Episode 251 - Tokyo Tales

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 251 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm joined by the Shellharbour ED who's not adverse to some morning light under the Windang Bridge and out of three amazing girls, happy Father's Day, Ollie Spake.

00:00:44Oliver Spake: Thank you very much, Mel. That's right. I do love the morning light. That's when I get up at the right time. Not a lot of that happening too consistently these days, but it's still a light shot that I haven't been out to capture for a number of months under the bridge. So I've got my work cut out for me.

00:01:06Melissa Ellis: We're waiting with anticipation.

00:01:08Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It will happen. It will happen. It will happen this month. There's a lot of motivation out there now. So I think, yeah, I'll capitalise on that. I will get up. And I'll get that shot. But thank you very much for your kind introduction, Mel. How are you?

00:01:27Melissa Ellis: I'm good. Did you have a good morning with your beautiful daughters, Hannah, Ava and Zali?

00:01:33Oliver Spake: I did. Pretty relaxed morning. Got out for a brief walk while everyone had a little bit of a sleep in, to be honest. Called my dad and got my streak in, came back. And that's when it was time for everyone to, yeah, enjoy it all together. Croissants, coffee, more coffee, more croissants. And some cool cards that I'd gotten two days prior because the girls can never wait.

00:01:58Melissa Ellis: Oh, bless them.

00:02:01Oliver Spake: Yeah. So that was a lot of fun and, yeah, just a couple of simple little gifts. What about your household? How did Paul enjoy Father's Day?

00:02:11Melissa Ellis: Yes, all good here, a bit of Indian takeaway and family TV night, so all happy and good on that respect. That's good.

00:02:23Oliver Spake: And what about your (not)parkrun day, Mel? How was it? Well, it was interesting.

00:02:29Melissa Ellis: I pulled another theme out. We went for a jailbreak theme. So I dressed as a prisoner and Dazza dressed as a prisoner and we had some fun. It made for an interesting streak, Ollie.

00:02:49Oliver Spake: Oh, yes.

00:02:50Melissa Ellis: Yes. A couple of looks. Being that it was a prison theme, I had purchased, especially for the theme, some handcuffs, you know, toy handcuffs. And I thought, oh, it'll be really funny if I go out to the waving corner where I... Every week on my (not)parkrun, we wave across the road to Toolern Creek parkrun because we can see the course from our side of the road. And I have that shot every week that I do. And I thought, oh, that'll be really funny if I go out there and I get that photo with a handcuff around my wrist, which I did. But I dropped the keys as I was walking. So after I took the photo, I'm still walking and the handcuff is stuck on my wrist, which I didn't really mind until I came across another person walking. And then all of a sudden I was really self-conscious that I had a handcuff stuck to my wrist and how was I going to, like, what would this person think?

00:03:52Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:03:54Melissa Ellis: about why I was walking along with a handcuff and I tried to shove it in my pocket it didn't really work anyway I just sucked it up and they quickly speed up Yeah, so that was funny. Luckily I'd bought two sets of handcuffs because Dazza was wearing one set. Yes. So I had two sets of keys so when I got home I could obviously, like, remove the handcuff and that was fine. But you'll be pleased to know I went out on another street today and I located the missing keys on the ground.

00:04:30Oliver Spake: Oh, good, good.

00:04:31Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so it was just a little bit funny.

00:04:33Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:04:36Oliver Spake: Oh, so you're still streaking?

00:04:38Melissa Ellis: I am, yes.

00:04:39Oliver Spake: The streak is still going?

00:04:40Melissa Ellis: It is. Uh-huh. Yep, I've kept it up. I was a little bit off last week, I've got to be honest. I was feeling like it was just a big week, Ollie. We had a big week with the episode and all the videos we shared. Yeah. And I think it just took a lot out of me and I was feeling a bit drained, I think. So I wasn't up to my usual training sessions that I'd been doing. I didn't have energy left for those. So I just walked a minimum of two kilometres when I didn't feel up to it. And as Pippa had suggested in her tips last week, I knew I had a two-kilometre circuit. So I just went out and did that each day when I wasn't up to anything else as a minimum so that I could continue the streak. So, yeah, I'm still going. What about you?

00:05:29Oliver Spake: Oh, fantastic. Hey, look, I agree with you and echo your shout out to Pippa there. That's kept me going. So thank you, Pippa. I worked out my two Ks and it was handy. I could just walk and talk to Dad on Sunday morning. The streak continues, though. Proud to say. So last two days, I was going to say this morning, but actually I only streaked two hours ago. So a couple of days of walking, but before that running. A bit slow on the bingo challenges, so I do need to pick up the game there.

00:06:03Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:06:03Oliver Spake: But it has been just so motivational to see everyone just getting in and giving it a go. Obviously, you know, our long-time streakers just blow me away, but the number of people getting in and giving streaking a go as first-timers, whether they're doing the bingo challenges or not, it's just fantastic. So thank you, everyone, for sharing and, you know, being a part of it. That's what's keeping me going.

Streaky September

00:06:31Melissa Ellis: The Streaky September group has just taken off, hasn't it, Ollie?

00:06:34Oliver Spake: It has.

00:06:35Melissa Ellis: We've got so many new people. It's fabulous to see. Everybody's embracing it.

00:06:39Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's it. You know, you see the different levels of creativity because, granted, we don't all have flightless birds nearby. And, yeah. I guess it's just starting to come home to, dare I say, come home to roost for me. That's the lack of definition with some of these things. I personally could not tell whether a park bench counted if it was a picnic table park bench.

00:07:06Melissa Ellis: I'm loving seeing all the park benches. I really am.

00:07:13Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's a nice tip of the hat.

00:07:15Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and I've been out and just today I picked up a tip from one of the Dazza's posts that we're going to hear a bit later on and incorporated that in my streak. Maybe I better not tell you what it was.

00:07:32Oliver Spake: That's it. Spoilers. Yeah.

00:07:33Melissa Ellis: I know. Spoiler alert.

00:07:35Oliver Spake: And I mean, you mentioned it before, Mel, I think I've certainly been a bit flat as well after a big week. You know, it's a big week in parkrun adventurers world. It was such a high of all of the 250 videos. And again, thank you to everyone that's been a part of that. It was a part of the podcast. It was part of the videos, sharing those lovely messages, you know, amongst our community. How cool was that?

00:07:59Melissa Ellis: Yes, and thank you for all the people for the lovely feedback on Episode 250.

00:08:04Oliver Spake: Yeah. No, it's given me a really big kick. There's so much. We could have reflected and talked for much, much longer, I'm sure. We could have given that PB a real shake.

00:08:17Melissa Ellis: And, Ollie, I had a couple of highlights that I forgot to mention.

00:08:21Oliver Spake: Yes. Well, here we go. Here we go. Maybe we'll hit the PB this week.

00:08:25Melissa Ellis: So the episode where the Channel 5 news crew recorded the Bonnie Tyler song. Yes. Total eclipse of the heart. I mean, that has to be my number one highlight. I can't run past a parkrun course and see Turnaround painted on the ground and not have fond memories of that. I think it might have been the final episode for 2019. I didn't fact check that.

00:08:52Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:08:53Oliver Spake: No, because we were talking about this just before, offline, of course. But it had to be before the beaches because open disclosure, I remember driving into Newcastle to go to Palm at the Beaches.

00:09:06Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:09:07Oliver Spake: And I was screaming that out. I was belting it out. Oh, really? So it was before the beaches, which was April 2019, wasn't it?

00:09:15Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Okay, so it was 2018, final episode of 2018 then. Okay.

00:09:20Oliver Spake: Must have been, unless it was before that.

00:09:23Melissa Ellis: No, no, because last week we discussed the final episode of 2017, that Christmas song. I wasn't involved in that one. I wasn't on the news crew yet. So it had to have been following that. So it must have been 2018. But, yes, in any case, huge highlight for me, even though I was absolutely terrified at the time singing and sending Scott that recording because my voice is absolutely terrible. So I was so mortified to send him that recording. But in any case, he did a very good job of editing it that I could hardly tell which voice was mine, luckily. Maybe he didn't even use me. I don't know. Ollie, another highlight that is just since we've – come on as hosts is having the informant join us. That's a highlight. And that was in episode 217. Yes. And having brought him into our entourage.

00:10:25Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:10:27Melissa Ellis: Yeah, shout out to the informant. He's a big part of our week and he contributes highly and we really appreciate what he brings to the podcast.

00:10:36Oliver Spake: And hey, I suppose we've had a bit of help in that capacity throughout the year and even with the new informant.

00:10:45Melissa Ellis: The intern.

00:10:46Oliver Spake: The upbeat one. The cheeky informant. The cheeky informant. But I think the, yeah, good help goes a long, long way. And if it were me looking up those stats, we'd be getting all sorts of mail. We'd be fact-checked 15 times a week.

