Episode 248 - Bird is the Word

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 248 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm joined by Runner 5 of Abel Township and my co-host, Ollie Spake.

00:00:37Oliver Spake: Hello Mel, how are you? I'm good, how are you? Oh good, I think I'm probably not out of breath enough to claim status as runner five at the moment. I haven't been running enough, I'd be swamped by those zombies in a flash.

00:00:52Melissa Ellis: I'm curious, are you always runner five?

00:00:55Oliver Spake: Oh look, me and many others, but yes. Excellent. Yeah, Runner 5 is a very popular character and I have visited again in the last week, absolutely.

00:01:07Melissa Ellis: Well, that's good. Why don't you tell us about it?

00:01:10Oliver Spake: Oh, well, look, I'm still early stages. I'm still the newbie. So I... still get the sense that the other characters are sussing me out. And there are a few tensions about, but you get the feel for it as you carry out a few more missions. What I particularly like, and for those of you that might not have listened back to the previous episodes, of course, we're talking about the Zombies Run app and my newfound experiences in enjoying that. And I am finding that because the app can tune into a playlist and give you a bit of music between different events as you carry out an episode, you carry out a mission. Some of those songs are just perfectly timed.

00:01:54Melissa Ellis: Is it your playlist or is it their zombie music?

00:01:58Oliver Spake: Well, it's mine. It's mine. So, believe it or not, I have listened to podcasts in between. It's a strange experience to have different voices cutting in and out. So, I tend to err more towards the music interlude. And in fact, as you complete a mission, they'll give you a bit of their radio. For those of you that haven't discovered the Zombies Run app yet and the experience, you can actually listen to the Abel Township radio. They'll cut in with a few announcements and public service messages, keep you safe from the hordes. But in between, they'll carry on playing your music.

00:02:33Melissa Ellis: It sounds like either the supermarket radio or the cruise ship radio stations.

00:02:40Oliver Spake: Exactly, exactly. And look, rather appropriately so, cranberries are getting a bit of a run on my playlist at the moment.

00:02:48Melissa Ellis: Oh, I'm going to show my... No, that's all right. I don't get the reference. Ignorance, that's what I was going to say.

00:02:58Oliver Spake: That's quite all right. But how are you, Mel? How was another week of no parkrunning, not parkrunning and everything else that lockdown had to offer?

00:03:07Melissa Ellis: Thank you for asking. Saturday morning was event 49 of Ellis Palace parkrun and we went back to the future for an 80s themed morning with denim on denim, mullets and way too much pastel. Daryl went minimalistic this week because, well, we can't all look fabulous. But he did put new batteries in the Sony Walkman, which incidentally Paul thinks could be worth something now as it's still in its original box. Brunch was cob loaf dip and morning cocktails. I don't know if I can mention the name of the cocktail, but let's just say a lot of care was taken when I Googled that recipe. And this week I was not alone for my (not)parkrun. We had a VIP guest in the house. Well, I was excited, Paul was mildly amused, and Zoe was just confused. But before anyone has a conniption about lockdown rules and house guests, can I just say, wooza. This guest was in the form of a very well-travelled plastic chicken, a.k.a. Bubble Bird. So with much excitement... I walked my morning not parkrun showing Bubble Bird all the course highlights and waving over the road to Toolern Creek. But who is this infamous Bubble Bird, Mel? I'm glad you asked, Ollie. We'll have more details coming up in our interview.

00:04:31Oliver Spake: I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued. But I think that's a rather resourceful way of boosting the attendance at Ellis Palace, not parkrun.

00:04:39Melissa Ellis: Desperate times call for desperate measures.

00:04:43Oliver Spake: No one called foul play on you? That was a good one, Ollie.

00:04:47Melissa Ellis: Well done.

00:04:48Oliver Spake: Thanks, thanks. I was thinking about that all weekend.

00:04:52Melissa Ellis: But no, seriously, it was another fun, not parkrun morning. Okay, this stuff is make-believe, but we still enjoy it. We still get a buzz. We make the best of a bad situation. And what else can we do?

00:05:04Oliver Spake: That's quite right. And in doing so, you've provided the experience of Ellis Palace parkrun to another traveller.

00:05:12Melissa Ellis: I know. So all the well-to-do birds come to visit Ellis Palace. I mean, we've had Cluck Norris and now we've had Bubble Bird. I mean, who knows who's next?

00:05:24Oliver Spake: I guess you might have to go beyond the avian world. I mean, have we thought about trolls?

00:05:31Melissa Ellis: Oh, I like where you're going with that. Yes, I think the Wagi Bridge troll needs to visit.

00:05:40Oliver Spake: Whilst there's some opportunity for someone to do some parkrun tourism, might take a bit of creativity, but hey, I commend you, Mel.

00:05:48Melissa Ellis: Maybe he can get posted.

00:05:50Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right.

00:05:52Melissa Ellis: Mark, if you're listening, I've got a plan.

00:05:56Oliver Spake: Pretty sure the postal service have a pretty quiet time at the moment, yeah.

00:06:01Melissa Ellis: And it was event 49, Ollie.

00:06:03Oliver Spake: Wow. Where did that come from? 49.

00:06:06Melissa Ellis: I know. How am I going to mark? So next week, this coming Saturday, well, tomorrow if we release, depending when we release, I've got a 50th event to plan. How am I going to mark the occasion?

00:06:20Oliver Spake: Red.

00:06:23Melissa Ellis: I feel like I need to get an apricot shirt for the... Yeah, look, that could be better.

00:06:27Oliver Spake: I mean, I was going to suggest you just blow up a whole lot of red balloons.

00:06:30Melissa Ellis: We've been there, done that. I went, no, no more red balloons need to go into landfill. That was not a good idea. I do have regrets. I apologise to the wider community for all the red balloons that were sacrificed.

00:06:47Oliver Spake: We're a product of our experiences. We learn and we help create better experiences from them. Okay, so apricot shirt.

00:06:54Melissa Ellis: Well, I must say, so I've got my original apricot that says Berwick Springs because when I first purchased it, that was my home parkrun. And then when I moved to the other side of the city, I had Toolern Creek added underneath Berwick Springs because I feel like my apricot is a history of my parkrun life, my parkrun journey. I'm spreading my arms out here like I'm flying like a bird. Yeah. It's my journey. Lucky no one can see me. But maybe I need to get Ellis Palace added because it's part of the journey now.

00:07:26Oliver Spake: I don't think there's a shadow of a doubt for that one, Mel. I think it needs to happen. Look, for the newbies here, what's the most effective way to add to an apricot shirt? What would you recommend?

00:07:39Melissa Ellis: Oh. It could be frowned upon in some circles, I suppose, messing with what is the original framework of an apricot. But then parkrun did introduce during the pause and they introduced the ability to buy an apricot with anything on it, your own catchphrase or whatever you wanted to print. So I take a little bit of solace as that maybe what I've done is less frowned upon now.

