Episode 243 - Weekend Work

Welcome

00:00:22Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 243 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. I am Ollie Spake and I am joined by a parkrunner this week celebrating a different kind of milestone. Happy birthday, Melissa Ellis.

00:00:38Melissa Ellis: Oh, thanks, Ollie. Thank you. How are you?

00:00:41Oliver Spake: I am well, thank you. I am very well. And before I forget, congratulations also on regaining statesmanship. Thank you. Yes. Happy to do that this week. No, well done. Big week.

00:00:53Melissa Ellis: Yeah, another massive week in Meltown with travel and Junior parkrun. So I'm riding a wave of happiness currently. Oh, but now I feel bad because you are currently still in lockdown.

00:01:12Oliver Spake: Well, look, I want to share both aspects, of course, and I appreciate that. I think with us recording this one night early, so one insight for the listeners, we're recording early, so that also means I don't know the result to the Euro 2020 match yet, but that's a side point. But yes, I am part of the couple of fractions of the country at the moment that are under COVID restrictions and have been this parkrun day just gone.

00:01:41Melissa Ellis: Yes, our friends in West Australia, I believe, Ollie, have also not parkrun this last Saturday.

00:01:47Oliver Spake: That's right. So hopefully the good people of Perth and Peel regions, as I understand it out there, will get parkrun back next weekend. But, yeah, fingers crossed there was a bit of not parkrunning and just general wellbeing. more than anything. And of course, yeah, as you're pointing out, Greater Sydney, a bit more than Greater Sydney, however you interpret it, is very much still in lockdown at time of recording and indications are that that's not changing terribly quickly. The trends are not positive in that respect.

00:02:17Melissa Ellis: Well, how did you choose to spend your parkrun day, Ollie?

00:02:23Oliver Spake: I was very lazy. It was a very sedentary parkrun day. I had a sleep in. I don't think I've had a sleep in to about 9 a.m. for a long time. That's quite foreign to me. So to actually get the chance to lay in bed, I skipped not parkrun, went straight to brunch, which was kind of nice too. I think there may have been a few parkrunners or not parkrunners in this neck of the woods that might have been doing something similar. But, look, I did have the motivation to get back out there today, as it were, on the second day of parkrun weekend. And Hannah and I did a (not)parkrun in our ugly buffs.

00:03:04Melissa Ellis: Oh, they have arrived.

00:03:06Oliver Spake: They have, yes, yes. And they were fantastic. They are excellent neck warmers. I had underestimated them.

00:03:12Melissa Ellis: I did not see any photo, any such photo. I demand a photo.

00:03:16Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, look, I did take said photo. Social media is a little slow for me at the moment. So, look, I'll try and post it later this evening or sometime tomorrow and pass it off as just happening.

00:03:29Melissa Ellis: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

00:03:31Oliver Spake: Okay, yep, sorry, yep.

00:03:32Melissa Ellis: Can we not use this as our teaser post?

00:03:34Oliver Spake: Oh, yes, yes, yes.

00:03:39Melissa Ellis: Of course, by the time this goes to air, everybody will have seen it. So it won't matter.

00:03:42Oliver Spake: That's right. So I'm the slowest person here because everyone else knows what's going on, usual story but but it look it was a fairly nice way to spend a (not)parkrun day uh I feel like I'm well and truly behind the stakes there's a distinct lack of creativity in the household I think we're all adjusting I don't have a Daryl I don't have an Ellis Palace bass point not parkrun didn't even happen so uh

00:04:09Melissa Ellis: You got a Hanny.

00:04:10Oliver Spake: I got a Hanny and she didn't let me down. So, yeah, we'll put our collective heads together and come up with something for next (not)parkrun Day.

00:04:19Melissa Ellis: I think we have to set you a challenge for next week. I think next week Hanny needs to do a (not)parkrun roving report.

00:04:28Oliver Spake: Oh, okay. We'll have to see. Let's hope she listens in time.

00:04:35Melissa Ellis: So where did you run?

00:04:36Oliver Spake: Local. So we are in current restrictions in the Greater Sydney area, limited to essential exercise and staying within 10 kilometres of our household. Soft. I'm joking, of course. Absolutely.

00:04:51Melissa Ellis: Just saying that because we had a five kilometre limit, so...

00:04:55Oliver Spake: No, no. Look, and I trust all the listeners can understand and appreciate that in jest. You know, you guys in Melbourne and Victoria have been through a lot.

00:05:03Melissa Ellis: And I'm guessing that you can still reach your coastline within your 10 kilometres.

00:05:09Oliver Spake: I've barely got land within my 10 kilometres.

00:05:12Melissa Ellis: Show off. Yeah.

00:05:15Oliver Spake: But I've got no hills, Mel. I've got to start training for my hill run in, well, I've got some time. So I'm being fairly pessimistic. Depends on your perspective.

00:05:24Melissa Ellis: Oliver Spake, if you can reach Shellharbour within your 10 kilometres, you can run a hill.

00:05:28Oliver Spake: Oh, no. I'm talking real hills, not just Shellharbour hills.

00:05:33Melissa Ellis: Oh, wow.

00:05:34Oliver Spake: Okay. I need some real hills. Yeah, so I'm just going to have to run up and down those hills quite a lot to get into shape because I really haven't been in shape the... The back has put me up for all of the week, so today's return was pretty much it, and it was a slow one. We may have stopped for 20 minutes to watch a boat in rough seas take on what we thought was an inadvisable fishing trip, but it was good the back performed, so hopefully the comeback is happening.

00:06:04Melissa Ellis: And I'm actually feeling guilty because you have referenced your back problem in a previous episode, and I've never actually said to you, what did you do and is it okay?

00:06:14Oliver Spake: That's all right. I just wanted to whinge. I really don't know. I think probably the root cause and the symptoms are one and the same. I'm a little out of shape and need to be a bit more consistent in what I do. So, yeah, a couple of big exercise days scattered with completely the opposite probably has been a bit of a mistake in that respect. So, yeah. We'll look after it and it'll be fine before too long.

00:06:45Melissa Ellis: Okay. I'm really trying not to touch on that potential innuendo of the root cause. Apologies. Couldn't let it go. Okay. Moving swiftly on.

00:06:58Oliver Spake: Yeah, moving swiftly on. And look, you thankfully enjoyed.

00:07:02Melissa Ellis: I've thrown you, haven't I?

00:07:04Oliver Spake: That's right. You enjoyed two parkrun days.

00:07:09Melissa Ellis: I know. Tell me about those. I'm so lucky.

00:07:11Oliver Spake: I'm a bit spoiled. Yes. So your first parkrun day was a number two.

00:07:20Melissa Ellis: Touche.

00:07:24Oliver Spake: Yes. In a good sense. In a good sense. Yes.

00:07:26Melissa Ellis: Yes, I attended Dorset Recreation Reserve, which I mentioned at the end of last week's pod. It is local to my mum. Sadly, mum didn't attend. It was a little bit too cold. She informed me that it was potentially going to be four degrees. And at the age of 75, I made the call not to try to guilt her into attending and let her sleep in.

00:07:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, just on that, I will fight the urge to say soft and say good call. I think she made the right call and we should all take a leaf out of that book. Yes. There's nothing soft about being smart.

00:08:02Melissa Ellis: No, and when I informed her that I would be turning up to pick her up and bring her home to my place at 9am, she still was maybe not overly impressed that her sleep in wasn't going as long as she would have otherwise liked because... I didn't stay around for brunch after parkrun. Oh, okay. I picked mum up and brought her back over the other side of town to Meltown because we had a family occasion happening. Ah. Yeah, but at Dorset.