00:11:03Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and I think it's worth mentioning, Ollie, it's producing this podcast every week. It's not just you and me. There's very much other parties in the background contributing a huge amount, which we really appreciate. Yes.

00:11:15Oliver Spake: Yeah. I think they are truly some great highlights, Mel. It just goes to say how fortunate we've been to have such a great community and such great help. And now that I think of it, and how fortunate we were to get a video from the informant as well. That was a nice surprise.

00:11:34Melissa Ellis: It was funny, wasn't it? Yes.

00:11:36Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:11:37Melissa Ellis: The cheeky informant would have none of it.

00:11:40Oliver Spake: No. Oh, well, maybe by the time we're at 500, unless their identities have been revealed at that point. But I understand they're quite protective about that.

00:11:49Melissa Ellis: But how about the Paralympics? How exciting has that been? Yeah. Have you been watching it?

00:11:55Oliver Spake: And that was the other thing that last week, it was such a whirlwind that I just didn't get to appreciate. Like after obviously watching Jaryd, I made the point of catching up with Jaryd and then just seeing whatever higher lights I could, obviously Lauren Parker. But, yeah, I think the weekend gave me a chance to catch up. I was tired from the weekend and then I kind of just freed the calendar for the weekend given I had jab number two, Mel. So that gave me the chance to catch up, ease up and have a bit of time to catch up on some of the Paralympics action.

00:12:26Melissa Ellis: Well done you, Ollie. Congratulations on being fully vaccinated. How are you feeling?

00:12:31Oliver Spake: Oh, good. Yeah. If anything, I felt like I'd exercised. So I think my body was a bit confused because I hadn't. But just happy. No one gave me a lollipop, but I'm happy. Oh, really?

00:12:46Melissa Ellis: Did you take the fully vaxxed selfie?

00:12:48Oliver Spake: No, no, sadly I didn't.

00:12:51Melissa Ellis: Opportunity lost.

00:12:53Oliver Spake: Really off the beat with the selfies at the moment. My goodness. Yeah, my apologies. I'm not sure anyone's complaining for that matter, but, yeah, regardless. To get back off my tangent, though, yes, some of the Paralympics action and, my gosh, Jared.

00:13:12Melissa Ellis: Yes, he got a bronze medal in the 1500 metres. I will be sure to get my distances correct, Ollie. Apologies last week for incorrectly stating the distance of the five kilometre Paralympic parkrun.

00:13:32Oliver Spake: You're referring to the 500 metres. Yes. I guess we're so accustomed to calling it a parkrun rather than claiming the distance, aren't we?

00:13:42Melissa Ellis: I know. I got that wrong.

00:13:44Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:13:45Melissa Ellis: Never mind.

00:13:46Oliver Spake: But another cracking finish that was.

00:13:48Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah. No, he did so well. And for his first Paralympic appearance, three medals. So he got a silver in the Paralympic parkrun. He then got a bronze medal in the 1500 metres. And then he got a silver medal in the marathon. Yep.

00:14:07Oliver Spake: All in a week's work.

00:14:09Melissa Ellis: I know. So he ran a time of two hours, 26.09. Fabulous effort. So well done, Jared. And I didn't also mention last week, got so excited about the fact that we were celebrating him that I didn't mention he's a Victorian parkrunner who hails from Diamond Creek that has run Diamond Creek parkrun and Westerfolds parkrun. Yes. So that's why I was so excited.

00:14:34Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Yeah, well done to him. And, of course, to Madison.

00:14:38Melissa Ellis: Yes, two gold medals, a brilliant achievement, a gold medal in the women's T54 marathon in her fourth Paralympic Games.

00:14:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, I didn't see much of the women's marathon, but I certainly saw the finish there. That was an exciting one.

00:14:55Melissa Ellis: And I'm sure there was probably a lot of other Paralympic athletes that have connections to parkrun, and we would happily celebrate them. If you know of them, please let us know, and we'd be happy to look into it and talk about it more.

00:15:11Oliver Spake: Yeah, absolutely. Always happy to have a chat, have a chat about them, have a chat to any of our athletes. But it has been wonderful to watch Mel. Disappointing to see it gone, to see it, but I think it has been a very welcome event in these times. I think a nice distraction for many of us that have been locked down, obviously for so many of us that life isn't quite as we know it. And, yeah, just fantastic to see these people achieving great Heights despite the chaos and adversity that has been all about for the last year and a half.

00:15:50Melissa Ellis: What are we going to do now, Ollie? It's just going to be the Masked Singer.

00:15:56Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah, yeah. The girls are certainly counting down to that here. Well, Mel, someone else that's been enjoying the Paralympics, I suppose it's fair to say enjoying, they've actually had quite a significant role there, is one of our own Channel 5 News crew member, Lyndell. Now, while she was busily hotel quarantining upon her return, I had the chance to catch up. So let's have a listen.

Interview Lyndell Murray — Channel 5 News Crew roving reporter; triathlon technical official, Chief Video Review…

00:16:28Oliver Spake: We're lucky to be joined this week by one of our own from the Channel 5 News crew, Lyndell Murray, who's just returned from the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Lyndell, thank you for freeing up your schedule for a chat. How are you?

00:16:41Lyndell Murray: I'm good, Ollie. I'm in hotel quarantine, so as it turns out, I've got a bit of time on my hands.

00:16:47Oliver Spake: Well, that's good. I understand that there are still some activities. There's still a bit of life in quarantine. Have you got a few things going on now that you're back?

00:16:58Lyndell Murray: Well, I will be working from hotel quarantine, so that will fill in my weekdays. Yeah, but a few of the officials have also had to quarantine in their home countries. So, we've got a little quarantine support group. So, we're doing exercise classes and one of the guys has got a guitar. So, we're doing a sing-along tonight, I think, as well. So, there are a few things on my schedule, Ollie.

00:17:22Oliver Spake: Oh, brilliant. Brilliant. And did I recall correctly that you did somehow manage a (not)parkrun?

00:17:29Lyndell Murray: Yeah. Yeah, I did. So, the apartment that I'm in is probably 10 metres long and there's a strip of tiles that I ran up and down this morning to get to my 5ks and did my (not)parkrun wow wow I've got a bit dizzy by the end of it I have to admit I've got a bit dizzy and had to so I'm glad it wasn't 10ks and it was only 5ks yes yeah yeah well that's a spectacular effort um glad you picked the tiles not to wear a wear a track in the carpet but well done

00:18:02Oliver Spake: um now look many of the listeners of course would be familiar with your background in officiating but can you share with us just how long you have been officiating and and then obviously stepping much much forward how this has seen you wind up as a technical official at the Tokyo paralympics this year

00:18:18Lyndell Murray: Yeah, I've been officiating in triathlon for I think it's about 17 years. So it is quite a while now that I've been involved with the sport on that side of things. So obviously it's a process over time to get the experience that you need and the accreditation that you need to be able to be nominated to go along to the Paralympics or the Olympics for that matter. So Triathlon Australia, I was on the shortlist for them um as one of the six officials that they put forward for the Olympics and paralympics and um that went to world triathlon and to the technical committee and to the executive board and I was lucky enough to be the Australian official selected to go along to the paralympics so it was quite a process and yeah one that I'm really really honoured to have had for sure

00:19:10Oliver Spake: Yeah, and look, all in very interesting times as well. I imagine it's quite a lengthy process. At what point did you get that green light, that go-ahead that you're headed for Tokyo?

00:19:21Lyndell Murray: Oh, well, the selection happened quite some time ago, obviously, because the games were originally scheduled for 2020. So, I think I was selected back in 2019. But I did not get the go-ahead to actually get on a plane and my tickets weren't booked until about, I think it was only about two weeks before I was scheduled to depart Australia. There was just so many bit of red tape and hoops to jump through to make sure that I could not only get to Tokyo but obviously return as well. So I was lucky enough that Paralympics Australia announced included the international technical officials in their negotiations with the government to get extra quarantine places on the return to Australia. So I'm not taking a place from anybody who wants to come home, any citizens that are wishing to come home. It has all been above and beyond that and negotiated through Paralympics Australia. But That took quite some time and, as I said, I only really got final sign-off, you know, probably a month or six weeks ago really from where I am here today. So quite a stressful and very emotional rollercoaster that I've been on to finally get there. And, yeah, it's been worth it. The experience I had over there was just tremendous. So, yeah.

00:20:36Oliver Spake: Yeah. So can you explain what was your role over there and what was it like in the, I suppose, the fairly unique conditions?