00:08:10Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah.

00:08:11Melissa Ellis: But I did just go to a local screen printer and ask them to add Toolern Creek underneath Berwick Springs onto my existing apricot shirt. Okay.

00:08:23Oliver Spake: So you've got someone lined up. You've got your apricot shirt guy. Yes. Ready to go.

00:08:29Melissa Ellis: So I guess I just go back there and I add another one. Yep.

00:08:33Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:08:34Melissa Ellis: Because it's just, yeah, it's just acknowledging the evolution of And hopefully no more need to get added. Hopefully that's it. We can just return to normal programming.

00:08:47Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, look, I suppose it's hard to envisage that you'll be setting up a whole new not parkrun in a different location under a different name and celebrating a 50th milestone there. But I suppose we live in interesting times.

00:09:01Melissa Ellis: Unless I get Abel Township parkrun added.

00:09:04Oliver Spake: Oh, well, hey, yeah, we'd need someone to launch a parkrun there first, wouldn't we?

00:09:10Melissa Ellis: Hmm. Hmm.

00:09:12Oliver Spake: Okay, well, it sounds like the jury's out on the themes, Mel, but the celebratory addition to the milestone top is a good candidate. I think so. In any case, I'm sure the brunch will be fabulous. You haven't let us down in that so far. I think the 80s get-up was completely radical, by the way.

00:09:33Melissa Ellis: That was fun. And sadly, I didn't need to buy a lot for that.

00:09:37Oliver Spake: There's nothing sad about that.

00:09:39[laughter]

00:09:39Unidentified speaker: LAUGHTER

00:09:43Melissa Ellis: Ah, dear.

00:09:44Oliver Spake: Look, I was sorry to miss the theme. Time was a bit short for me on Saturday, but I'm going to have to play catch up and go back to the 80s at another point because that looked like a fun theme.

00:09:54Melissa Ellis: Absolutely was.

00:09:55Oliver Spake: And Bubble Bird has travelled on now, Mel, has left the palace?

00:10:00Melissa Ellis: Yes, Bubble Bird departed Melton on Sunday night. Okay. And is now heading north, towards Williamstown, I think, on its journey back over to the southeast. So spreading its love and hand sanitiser across the greater Melbourne city.

00:10:21Oliver Spake: Well, it's nice to see someone out there and enjoying it in the right way.

00:10:24Melissa Ellis: COVID safe. That's right.

00:10:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, Mel, I was up against it on Saturday, to be honest. I think whilst I've been looking for these hills to train on, I... I haven't quite managed to find the right kind of hills in my bubble, which is my local government area. So I was looking at the Dazza's post and, you know, welcome back, Austria, of course.

00:10:49Melissa Ellis: No, hang on. They're not back. They launched.

00:10:54Oliver Spake: Oh, okay. Sorry.

00:10:56Melissa Ellis: They're a brand new country.

00:10:58Oliver Spake: Welcome, Austria.

00:10:59Melissa Ellis: Welcome. Welsom or something.

00:11:02Oliver Spake: Welsom. Welsom. I didn't research that, so I'm sure I've been mighty insulting, culturally insensitive there. I do apologise.

00:11:11Melissa Ellis: Just re-record it, Ollie. I'll slot it right in. Your Saturday morning?

00:11:17Oliver Spake: My Saturday morning. Oh, look, I was just looking up an Austrian greeting, to be honest. I'll just skip that part. Yeah, look, my Saturday morning wasn't exactly Austrian-themed. It certainly wasn't 80s-themed, but thinking of Austria and remembering finally all of those beautiful hills, it just cast the mind back to... To some fond memories and some slightly higher elevation than what I am blessed with in this particular local government area, which is what I'm restricted to presently. But I did manage to find a bit of elevation. I did manage to get out for a bit of a hill as I'm still, I don't know whether I should be training for it, but the panorama punish, the point to pinnacle. Ollie, we got it. We got a dream, right?

00:12:05Melissa Ellis: No, no, mate. It's not going to happen. Yeah.

00:12:10Oliver Spake: We've got to dream. We've got to dream. Look, there's always next year and I'll be raring to go. But look, in the spirit of Austria, I think the steepest streets I can find in my hub, my suburb, are alive with the sound of music. It's just a tad verbose, doesn't have quite the ring of a Julie Andrews tune. So... I tried and had a nice time. Didn't do the Bass Point Not parkrun course once again. I think it's feeling a bit forgotten, so I have to give it a bit of midweek love. But, yeah, pretty quiet Saturday.

00:12:43Melissa Ellis: Are you close enough to do Bec's Not parkrun, Banksia Avenue?

00:12:47Oliver Spake: Well, I can do part of it. Because it's right at the intersection of the local government area. So I think I can get to the bridge, but technically I don't believe I can cross the bridge.

00:13:00Melissa Ellis: But hang on, you've been reduced now to a 5K bubble, correct?

00:13:03Oliver Spake: Well, this is where it gets technical. So everyone, get out your notepads. Don't clap. Sorry. Sorry. Was that obvious? So lockdown update. Currently, I am remaining in the Greater Sydney area. I'm part of Shellharbour, even though all of New South Wales is in lockdown now as of the weekend just gone. I am in that Greater Sydney area restricted to exercising within my local government area. or five kilometres from home if it happens to stretch outside of that local government area. So my 5Ks extends just to round about the bridge with the sunlight. And my local government area, in fact, also ends at the bridge with the sunlight. So I'll be able to go and enjoy the sunlight under the bridge, but I just can't cross the bridge.

00:13:54Melissa Ellis: Right.

00:13:55Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:13:55Melissa Ellis: I think I've got that.

00:13:57Oliver Spake: That's a test later on.

00:14:01Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear. Right. Okay.

00:14:04Oliver Spake: But look, I should be able to sample part of the Banksia Avenue course. So, Bec, I'm going to have to check your notes on the course update. And hey, I might just get to do a tiny bit of it.

00:14:15Melissa Ellis: Can you exercise outside with anybody?

00:14:17Oliver Spake: With one other individual. Yes. Or with the members of your household.

00:14:22Melissa Ellis: So you could meet Bec for a partial Banksia Avenue parkrun.

00:14:26Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:14:27Melissa Ellis: It's way more fun to run with real life people.

00:14:31Oliver Spake: rather than a chicken.

00:14:32Melissa Ellis: Well, you know, beggars can't be choosers.

00:14:38Oliver Spake: Yeah. Look, some planning is clearly needed and probably quickly because I know these things can change as we're seeing. And look, you know, heart goes out to everyone that's, you know, that's been going through that for a long time all around the globe and naturally a lot of our parkrun family across Australia in particular right now that are under restrictions are

00:15:00Melissa Ellis: Except Mark, he's happily travelling across the Nullarbor, isn't he?

00:15:03Oliver Spake: Well and truly across the other side of the Nullarbor there.