00:08:33Oliver Spake: Yes. It wasn't launch day, Ollie. It was week two. Week two.

00:08:37Melissa Ellis: But what I love about parkrun is you can turn up with no expectations and not thinking you're going to see anybody you know and have a completely unexpected experience with somebody you had no idea was going to attend. And that's what happened to me.

00:08:54Oliver Spake: Oh, right.

00:08:55Melissa Ellis: I had a brilliant run chat with a parkrunner that I know from Westerfolds Juniors when I was regularly volunteering out there and somebody who I have a connection with through one of my daughters because – You know, when it's like that seven degrees of separation. Yep. My daughter's boyfriend's mum works with Narelle. Yep. Who is a Westerfoldian. And shout out to Narelle because I know she listens.

00:09:25Oliver Spake: Hello, Narelle.

00:09:26Melissa Ellis: Yes, and she ran up behind me and quite soon in the event and then ran along with me and we had a lovely chat and a fabulous parkrun. That was unexpected and really lovely and I met Narelle's daughter.

00:09:40Oliver Spake: That's pretty cool. Now, Mel, are you one of those individuals that can take on a parkrun and a conversation with ease? So this is just all in your stride or when you find that opportunity to have a chat with someone when out on a parkrun, the conversation takes the precedence or?

00:09:56Melissa Ellis: I have to say, I believe that the ability to talk while running is a skill that needs to be exercised.

00:10:05Oliver Spake: I see what you did there.

00:10:06Melissa Ellis: Previously, I regularly ran in groups and I was seasoned to talking while I ran. And since I've moved out to the West, I run solo most of the time. And my run chat ability is not as honed as it previously was. And of course, my fitness is not as good as it previously was. So, Running along, chatting to Narelle as best I could, trying really hard not to huff and puff and to sound coherent, it was a challenge. And to be honest, Narelle is a far more accomplished runner than I, and I was very aware. And bless you, Narelle. She was obviously happy to run at a reduced pace just to have a chat with me, you know, which was lovely. I need to work on my run chat. Yeah.

00:10:55Oliver Spake: I haven't had that many run chats, but I have found the tactic that works the best is you keep asking questions. And that's not to say that I've ever just manufactured questions for the sake of not having to chat. I'm genuinely interested. But yeah, you make the other person talk.

00:11:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's a good tactic. Oh, that sounds lovely. I managed. I managed. I huffed and puffed and got through it and reasonably happy with, you know, my time as well. Yes. But something to work on.

00:11:24Oliver Spake: Okay, very nice. And did you both enjoy Dorset? Did you all enjoy Dorset?

00:11:29Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it's a flat out course at Dorset. Numbers were, I think... Oh, no, I can't remember. Maybe around 100 for event two. Yeah, suburban parkrun and a very enthusiastic first-time RD out there, Manny. He did a fabulous job. Awesome. And I was with friends. Parth and Irene were volunteering. Thank you for volunteering.

00:11:52Oliver Spake: Well done.

00:11:52Melissa Ellis: And I was there with friends, Steve and Helen, who were kind enough to put me up for the night so that that shortened my commute in the morning. And they, yeah, they also were very kind and had a little bit of birthday cake for me the night before, which was sweet.

00:12:07Oliver Spake: That sounds like a pretty cool parkrun day and parkrun 24 hours. It was. Yeah.

00:12:12Melissa Ellis: That's what I love. Like every week there's a little bit of happiness and a little bit of positivity to your week added by parkrunning.

00:12:19Oliver Spake: Yeah, and it comes in so many different ways, unexpected ways, as you say. Exactly. Okay, so Dorset, has that helped your challenge? I mean, you say it's pretty flat, so it's more that aerobic exercise this week.

00:12:32Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes, yes, exercising in the run chat. Yep. Sadly, no hill training this week.

00:12:37Oliver Spake: No heel training.

00:12:38Melissa Ellis: No, but I must say, Ollie, so previously I was feeling the effects of some overexertion and I was a little bit limpy. I've had a little bit of soreness in my hips and whatever because I overdid some walking on some hills at work and... Whatever. Anyway, so I did rest in this last week. So that's all seems to have resolved. So I'm back into now the panorama punish training. All good to go.

00:13:06Mark: Well done.

00:13:06Melissa Ellis: I've done the right thing and I've rested and I've stayed away from the hills. But, you know, very mindful now, as you've mentioned, we have to be training.

00:13:13Oliver Spake: Yep. I'm a few weeks behind you, but good work.

00:13:16Melissa Ellis: Yes, and back to juniors this morning, Ollie.

00:13:18Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, it feels a bit strange to be talking to you podcast-wise on a juniors day, parkrun day number two, how was it?

00:13:25Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I have to sadly report all puddles were evaporated.

00:13:30Oliver Spake: I'm sorry, Mel.

00:13:31Melissa Ellis: There was no duck, but what do you do? This is the times we live in.

00:13:35Oliver Spake: Were the kids okay?

00:13:36Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah.

00:13:36Oliver Spake: The kids didn't mind?

00:13:37Melissa Ellis: No, no.

00:13:38Oliver Spake: Oh, okay.

00:13:39Melissa Ellis: There was no reports of sad children.

00:13:41Oliver Spake: Well, that's what counts.

00:13:43Melissa Ellis: The forest was absolutely stunning. There was a thick fog in the local area, but it just made the forest look absolutely magical. We've got stunning photos from the morning.

00:13:55Oliver Spake: I have seen some. Yeah, if anyone hasn't seen those, jump on the Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun Facebook page because they look pretty cool.

00:14:03Melissa Ellis: Yes. And we had 16 kids and we would have potentially had more. Only a couple of our juniors stepped into volunteer roles. We had a junior assist with our day duties this morning. Fantastic. And the parkrun adventurers own Abby.

00:14:19Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:14:20Melissa Ellis: Was barcode scanning.

00:14:22Oliver Spake: Nice work, Abby.

00:14:23Melissa Ellis: Oh, spoiler alert for the end of for her potential end of the pod but uh yes so we had two little juniors who previous to attending junior parkrun never would have crossed paths but have now forming a lovely little friendship which is beautiful to see oh that's fantastic because they're little parkrun friends and what great help Yeah, we had four juniors assisting this morning with volunteering. So it was so lovely. And what else can I say about, oh, had a little mishap on the way to juniors. Yeah, what happened, Mel? Oh, Skippy. Skippy ran out in front of me on the way and broke a headlight.

00:15:04Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:15:05Melissa Ellis: And I have to say, I heard Danny in last week's pod mention his new car, which is Tootle. What did he call his car? I forgot the first name. Can you remember? No. Anyway.

00:15:19Oliver Spake: I can't. No.

00:15:20Melissa Ellis: Anyway, Danny's obviously named his car. And I also have a name for my car. My car's called Maduri because it's a little green car. I've always had the habit of naming my vehicles Maduri. Anyway, my car's called Meduri. So, poor Meduri. Kangaroo jumped out as we were heading down the Eynesbury Road and the fog was thick. So, literally, I could not see anything on either side of my car and it was dark still because I was heading down to assist the RD with course set up. So it was still dark, plus it was foggy and could not see anything on the side of the road. So the first I knew that there was a kangaroo was when it was in front of my windscreen. And yeah, and I hit it. But it was, from what I can gather, unharmed and bounced off into the distance. But it broke a headlight, so...

00:16:12Oliver Spake: Yeah, Pomodori's got a broken headlight. So it was a little bit scary. I would imagine. I mean, I've never been a driver in that situation. I have been a passenger and, you know, we've heard tales of kangaroo encounters on this very podcast before.