00:20:44Lyndell Murray: Yeah, so look, everything was unique, really. The role that I was assigned was Chief Video Review. So my role was to work with the head referees for the Paratriathlon to help try and find video evidence of any indiscretions that happened on the field of play, but also review feeds. I had four four different feeds coming into a set of monitors that I had to monitor and, yeah, just look for some of those infringements on the field of play as well and capture that footage for the head referees to review and make decisions as to whether they were penalties involved. to be actioned by the team. So I guess what's unique about that is that that kind of role only happens at the really big events because obviously it requires a lot of technology and infrastructure and a lot of the events that we officiate just don't have the budget to provide that infrastructure for us. So, again, it was quite stressful going to the biggest event I've ever been to and doing a role that I've never really done before. So... It was quite an honour again to have that, you know, responsibility put on me. I was quite, again, really honoured and pleased to have had the opportunity to give it a go. And it went really well. Yeah. So that was unique. I guess in terms of how the event unfolded, once we were there, you know, we were living in a bubble. So how the event unfolded. unfolded on the day and the way that the experience was for the athletes and the officials was probably not that much different to a regular race day. We obviously wore our face masks and tried to maintain our physical distancing and, you know, there was a few things put in place to make sure that those things could happen. But by and large, we tried to keep the actual event as close as possible to regular race day. And then there was the bubble. So that was a whole other experience on top of it.

00:22:47Oliver Spake: And was the bubble ever present, I suppose? That was your entire realm while you were over there. Did that change during your duties or once you'd finished your duties, did that morph into something a little more relaxed or was it just a completely self-contained environment? Really keen to, I suppose, get a bit of an idea of it.

00:23:07Lyndell Murray: Yeah, so the bubble started from the moment I left home really in Brisbane. I flew to Sydney and then over to Tokyo and, you know, as soon as I got off the flight, well, there was only four passengers on my flight to Tokyo from Sydney. When I got off the flight, it was straight into bubble life. I was greeted by volunteers to go through the a separate path for people who were arriving for the Paralympics. We were COVID tested at the airport and had to wait to get a clear test before we could even proceed out and grab our luggage and get to the hotel. Once we were at the hotel, that was it really. The only places we were allowed to go were the hotel and the venue. So it really was living in a bubble, like literally being in a bubble. I was actually pretty thankful to have that bubble, to be honest. You know, the people of Tokyo are in a state of emergency currently with their COVID. And so for me, I was... I think, you know, I felt safer being in the bubble, to be really honest. It took a bit of getting used to, but once, you know, we adapted really well. I think there was a few really interesting things that came out of the bubble. So, obviously, we couldn't go on sightsee or anything like that, but we still had our social catch-ups. Amongst the technical team, we'd had some Zoom karaoke and some fun activities via Zoom.

00:24:31Unidentified speaker: Yep.

00:24:32Lyndell Murray: One of the other interesting things, part of our bubble was the 7-Eleven that is sort of adjacent to the hotel we were staying in. And so we had lots of adventures down to discover the local treats at the 7-Eleven and...

00:24:46Oliver Spake: Any favourites?

00:24:47Lyndell Murray: Well, we discovered cup soups and rice balls, which were fantastic, and I plucked up the courage to try some, I still don't know what it was, some kind of fruity liqueur that I tried, which was pretty unique. But, yeah, every day we'd jump on WhatsApp and say, oh, I discovered this at the 7-Eleven, you need to try this one. I think the other thing that was really great was the national technical officials from Japan felt really strongly like the Japanese culture is such a beautiful culture and the Japanese people really want to host people from other countries and so they really went above and beyond and really out of their way to try and provide some cultural activities for us as well at The Venue so there was a couple of afternoons where we sat down and did some origami and we learnt how to write Japanese characters and We also participated in a water ceremony, which is a traditional ceremony from the Edo times of Japan. Yeah, it was, again, it was something that was really special. They explained a bit of the history and culture of the water festival being about the whole idea is that if you do good things for others, then that makes you feel good and does good for you. So, yeah, we just got to really participate in a few really fun events and meaningful, I guess, activities with the local TOs, which I think will stay in my heart forever, to be honest. It was, yeah, we may not have had those experiences and felt that kind of bond had we had the time to go and sightsee or to go to restaurants or do other things, you know, so... I think that's probably what a lot of us are experiencing at the moment where we can't do some of the things we'd normally do, but we find fun and find happiness in things that we may not have done before. So, yeah, that was certainly my experience at Tokyo.

00:26:48Oliver Spake: That's really lovely to hear. I think what struck me as a viewer, obviously, have seen just a fraction of the perspectives that you will have experienced and seen. But Tokyo and the Japanese have done a fantastic job. And obviously, all of the organising committees, all the volunteers and the associations behind them, it's just such a fantastic job, I suppose, adapting to this situation, and providing everyone with, you know, such a, I suppose, set of inspirational experiences to take in in these times, but also to kind of tip the hat and acknowledge that we are in different times now and take the ceremonies and everything. It's just been such a, I think, a fantastic job at bringing that to the world. And... Some of those experiences seem fascinating, as you would say. They're obviously quite different to what you might have experienced otherwise, but good that you've been able to still gain something outside of even just your duties, something from the culture. I'm curious, you probably haven't had much of an opportunity to go to events or anything along those lines, but if you had any favourite performances or any favourite events that you've taken in across the course of the week, or have you even had a chance to see them other than from the video screen?

00:28:03Lyndell Murray: Yeah, not really. Again, we were in our little bubble and we weren't able to go and experience any of the other events. And That's, you know, another thing that is different from officiating at this level of event. Quite often you do get the opportunity to go and, you know, see other events and we just didn't have that opportunity this time at all. So it was difficult to find some of the events on the Japanese television stations, to be honest, and, you know, I couldn't get seven plus because it doesn't work outside of Australia, so... It was actually a little bit difficult to keep up to date. I guess one thing that we did reflect on as a group was one of our medal winners in the men's wheelchair event, Jetze Plat. I don't know whether I'm saying his name correctly, a Dutch athlete. I think he won three gold medals in three days. So he competed not only at the triathlon. Wow, in the wheelchair category but then he then also competed in cycling events and won I probably get this wrong but I'm going to take a guess that he won the hand cycle road race and time trial so well done to him he's just a absolutely phenomenal effort he's just a machine and and the loveliest guy as well every time I've encountered him at a paratriathlon he's always been Lovely to deal with and really appreciative of the, you know, the events that we put on. So, yeah, I guess that's one that I would reflect on for sure.

00:29:35Oliver Spake: Oh, well, thanks for sharing some of the experiences there. And now, of course, you're in hotel quarantine. I hope you've got some more episodes of Survivor to catch up on. Yes. You can watch a bit of 7 Plus, I suppose.

00:29:47Lyndell Murray: Yeah. Yeah. Yep, I've been catching up on some of the Paralympics and I am making my way through the Survivor. I was two weeks behind on Survivor, which was a bit of a tragedy for me. So I've been trying to catch up so that I can jump in for the last week. I think it's the last week this week. So trying to make sure I can jump in and watch the rest of the episodes in real time.

00:30:07Oliver Spake: Well, the challenge is on. Look, what an amazing experience, Lyndell. Thank you for sharing it with us. I hope you keep surviving quarantine. Glad to have you home safe and well. And we look forward to more Not parkrunning updates from hotel quarantine, although perhaps a roving report might be a little too much of a challenge in these circumstances.

00:30:27Lyndell Murray: Yeah, I don't know that I'd find anyone to talk to. So maybe not a roving report, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be out and about and roving reporting again for the parkrun adventurers.

00:30:39Oliver Spake: Excellent. We look forward to it. Thank you, Lyndell.

00:30:41Lyndell Murray: Thanks, Ollie.

00:30:49Melissa Ellis: And thanks for that, Ollie. I enjoyed hearing from Lyndell and the experience she's had over there in Japan for the Paralympics. Must be amazing. And we're glad you're home safe, Lyndell.

00:31:01Oliver Spake: I agree. It was great to catch up. And hotel quarantine sounds busy, Mel. I think they have all sorts of Zoom activities. I felt like I should have asked Lyndell just to give us a bit of an insight into what fouls she might have called or what penalties she might have called. So I have to save that for another day.

00:31:20Melissa Ellis: Yeah, well, she liked the third umpire, Ollie.

00:31:23Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's it. And on such a scale. So well done, Lyndell.

00:31:26Melissa Ellis: Yeah, we're very impressed.

Emails

00:31:28Oliver Spake: Another thing we are impressed by, Mel, is... You've got mail. We've got some mail.

00:31:33Melissa Ellis: Yes, we have, Ollie. It was exciting to hear from a couple of... A couple of our listeners, one a little bit more unusual than the other, but would you like to read us the first one, Ollie, from Bruce?

00:31:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, and I'll stress that Bruce is not the one you're calling unusual, just to clarify that. And Bruce said, hey, team, congrats on the 250. What a milestone. Thanks for creating the new adventurers Run Club, and I am now proudly member number 14. I guess that would make me runner 14 if this was Abel Township. Did you also notice it is possible to show the (not)parkrun tally for run clubs now? A pretty cool extra motivator. Speaking of zombies, have you tried for an interview with the producers or actors from the app? Cheers, Bruce.