00:15:06Melissa Ellis: Heading back to lockdown land in the ACT. Stay away, Mark. Stay over there. Don't come back.

00:15:13Oliver Spake: Give it a bit of time, Mark. Yeah, that's absolutely right. But, yeah, we look forward to Mark reaching a parkrun so we can live vicariously through him.

00:15:21Melissa Ellis: Where's he going to reach that's not locked down? He'll have to stay in regional New South Wales. Oh, no, they're all locked down now.

00:15:29Oliver Spake: No. Look, rest assured, my understanding is that Mark is getting closer and closer still to Port Hedland. Port Hedland does have a parkrun in WA, so we wait with bated breath.

00:15:41Melissa Ellis: Oh, excellent. Yes.

00:15:42Oliver Spake: Excellent. Good. Yep.

00:15:43Melissa Ellis: Well, he better just stay there.

00:15:46Oliver Spake: And so far as my understanding goes, our friends in Tassie, of course, still parkrunning, South Australia, country Victoria. Yes. Country Queensland, Northern Territory. I'm a little out of date on our Northern Territory and friends.

00:16:00Melissa Ellis: Oh, they went into a snap lockdown today.

00:16:02Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. So, look.

00:16:04Melissa Ellis: Could be out of it by Saturday. Who knows? It's only Monday. Okay.

00:16:07Oliver Spake: Rolling in as it comes. Exactly. Yes. Please check local guidance and stay safe, everyone.

00:16:13Melissa Ellis: How hard is it to be us and keep on top of all these?

00:16:15Oliver Spake: Yeah, I don't profess to have that sort of information. Yeah, look, Mel, I'm glad that you did manage to get out within those restrictions, though. And my understanding is you've managed to find out a little bit more about the bubble bird relay.

00:16:30Melissa Ellis: I did. Ollie, I thought we need to understand how this originated. So as any good reporter, I got the story. Excellent.

00:16:39Oliver Spake: Got to be a good chook-based pun in there. But while we think of that, let's have a listen.

Interview Mick Duyvestyn — parkrunner and key volunteer, Hastings Foreshore parkrun (Mornington Peninsula);…

00:16:51Melissa Ellis: Our guest today is a parkrunner from the Mornington Peninsula who has played a key role in engaging his local community during Victoria's COVID lockdowns. He's run 89 parkruns at 17 different locations and volunteered 58 times. Welcome to the podcast, Mick Duyvestyn.

00:17:09Mick Duyvestyn: Thank you. Glad to be here.

00:17:11Melissa Ellis: Mick, thank you for your time today. I had the pleasure of being involved over the weekend with the Bubble Bird Relay, which is why I wanted to chat with you. But being that you're also very involved with parkrun, would you mind beginning by telling us your parkrun story?

00:17:24Mick Duyvestyn: Yeah, absolutely. I'm very lucky in that my local parkrun is Hastings Foreshore. And when I first started doing parkrun, I don't know how many years ago it was, maybe four years ago, I think. After running for a few years, I got into parkrun and got down to the Hastings foreshore parkrun and loved it, but loved it more so because of the people there, and it changed the way I thought about running. All of a sudden, it stopped being about just me and my times, and it started being about the people around me, watching other people's journeys, meeting people that were striving to change and improve. And I'd gone through my own similar journey, so it was a sharing opportunity. And then I think probably I ran 50 parkruns fairly quickly, but since then I've probably done – two parkruns volunteering to one running as a general basis. And I've loved the volunteering aspect of parkrun and being involved on that level. So I'm a big advocate for parkrun. I talk about it all the time in my own work and I just love it every Saturday. It's my favourite day of the week.

00:18:35Melissa Ellis: So do you still run regularly at Hastings?

00:18:38Mick Duyvestyn: It's been hard with the five-kilometre bubble to get down there, but as soon as we're allowed, yeah, I'm down there. Although I think when we reopened after the last lockdown, I got to run parkrun once or maybe twice. I've done two. I did two and I volunteered about five.

00:18:55Melissa Ellis: I just wondered because I know you're based down the Mornington Peninsula, so I wondered, you know, if you changed to Rosebud when that one opened.

00:19:01Mick Duyvestyn: As a key volunteer at Hastings, I've sort of stayed at Hastings. I've gone and run Rosebud a few times. Yeah, and I catch up with the rosebud volleys every now and then at different events. So I keep a close connection to it, but I'm not there very often.

00:19:16Melissa Ellis: Well, the reason that we really wanted to speak to you was to hear about the journey that has evolved into the Bubble Bird Relay. So I know that you run with a group based in Mount Martha called the Mornington Misfits. That's correct, yes. And the Bubble Bird Relay has evolved into from that. So would you like to take us through how that happened?

00:19:38Mick Duyvestyn: Yeah, it's a bit of a journey. Last year during isolation, we obviously all went in our different areas and ran on our own a lot. And every now and then we'd catch up with one other person. But as we came back together, one of the first group runs we did One of our colleagues got lost and so there was two of us actually ran back and did a strange sort of zigzag back through the Mount Martha community forest. Not a way that we would normally have run through the trail on our regular eight kilometre run. Anyway, when we got back to the coffee shop, we were looking at the Strava map. And a few of us commented, oh, it looks like a bird's beak. It could be a pelican. It could be this. It could be that. And from there, it kind of evolved. And that's probably where Peter started coming into it a little bit more. He was very quick to say, it could be Big Bird. And then from there, we did probably eight or nine variations of the Strava map of this run. And we actually started forming it into an image of Big Bird. And this is Peter Mitchell, right? This is Peter Mitchell, yes. Yep. So once we actually had formed the route, which was 9.2 kilometres, I mean, we were having so much fun refining it and getting it to look a little bit like the big bird. We were even adding feathers onto its head and we were kind of enjoying the whole idea of Strava Art and we're big believers that Strava Art will be the next big thing. Because it's so much fun when people get out and do a run and then they come back and look at their map at the coffee shop. It's a simple joy, but it's something that we all get a good giggle out of. And through that first period of isolation and then doing the Big Bird together, we had all these other people saying, oh, I want to come and do the Big Bird. That looks fun. And it started connecting people that we hadn't seen for a while. And we did a few group runs together, on the Big Bird and showed people the way and then eventually we went, we have to actually show people how to do this and we uploaded Strava routes, we put a Google review together, we started doing course maps and photographs so people knew which turns to take because it's quite complex. Lots of people were trying to run the route and getting lost and sending us photos saying how do we, you have to jump a few fences so it's not a straightforward route. So we put up some signs, some temporary signs with a stencil of Big Bird And that kind of – that was one of the funniest days ever where Peter and I were running around with this spray can and some old corflute and sort of hammering on signs onto corners and whatever else. And the mayor actually spotted us and said, what are you two doing? Nothing to see here. Yeah, we had great fun putting the signs up and it actually – lots of the people in the community started saying, what the hell is this big bird? And it got bigger and bigger. So I think we're nearly up to 100 people have now run the trail and we have done a heap of different events. So Peter's quite clever with his route management and 95% of all of the Big Bird variations and also the Bubble Bird in itself has been Peter's genius. And I'm kind of speaking on his behalf a little bit. We've done a lot of it together, but 99% of the inspiration is Peter.