00:16:26Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes, that's right. Mel and the showman, they had an encounter, didn't they?

00:16:31Oliver Spake: They did. They did. So I'm not going to make any claims about it being related to being a host of this podcast. I think I haven't seen enough examples of that. But obviously, yeah, it's a very startling experience and can be much, much worse. But it sounds like you and well, Madhuri and Skip got out of it with minor injuries in this respect.

00:16:51Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I got a feeling that probably the broken headlight was what we think is the tail of the rube.

00:16:56Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah.

00:16:57Melissa Ellis: On my return trip home, there was no evidence of any injured wildlife on the side of the road. So fingers crossed that Skippy just had a bit of a sore tail.

00:17:05Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. That's one of the hazards of travelling to parkrun, isn't it? Well, travelling in general, naturally, but travelling at that time of day in those conditions. Glad you're all okay, Mel. Thank you.

00:17:16Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that was Junior parkrun morning. And honestly, I'm still buzzing because it was just a really happy volunteer experience again at Eynesbury, regardless of our duck not making a showing. And Paul was home, so Paul came down and he volunteered as well. So that was a nice bit of a family affair.

00:17:40Oliver Spake: Oh, that's excellent. Lovely way to spend a morning and lovely to hear of young volunteers getting to see that different perspective of parkrun. Some of the best angles of parkrun come from behind the vest.

00:17:53Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I just wish we could do something about that run direct vest fitting a little bit better, sadly. LAUGHTER I mean, you know, it swims on most of our adult volunteers, but you try and put it on a child.

00:17:58[laughter]

00:18:05Oliver Spake: It takes some good folding and pinning techniques to make it work, huh?

00:18:09Melissa Ellis: Exactly.

00:18:09Oliver Spake: Yeah. Thank you, Mel. Thank you for giving me a bit of a parkrun fix.

00:18:13Melissa Ellis: You're welcome. But we can throw, Ollie, to a couple more people that can give you even more of a parkrun fix.

00:18:21Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:18:22Melissa Ellis: So shall we listen now to our roving reports?

00:18:26[other]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:18:26Mark Scarborough: Let's.

00:18:26Melissa Ellis: But first, let's spin our alphabet wheel and see what it comes up with.

Alphabet wheel spin

00:18:42Melissa Ellis: And it's a Y. Let's see what marvellous marks got in store for us today.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Yeldulknie Weir parkrun

00:18:49Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for Channel 5 News crew and today we're actually at Cleve, which is a small agricultural town on the central Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. We're on our way to Port Lincoln and we've stopped here because they've got a parkrun here called Yeldulknie Weir parkrun and I'm here with Mark, who's one of the Run Directors. Good morning Mark, how are you? Great, thank you. How are you today? Good, thank you. It's a nice little small town you have here in Cleve and it's good to see you actually have a parkrun course here at Cleve. What's the history of getting the parkrun course here? It's only relatively young, started in early 2019. So how did it come about?

00:19:31Mark: A few keen local runners, I guess, that had been to parkruns in other towns and they were keen to get one started here. So they worked towards it and the council put in a trail that was perfectly suitable just near the edge of town. So they worked on starting it there.

00:19:47Mark Scarborough: So for our listeners, can you describe the course of the trail for us?

00:19:50Mark: So it's right on the edge of town and it's a straightforward out and back, two and a half kilometres out to back. And it's a nice rubble road trail, nice and wide, a little bit undulating. There's a few people that say the hills take a bit out of them.

00:20:06Mark Scarborough: Yeah, it's a really nice track. And was this your first experience with parkrun as being part of this crew?

00:20:12Mark: Yeah, I don't know that I'd ever heard of it before hearing that it was coming to town. A couple of those locals that had been doing it maybe mentioned it in passing, but I'd certainly not ever thought of it much.

00:20:22Mark Scarborough: And you were saying before that you were coming up to the first anniversary when the pause happened last year. So how did that, I suppose, impact the local community and parkrun community having that six to nine month pause?

00:20:34Mark: Yeah, I guess for a few of the regulars, yeah, it's naturally disappointing when you can't go and see those regulars and also when you can't meet those regular visitors who come through and... COVID in general probably didn't affect us in this area that much we're lucky in that regard that we're somewhat isolated from the larger population centres so in that regard we were lucky so a lot of us were still out there doing a few not parkruns and out there running walking riding bikes so we're able to keep going in that manner but uh it was um sad not to be able to go out there and do it

00:21:09Mark Scarborough: So it is a relatively small group that turns up for parkrun here. Do they come from far and wide, being a rural regional area?

00:21:17Mark: Yeah, I've been quite surprised. We average, I think I checked our average last night, it was 27 to date. But yeah, I've been quite surprised by how many visitors... will come, you know, there's not many weeks when we don't have someone from out of town. It might be one of the nearby larger cities or, you know, there's quite regularly people from Adelaide, you know, that's over 500 kilometres and they'll come just to do it. And people who would not have otherwise come to Cleve, they've come just for that reason. So it's great to get people here, parkrun's obviously a good thing for the tourism side of things and having a y for your name is also big helpful for the alphabet challenge what are some of the touristy kind of things in this region would you recommend to people to go see I guess the area is this part of the state's probably more well known for the um the coastal towns the fishing the seafood The Beaches so parkrun's been great to get those people to come inland a bit we're kind of off the the tourist trail a little bit. But yeah, we have the walking trail, the parkrun, the Yeldulknie Weir in our name. That's a reservoir five kilometres out of town that's become a popular camping spot. There's a park, picnic ground, camping area there. Also have another walking trail just north of town, which is more a bush walking trail to a little waterfall in a natural reserve area there. So that's, people sometimes come and do that as well. That's a great walk. What does parkrun mean to you? I look forward to it every week. Prior to parkrun I was not a runner, did plenty of walking but that's certainly inspired me to start running and now I'm a regular runner every week and extending my distance out at other times as well outside of parkrun.

00:22:57Mark Scarborough: So it really got you into the whole running scene and you're also doing the Run Director role as well. How have you found being an RD?

00:23:04Mark: Yeah, I enjoy it. I'm still fairly new to that role but after having attended almost most of the parkruns that we've had here, I had thought in an emergency it's probably something I could do. I probably know that run briefing off the top of my head and had done most of the volunteer roles at that point. So yeah, I'll be happy to give that a go.

00:23:24Mark Scarborough: I've actually been telling people that the Run Director role is the easiest role there is because you always have that real good crew around you who know their roles and you're just there to look good at the end of the day and all the other volunteers make you look good. So I think it's the easiest role. What would be your favourite volunteer role?

00:23:40Mark: Probably photographer. I'm a keen amateur photographer, so I've done that a lot of times, and I enjoy that.

00:23:46Mark Scarborough: Yeah, I think that's my other favourite one, is getting out there and doing the photography. All right, well, thank you for your time today. Let me drop in on you during the middle of the week and talk parkrun out of a normal Saturday schedule. So, yeah, thank you very much, and we're going to go out now and do a freedom run of your course, and we'll see how it goes.

00:24:04Mark: Thanks for your time. Thank you very much, and, yeah, if any of your listeners are in the area, by all means, drop in and see us.

00:24:10Mark Scarborough: Yeah, come and get a Y. All right, talk to you soon on the parkrun adventurers.

00:24:15Tracey: I would like to acknowledge the Turrbal peoples who are traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their elders past, present and future. Good morning, parkrunners. It's Tracey in a Tutu not touristing again. Yep, I'm turning the heat up on Kedron parkrun again for the third week in a row. Well, technically last week didn't count because we're in lockdown, but I was there anyway. Now, last Monday as I was running a ridiculously long distance, I was listening to a playlist by parkrun Australia. And, at the risk of sounding flaky, I thought we needed a playlist for adventurers if they're taking on the challenge of the Sausage Roll Club.

