week for more adventures.

01:11:40[music]

01:12:29Unidentified speaker: Bye.

01:12:41Unidentified speaker: Hi Mel and Ollie. Thank you Mel for helping me do Warm-up Leader at juniors. You did great. I came 10th this week. Ollie, I'm sorry you didn't get to do parkrun this week. I hope you are back soon. Talk to you next week. Bye.