00:23:11Melissa Ellis: I've seen him dressing up as Big Bird as well.

00:23:15Mick Duyvestyn: It's been hilarious. Like we talked about finding a Big Bird suit and we actually bought a couple of Big Bird t-shirts early on and that was a bit of fun. But then he bumped into someone at a work function and said, oh, their kid was about to throw out a Big Bird suit and did he want to buy it for a cheap price? So next thing I know he turns up We like to do different challenges. We challenge each other in our running and Peter had come up with an idea that we should run every day of the month of April a hill repeat, but to match it we should do one on the first, then two on the second, then three on the third, all the way up to so it incrementally builds to 30 hill repeats on the last day of April, which was a little bit insane, but it was kind of fun. Anyway, on the last day, I was doing a hill, which was about a 20-metre climb, not a long climb, only 200 metres, but it ended up being 10,000 metres in vert for the whole month. And the first appearance of Big Bird was 5 a.m. in the morning. I'm out there on my own running up and down this hill like a lunatic. And Big Bird comes running out of the bushes with Bird is the word playing on his speaker.

00:24:36Melissa Ellis: Yep.

00:24:36Mick Duyvestyn: Loud decibels to wake all the neighbours up. But very funny stuff. Yeah. And since then he's run a couple of the Big Bird events that we've done together in the Big Bird suit, and I don't know how he does it because it's so hot in that suit. It's pretty famous. We've made it into Strava segments, so we've tried to make it quite popular. um some people go down there and try and break times and whatever else yeah and um we had one day where we had everybody handicapped so that we weren't so we were socially distanced so people were starting with their nominated time to finish at 8 30 in the morning so if you thought it would take you an hour and 15 start at 7 15 if you thought it would take you 45 minutes you started at 7 45 in the morning and that way we kind of all came together at the end as a group to do a group photo. And Peter ended up running in the Big Bird suit trying to show the first runners where to go. Yep. Again, the mayor was there so we didn't want to leave markings on the ground. So he was using a bird with a hole cut in the head of it like a rubber chicken bird that we use for bubble bird with some flour. Yeah. So the flour was dripping on the ground as he ran.

00:25:51Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:25:51Mick Duyvestyn: And he ran out of flour so then he just ran as fast as he could to the end. And I think he ended up running the nine kilometres in like 43 minutes, something ridiculous. Wow. So to run that in a bird suit, it's kind of next level.

00:26:04Melissa Ellis: So the Big Bird Trail, I believe, began to be a monthly group run for the Misfits. That's correct, yeah. And then when you had your first lockdown, you couldn't all run together, so you decided to do it as a relay.

00:26:18Mick Duyvestyn: Yeah. So we just did a – again, that's Pete's genius was let's just run – One person does a lap and then when they finish, the next person starts and you just say hello to each other and we pass the figurative baton on. We didn't actually have a baton at that stage. And I think we ran for 12 hours consecutively on that first day. And it was good fun. Everyone came down and ran a lap and then they'd post the picture up onto the Facebook page. And it connected us all. And we kind of were enjoying the fact that, you know, we weren't allowed to join together and we weren't really allowed to run together as such, but we could still say hello to each other from a distance and then the next person could take over. And then we did talk about it then about, I'd be good if we had a relay baton. And I said, I've got an old watch. Maybe we could put the watch on the baton. And that kind of idea festered away, but nothing really happened. And then we got to the first lockdown in, what are we now? Lockdown number five. We're in six. We're in six. So when that lockdown came, regardless of when it was, we had a relay rubber chicken that Peter had found. He goes, wouldn't this be funny for us to hand the chicken over to each other to do the Big Bird? And I'm not sure whether Despy, one of the misfits, or Pete came up with the idea of doing a bigger lap. And of course, Peter's background is routing security vans that carry cash to all the ATMs across Melbourne. So his expertise in logistics and route management and map management is second to none. Like he's our go-to when it comes to planning a marathon or planning a different run and all the different variations of Strava that we've done, his ability to map and get things to a finite level on timing and direction is perfect.

00:28:08Melissa Ellis: This is making sense.

00:28:10Mick Duyvestyn: Yeah. So he actually came up with the idea. He goes, why don't we try and do a lap of the peninsula? And we've long talked on our long runs about doing a 100-mile run around the Mornington Peninsula. And so we kind of looked at doing a 100-mile loop and then thought, as what normally happens with stuff like with the April Hools Challenge where we go up and down a hill every day of April. Our joke is that it's always, well, at least there'll be two of us. There'll be Peter and myself. We'll end up doing it. But with the lockdown, you can't do 80 kilometres each, although we did contemplate it. So we started kind of formulating an idea. I think we got to the Saturday afternoon and Pete said, Here's a route. It's 80 kilometres. We could do a loop of 80 kilometres in a day, but we just need to get a runner. I said, we're not going to be able to organise it. And he said, what about the baton? And I was adamant. He's like, I don't know about the baton. It's a bit talky. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, we need the baton. People need something fun. Let's just strap the Garmin to the baton and see what happens. So the next morning, we literally, without a real plan, just went, this is what we're going to do. We want to connect people, but we want people to be safe. We want them to be COVID responsible. We strapped a... With gaffer tape, we put some sanitiser at the bottom of the baton, which is a rubber chook. And every time you get the baton, you're meant to sanitise your hands. You can then take the baton off the previous runner and then you can run within your five kilometre bubble to the next point and meet another runner. Now, at that point, that was... It was five o'clock in the morning I started it down at Mount Martha shops and I ran a big bird lap just for fun. So I ran the nine kilometres and then I ran into Mornington and met a friend who took the baton from there and then we started making our way up towards what eventually was Patterson Lakes and then the baton went all the way around the peninsula down through Hastings and Tyabb and Balnarring, back up and over Merricks and Red Hill, down to Safety Beach and back to Mount Martha in one day. So it ended up being 140 kilometres, I think, that day.

00:30:22Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:30:23Mick Duyvestyn: And the whole day was organised off the back of Peter just being able to connect people together. And the messenger was doing my head in. I couldn't work out what was going on. I'm not a details person, but Peter was all over it. He's like, yeah, that person can pick up here and I can run it to there. That's within their bubble and they can go to this point. And he had things really planned very quickly and he connected people together.

00:30:47Melissa Ellis: And he told me that at one point they had a friend of a friend's mother who lived in one of the remotest places who walked it up a hill to bridge a gap.

00:30:57Mick Duyvestyn: Yep. And she's quite elderly too. And God bless her. She was so, so accommodating. We had another runner that was going to take over, but that was quite close down towards Merrick's. But I decided at the last minute to just go for a surf. So the bird turned up and they went there. So, yeah, this lady helped us out tremendously.