Sausage Roll Club

00:24:55Tracey: So here is a few of the songs that I've chosen. First up, a classic from ACDC. It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll. Next, Grease is the word. Especially if you go to a local servo, very dodgy those places. My favourite by Cyndi Lauper. Girls just want to have extra sauce on a can of Coke Zero, please. Oh, and this hit by Elton John. B-B-B-Benny and the Bakery. Oh, lastly, a throwback from Starship. We built this city. We built this city on sausage rolls. Thank you very much. I'll be here all week. Toodles from Tracey. See you on the B-side.

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Port Lincoln parkrun

00:25:39Mark Scarborough: Good morning parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew and today we're in Port Lincoln for parkrun at South Australia. So we're going to go do a parkrun here and then have a chat to a few of the other parkrunners. Well I'm here with Annabelle and Annabelle's from Shiraz Trail parkrun. Good morning Annabelle, how was your parkrun at Port Lincoln?

00:26:00Annabelle: It was lovely. It is a beautiful course here in Port Lincoln and it's a perfect morning. Beautiful weather, no wind, nice flat course. So yeah, really, really lovely.

00:26:12Mark Scarborough: It's a beautiful course here. I think this is one of my top three maybe. So Shiraz Trail parkrun, what can you tell us about that?

00:26:18Annabelle: Shiraz Trail parkrun, it's a two-lap course as well. It's quite complicated. It's got a lot of legs in and out. So, yeah, it is one that we need to have marshals on just to help keep people on track. But it's very flat, mostly on bitumen. There is a few little bits that are kind of a bit rocky. It goes through vineyards and through parkland and along the bike track.

00:26:48Mark Scarborough: Yeah, nice. And what brought you to Port Lincoln today?

00:26:52Annabelle: We're over here on a family holiday. Come over to Eyre Peninsula to do the giant cuttlefish, swim with the giant cuttlefish in just north of Whyalla. And yeah, we just came down here to Port Lincoln to eat seafood and do parkrun. That was on the list.

00:27:09Mark Scarborough: So have you done the swim with the cuttlefish yet?

00:27:11Annabelle: Yes, we have. Yeah. And it was fantastic. A really extraordinary experience. So I highly recommend that to anyone. It's amazing.

00:27:21Mark Scarborough: So yesterday we went swimming with the sea lions. So it was Blath Island from here and it was an amazing experience. Water was a little bit cold. I imagine it was a bit cold in Whyalla as well, but it was well worth it.

00:27:35Annabelle: Yes, the water was very cold. Yes, we did look at doing swimming with the seals in Baird Bay, but everything was all booked out and the only way to do it really is on a tour, I think. So we'll have to save that for another time. And you said before that you are undergoing a challenge in South Australia. What can you tell us about that? Yeah, so in South Australia we have a challenge. It's called the Statesman, although some people call it the Stateswoman and some people call it the Statesperson. But anyway, the challenge is to do all the parkruns in South Australia. And currently there's 37. And today Port Lincoln for me was number 17. So I've got 20 to go.

00:28:17Mark Scarborough: Nearly halfway. That's a pretty good achievement. And you said that this is maybe the furthest one to go to, so a lot more concentrated around the Adelaide region.

00:28:26Annabelle: That's right. Yeah, so looking at the map, all the ones around the Adelaide region are obviously fairly easy to get to. Port Lincoln's certainly the furthest in terms of distance, so it feels good to have this one ticked off. Logistically, Kangaroo Island is probably going to be a bit of a challenge too, so we might have to schedule a trip to Kangaroo Island at some stage. And the other side of Adelaide, eastern side, Mount Gambier is probably the furthest down there, so that's almost down towards the Victorian border, and I haven't done that one yet, so we'll be making plans for that too sometimes.

00:29:02Mark Scarborough: A few family holidays to be worked out.

00:29:04Annabelle: That's right, yeah.

00:29:06Mark Scarborough: Well, thanks for having a chat with us today on the parkrun adventurers.

00:29:08Annabelle: Yeah, lovely to meet you. And yeah, all the best to all the Canberran parkrunners. Have fun.

00:29:14Mark Scarborough: So I've just bumped into Richard, who's a Run Director at Christies Beach. Good morning, Richard. How was your parkrun?

00:29:19Richard: Hi, how are you doing? parkrun was great. Location is superb and it's nice to have a flat course for a change. We tend to have a little bit of an undulation at Christies Beach.

00:29:30Mark Scarborough: And what can you tell us about Christies Beach? I haven't been there before.

00:29:33Richard: Well Christies Beach now is going to be celebrating its fifth anniversary at the end of this month. I was originally one of the core volunteers and stepped up over the years to Event Director and we have coastal views, they sweep sort of the coastline of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Christies Beach was the first sort of main parkrun in the south of the Adelaide suburbs.

00:29:57Mark Scarborough: And what brought you to Port Lincoln today?

00:30:00Richard: Originally cancelled plans to travel kind of far north and Port Lincoln was sort of far enough away to feel like a holiday destination and lo and behold it's just a perfect place to be.

00:30:13Mark Scarborough: Yeah the weather's really been put on this morning. We woke up to an amazing sunrise outside our caravan this morning and this is the ideal running weather here at Port Lincoln today.

00:30:22Richard: Yeah, definitely. If you felt a bit cold at the start, you certainly didn't feel cold at the end. So yeah, and the weather today looks like it's going to be a cracker. Where were you meant to parkrun today, up north? I think we was going to be at Golden Beach, is it? Golden Beach, in Sunshine Coast. But the COVID hotspot meant we could have travelled and then come back, but we'd have had to isolate for two weeks and we both work, so... Yeah, can't do that.

00:30:47Mark Scarborough: Nope. Oh, these times, you've got to be a little bit flexible and go with the punches, so yeah. Well, thanks for having a chat with us today and we'll see you around.

00:30:54Richard: Lovely. Thanks very much.

00:30:56Mark Scarborough: So I'm with the Run Director for today, Darren. Good morning, Darren. Thank you for putting on a beautiful weather for us today.

00:31:01Darren: No worries. Lovely day, that's for sure.

00:31:05Mark Scarborough: This is a stunning course. Really enjoyed it today and the weather made it quite good. So how was your parkrun today as Run Director?

00:31:15Darren: Yeah, it was a good day, actually. Good crowd and probably just as many volunteers as we have had locals. So it's good. And thanks for turning up.

00:31:22Mark Scarborough: Yeah, no, it was good. It was good to see quite a few tourists here today. So what got you involved with Port Lincoln parkrun?

00:31:28Darren: So about three years ago I moved down to Whyalla and one of my jobs that I had, a couple of guys invited me along to parkrun and I'd only just started running. So yeah, so that's what got me involved and I haven't stopped. So you've been here at Port Lincoln for how long? Three years, yeah, and met my partner Ali through parkrun as well. Oh, wow.

00:31:47Oliver Spake: Yeah, so, yeah.

00:31:48Darren: That's cool. Yeah, so we've been doing that as well as a few other. So we've got my running underways. We did between us just over 2,000 k's last year. Yeah, nice. Because of parkrun.

00:31:59Mark Scarborough: So, yeah, it was good. So a lot of that would have just been training on your own with no real events happening last year?

00:32:04Darren: Yeah, no, there was no events last year, but this year we've been able to lead on to that and do a couple of half marathons this year. That's good.