00:32:28Melissa Ellis: Wow, that's a good idea, Ollie.

00:32:31Oliver Spake: Yes, people are looking into it, if I'm not mistaken, Mel.

00:32:34Melissa Ellis: That's correct, yes. We're going to see what we can do. We're going to try to contact somebody official from the Zombies Run app, and if we can't, we'll just take other measures.

00:32:46Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:32:46Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, we also heard, we also, how can I put this?

00:32:53Oliver Spake: I think just, let's just read it, Mel. Let's just read it.

00:32:55Melissa Ellis: Okay. It reads, my dear adventurers. Please accept my apologies. I didn't listen to the pod till Monday and missed Abby's challenge. I promise to do better in the future. From the Inverloch Stump.

00:33:13Oliver Spake: Sincere apology.

00:33:14Melissa Ellis: Who knew we could get an email from the Inverloch Stump? Don't quite know how to respond.

00:33:21Oliver Spake: No, no, no. You're a bit stumped, are we, Mel? one Ollie yeah yeah I'm not sure I'm not sure that's deserving of any sort of compliment but thank you Bruce and thank you stump um we do love hearing and um I'm sure that the challenge will be met I don't know that Abby will be so impressed with that no okay we might leave that till later yeah all right spoiler alert No spoilers, no spoilers.

Dazza's

00:33:53Oliver Spake: Mel, let's move on because Dazza's was pumping. It was. Dazza's was busy. Do you think the Bingoe card had anything to do with it?

00:34:02Melissa Ellis: Maybe, yeah. Might have been a factor. But that's okay. You know, introduce people to Dazza's. They might turn up and like the atmosphere and come back.

00:34:14Oliver Spake: And look, it was a week of celebration, a week of celebrating the 250, a week of celebrating the start of streaky September. And for some of us, celebrating doing a parkrun. So of our parkrunners that we heard from, we heard from Pippa White. She said, hi Dazza, a hot chocolate and whichever cake is left, please. Herrington Country parkrun in just over 26 minutes. I meant to run a second time and take pics, but I did cheering and chatting instead. Jenny Reedman. Very fitting, I have to say. 250 for me today and realised my permanent marker wasn't permanent. I'll have to rewrite all the 250 parkrun names. Oh, goodness. Big congratulations, though, Jenny. Well done. We also heard from Linda Coombes. Warwick parkrun's eighth anniversary. The three of us were on the original event team. Our theme was come representing your favourite holiday destination. And we had also heard from Val Warwick. Late to Dazza's today. I will have to make it afternoon tea instead. Steve and I were volleying at Port Sorell parkrun today. It was a stunning spring day and it was fun divesting myself of my puffer jacket down to my apricot shirt. Hopefully spring is here to stay, but being Tassie, I won't hold my breath. Loved the podcast 250, sending best wishes to all in lockdown.

00:35:47Melissa Ellis: Aw, thanks, Val.

00:35:48Oliver Spake: Thanks, Val. And from me, hello, Chico. Mandy Oliver, I didn't feel like I was actually getting my feet off the ground this morning, but a rainbow at Surfers Paradise was nice to start.

00:36:03Melissa Ellis: And then we heard from Stephen Warwick. Val checking out results after volunteering at Port Sorell parkrun as she closes in on her 100th milestone in a few weeks. I think that's a volunteering milestone, is it?

00:36:17Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

00:36:18Melissa Ellis: And Errol Poole, it was a Macca's drive-through coffee for us this morning, attended Patawalonga River parkrun with my daughter to regain my South Australian statesmanship again. Well done, Errol. Yeah. And Greg Garner, out on a parkrun adventure with my mum to Baringa parkrun this morning. And we heard from Janet Reid. Good morning, adventurers and streakers. What a glorious morning for Lochiel Park's sixth birthday. The parkrun weather fairies were most obliging. 235 brightly coloured smiling parkrunners celebrated with our newly created playlist. Then it was back to the clubhouse for bubbles to continue the fun. We raise a glass to all our friends in lockdown and hope you managed a (not)parkrun today. parkrun love and hugs to you all. And apologies for the chihuahuas.

00:37:14Oliver Spake: Very excited, yes. Yeah, great to see some parkrun anniversaries in there and happy birthday to our parkruns. Mel, we also had a couple of our Channel 5 News crew reporting in. So Cam, Cameron Drake, a beautiful day for a trot round Dawesville parkrun followed by coffee at the Leprechaun. Set my sights on an unrealistic time and made it by eight seconds with a rock star finish. Spent so long chatting afterwards, it's almost time for lunch.

00:37:42Melissa Ellis: Sounds like Cam had a good morning.

00:37:45Oliver Spake: Yeah. Well done, Cam. And I like the finish. I wish I was there to see that one. Mark Scarborough. Scarborough's collected a K at Kununurra parkrun WA today. And TOC. Tony O'Connell. No coffee at Eagle's Nest. Help. Please send latte. Mm. Alison King. Morning. Another Linmore not parkrun today, followed by a lockdown live with Vicky and Stu in Hamilton, or my fluffy singlet to celebrate Winter Pride because the special Winter Pride parkrun was cancelled. And our Channel 5 News crew member in qualification at the moment, Tracey Wood. Morning, Dazza. After my run this morning, I got myself an iced latte to cool down with. It's getting warm here.

00:38:31Melissa Ellis: And on the (not)parkrun front, we've got Melanie McGregor. A (not)parkrun for me here in New Zealand. It's a stunning warm spring day. I started my day with a five kilometre run and then did another five kilometre walk with my dog Scout. Ticked off a few bingo and bingo, as I have three cards going at the moment. Hashtag streaky September bingo. Hashtag runs with a barcode. Hashtag not parkrun. Coffee at Dazza's Cafe can now be ticked off too.

00:39:05Oliver Spake: Achievements.

00:39:06Melissa Ellis: And then Helen Davis, it's been one of those mornings so we are on our third coffee. We did get out and enjoy our five-kilometre walk with some hills. We even managed to do it roughly at parkrun o'clock. Avo bacon cheese and egg keto wraps for Brekkie here today and 95% chocolate with coffee number two. And I'm with you there, Helen, on the 95% chocolate challenge. And Vicky Thompson, did the Gurdies not parkrun this morning while the weather was fine? Only had a smartphone for two weeks and haven't mastered selfies yet. That's okay, Vicky. Practice makes perfect.

00:39:47Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:39:48Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Richard. Good morning, Dazza's Cafe. Slept in this morning. Will run later. I did catch up with my sister in Canada over Messenger this morning, so that was nice. Now it's coffee time. I wonder if she's a parkrunner over there in Canada. You'll have to let us know, Richard. And Ingrid Botha logged my first (not)parkrun in a while just because I've joined the Adventurers Club. I was number six to join, which means technically I'm following runner five and therefore must be a zombie. And we did try to work out who was the fifth person to join the Adventurers Club and we believe it's Peter Pohlman. He's run a five.

00:40:34Oliver Spake: I'm sure we'll see more in due course. But, yeah, I think you're right there, Mel. Our Bailey shot. So we heard from Brett Bailey, happy 250th podcast, not parkrun on a cool, clear Woodend Beach with Tanya and Brunner in our Pegasus 250th shirts commemorating the first Canterbury earthquake 11 years ago today early on a Saturday morning. Wow, 11. Tanya Bailey, Woodend Beach, not parkrun today in lovely sunshine, home for cooked breakfast and a Zoom quiz with our parkrun friends. And Rebecca Bailey, Banksia Avenue, not parkrun this morning. Lovely morning for it. We doubled our numbers today as housemate and fellow Kiwi in Ausland joined in for a first time not parkrun. Happy streaky September and Kia Kaha Christchurch on this 11-year anniversary of the first earthquake. And I apologise for the pronunciation there, Bec. [Te Reo Māori: "Stay strong, Christchurch"]

00:41:35Melissa Ellis: But we're thinking of our New Zealand comrades at that time.

00:41:41Amanda: Yep.

00:41:42Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Bruce Purdy, our part-time doggo Kelly and I went for a wet weather road, not parkrun. Suffice to say, a wet Kelly and a muddy Bruce by the end. And Chris Fraser, only managed a half nottie, I think too many streaky kilometres in these legs. Pick is of someone's reply to a what do you eat that others find weird post. And the response was a hot sausage roll on a well-buttered finger bun. Had them at school and no one else wanted to bludge a bite. Winning. Yeah. He always comes up with something unique, doesn't he, Chris?

00:42:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, I haven't tried that one. I'm not sure if it's on the list, Mel.

00:42:30Melissa Ellis: No, I don't think we'll have a club for that.

00:42:33Oliver Spake: No.