00:31:19Melissa Ellis: And the bird travels by foot or pedal power, so I believe it's okay to use bicycles, correct?

00:31:26Mick Duyvestyn: Yeah, and the idea being that we just wanted to include people and that was the first day we did it. So we were making everything up on the day. And people were saying, oh, I'm not going to be able to run. I'm like, well, you could walk, you could ride your bike. It's about connecting people. It's not about a running event as such. Anyway, so that... we ended up getting the bird over the hill which was it was it was touch and go whether or not someone was just going to leave the Garmin by the side of the road it was going to get picked up by a hobo and the rubber chicken would have been lost forever but yeah did make it back and then a week later we went back into lockdown again and we were all kind of stunned and we didn't think we were going to have to do it again yeah but though pretty quickly we just went yeah we need to do this because it's important and we could see the power of what happened on the Facebook page we developed the Facebook page for it on that first day and that's called free bird free bird free the bird give us some freedom but we knew very much from the start that people connected and it was making a difference to people even though it was only 10 minutes of their day or you know, a five-minute interaction with someone else. They were meeting someone new and often they knew people that knew each other, but it was just a different, seeing someone different in an isolated environment is always good for our mental health. And so that made an impact. And then all the funny photos, people were taking photos of the bird doing silly stuff or riding on the bicycle or sitting by the side of the road or We just enjoyed watching it evolve and I think everyone involved looked like they were enjoying it too. So when the next lockdown happened, we kind of went with the theory that last time we didn't have any rules and it worked out okay, so let's not make any rules around it and let's just open it up and see what happens. So the free bird idea from there really took off in that we're not going to set a direction and we're not going to set an agenda of how it's going to happen or where it's going to go, but you must stay within your five kilometre bubble. You must be COVID safe. You've got to maintain social distancing, but do connect with people and let's see where it goes. And so for that next week, I think actually that time we did, we gave it the direction to go towards Yarraville to where my brother is situated. Yep. And it made it to Yarraville and then it made its way back through the southern suburbs and back down to the peninsula again. And then the next time it was just like, well, let's just let it go and let's see where it's gone. And this time it's gone all the way out to Melton. It absolutely did.

00:34:00Melissa Ellis: And I saw somebody post, and it might have been Peter, posted in one of the parkrun Victoria group Facebook pages, is anybody interested in being involved in this?

00:34:12Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:34:12Melissa Ellis: And it caught my eye and I thought, oh, that looks interesting. What's going on here? Could it come to Melton?

00:34:19Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:34:21Melissa Ellis: And the more I looked into it, the more, you know, excited I got about the possibility of this bird because I'd seen that it had got as far as the city and, you know, through the parkrun community I have a lot of contacts. So I was sort of reaching out to people I knew saying, hey, have a look at this. What do you reckon? Could we get this out here? And, yeah, and it did. It made it.

00:34:43Mick Duyvestyn: I'm so glad it did and it's been so much fun to watch people People get excited about it, get dressed up, kids getting on bicycles, someone in a penguin suit yesterday. Yes. My favourite is Puffing Billy. Like I love the Puffing Billy race. So to see, I haven't done it for a few years, but to see the bird turn up at Puffing Billy race, I thought that was pretty cool. Excellent.

00:35:05Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it got to Belgrave.

00:35:07Mick Duyvestyn: Yeah, there's been lots of really cool moments, I think. Even the little photos of people putting the bird to bed and putting it back on charge. Yeah, recharging the watch so that we can keep a cumulative total of how many kilometres it's done and Peter is the stats person but he would if he was here he'd tell you I think it's over a thousand kilometres I believe so yeah it's incredible in five kilometre bubbles it's it's connected lots of people and the group on the Facebook page has actually grown and grown and grown and and the Strava feed. I actually went for a run with Peter last weekend and he said, it was a bit in despair, he said, stop liking the Strava posts. I said, oh, but I like them. And he says, yeah, but there's 10 posts a day and there's 150 people now following the Strava, the bird on Strava. So his notifications were over 1,000 a day and it was maxing his phone out. Wow. So it's good fun, but it's been a power of work for Peter. and he's done an incredible job negotiating all the messages from – so there's 10 runners in a day. He's managed all those messages for people in between, and he's put up all the posts about the route and where to go and how to do it. A few times I've got him to try and explain it to me, and it's been beyond me sometimes, but I've just focused on the positive of looking at the enjoyment that people are getting out of it, the connections, the benefit it's having to some people with their mental health and making a difference to their day in troubled times.

00:36:36Melissa Ellis: Yep, that's his superpower.

00:36:38Mick Duyvestyn: It is pretty cool, isn't it? He's a pretty special human. We're very lucky to have him.

00:36:42Melissa Ellis: Mick, can I just say that I had the most enjoyable weekend having Bubble Bird in Melton, as did all the people who got involved in both getting it here and relaying it around our suburbs. It was such a thrill to see it travelling around on each leg and brought so much enjoyment to the community, distracting us from another weekend in lockdown. So thank you so much for sharing the story with us today.

00:37:06Mick Duyvestyn: No problems at all, and I look forward to having you down at the Big Bird Trail at some point in Mount Martha. Yes. And anyone that would love to come and run it, Pete and I are always happy to do a lap of the bird. It's 9.2 kilometres. It's a fun little trail around Mount Martha. It's got some urban trail, but it's got some boardwalk area and a couple of nice little country hills as well with some beautiful views of our local country called Tichinga Rook. So anyone that's interested, interested in coming down our way and partaking in the original part of what is Bubble Bird, we'd love to have them there.

00:37:41Melissa Ellis: Thank you. I'm pretty sure I'll have a carload ready and waiting as soon as we get out of lockdown. So thank you.

00:37:47Mick Duyvestyn: Perfect. It'd be good to retire that Bubble Bird eventually.

00:37:59Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel, and a big well done and thank you to Mick as well. I mean, that effort from Mick and Peter is, I think, a fantastic example of the resourcefulness and creativity that keeps us going out here at the moment. And as a big fan of Chooks, I particularly love this one.

00:38:20Melissa Ellis: Yes, Ollie, huge kudos to those two blokes and all the enjoyment they've brought to the Victorian community with their little initiative. And I look forward to going down there now and running the Big Bird Trail. That's high up on my list of things to do once we're released from lockdown.

00:38:42Oliver Spake: It sounds very list worthy, I have to say. Yeah, I'm fascinated. Yes.