00:32:10Mark Scarborough: Yeah. Excellent. All right, well, we're going to head off to breakfast now down the road, so we'll see you there. All right, thanks. All right, parkrunners, we're finished here at Port Lincoln parkrun, so we're going to head off for coffee and breakfast. We'll talk to you next time on the parkrun adventurers.

00:32:24[16 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:32:40Melissa Ellis: And great to hear from our roving reporters this week, Tracey at Kedron, giving us some ideas for a playlist. Ollie, I like that idea and sausage roll themed, which is good.

00:32:54Oliver Spake: Delicious. Yes.

00:32:55Melissa Ellis: Baked goods.

00:32:56Oliver Spake: Baked goods. Always a fan of baked goods themes, ideas. So thank you, Tracey.

00:33:02Melissa Ellis: And also good to hear from Marvellous Mark out there on the job in South Australia.

00:33:07Oliver Spake: Yeah, making the travel, heading west. And yeah, nice to hear from some locations I'm not sure I've heard too much from before.

00:33:15Melissa Ellis: Port Lincoln, no, I have not ventured that far out. But I like the idea of swimming with sea lions. Not as sure about giant cuttlefish, I have to say. Yeah.

00:33:26Oliver Spake: Um, yes. Well, I'm clearly still picturing what I fed the budgies. So yes, my budgies, that is.

00:33:36Melissa Ellis: I'm still trying to remember the names of your budgies. You did tell me they were like Egyptian themed.

00:33:40Oliver Spake: That's right. Isis and Horus were their names. Yeah.

00:33:44Melissa Ellis: Yeah. My budgies, they don't like cuttlefish. They just like pull it off the side of the cage and throw it to the ground and poop on it. Yes. That's what we think of cuttlefish.

00:33:53Oliver Spake: Well, I'm betting these were pretty spectacular. They sounded pretty cool. All the sea lions did, that's for sure. And well done to the Scarborough team.

00:34:01Melissa Ellis: Definitely. And a familiar voice popping up there when Mark spoke to Richard. Yes. From Christies Beach.

00:34:09Oliver Spake: Yeah. Nice to see Richard getting out for some traps.

00:34:12Melissa Ellis: Mark was also at Yedokniwea, Yedokniwea Trail for a Freedom Run.

00:34:18Oliver Spake: Thank you for pronouncing that. I was trying to get that right in my head. Yes, yeah, again, a parkrun I had not heard about at all, this one.

00:34:27Melissa Ellis: And spinning the wheel for a letter Y.

00:34:29Oliver Spake: Yes. So, yeah, I am curious now where they will head next. I'm not sure there are too many parkruns for the next couple of hundred kilometres. So, yeah, intrigued. Intrigued.

00:34:41Melissa Ellis: I know I'm kind of wishing I had paid more attention when Michael was telling me about where he was going. Whoopsie.

00:34:46Oliver Spake: Yes. And, Mel, look, we did share there's actually been some more love for the sausage rolls and bakeries again, and I'm wondering if I need to be mediating here because it seems that a certain premier of a certain state is disagreeing with our position as the best provider of the sausage roll in the state. Yeah.

00:35:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, how good was it to see Dan Andrews on board with Sausage Roll Clubs? I mean, I couldn't believe it when I saw the post come out. He's spruiking the best places in the greater state to get the sausage roll, the pie and the snot log. He must be listening.

00:35:25Oliver Spake: Yeah, well and truly covered.

00:35:27Melissa Ellis: I'm on a mission now. I've got to get Dan Andrews to a parkrun. I'm on it. I'm on to it.

00:35:34Oliver Spake: Well, I'm not about to endorse Euroa parkrun as part of the Sausage Roll Club, but maybe it's a half entry until Dan can convince us.

00:35:44Melissa Ellis: I feel like I've got to go back to Euroa. I've been there a couple of times.

00:35:48Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:35:48Melissa Ellis: Now I really need to go back, but I can say Timboon and their ice cream is very well known in this state as being a place to go. Yeah, definitely.

00:35:59Oliver Spake: All right. So that's the starting point on Dan's list.

Dazza's

00:36:03Oliver Spake: Dan's Club. Look, that's making me hungry, Mel, which of course makes me think of Dazza's and we were joined once again in Dazza's by a fairly big number of parkrunners, not parkrunners and beyond joining us. I'm not sure there was a whole lot of talk about sport despite the attention on sport.

00:36:25Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I didn't get much feedback with Wimbledon or Euro 2020. And just on that, Ollie, why is it Euro 2020 when we're in 2021?

00:36:36Oliver Spake: Probably cheaper to not change the merchandise.

00:36:38Melissa Ellis: Oh, right. Yeah, pandemic. It's a pandemic thing. Yeah.

00:36:41Oliver Spake: yeah but we did have some new names popping up in Dazza's cafe we had some new visitors to welcome we did so that was nice yeah welcome everyone welcome everyone and look uh before we move on you mentioned Wimbledon big shout out congratulations to the Barty party, the Barty party, Ash Barty how exciting yes so we're thrilled to have a female singles women's winner first time in 50 years in

00:37:05Melissa Ellis: NAIDOC week, Ollie.

00:37:08Oliver Spake: I reckon. Yeah, it just, yeah, what a fantastic achievement for her.

00:37:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah, well done, Ash.

00:37:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, we'll relish that. And I'll move on before I just get caught up talking sport for the rest of the podcast.

00:37:19Melissa Ellis: Yes, but meanwhile, one of our regular visitors to Dazza's is, that's you, Ollie.

00:37:26Oliver Spake: Sorry, Mel. Meanwhile, one of our regular visitors at Dazza's this week is, Val Warwick, I was timing along with a friend and our granddaughter was on tokens. Despite not being able to feel our fingers, we kept in sync. I may or may not have sucked my thumb in order to restore circulation. Fortunately, the app goes ding every time the screen is pressed because we sure couldn't feel if we touched the screen. Devonport was cold today.

00:37:55Melissa Ellis: Ah, and we had a lovely photo from Val with Nana, Pa and Sid, granddaughter.

00:38:01Oliver Spake: Yes, and well done. Big fan of the app and that ding is an absolute lifesaver in some cases. So thank you for volunteering. Good work, team.

00:38:10Melissa Ellis: And also popping into Dazza's, Mark Scarborough. Beautiful morning at Port Lincoln parkrun. Had James from the Channel 2 news crew pushing me hard this morning as he was pushing for a PB, which he neglected to tell me. But Mark, you neglected to tell us if James got his PB.

00:38:28Oliver Spake: Yeah, we're going to have to look that up, Mel.

00:38:32Melissa Ellis: Get onto it, Ollie. No, that's okay.

00:38:34Oliver Spake: Oh, that's all right. You just give me a second. Office is quiet, so we've got to do the research ourselves because we're coming on the weekend, right?

00:38:42Melissa Ellis: Okay. You have a little look and I'll insert some elevator music. Okay.

00:38:46[music]

00:39:06Oliver Spake: And Mel, it was a good effort from James, but my quick researching skills suggest silver.

00:39:13Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay. But encouraging.

00:39:15Oliver Spake: Yes, absolutely.

00:39:17Melissa Ellis: We look forward to James building on that performance in the coming weeks.

00:39:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, well done. We also heard from Rebecca Bailey, fellow lockdown not parkrunner. With the heavy rain and lockdown, I enjoyed a nice sleep in this morning, then headed off to find a different bakery. 3.5 kilometres from home is Queen Street Bakery, Warilla. Lots of choice and a lovely 8 out of 10 sausage roll. Flaky pastry, nice flavoured meat, great ratio and it was hot. We'll complete another (not)parkrun later today if the rain holds off.