00:42:34Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Sam Schroder. Happy 250 pods, Dazza. Can I have a skim flat white? Too late? Sorry, I was too busy painting parkrun rocks this morning and got week 10 of the Love Shack not parkrun done in the late afternoon drizzle today. And we heard from Will Barlow. Up, up in the rain, up the mountain, up with the goat, lots have loved you all from the ACT. And good to hear from you, Will.

00:43:03Oliver Spake: Yep, up in the hills with Will. That's it. A few more Not parkrunners still to come. Margie Lewis. Hey, everyone at Dazza's Cafe this morning. Glorious morning for a (not)parkrun here. Have a great day. And Adrian Hillyer, a (not)parkrun at Peppertree parkrun with Cooper and a takeaway coffee and cinnamon scroll from Botanica. Bernadette Bennett, and Mel, you were referring to Bernadette a little earlier in the pod. Suburban pirate not parkrun this morning. A 5K loop of the seven seas with a hearty arrr before seeking safe harbour in our very own sea. Fresh juice and granola this morning, please.

00:43:47Melissa Ellis: I love that, Ollie. You did well.

00:43:50Oliver Spake: Well, it sort of grew. It's no Lindle, but it grew. Yeah, and Lynette Ann. Cappuccino, please. Just got in before the rain. Nice heating in here.

00:44:02Melissa Ellis: And welcome, Lynette. Welcome to Dazza's. That's right.

00:44:05Oliver Spake: Yeah, it was nice and warm. It was full of some great reports. Thank you, everyone, for sharing and joining us at Dazza's.

00:44:14Melissa Ellis: And I was very impressed with Bernadette's composition of her suburban pirate challenge. Bernadette posted a photo of all the street signs that were the seven C's that she collected and the R. So, yeah. I was inspired enough to go out and do that myself today in my local area and that was a great inspiration because it was my rest day from my training and it gave me a focus and, you know, spiced up my walk today and took me down streets. To be honest, Ollie, I wouldn't normally go down. I went on this different route finding all these street names that started with C and saw a lot of different areas that I wouldn't normally see otherwise. So thanks, Bernadette.

00:45:03Oliver Spake: Oh, what a great outcome. That's just lovely, hearing the sharing, just inspiring new adventures, even the simplest of adventures. They go a long way. So, yeah, no, that's good. That's good.

00:45:16Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it just made my walk a little bit more interesting because otherwise I would probably just, you know, walk my normal route and have no reason to vary it. But today I did.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:45:26Oliver Spake: Now, Mel, we've been fortunate enough to hear from a few of the crew with Roving Reports this week. So why don't we tune into them now and have a listen.

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Kununurra parkrun

00:45:45Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew and today we are at Kununurra parkrun in Western Australia and this will be our last parkrun in WA as we are just outside the Northern Territory border and we'll be crossing over in the coming days. So Kununurra parkrun takes place at Swim Beach Park in Kununurra and we're going to have a parkrun and have a chat to a few people here today. I'm here with Megan, who's a Kununurra parkrun with me. Good morning, Megan. How are you?

00:46:16Megan: I'm good, thank you.

00:46:17Mark Scarborough: And what brought you to Kununurra parkrun?

00:46:20Megan: So I'm travelling with my family at the moment. We've come from SA and we're travelling around WA for the next few months. And I'm trying to fit in as many parkruns as I can. This will be my first visitor parkrun.

00:46:32Mark Scarborough: So first to WA?

00:46:33Megan: Yes, yeah. So first on our trip, we left three weeks ago.

00:46:35Mark Scarborough: Okay, so you've come out through the centre?

00:46:37Megan: Yes, yeah, yeah.

00:46:39Mark Scarborough: And where is your home parkrun?

00:46:41Megan: Reynella East parkrun.

00:46:43Mark Scarborough: And what are your key ones you're going to be ticking off do you think in WA?

00:46:47Megan: As many as I can hopefully we're there on a Saturday morning so this is yeah the first one that's kind of lined up for me.

00:46:56Mark Scarborough: And the family didn't get out of bed early with you?

00:46:59Megan: I almost got them to come but not quite we'll get there.

00:47:03Mark Scarborough: And what got you into parkrun originally back at South Australia?

00:47:06Megan: So it's actually my auntie and uncle in Hamilton, Victoria. So they started parkrun just for fun and I heard their stories and watched their posts on Facebook and thought that why not get into it. It actually started my running journey doing parkruns. Very good.

00:47:23Mark Scarborough: And here you are in Kununurra ready to do a parkrun here.

00:47:27Megan: Yes, yeah, hopefully it's not too hot for me. It's a big weather change.

00:47:31Mark Scarborough: Yeah, it is a bit warm but we'll see how we go. We're open to a parkrun.

00:47:34Megan: Excellent, thank you.

00:47:37Mark Scarborough: I'm here with Graham now. How was your Kununurra parkrun, Graham?

00:47:40Graham: Well, it was a bit warm. Being from South Australia, I'm used to cool the weather, so this sort of temperature and humidity was a bit tough today. What's your home parkrun? So Torrens in South Australia.

00:47:50Mark Scarborough: What brought you to Kununurra today?

00:47:53Graham: We're full-time travellers. So 20 months ago, we sold up the house in Adelaide and bought a big caravan and been travelling around from parkrun to parkrun ever since.

00:48:01Mark Scarborough: So I notice you're wearing a 250 milestone shirt. How long ago did you hit 250?

00:48:05Graham: Oh, just before COVID actually. So just before COVID-1 hit. So that's got to be, what, a year and a bit now. Only managed another 30-odd parkruns since then.

00:48:15Mark Scarborough: And so travelling around, how many unique parkruns have you done? I think we're very close to 80 at the moment now. And which way are you travelling? So if you come from Adelaide and then head a particular direction?

00:48:29Graham: Well, with border closures and things like that, we were doing the east coast, laps of the east coast. We've done about two or three of those laps. And then when the borders opened up, we finally made it up through Darwin into Kununurra. And now we're doing the west coast down and through to Perth and then back to Adelaide and then see what happens from there. So 280 odd parkruns ago, what got you started? Basically, it was just that Torrens parkrun was created. I was doing long distance running marathons and things like that and never really did fast stuff. But when Torrens was created, I just went down there to see what it was all about and suddenly found that 5Ks is really, really hard, even if you're used to doing marathon, because you've just got to basically go flat out for 5Ks and it absolutely kills. But it's great fun and it's a really great community.

00:49:16Mark Scarborough: Now, travelling around 80 odd different parkruns, what are your top three without naming your home parkrun?

00:49:22Graham: Oh, that's so hard. Everything. There's so many really, really good ones that I would be really struggling. If you'd have given me a 10 minute notice, I probably could have come up with them, but I really would struggle to put my name on one at the moment. I've found that there's been some really pretty little three-lapper, four-lappers, which I thought I'd never like. There's been some trail ones, but I really would struggle to put my name on one. This is a really nice course here at Kununurra. I really like the path, but it would just need to be 20 degrees cooler for it to be my favourite.

00:49:58Mark Scarborough: And what's next on the calendar then?

00:50:01Graham: Well, we're going west, and I have to say I'm not entirely sure. I've got a feeling Broome would be our next major capital, but I don't think there's a parkrun there, so I'm going to struggle to find another one for a while.

00:50:11Mark Scarborough: So we've just come that way. If you listen to the parkrun adventurers podcast, the last couple of episodes, you'll hear some reports of mine from Karratha and Dampier. I didn't do a parkrun there, but spoke to the EDs there, but we've also got Port Hedland, so you've got quite a few to check out in the next couple of hundred kilometres.

00:50:28Graham: Oh, that's fantastic because that's pretty well what we do is we pretty well plan a holiday to be at a location where there's a parkrun each Saturday. If it's humanly possible, we'll be here.

00:50:38Mark Scarborough: All right, well, we'll stop there and I'll have a chat to you offline and give you some tips about the ones that are coming up. Thanks for your time.

00:50:43Graham: No worries. Thank you very much.

00:50:45Wolver: So I'm here with Wolver, who is a Kununurra local. Good morning, how are you? Yeah, thank you. I'm very well. It's getting a bit warmer, so higher humidity, and tonight we might even have the first rain, which is unusual for Kununurra in September.

00:51:01Mark Scarborough: How was your parkrun today, and what number Kununurra parkrun for you today?