Emails

00:38:48Oliver Spake: Yes, Mel. You've got mail. We've got mail. We do. We do have mail. Thank you to Tracy for your email this week. Shall I read it out, Mel? Oh, please. Okay. She says, hi, Mel and Ollie. Very much enjoyed the interview with Caitlin Adams. It was a pleasure to listen to. Also noticed that it was the 247th podcast. So is there a milestone podcast coming up in about three episodes? The interview with David Crook was also enjoyable. I was about to ask which parkruns were in the book, then heard you say that you didn't know either. Anyway, I have ordered my copy and want to know if the parkruns in the book will become the Crookbook Challenge. Lots of love to you both. Thank you for the work that you do in keeping us entertained. I can't imagine what you must be going through with your respective extended lockdowns. If I can help in any way, please let me know. Best wishes with lots of hugs, Tracy. And thank you, Tracy. We're feeling the love.

00:39:50Melissa Ellis: Yes, we are. Thank you, Tracy. That's lovely. And I like the idea of the crookbook challenge.

00:39:56Oliver Spake: It's got a ring, doesn't it?

00:39:58Melissa Ellis: It absolutely does. And I just quietly, I think I'd be doing pretty well in that challenge.

00:40:03Oliver Spake: I think so. I think so. Look, it could favour some of our listeners, particularly knowing that there were some excellent contributors out there to the Crookbook, to I'm sure what will be a magnificent collection of parkruns. But, Mel, I'm intrigued to see where you sit on the Crookbook Challenge.

00:40:26Melissa Ellis: Oh, I just don't want to wait till November for the book to come out. This feels like forever.

00:40:31Oliver Spake: Time will fly. I mean, it's pretty much spring now. It's basically September. A couple of months, it'll be here, love your positivity speaking of things flying yes Tracy you are right 247 is the number uh that was last week 248 now yes yes I don't know Ollie we we may have a degree of planning but maybe we need to get more on top of that you think we need to up our game

Streaky September

00:41:02Melissa Ellis: it's going to happen for Streaky September, so that's exciting.

00:41:05Oliver Spake: That's very exciting, yes.

00:41:07Melissa Ellis: It's just the best time of year in parkrun adventurers land.

00:41:12Oliver Spake: Well, I mean, that's a slightly controversial comment there, Mel. I mean, you've got International Ugly Christmas Singlet or Shirt Day, and now we have Ugly Christmas in July as well. We've got Palm, but March Madness.

00:41:25Melissa Ellis: I guess, Ollie, I just have a soft spot for Streaky September.

00:41:29Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. Look, I agree.

00:41:31Melissa Ellis: Streaky September. And for context, last year, when renaming the parkrun adventurers Streaky September Facebook group, my job was to rename it back to Streaky September because it goes through a metamorphosis. Is that the right word, Ollie?

00:41:52Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:41:53Melissa Ellis: It becomes from Streak to New Year's Day to Streaky 365. And then when we get back to September, it jumps back into being called Streaky September. That was my job. And I had a typo. So Streaky September became Streaky Septmeber, which was problematic for all the people who were trying to Google search it. But we kind of liked it. So now it's a thing.

00:42:24Oliver Spake: What do we do this year? Do we somehow incorporate both just in case people are out there looking for streaky Septmeber?

00:42:31Melissa Ellis: I really want it to stay streaky Septmeber. I don't know. I don't know.

00:42:38Oliver Spake: We'll work that out.

00:42:39Melissa Ellis: See what the fans say.

00:42:40Oliver Spake: Yeah. I suppose that shows we do need to prepare. September's rapidly approaching.

00:42:48Melissa Ellis: I think, well, I'm feeling prepared. We do have a degree of preparations going ahead behind the scenes.

00:42:56Oliver Spake: That's right. Look, the wheels are turning. They're well and truly turning. And we have had some fantastic contributions as well. So thank you again to everyone that has given us some great inspiration.

00:43:06Melissa Ellis: Yep. We've got a list.

00:43:07Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:43:08Melissa Ellis: For the Bingoe card. That hopefully will be ready to go.

00:43:11Oliver Spake: Oh, it will be.

00:43:12Melissa Ellis: Maybe in that episode 250, maybe that can be when we announce the Bingoe card.

00:43:19Oliver Spake: Look, the timing might be quite perfect, really.

00:43:22Melissa Ellis: I know.

00:43:23Oliver Spake: I'm just trying to do the maths. It might be slightly out. We'll work that out. Details.

00:43:26Melissa Ellis: It'll be week one.

00:43:28Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. Well, people want to get a start, but, yeah, we can give some previews.

00:43:32Melissa Ellis: I think we worked out episode 249 is the week that leads into it.

00:43:38Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:43:39Melissa Ellis: So 250 will be week one of September. Well, that's okay. Yep. Traditionally, the Bingoe card isn't out before the start of September. Okay.

00:43:48Oliver Spake: All right.

00:43:48Melissa Ellis: And we've got to stick with tradition.

00:43:50Oliver Spake: I completely agree. Traditions are important, Mel.

00:43:54Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, another tradition.

00:43:55Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:43:56Melissa Ellis: Well, we might have started this one.

Dazza's

00:43:58Melissa Ellis: Hasn't been going too long, but Dazza's.

00:44:01Oliver Spake: Dazza's. Yes. Look, Dazza also loves the tradition and is fantastic at upholding said traditions. And look, thank you to everyone for popping past Dazza's this week. Team parkrun this week did include a bit of celebration and some love for our volleys. So firstly, thank you to Cameron Drake, celebrated three years of parkrun at Tamworth Wetlands. The theme this year was green, even made a cake and spectacular. You looked, Cam, well done. Pippa White, Daventry parkrun for me and in search of coffee and a pastry. It's raining, summer in England. Nice to be in the cafe with friends. Helen Reeves, also at parkrun, volunteers today, and she shared the photo of two magnificent bright orange-vested volunteers. Thank you for volunteering. Linda Coombes, also thank you for volunteering, said Run Director at Warwick parkrun. Living in a rural location has some benefits. Chris Gallivan added, thanks, Vollies, even the Carlton supporter from Traralgon.

00:45:04Melissa Ellis: I think he's got some inside info there.

00:45:07Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah?

00:45:08Melissa Ellis: Well, I'm assuming. I didn't see anything that identified that the Traralgon volunteers were Carlton supporters.

00:45:18Oliver Spake: Look, I'm not from the southern state myself, but are they easy to pick, Mel?

00:45:25Melissa Ellis: I don't think that. No, I think Chris knows something we don't know.

00:45:29Oliver Spake: Yeah, I see. And Val Warwick. Hi, parkrun adventurers. It was a glorious, almost spring-like day for Devonport parkrun this morning. Steve was on barcodes and I managed the sub-50 walk for which I had aimed today. Brekkie was a gluten-free muffin to go with the coffee at Drift where so many people, not just parkrunners, enjoyed the sunshine today. Great, continuing to send lots of parkrun hugs across the strait to those of you in lockdown and welcome Austria.