00:39:50Melissa Ellis: I'm glad to hear that Bec had better sausage roll experiences this week. She also joined you in the sleeping club, Ollie.

00:39:58Oliver Spake: I reckon, yeah.

00:39:59Melissa Ellis: And I noticed a little bit of interaction, sausage roll interaction between her and Chris.

00:40:04Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:40:04Melissa Ellis: On the last post.

00:40:06Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's all the rage in this neck of the woods.

00:40:08Melissa Ellis: Contentious issues, these sausage rolls.

00:40:10Oliver Spake: They are. They are. But I will throw my kudos behind the Queen Street Bakery. The pies and other orders through our school come from Queen Street Bakery. Love the apple pie.

00:40:22Melissa Ellis: That's good. Yeah. Bernadette Bennett, an icy shower for the first 500 metres at Newy this morning and a chilly headwind for the last 500 metres, but so great to be still out there parkrunning. Numbers very small for us at 200. The icy snap and predicted 100% rain had taken a toll. Home for some hot choc and porridge. Not bad numbers at Newy, seeing as those conditions were not looking good.

00:40:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, well done. Yeah. Alison King, we had a Tamariki takeover at Puarenga parkrun today. Tamariki is the Maori word for children. It was so cool to see the youngsters take on all the volunteer roles, ably led by Run Director Sophia, who turned nine last week. Much warmer today, as seen by short sleeves. Couldn't stay for the cafe, but aiming to do some baking this afternoon. [Te Reo Māori: "children (translated on air by the host in the following turn: "Tamariki is the Maori word for children")"]

00:41:16Melissa Ellis: Wow. They must be getting acclimatised to the cold over there in these winter months to be in short sleeves at nine degrees. They're tough. Wow. But well done to the kids at Puarenga. And Ingrid Botha did a run at Sydney You've Got This parkrun. It's an easy four kilometre run with a reasonable number of dogs to say a socially dist... A socially, a socially distanced hello to. Oh, my goodness. I'll have to leave all that in now.

00:41:50Oliver Spake: I'm just reading into that that you were just feeling it should have been physically distanced. We're all socially close. No. I do like that parkrun, Ingrid. And, hey, look, if it wasn't all about isolating, then we'd love to come and join you at Sydney. You've got this parkrun. 100%. But keep up the good work. Brett Bailey ran Pegasus sans Brunner this week. Two Melbournians here today but didn't get to say hello. Home to the Bailey Cafe for breakfast and listen to the podcast. Picture of Brunner resting post-parkrun.

00:42:25Melissa Ellis: Ah, well, I hope that you enjoyed the podcast, but now I'm curious to know who the Melburnians were.

00:42:32Oliver Spake: I'm sorry?

00:42:32Melissa Ellis: Brett, he said there was two Melburnians at Pegasus, so now I'm curious to know who they were.

00:42:38Oliver Spake: Now curious, yes.

00:42:39Melissa Ellis: I'll have to do some research later. I won't inflict the elevator music on the listeners.

00:42:44Oliver Spake: Once again.

00:42:45Melissa Ellis: And Janet Reid, Tail Walker at the beautiful The Avenues parkrun today with fellow event ambassador Alicia Hooper and her two golden retrievers, Gemma and Charlie. Got the missing seven for my Windex, then off to Meadows Tea Room and Bakery for a yummy... snot log and a hot skinny flat white and then enjoyed the company of the one and only mr Brendan Peel and the lovely jody the snot log rated four out of five there's a lot going on in that that's um another quality parkrun morning I know.

00:43:19Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:43:20Melissa Ellis: And our friend of the pod, Mr. Brendan Peel over there enjoying the avenues.

00:43:25Oliver Spake: Yeah. Brendan, Jodie, I hope you had a wonderful time and lovely to see everyone out there. We also heard from Melanie McGregor. Today I walked as Tail End Charlie wearing a mermaid tail at... grey town Woodside rail trail I got to wear my parkrun 100s top for the first time I had to take off my puffer jacket for the photo and then put it quickly back on along with two layers of gloves I received number 38 token as Tail Walker and then mr 18 miss 13 and I as well as most parkrunners today headed to the offering cafe in grey town for coffee and a scone Mr. 18 had a sausage roll which he rated it a 7 out of 10 as it was sweet due to apple being in the recipe. The scones there are always a 10.

00:44:11Melissa Ellis: It was great to hear from Melanie. Hello, Melanie. And I'm interested to know sausage rolls having apple in them. Mmm.

00:44:18Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. And look, on another note, understandably cold, absolutely. But yeah, I'm curious as well. This is an interesting combination.

00:44:27Melissa Ellis: I wonder why we're honing in on Melanie's report with the baked goods rather than the fact that she was wearing a 100 vest. We're not focusing on the actual parkrun.

00:44:37Oliver Spake: Congratulations on your 100 shirt. Yes. And I did love The Mermaid Tale too.

00:44:42Melissa Ellis: Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

00:44:43Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:44:44Melissa Ellis: And Jordan Groobie. Touristing at a very foggy Torrens parkrun this morning, amazing course and vollies, followed by breakfast and coffee so good that we had two overlooking the Adelaide Oval.

00:44:55Oliver Spake: Not a bad spot.

00:44:56Melissa Ellis: And nice to hear from you too, Jordan.

00:44:58Oliver Spake: Very nice. And then, look, another (not)parkrun fellow lockdowner, Sam Schroder. We enjoyed another sleep in before coffee in the pod, followed by week two of the very conveniently located Love Shack Not parkrun. On return, Luke's Cafe served microwave shakshuka and coffee. Chef Luke has set himself the goal of trying a new breakfast dish each (not)parkrun during lockdown, and I'm definitely not complaining. The shakshuka was delicious, happily staying safe at home and enjoying the supercars on the TV and a cosy fire this weekend.

00:45:33Melissa Ellis: That sounds pretty nice. I hope you enjoyed that, Sam. And again, so I feel like this is a theme with me, but I don't know what shakshuka is. This is another gozleme, isn't it?

00:45:46Oliver Spake: This is one where Luke is ahead of me. I'm also not across shakshuka. Okay.

00:45:54Melissa Ellis: So we're clueless. We're clueless.

00:45:57Oliver Spake: No, look, I've done the quick Google search just to spill my secrets. Looking at that, yes, I have had that. It's quite nice. It's very warming. So it's a recipe and usually it's, I think it's a little spicy, sort of a tomato-y based dish with eggs, peppers, chili powder, just a whole range of things.

00:46:19Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:46:20Oliver Spake: What's the ethnicity of the dish? I believe it's North African and Middle Eastern. Could be incorrect. There might be different origins there, but yes, a good warming one, which would have suited the weather to a T here.

00:46:34Melissa Ellis: Okay. Good to hear.

00:46:36Oliver Spake: Well done, Luke.

00:46:36Melissa Ellis: Yes, and another new voice this week, another new visitor, Faye Morgan, cool morning at Coomera parkrun this morning and a lovely picture of the group from Coomera. Is that how you pronounce it, Ollie?

00:46:50Oliver Spake: Coomera, yes, absolutely. Excellent. Thank you for joining us. And we also heard from Nadine Crawford, visited Cairns parkrun and enjoyed feeling warm for a change. I also saw two sausage dogs, Mel, but didn't stop for a photo. Sorry, my bad.

00:47:07Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's okay, Nadine. Next time, okay? And on an aside, Ollie, I got a little gift from one of my girlfriends this week who gifted me some socks. And I might be well known through the lockdown as purchasing multiple pairs of novelty socks. And I got a pair with sausage dogs adorning, which I wore to Juniors this morning.