00:51:08Wolver: The parkrun today, I did under 22. My PB is sort of under 19. So I did run this year under 19. I normally run shorter distances. I just started over three years ago. And yeah, today it was obviously warmer, but I have a few little tiny injuries, so I took it easier over under 22. And yeah, it's a great day. It's enjoyable if you don't run every day, your personal best. So how many parkruns have you done here? Okay, yeah, I did 98 here and all over I did 102. I did a couple of them Darwin, which are around 200, 800 kilometres away. And last year before COVID, I was very, very lucky. I went to Germany and in Germany, it's picking up too. There's a parkrun just north of Frankfurt. It's called Gießen, 70, 80 k's. And I did a couple of them in freezing temperatures, so even 19 minutes. And we have a very nice setting. We're sitting after the parkrun together in a soccer clubhouse. And we have a buffet, 40, 50 different things, coffee, cake. And people bring things and people put in money. And that was great. Around 150 people maybe running up there. Maybe not in the moment with COVID, but that was a great experience, parkrun International, fantastic.

00:52:31Mark Scarborough: Yeah, some of the German parkruns are back, but I think there's still a few on pause there. What does parkrun mean to you here at Kununurra?

00:52:38Wolver: Yeah, parkrun for us, it's great. It's because it has nothing, it's free. No alcohol is attached and everyone can come. And we had recently... some improvements the shire helped us to clear the starting area and also the run track and the bike path is is also newly sealed and it is a it is a great place it's a whole loop and it's very nice you can see the birds and it's hot you need to make sure to drink enough but Kununurra parkrun is for me I I did run maybe the last three years um over six thousand seven thousand kilometres and it's it's a great uh a great way to meet other people and also for fitness. It's just invaluable. It's a fantastic start, what we did in the UK.

00:53:31Mark Scarborough: Well, thank you very much for your time and enjoy more travels around.

00:53:34Wolver: Thank you. Bye.

00:53:37Mark Scarborough: All right, parkrunners, that's us done here at Kununurra parkrun and also coming to an end of our time here in Western Australia where we're heading towards Northern Territory now. We'll talk to you in a few weeks on the parkrun adventurers.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Bundaberg parkrun

00:53:51Tracey Wood: Good morning, parkrunners. It's Tracey in a Tutu and I have bounded from Brisbane to Bundaberg, back to my hometown with its beautiful beaches, Bundaberg rum and occasionally a large white polar bear. I've turned up at Bundaberg parkrun course. It's still fairly early yet, but I'm going to wander around a bit. Let's see who all you can go chat to. Okay, I've found Tanya, and she's a local to Bundaberg, tends to go to Bargara parkrun a bit. But Tanya, we actually met in Brisbane, and I know 2020 was a bit of a, to some people, but for you especially so.

00:54:29Tanya: And would you mind sharing a little bit of your story? Sure, I can do that. In 2019, October, my son was diagnosed with leukaemia. So we had to relocate to Brisbane and I spent 10 months in Brisbane. And that's when I sought out running buddies and I met Tracey. But I've just, running saved me. We got through our year down there by running.

00:55:00Tracey Wood: Excellent. Tanya, can I just say it is really, really good to see you back in your hometown and things are just so normal for you. It is wonderful. It is just lovely to see.

00:55:11Tanya: It's so much nicer to be home, but it was nice to be in Brisbane until COVID, hit and that of course made life harder than it was already for us so um but we're thankful for small things and parkruns I got to do some different parkruns down there before that all shut down so that was that was exciting you know in itself too so I had to try and make the best of of both worlds like yeah try and find a positive in in a negative situation so touring's not big on your radar at the moment because you're happy to stay home aren't you

00:55:46Amanda: Yes, definitely.

00:55:47Tracey Wood: Well, thanks for coming into Bundy parkrun to meet me anyway. We'll have to do Bargara, not parkrun tomorrow then. Sounds lovely. Sounds good. And I've finished the course. I've found Amanda, isn't it?

00:55:58Amanda: Yes, Amanda. Hi, how are you going? I am great, thank you. What's your job this morning? I'm being Timekeeper this morning.

00:56:04Tracey Wood: And now I've finished 34. I was pretty impressed with that, but I'm told there's not that many people here this morning.

00:56:10Amanda: No, you're probably about the middle of the pack today, position 34. We'll probably get about 50 or 60 finishers today. Yeah, excellent. And is this your home parkrun? Yes, yes. I literally live just up the road. Okay. And do you volunteer here a bit? Yeah, yeah, I try and volunteer at least once a month. Give my time back to parkrun, yeah. Put them down here most weeks.

00:56:31Tracey Wood: Yeah, excellent. And is Timekeeper your favourite role? No.

00:56:34Amanda: No, no. Timekeeper is probably the hardest role, but saying that, it's really easy. Like, it's pressure. It's pressure. It's pressure, because if you press that button twice...

00:56:45Tracey Wood: Yeah, yeah.

00:56:46Amanda: But I think my favourite is probably barcode scanning. Yes. Because you get to chat to everyone as they come in. Yes. And you get to find out if they had a good run, a bad run, did they get a PB. That's probably my favourite.

00:56:57Tracey Wood: Yeah, I'd have to agree. And do you do touring much at all? Not a lot, but if I am somewhere where there is a parkrun on a Saturday.

00:57:05Amanda: Yes. You're there, you're there. Okay. Have you got anything on your radar, anything you want to head to? I'd like to get back to Brisbane. It's been a while, but my parents literally live up the road from Stones Corner, and so I'm pretty keen for that one when it reopens. Would love to do some stuff in New South Wales, maybe eventually. I've seen some beautiful parkruns there, but yeah, nothing concrete on the radar.

00:57:28Tracey Wood: Excellent. All right. Well, nice chatting to you, and thank you for volunteering this morning.

00:57:32Amanda: No worries. Thanks.

00:57:34Tracey Wood: And last of all, I found Matt, the Run Director here today. Now, Matt, I've heard you're the shy retiring type and I'll be lucky to get a couple of words out of you.

00:57:43Matt: Is that right, Matt? There may be a little bit of truth in that, but I can neither confirm nor deny that.

00:57:49Tracey Wood: Excellent.

00:57:50Matt: How's it all gone this morning? This morning's been great. First run of spring. Nice, crisp morning to start with, but warmed up really quickly. Not a huge crowd, but... That's one of the things we love about our parkrun in particular. Our numbers fluctuate between 50 and 100 probably most weeks. And most of the people who are coming to Bundaberg are regulars and enjoy that atmosphere of being a regular runner.

00:58:16Tracey Wood: Now, for the listeners of the podcast, could you possibly describe Bundaberg parkrun course?

00:58:22Matt: I can describe Bundaberg parkrun. Bundaberg parkrun is in the beautiful Queen's Park, which lies adjacent to the Burnett River. It's a three-lap course with a couple of small little hills, mostly bitumen, but a few little grass patches as we come up behind the hospital. So our park is situated directly behind two hospitals and an ambulance station. So we find ourselves, you know, if anything does go wrong, which it never has, we reckon we're pretty all right.

00:58:49Tracey Wood: Yeah, yeah. Okay, well, it's relatively flat. There's a couple of small undulating bits. I did pass by a creek. I thought that we actually ran over the bridge at one stage because I have been here before, but that's not right.

00:59:03Matt: No, no, no. The run itself comes around the corner. Yeah, we come... One side we've got parkland, on the other side we literally run right along the riverbank.

00:59:11Tracey Wood: Yes.

00:59:12Matt: A couple of little causeways that you go over, concrete causeways, with the creek that runs through to feed into the river. But it's, you know, it's a nice little area, a few mangroves... A little bit of a pong occasionally from the mangroves, but it's still one of those nice little runs, especially as you're coming down and the sun's just coming up over the water and you can look back and see the bridge and the rowers out on the water and just enjoying the atmosphere.

00:59:42Tracey Wood: Yeah, excellent. And how long have you been doing this, Matt?

00:59:46Matt: I have been part of parkrun since before we began. Yes. I started my parkrun journey at Berrinba in Brisbane and then moved back home to Bundaberg, at which time there wasn't a parkrun, but someone who's become a good friend of mine, who was our first ED here, Maladie Scott, was pushing to get it, up and running yes and I saw the story in the local media got in touch with Mel and became one of her first rds excellent and now mel's sort of retired from the ed role and I've taken on that role excellent all right well I've had a great morning here thank you very much for putting it on and thank you to all the volunteers and thanks for chatting to the podcast always great to have people come visit regional Queensland especially our little town that's got the best of the bush and the coast thanks Matt

01:00:33Tracey Wood: Okay, that's all from me, Tracey in a Tutu, signing off from Bundaberg parkrun. I'm going to go before the midges actually carry me out of here. Okay, chat to you another time. See you on the B-side.

Roving report Dave — roving reporter, Waterloo Plains — Waterloo Plains

01:00:47Dave: Hello, I'm with Amber, who's the Run Director. You're also the Event Director, I assume?

01:00:54Amber: I am the Event Director. I'm a Co-Event Director, but my Co-Event Director has moved to Rainbow Beach at the interim.

01:01:00Dave: Okay, and whereabouts are we at the moment?

01:01:02Amber: We're in Wandoan.

01:01:03Dave: And the name of the parkrun is?

01:01:04Amber: Is Waterloo Plains.