00:45:59Melissa Ellis: Yes, thank you. Thank you to everybody there. And we also had our Bailey shot, Ollie. We had Brett Bailey. Sunny, cool morning at Pegasus. Nice to see the days starting to lengthen. Ran out with Brunner and handed him over to Tanya on the way back. A bit creaky today after a Friday night swim, but only three seconds off last week's time. And Tanya Bailey managed to do a bit of running this morning. A bit windy, but not too cold. 100 participants at Pegasus. Brunner finished off with a bit of a roll around on the grass. And Rebecca Bailey, homemade cookies and cinnamon rolls here this morning. Off for a (not)parkrun later today. Watch this space. Exciting things are coming to Banksia Avenue not parkrun soon.

00:46:51Oliver Spake: All right. And Mel, still fairly well represented, our not parkrunners were out in force. So Tracey Wood, morning team, lots of people doing a (not)parkrun at Kedron this morning. Bruce Purdy grabbed the 80s theme by the horns this morning and managed a PB at Cohuna parkrun. The locals pronounce it as Cohuna. Did I get that right, Mel?

00:47:14Melissa Ellis: I think so, yep.

00:47:15Oliver Spake: Yep. I got it wrong the first time then. Sorry, Bruce. So turning the volume up to 11 and heading down that high voltage highway because it's a long way to the shop if you want a Cohuna sausage roll. Bernadette Bennett, my (not)parkrun post this morning is explained in the picture. As added explanation, I give all my (not)parkruns funny names based on the routes. There were 26 different routes from home last year. And, yeah, Bernadette did share the image. That's an impressive collection of different routes, Bernadette. Very resourceful.

00:47:51Melissa Ellis: Yes. So the one that she shared, Ollie, was a Wooter March.

00:47:56Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah. I love it. Left, right, left, right, left, right. Oh, sorry. No, right, left, right, left, right, left.

00:48:04Melissa Ellis: Must be an in joke.

00:48:05Oliver Spake: Messed it up on the first one. Claire Stutsbury, Augustine Heights, not parkrun for us this morning. According to a couple of sites, it's our NENDY and also the event closest to home. And it's actually not running anymore. So we thought, what better time than lockdown to explore the course? Happy to be running following a few days in ISO waiting for a negative COVID test last week. Good to have you back on the course, Claire. Mandy Oliver, another (not)parkrun whilst no community sports are allowed on the Gold Coast. A run along Broadwater for me, envious of those cinnamon rolls. Mark Scarborough, a (not)parkrun in Exmouth. No parkrun courses for hundreds of kilometres to run at. Sally Heppleston, 8.5k track session. I miss parkrun, that's all. And Faye Morgan, non-parkrun at Main Beach with a visitor. And Mel, that visitor was a snake or a nope rope, as we like to put it, which I think must have been wondering where all its parkrun friends were. I think Toc calls them wiggly sticks. Wiggly sticks, yeah, I like that. I think I'll go with Toc's term there. Look, I'm pretty sure that wiggly stick is parkrun as well, as I think all of us not parkrunners do at the moment. Yeah. Thank you for checking in and sharing with us, guys.

00:49:27Melissa Ellis: And not forgetting that brunch is a critical part of Not parkrun, we had Ingrid Botha. I was at Teaching Jasmine to Make Lemmingtons Not Not parkrun. It's a flat two-lap course, the first lap through the chocolate mix and the second lap through the desiccated coconut. Okay, I lie, there was no parkrun, but the lemmingtons tasted great and have helped me carbo-load for tomorrow's long run. And Sam Schroder. Week seven of Love Shack, not parkrun, was a gentle one going for sunshine, not speed. Home to a house full of cake, so Luke was off the hook for baking this week. This little parkrunner got spoilt rotten with not one, but two amazing birthday cakes delivered to the doorstep. And Sam shared the photos of her birthday cakes and they look gorgeous and happy birthday, Sam.

00:50:22Oliver Spake: Yeah, big happy birthday, Sam.

00:50:24Melissa Ellis: And hang on, Ollie, you've added this one. This was me. How can I read my own one? Okay, Ellis Palace parkrun, Back to the Future Edition, featuring Cobbloaf Dip and Sex on the Beach Cocktails. Be careful Googling that recipe. Even Paul got into the groove. And I wasn't going to say that. I wasn't going to say that out loud. Oh, well.

00:50:52Oliver Spake: Well, no, I'm glad you shared the warning. But I think, once again, the fashion sense, the culinary delights, you know, they really add to the (not)parkrun morning and to the parkrun morning alike. So thanks, Mel, and thank you, everyone.

00:51:10Melissa Ellis: Yes, great morning again at Dazza's. Thank you to everybody that dropped in and engaged. Oh, and Ollie.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:51:18Melissa Ellis: Yes. This is me throwing to a roving report and the informant. We've got a roving report from a new location. I'm a little bit excited about this one.

00:51:28Oliver Spake: Me too. I'm rather intrigued.

00:51:31Melissa Ellis: So let's have a listen.

Roving report Karyn — Able Township parkrun

00:51:41Karyn: Attention, this is Abel Township Runner 5, broadcasting on all available local frequencies. If you are in the area, find cover and take shelter. Repeat, all survivors near Abel Township should find cover and take shelter. A small zombie horde is moving through the area. Number of hostiles is currently unknown. See, a couple of weeks ago, we found an office block with some intact server hardware in it. One of the ones which was still working, well, we found a full intact copy of the pre-apocalypse parkrun database on it. Everyone's barcodes, all their stats. Lots of the runners were parkrunners before, well, before Zed Day. Anyway, we thought it might be good for morale to start a parkrun for the township and today was the inaugural running of the Abel Township parkrun. It all went great until, well, one of the guys didn't realise he needed a barcode and so he forgot to book time on the township printer to get one and Janine was on barcode scanning and you know how she is about rules she wouldn't give him a time and the guy just went off he was yelling at her wouldn't stop yelling that's like these people sometimes these days they forget that making too much noise it brings in the zombies Nobody really cares, dude, if you wanted a number one for your Wilson Index. Anyway, a horde moved in. Some of the under 11s got scared and they tried to run, but fortunately they were all within arm's reach of their responsible adults. I don't even know where the Marshals are now though. The Abel runners are moving through the area now to pick up survivors and deal with the hostiles. Please continue to shelter, and we will advise when the horde is under control. Oh, and Sam, if you're listening, please remind Janine, for run number two, we really need to make sure that everybody knows that they need a barcode. And the Marshal volunteers need to be issued firearms next time.

the Informant

00:54:09Karyn: Runner five out.