00:47:34Oliver Spake: That's fantastic.

00:47:35Melissa Ellis: Useless piece of information there.

00:47:38Oliver Spake: Douglas Assange.

00:47:39Melissa Ellis: And Mandy Oliver. First time is welcome at Surfers with superhero theme for Sue's 150th and, of course, coffee afterwards. And congratulations to Sue.

00:47:50Oliver Spake: Yes. And we also heard from Tanya Bailey. Slow walk today with Brunner, then home for eggs, Benny, made by Brett and custard squares made by me.

00:48:01Melissa Ellis: And you got the Bailey shot this week, Ollie. I did. I got the full Bailey shot. And those custard squares looked mighty impressive, Tanya. Well done on those.

00:48:09Oliver Spake: Very jealous.

00:48:10Melissa Ellis: Tracey Wood, breakfast after parkrun to celebrate a friend's 150th. And the photo was courtesy of Erica Liotta, and it was at Kedron parkrun brunch. Good to see you all.

00:48:23Oliver Spake: Yeah, congratulations on the 150. Jack Corkill, lovely morning at Cormorant Bay parkrun for their 100ty event.

00:48:32Melissa Ellis: I wondered if you would read it that way.

00:48:36Oliver Spake: No practice either. I was the 1,000th, and I'm struggling on that one, of course, ever finisher, and they even made a special finish token just for me, Snot Log from the Fernvale Bakery afterwards.

00:48:49Melissa Ellis: He's got a bit of a sense of humour, has our Jack.

00:48:51Oliver Spake: Yes, and what about that? 100th event and 1,000th finisher.

00:48:59Melissa Ellis: Yes, that's nice. I like the synchronicity of that. And, of course, we are referring to the humour because Jack obviously had a first finish token that he had upside down, which made it look like it was the 1,000th ever finisher. But I trust that he was the 1,000th ever finisher. Legitimate? Or was that a joke too?

00:49:25Oliver Spake: I now don't know. I was hook, line, sinker. I thought it was a genuine token.

00:49:30Melissa Ellis: Okay, Jack.

00:49:31Oliver Spake: Oh, really?

00:49:33Melissa Ellis: Did you?

00:49:36Oliver Spake: Oh, dear.

00:49:36Melissa Ellis: That's awkward.

00:49:38Oliver Spake: I think I need a bit more oxygen in my brain.

00:49:40Melissa Ellis: Okay, Jack, you need to get back to us, please, and set us straight because we're clearly both clueless. And hello to Greg Garner. Worth getting up early for parkrun today, and Greg has posted another stunning sunrise photo, which he's becoming well-known for.

00:49:59Oliver Spake: Yes, love it. Thank you, Greg, particularly because I missed it this week, but lovely morning light.

00:50:06Melissa Ellis: Oh, you sleeperinerers, you. Or you South Australian, South Australians, New South Wales, what do you call yourselves, New South Welshmen? Yeah.

00:50:16Oliver Spake: We'll take that until I'm informed of a better term, yes.

00:50:19Melissa Ellis: Okay. All you New South Welshmen all having your sleep-ins on Saturday. Yeah.

00:50:25Oliver Spake: Oh, well, we'll let you. We do it in comfort. And we heard from Julie Young. Cool start to the morning, but nothing dampens our spirits. Volunteer scanners at hashtag Newy parkrun. So we've heard from a couple at Newy this week. Hello, Julie. That's right. There certainly were a few there. Yes, and thank you for volunteering.

00:50:43Melissa Ellis: And Chris Fraser, no run today, didn't leave the house, but enjoyed the Nutella slice. And we had a photo of a plate with crumbs. I think Chris forgot to photograph the Nutella slice before he ate it.

00:51:02Oliver Spake: Yes, a bit slow on the photo there.

00:51:04Melissa Ellis: But good on you, Chris, for staying home and staying safe. That's right.

00:51:08Oliver Spake: And, Mel, we have a late entry.

00:51:09Melissa Ellis: I noticed that, Ollie.

00:51:11Oliver Spake: Someone's just banged on the door at Dazza's. Quite welcome, of course. Of course. Of course. It's never too late until it's too late. So welcome, Pippa White. And from Pippa, so a topsy-turvy weekend, a walk on parkrun day, and then four parkruns and a juniors today, taking over 20 minutes off that distance PB. Saw lots of apricot shirts, 13 sleeps to actual parkrun England. If Dazza hasn't hung up his apron, may I have a latte and a vanilla slice? Yes, you absolutely can.

00:51:44Melissa Ellis: Absolutely, Pippa. Great to welcome you back into the cafe. So four parkruns, so four fives is 20, so 20 and juniors, 22 kilometres and 20 minutes off for a distance PB. Pippa, speedy Gonzales.

00:51:59Oliver Spake: That's what I call bloody good. Yes. Yeah. Well done, Pippa.

00:52:04Melissa Ellis: And yeah, 13 sleeps to go. That's exciting. We've got to start practising, Ollie.

00:52:09Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah, well and truly. Yeah, I've got to get my number pronunciation right. And very exciting, Mel. It's going to be on us before we know. So for all of our English parkrunner listeners, we're thrilled. We can't wait.

00:52:24Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they've been so patient and I feel like they've had to wait. Well, not all the countries are back, but it just seems like England's just had it the hardest. Am I wrong?

00:52:34Oliver Spake: Well, it has been a very, very long period. And I think, again, for our English parkrunners who saw parkruns, imminent return was at last October, only to be dashed at last minute.

00:52:48Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's exactly it. Yeah. Yeah, they've sort of been promised it. It's been dangled. It's been set back.

00:52:55Oliver Spake: Then we saw stage four postponed last time just in June there. So, yeah, very excited, Mel. And we're naturally going to be following this very, very closely. Absolutely.

00:53:07Melissa Ellis: Dazza is getting ready.

00:53:09Oliver Spake: Yes. I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued. Look, someone else who's going to be following things very closely, Mel, is someone who, despite how it sounds, has been settling in very well to parkrun adventurer HQ, our informant. So why don't we go and have a listen?

the Informant

00:53:38The Informant: Hello Parkies, this is The Informant, coming to you live from level 2 with a view. And if your fluffy white cat is having some late night pickle cravings, I can tell you it's all down to a shabby tabby, and those babies are going to be ugly. Anyhow, these are 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 all right here at the parkrun adventurers. And Parkies, this week is guaranteed to be a smooth report, because I've done away with the script and I'm going rogue. Firstly, I'm going to tell you all about Junior parkruns. There are currently six Junior 2K parkruns in Australia, happening every Sunday. Cannonvale, Des Connor Park and Bellevue State School in Queensland Westerfolds and Eynesbury Heritage Trail in Victoria and the most western one is Thorndon in South Australia. Milestones are different from the 5k events. Juniors receive a half marathon wristband at 11 events, a marathon wristband at 22 events, an ultra wristband at 50 events and a 100 certificate for 100 events. Last weekend there were 5 events and 238 junior parkies took part. 29 of them scored a PB. There were 31 first-timers. Harrison and Nicholas Bray recorded a half marathon, while Anna Loganova, Emily Mitchell, Olivia Kelly, and William Mitchell all recorded the full marathon. On the most junior events list, James Reynolds, Mackenzie Thiel, James and Elise Scarborough are all on the top of the list, having completed three of the six junior events. Riley Cairns has completed the most runs with 93, and maybe no surprise, he's also at the top of the junior bingo list with 50 out of 60 numbers. I'll put these stats up on the blog in my spreadsheet. Not the biggest, but high in quality. Now back to the old school stats. Last weekend there were 594 runs taking place in 9 countries. There were 328 in Australia, and 34 in New Zealand. Denmark and France had 8, Japan had 18, Poland had 76, Russia 51, UK 37, and the USA had 34. There was one launch at Peace Valley in the northeast of USA. Aussie New Zealand attendance was up by over 5,000. We had 30,238 runners out of 41,954 worldwide. We had 3,396 PBs, while 1,035 people participated for the first time. 65 juniors reached the Junior 10 milestone, 148 people reached their 50 milestone, 79 reached their 100 milestone, and 10 people reached their 250 milestone.