01:01:05Dave: And why is it called Waterloo Plains?

01:01:09Amber: That's where we start and finish our parkrun here. They don't get named after the towns anymore, so Waterloo Plains is the environmental park that we meet at.

01:01:17Dave: Okay. And why did you choose Waterloo Plains as the course?

01:01:24Amber: parkrun have rules around not being able to cross roads so we don't have a lot of pathways around here that would loop into a course so we had to find somewhere that was off-road and this was the perfect place so I went for a drive one day and found a course.

01:01:42Dave: Okay and how would you describe the course?

01:01:45Amber: It is a trail. There is no pathways at all. It's all dirt. It's undulating. There are some challenging parts to it. If we get a bit of rain, it can be a bit muddy and we have had to call it off a few times because of rain.

01:02:00Dave: Okay, I imagine here in Wandoan when it rains you do get a lot of water in places.

01:02:08Amber: Yeah, you do and because the course is completely dirt, if we've had rain close to the Saturday it will inevitably be caught off. It gets a bit dangerous.

01:02:19Dave: Okay, and how long has the parkrun been going here?

01:02:23Amber: This is our 35th week. So we started on the 12th of December last year after being approved earlier in 2020.

01:02:30Dave: Okay, and how did you go about funding the course?

01:02:36Amber: Oh, that was a two-year process. So initially we approached council without any joy there. So in order to find the money, we had a combination of donations from QGC staff who very kindly, seven of them donated $500 each to get us going. And we had approached the Apex group in town who helped me run a mango drive And they also ran a bar at a local event, which gave us the final amount that we needed to start this process.

01:03:10Dave: And something I probably should have asked from the word go, what got you into parkrun?

01:03:15Amber: I started running about eight years ago and discovered that there was parkruns out there and thought it would be a fantastic idea to have one here but didn't really know what to do to get it going at that point. Sorry, so a girlfriend of mine moved to town seven years ago and she encouraged me to continue that process and we had a community meeting to gauge interest and we sort of took it from there, started the process.

01:03:42Dave: Oh, very good actually. It's worked out really well.

01:03:46Amber: It has, it has.

01:03:47Dave: It was very good. As you know, three of us came out today and I don't think I've ever been through Wandoan before.

01:03:56Amber: No, I'd never been to Wandoan before. I came here the first time either, about 12 years ago.

01:04:02Dave: Okay, and one of the things we had, we were looking for accommodation here overnight and everything was booked out due to polocrosse.

01:04:13Amber: Yeah, the state championships, polocrosse championships are here this weekend and people come from a long way away for it. There are thousands of people down at the showgrounds at the moment. It's just unfortunate that it was this weekend that you tried to get here. However, right at our start and finish, there is an amazing little area to camp for caravans. There's fantastic hot showers, all clean, beautiful toilets there right near the start.

01:04:43Dave: I can vouch for this, yes.

01:04:44Amber: And you can camp basically right outside our door there where we start.

01:04:49Dave: And what else would there be to do in Wandoan? Or the general area. I should add actually here, we're staying out of town about 40, 50 Ks at the old, what's it, Possum?

01:05:02Amber: Possum Park.

01:05:03Dave: Possum Park, which is old bunker, Well, they've got multiple things there for anyone who is touristing. Loads of accommodation, but they're actually doing up a plane there at the moment, which I think they've done quite a few over the years. World War II bunkers. I think that was on the Brisbane line located. For those of you who know a bit of history for Brisbane and the sacrifice they're going to do with northern Queensland, But yeah, so in general, people, if they were thinking of heading out this way,

01:05:38Amber: Okay, so north of us there is Isla Gorge, which is a really lovely place to visit. There's Isla Gorge out there. And we do have weirs in this area as well that you can go to. Wandoan is a very small town and I wouldn't say particularly in Wandoan that there are amazing lot of things to do on a week-to-week basis, but we do have some really cool events and we've got a camel races coming up. which will be a parkrun day. So we've got a nice theme that week of camels and jockeys.

01:06:09Dave: And do you know the actual date for that one?

01:06:12Amber: Yeah, 9th of October.

01:06:13Dave: Thank you very much.

01:06:14Amber: 2021, yes, 2021. So we'll be here with our bells on. We've got lots of visitors coming out and parkrun visitors coming out for that event. There'll be thousands of people here for that.

01:06:24Dave: Look, Amber, thank you very much. And we did enjoy the event today. Not bad, fantastic. Covered in sweat by the end.

01:06:30Amber: We surprisingly get a lot of visitors here to the point where the local motel here actually offers a parkrun discount because they've had so many people turn up here for parkrun.

01:06:42Dave: Didn't know that.

01:06:43Amber: And stay at the motel, the Bushlander Motel, which is literally just behind the parkrun area as well.

01:06:48Dave: Okay, so further recommendations for anyone who happens to be in, what would you class this, sort of west of Brisbane, I don't know, five hours drive?

01:06:58Amber: Yeah, we're about five hours west of Brisbane here, three to three and a half hours west of Toowoomba.

01:07:05Dave: I thoroughly recommend it. Enjoy it. It's a nice trail run. I was going to say flat. Undulating is probably the usual term that goes through. And, yeah, it's a good group of people. Thank you. Thank you very much.

01:07:19Amber: Thank you so much for visiting. Ta.

the Informant

01:07:30The Informant: Hello Parkies, this is the Informant, coming to you live from Lockdown Central. These are unofficial stats and they are only current at the time they are collected. They may differ from the stats you read elsewhere, but why would you do that when you can get it all right here at the parkrun adventurers. Yes Parkies, I am back. Out with the old and in with the new. Stop banging on about the olden days and live in the now. And what's a better way to start than with the children of the future? The young ones have been getting pushed aside in recent weeks, but no more. And what's more, we're going to do a catch up. Yes, that's right. We're going to do a fortnight of stats. Three junior parkruns have had two runs over the last two weeks with 291 finishes. Bellevue Park, Des Connor Park and Thorndon. We've seen 33 junior first timers and 110 PBs. And we've seen seven juniors collect the half marathon milestones. Congratulations to Ada Gossink, Allegra Clark, Ava Partridge, Genevieve Hood, Josephine Monaco, Shervin Sheik and Thomas Moore. In the 5K week, globally the number of events was a post-COVID record of 1,176. There were another six launches. One in Canada, one in Germany, one in the Netherlands, one in Russia and two in the UK. There were 209 runs in Australia, down 1, and New Zealand is still on a break. Aussie New Zealand attendance was up 718, to 18,231 out of 162,861 worldwide, which is just 85 more than last week. Down under, we had 2,249 PBs, while 577 people participated for the first time.

01:09:11[12 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

01:09:23The Informant: 43 juniors reached the Junior 10 milestone, 88 people reached their 50 milestone, 69 reached their 100 milestone, and 10 people reached their 250 milestone. All pretty similar to last week. Five people called bingo. Karen Langdon was the quickest with a super quick 180 events. Carrie-Anne Berlin was the slowest person taking 314 events. Just three new states people this week. Debbie Pushinishi and Adam Quatermain in the Northern Territory. And Lisa McCarthy at White Mark Wharf in Tasmania. Quite again in the top 20 most events list. Jim Woodbridge moves to 6th out right on 172 different events by running at Airlie Beach. Jan Biggum is now 18th out right after also running at Airlie Beach. Overall biggest mover was Anne Rayner moving up 12 places to 227. Biggest Windexer is Roslo, who moves up 17 to 30, which also debuts on the South Australian Top 10 Windexers. And that's it. If you didn't get a shout-out, try harder next week. Oh, what? I'm getting the wind-up signal from Ollie. Another long episode coming. If the oldies would stop waffling, there wouldn't be a problem. So to see these stats in full, and maybe last week's... Look for The Informant on Facebook or visit the blog at www.theinformant.me. That's The Informant, all one word, dot m e. Well, I'm off to charge the Garmin and log a streaky. Happy arbitrary 251st. This has been the informant, and my stats report is heaps better than yours. Yes, that's right. I'm talking to you, Mr. Harry Highpants. Said grumps a lot. His royal baseness. He can see me, but he's got no idea what I'm saying. Ah, this is gold. He's going to choke on his milk every week.

01:11:19Oliver Spake: And thank you to Mark, Tracey and to Dave for the roving reports. And look, thank you to all of our EDs and parkrunners there too. It was lovely to hear from a couple of parkrunners we haven't heard so much from.

01:11:32Melissa Ellis: I know. Some new places to check out.

01:11:35Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. When we're allowed to do all that stuff again. Yes. And, Mel, I think there might be a growing group of people looking to take said adventures to different park routes.

Adventurers Run Club update

01:11:50Melissa Ellis: Oh, are you talking about our new Adventurers Club, Ollie?

01:11:55Oliver Spake: I might be.