00:54:09The Informant: This is The Informant, coming to you live from my study with a view. This week's view is of a cheeky possum, just sitting on the fence and staring at me. At first I thought it was cute, but now it's a bit creepy. Parkies, this week of lockdown has been a tough one. Temperatures are warming up as we approach spring, but I don't want to go out and spread any COVIDs. And I need the breaks this week because Harry Highpants, aka Beige Trousers, has been doing data quality checks and fixes for more than a week now. So boring. Anyway, enough shop talk. Now the stats. They're only current at the time they're 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! In Australia, we're obviously still mostly in lockdown. Globally though, numbers are booming. There were 1,143 events taking place in 18 countries. There were 220 in Australia and 34 in New Zealand. Austria joined the parkrun family with 1. Canada is up to 14. Denmark at 8. Finland 2. France 7. Germany 23. Italy 5. Japan 6. Netherlands 7, Norway 1, Poland 75, Russia 68, South Africa 23, Sweden had 5, United Kingdom 607 with Scotland coming back, and the USA had 37. There were six launches in five countries. Helbrunn in Austria, Barton Trail in Canada, Cock Graben in Germany, Norakatz, Sweden, Carlisle Park and Edgbaston Reservoir in the United Kingdom. Aussie New Zealand attendance was up 700. We had 17,218 runners out of 157,500 worldwide. That's up another 20,000 on last week. Down under we had 2,147 PBs, while 623 people participated for the first time. 36 juniors reached the Junior 10 milestone, 96 people reached their 50 milestone, 50 reached their 100 milestone, and 11 people reached their 250 milestone. Seven people called bingo. Joshua Seabird was the quickest with 142 runs. Jarrett Minogue was the slowest person taking 265 runs, which any other week would have been quite fast. Just four new statespeople this week, and all in the Northern Territory. We have Mitchell Gill in Darwin, and the Schultz family of Jasmine, Glen and Heidi at Nightcliff. On the top 20 most Aussie New Zealand events list, David Messenger is the only upward movement. David moved from a rank of 19 up to equal 17 after running at Toowoomba. Now the Windexes. Ugh, Windex calcs. The bane of my existence. Constantly giving me grief. 45 people can claim a new Windex this week. Biggest mover is Peter Berry, who jumped from 1 to 16. And that's all I have to say about that. OK, 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 www.theinformant.me. That's The Informant, all one word, dot M-E. This has been The Informant, and this lockdown is like trying to eat a cinnamon doughnut without licking your lips.

00:57:58Oliver Spake: Thank you, Runner 5, or should I say Karyn, for that roving report. Hey, Mel, there's a new parkrun in town.

00:58:05Melissa Ellis: Wow, I know. I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not.

00:58:12Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, look, just to clarify, in case anyone is not quite across the context, Abel Township is, of course, as we may have mentioned previously, that's the setting of our Zombies Run app adventures. And, look, I think the roving report from Runner 5 has certainly demonstrated that parkrun can survive any kind of circumstance, even a zombie apocalypse. Yeah. It sounds like the gang there at Abel Township are a very resourceful and strong bunch. Hey, they've even picked up on some of parkrun's simple principles too.

00:58:47Melissa Ellis: I'm pretty sure in an apocalypse I'd be still trying to run a parkrun, Ollie.

00:58:54Oliver Spake: Yeah, show of hands. I'd give it a go.

00:58:59Melissa Ellis: But, yeah, that was great. Thank you, Karyn. Yes. Thank you for contributing that and a different take for a roving report. Very exciting.

00:59:08Oliver Spake: That's right. So, look, everyone, you can have your parkrun at Abel Township. Sing out if you need us to point you in the direction of the Zombies Run app. Don't forget your barcode.

00:59:20Melissa Ellis: But hang on, how come everybody's run a five? Ha!

00:59:25Oliver Spake: Well, that's something you'll need to ask the township.

00:59:27Melissa Ellis: Okay. Okay. Well, maybe I better download it.

00:59:33Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Look, Mel, as we did note with Dazza's post last week, we saw the launch of Austria. We've seen some more parkrun returns going on in the world.

00:59:48Melissa Ellis: We have, Ollie. Scotland came back this last parkrun day gone. So welcome back, Scotland.

00:59:56Oliver Spake: Absolutely. And Wales is next cab off the rank.

01:00:00Melissa Ellis: They are. They're coming thick and fast.

01:00:03Oliver Spake: They are. And look, that's most of the parkrun world back up and running in some capacity. Although, you know, we're obviously mindful. We've still got a number of nations yet to relaunch, yet to unpause. You know, we've got our friends in Ireland as well. I think Malaysia, Singapore, and of course, Namibia and Eswatini.

01:00:25Melissa Ellis: Oh, well done.

01:00:27Oliver Spake: Look, yeah, sorry, I'm still making the transition from Swaziland, but it's a pretty good number so far. It doesn't make it any different for those that are still waiting, of course, or those that are paused.

01:00:38Melissa Ellis: And kudos to parkrun Global for all the work that they must be putting in behind the scenes, Ollie, to get all these countries back up and running. I can't imagine the logistics and how much they must be under pressure with the limited resources they have and such a small team. to be having this huge logistical event to get all these parkrun countries back up and running. Kudos.

01:01:06Oliver Spake: Completely agree, Mel, parkrun is something that's so simple and transferable, but then as we're seeing, it's existing in so many different environments and places. Hats off to them and a special thanks, of course, to our Australian parkrun team as well. We're seeing firsthand just how many varieties of fast-changing restrictions and pauses and lockdowns and relaunches are going on. So, yeah, I don't suppose anyone in parkrun HQ globally or in Australia would have foreshadowed that kind of experience in being behind the scenes at parkrun, but they've really stepped up.

01:01:43Melissa Ellis: They have, Ollie, and I would put an appeal out to any of our listeners out there who may get frustrated at times with their own situations to please understand that parkrun Australia, parkrun Global are doing their best. under very extreme situation to return parkrun as quickly as they can to all locations but they there's so much difficulties to navigate with all the different rules and regulations in all the different settings so please be understanding and and please um be mindful of what parkrun behind the scenes is going through to bring it back to all of us

01:02:28Oliver Spake: Yes, well said, Mel. And look, we will keep enjoying their returns. And look, special shout out, because I didn't say it when we came back from the roving report, but special shout out also to our informant for keeping us across all of this and always in a lighthearted manner.

01:02:44Melissa Ellis: Yes, but Ollie, those Zoom meetings, yeah, I agree. Maybe camera's off.

01:02:53Oliver Spake: Is that directed at me, Mel, or is that at the informant?

01:02:58Melissa Ellis: Well, I don't think you were the one outed last week, Ollie. I think it was my household.

01:03:03Oliver Spake: Yes. Well, nonetheless, we appreciate our informant and thank you again.

Sign-off

01:03:09Melissa Ellis: We do, yes. Ollie, it's been another wonderful episode. Thank you again for joining me this week. As always, our listeners can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But that's it for another week. So we will see you all next week for more adventures.

01:03:32[music]

01:04:43Unidentified speaker: Hi Mel and Ollie, today we had some special visitors, Cluck Norris and Bubble Bird. Bubble Bird is a chicken from a five kilometre bubble.

01:04:54Oliver Spake: And who did we get it from?

01:04:56Unidentified speaker: We got it from Maria. And what did we do with it? We took it out for a run. We had lots of fun with Cluck Norris and Bubble Bird. Bye adventurers!