00:56:18[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:56:32The Informant: 22 people called bingo. Julie Reynolds was the quickest with 165 events. Brian Lee was the slowest person taking 318 events. We have 8 new statespeople. Karen Clare, Sarah Toscan, Lorna and Nigel England in the ACT, Tom Ryan, Neville and Leanne Binns in the Northern Territory, and another Queenslander in Leonie Butler. On the top 20 most Aussie New Zealand events list, it is starting to get congested mid-pack. Robin Richworth and Nathan Castle completed Cleland and Dorset Recreation Reserve respectively. This puts them in a three-way tie ranked 12 with Kathleen Wellington on 151 different events. 74 people increased their windex. Judy Street was the biggest mover, up 16 points to 30. Okay, Parkies, that's your lot from me this week. As always, to see these stats in full, you should definitely follow The Informant on Facebook or visit the blog at theinformant.me. That's www.theinformant.me. This has been The Informant, and my stats report is like a triple chocolate muffin smothered in chocolate sauce.

00:57:46Melissa Ellis: Thank you to The Informant this week. Ollie, we actually have no idea what The Informant said because apparently The Informant doesn't work weekends, so her part will have to be added in post-production, unlike us hard-working co-hosts who are working on a Sunday night.

00:58:04Oliver Spake: Yeah. Oh, well, I'm sure it's quality. Thank you, informant.

00:58:08Melissa Ellis: Well, I hope so. Or we're going to have to bring in somebody off the bench.

00:58:14Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah. Well, let's wait and see. Who could be on the bench, Ollie? Well, yeah, we've called the agency before and, hey, we've had some pretty wise help as well. So there are options, but let's let our informant settle in.

00:58:32Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, okay.

00:58:33Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:58:34Melissa Ellis: All right. More chances. Yep.

00:58:37Oliver Spake: Mel, there's some, I think, as we were talking about before, and we've got England parkrun returning very soon, there are some more parkruns returning.

00:58:45Melissa Ellis: Yes, Ollie, more accents to master, more foreign language.

00:58:52Oliver Spake: Wunderbar, yes. [German: "Wonderful"]

00:58:55Melissa Ellis: I did a term of German.

00:58:57Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:58:57Melissa Ellis: In year seven. That would have been, ooh, 1983, maybe. Yep.

00:59:04Oliver Spake: Yeah, no, I did some German in primary school, but then I also tried to learn Dutch and I was in primary school, so I'm not sure any of it was right. So maybe to avoid offending anyone, I might just keep quiet on this one.

00:59:18Melissa Ellis: But we are very excited for our German compatriots.

00:59:21Oliver Spake: We really are.

00:59:22Melissa Ellis: Is that the right word? Yes.

00:59:24Oliver Spake: Yeah, very exciting. So we look forward to welcoming everyone back there. And Mel, more parkrun excitement coming for you next week. Oh.

00:59:33Melissa Ellis: I've got a trip, Ollie.

00:59:34Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:59:35Melissa Ellis: This is a trip that was planned and cancelled and rescheduled, and I thought it was going to be cancelled again, but Brisvegas has been turned orange, which actually means that I can go.

00:59:48Oliver Spake: And hopefully come back.

00:59:51Melissa Ellis: That's it. Or otherwise, I'm going to be taking up residence in Tracy's spare room for goodness knows how long.

00:59:59Oliver Spake: That's right. Look, after the cancellation last month, it's fantastic to see that opportunity. So it should be a fun one, Mel.

01:00:07Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but stay tuned because a week is a long time in a pandemic.

01:00:11Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm already resenting any words that have passed through my lips already. So let's just wait and see. And also coming up, we've mentioned the 24th for England return.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

01:00:21Oliver Spake: We've got to remind everyone, hopefully many of you have received your ugly buffs already. It's Ugly Christmas in July.

01:00:29Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes, yes. And what a nice, I suppose, doubling up of events on that said day. That's just going to make it even more special. Not only is England returning, but, you know, the number one event on the Australian calendar is also occurring.

01:00:46Oliver Spake: Yeah, and look, I'm not going to suggest that our English parkrunners could possibly enjoy the return of parkrun more, but... What could be more festive and happy than donning your ugly buff, particularly if you happen to have it?

01:01:02Melissa Ellis: I think there is a few that headed that way. I think a few have turned up in New Zealand as well.

01:01:07Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:01:08Melissa Ellis: I wonder if there's any other countries that they've gone to. Oh, maybe we need to find out from the elves. I wonder if we can get some audio from the elves. Oh, I'm on it. I'm on it.

01:01:17Oliver Spake: Done. So we look forward to it. We look forward to more pictures. It's been great to see those receivable pictures. I haven't shared mine yet. Not that anyone needs to guess what they look like, but it's exciting.

01:01:29Melissa Ellis: It is. I refrained from wearing said buff on parkrun Day. I'm saving it. For the 24th. I mean, I donned it for an excited they've arrived photo. Yes. But I did take them on my trip this weekend. They were packed, but it just didn't feel right to pull them out and wear them yet.

01:01:50Oliver Spake: I understand. It's coming. Mel, as well, I mentioned that the weather was a bit dodgy up this way this last parkrun day, and I did notice as well, we have to give a special shout out, don't we, in the foul weather up at the Beaches parkrun to...

01:02:06Melissa Ellis: There was a special occasion.

01:02:09Oliver Spake: That's right. Sorry, I kind of thought I'd leave it for you to insert the name there. That's okay. Congratulations, Thomas Pohlman.

01:02:16Melissa Ellis: Yes, here at parkrun adventurers HQ, we like to acknowledge milestones, official ones. Yes. And Thomas, P4, Ollie? I haven't checked.

01:02:30Oliver Spake: Sorry, Thomas.

01:02:31Melissa Ellis: Okay, well, either P3 or P4, and perhaps Sonja or Peter can enlighten us in that regard. But congratulations, he had to wait an extra week for that milestone due to barcode, what would you call it, Ollie?

01:02:46Oliver Spake: Yeah, barcode forgettering-ness. Yes.

01:02:51Melissa Ellis: Oh, that really was a sad photo that someone posted a couple of weeks ago of the despondent Pohlman staring into the ocean after a barcode-less parkrun. But nonetheless, he's come back and now achieved it.

01:03:06Oliver Spake: Yep. All the sweeter for it, I'm sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

01:03:09Melissa Ellis: Lesson learned. Yes.

01:03:11Oliver Spake: And yes, very brave, very brave in that weather. So well done. What a way to do it. Congratulations.

01:03:18Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Little clap for Thomas.

Sign-off

01:03:20Oliver Spake: Yep. So, Mel, I suppose that's possibly it for another week. So, look, please do, everyone, share with us your They've Arrived photos or maybe more importantly, share them with the Ugly Christmas in July page. It's exciting. So let's build that excitement. If, of course, you do want to reach out to us, you can contact us via Facebook or on email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But, yes, that is it for another week, and we will see you all next week for more adventures.

the Oracle

01:05:01Abby: This is the oracle. Abbey, Euro 2020. This is not. Finished it is. Victors, Italy war. Knowledge is power.