01:11:57Melissa Ellis: Yes, it's growing. We've got 26 members now, two members on the Consolidated Club Report already this week, as of Monday, Claire at Meadowbrook and Tracey at Bundaberg.

01:12:12Oliver Spake: Well done.

01:12:13Melissa Ellis: And two notties as well, TOC and Peter Pohlman.

01:12:16Oliver Spake: Yeah, now I feel like I'm letting the side down.

01:12:18Melissa Ellis: You are.

Not parkrun results

01:12:22Oliver Spake: Is that the segue to the (not)parkrun results, Mel?

01:12:26Melissa Ellis: Ooh. So this was a big thing this week, Ollie. After the end of the pod where Abby almost, she what, threw down the challenge, which was directed at Shellharbour, I must say. Yes. And an encouragement to you to up your game at Shellharbour.

01:12:48Oliver Spake: Which I appreciated. Thank you again, Abby. Yep.

01:12:53Melissa Ellis: Inverloch took the bull by the horns and upped the ante this week, Ollie.

01:13:01Oliver Spake: They did.

01:13:01Melissa Ellis: Inverloch topped the country.

01:13:03Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:13:03Melissa Ellis: They came home winners this week with 76, not parkrunners.

01:13:08Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, that stump has been busy this week. Absolutely has. Well done, Inverloch. That's a fantastic participation. I understand there are plans afoot for potentially even more participation next week, Mel. Yeah.

01:13:21Melissa Ellis: And Wyndham Vale came in second with 59. And Shellharbour, not a shabby total of 32. Thank you. But I think there's definitely a war going now, I believe. And it's not with Shellharbour.

01:13:41Oliver Spake: I'm assuming it doesn't involve Shellharbour, no.

01:13:44Melissa Ellis: I think the Inverloch versus Wyndham Vale war, a friendly war.

01:13:49Oliver Spake: Yep. Yes, yeah, yeah. This is all friendly. It's all fun.

01:13:53Melissa Ellis: Clark Norris versus the stump. I wonder what could be the, you know, best of three.

01:14:00Oliver Spake: Best of three.

01:14:02Melissa Ellis: Okay.

01:14:03Oliver Spake: Yeah, we should have flags with mascots and things for this. I think, you know, I could really get into this. And we'll see. Do you have any hot tips for this week?

01:14:13Melissa Ellis: I've logged my (not)parkrun today.

01:14:15Oliver Spake: Okay.

01:14:16Melissa Ellis: I got in early. So that's done. What about you? Are you going to do one this week?

01:14:21Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah. Yep. I'll be out tomorrow morning and, yeah, I'll try and keep it up for most of the week, I hope. I was actually trying to. Trying is probably a loose term. Hoping, imagining that I could take on the elevation challenge that I think was referenced a few episodes ago around upping by 20 metres every day. Oh. Yeah. Didn't think that one through. Didn't think that one through. So I'll track it. I'll see where I wind up. But let's just say my last two days of two and a bit K walks have not taken me up, what are we, 100 and 120 metres respectively in elevation. Yeah, that one didn't last too long.

01:15:11Melissa Ellis: I've got a plan for some Strava art, Ollie.

01:15:14Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah.

01:15:15Melissa Ellis: I do find it hard to think up. I'm not creative in the Strava art kind of a way, but today when I did my street sign challenge, I did accidentally create a little bit of a pattern that I looked at and thought, oh, I could make that into something. So I've got a plan now. I've come home and I've looked at Google Maps and I've made a plan. So I might have a crack at that in the next couple of days. And I'm very much inspired by Peter Mitchell, I have to say, who did do an impressive effort on the Streaky September group. Well, he posted it on the Streaky September group, his Strava art for today. Yeah. Did you see it?

01:15:55Oliver Spake: I did. I love it.

01:15:58Melissa Ellis: Yes. So what Peter managed to do, bearing in mind today as of recording is the 6th of September. So he ran a route which created the numeric six. Within that six created the image of a flightless kiwi bird. And he also managed to have the total length of the run to be six kilometres.

01:16:27Amanda: Love it.

01:16:28Melissa Ellis: I think we all stand and take a bow to the master that is Peter Mitchell. Yes, yes. And I think hopefully we've got even more to look forward to. Not sure that my offering will be in that range.

01:16:45Oliver Spake: I don't know, Mel. I mean, you've got some inspiration there. There's a big month still. It sounds like you're taking inspiration not just from Peter but from Mr. Squiggle. I mean, you're seeing these lines and, you know, creating a masterpiece, I'm sure. And for our overseas listeners that aren't familiar with Mr. Squiggle, of course. Yes. Fantastic children's television from years gone by.

01:17:07Melissa Ellis: Holly, I saw Sonja Pohlman poster Strava segment today and I looked at it and I thought, oh, it's an upside down elephant.

01:17:15Amanda: And I totally thought it was Mr. Squiggle.

01:17:17Melissa Ellis: Remember he used to draw things and they would be upside down?

01:17:20Oliver Spake: Yep, that's right.

01:17:21Melissa Ellis: So I'm really hoping that Sonja takes that on board and works with that.

01:17:25Oliver Spake: And I suppose that's the point. If you do these things earlier in the month, you've got a chance to redo them. Because I too have tried to think of some Strava art. I've come up with one that looked like it fit into the street pattern, but I'm a bit worried about messing it up because the course is slightly longer than I would have hoped. But I suppose at least I can do it again if I mess up part of it. But I mustn't leave it too long, of course, because of the level up challenges.

01:17:52Melissa Ellis: Yes. And we have to announce one of those, Ollie.

01:17:56Oliver Spake: We do.

01:17:56Melissa Ellis: We've got to give everybody something new because some people, they're already ticking them all off.

01:18:01Oliver Spake: Yeah. It looks a bit easy for some. And well done. It's fantastic how creative and how well people have embraced it. But I guess by time this podcast is out, if you haven't seen the updated Bingoe card with your level up challenge, then make your way to your source of all Streaky September Bingoe cards, the Streaky September group, parkrun adventurers, I'm sure we'll have it on our page, and the Strava group. Will it go on there, Mel?

01:18:32Melissa Ellis: Yes, it will. Yes, I'll update it on there.

01:18:35Oliver Spake: Okay, so inspired by some of the efforts that we've talked about in this podcast, it's time for some street signing. And by that, it's spelling.

01:18:50Melissa Ellis: So the idea is that you go out and spell a word out of the first letters of the street signs in your local area, in your bubble, if you are locked down into a specific area. So, for instance, with the Pirate Club Challenge today, I went out and found seven street signs that started with the letter C and one that started with the letter R. However, you might choose to spell out the name of a parkrun that is your local parkrun or a parkrun that's currently locked down. That could be something like, ooh, what were the ones? Toolern Creek. Yes. Yes. Toolan Creek or Bundaberg or Waterloo Plains.

01:19:39Oliver Spake: Oh, yes. Yes. That's right, or Kununurra. Absolutely.

01:19:42Melissa Ellis: Yeah, or any word, any word that you might like to spell out. You might like to spell out your name, but anything. Yeah, be creative.

01:19:49Oliver Spake: Oh, look, and I think, and I'm going completely off cuff here, more points for the parkrun related. It's just occurred to me at this year's Palm, what was our theme for dress up, Mel?

01:19:59Melissa Ellis: Brunch? No, that was me. I've forgotten. What was our theme?

01:20:06Amanda: It was parkrun. Oh, okay. It was parkrun.

01:20:09Melissa Ellis: Yes. Well, you could spell the word parkrun, couldn't you?

01:20:12Oliver Spake: You could spell the word parkrun. You could spell your favourite thing about parkrun.

01:20:15Melissa Ellis: You could spell stump.

01:20:16Oliver Spake: You could.

01:20:17Melissa Ellis: Or you could spell cluck.

01:20:18Oliver Spake: You could spell the Inverloch. Yep, the Inverloch Stump. So, yeah, some ideas. I think everyone gets the gist, so get spelling.

01:20:28Melissa Ellis: Yes, and creative with your composition of your street signs in a photo.

01:20:34Oliver Spake: And I don't think we need to tell everyone, but let's keep it clean, right?

01:20:37Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes. Yes. We don't need to bleep any. I don't want to have to get out the beep sound effect.

01:20:44Oliver Spake: The blurring signs. Yep. Okay. All right. So we'll keep an eye out for that.

Sign-off

01:20:51Melissa Ellis: Yes, enjoy. But, Ollie, is that it for today, for this week? I guess it is. Well, then, as always, you can contact us via Facebook or on our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:22:20Abby: Hi, Mel and Ollie. First, I'd like to say a happy Father's Day to all the Adventure Dads. I took my dad for a five kilometre not parkrun and we had ice cream after. And I can see what you're doing in the lock and I'm not happy, Jan. Bye, everyone. Stay safe.