Episode 264 - Home & Away

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 264 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm joined by the man with the controversial hair, Ollie Spake.

00:00:39Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. Is that code for get a haircut?

00:00:45Melissa Ellis: Not at all, but I did notice that you're getting a lot of comments about your hair.

00:00:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's, well, it's very curly. It's very bushy and I'm not accustomed to having such a mop because, yeah, usually it's just been shaved off. So, yeah, coming into summer.

00:01:05Melissa Ellis: You did indicate that you have been to the hairdresser. Yeah. Or is that a joke?

00:01:10Oliver Spake: No, that's for real. 7 a.m., just as hairdressers were opening because I was starting the new job the day after, I thought, oh, no, I'd better get a haircut. Believe it or not, this is post-haircut. A month and a half or two months past post-haircut. So you're going the fro, Ollie. Yeah, apparently. Yeah. Apparently. It's got a mind of its own.

00:01:33Melissa Ellis: Oh, embrace it, I say.

00:01:35Oliver Spake: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, and look, special plug for parkrun merch. The visor is just fantastic. I can't put a normal cap on my head at the moment, but the visor is fantastic. Yeah. But, Mel, it was nice to – well, the segue is not quite. It was nice for you to come and see my hair, but – It was great.

00:01:58Melissa Ellis: Well, I did get to see it in person, you see.

00:02:00Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. That's the whole point of the failed segue. What a nice catch up. Thank you for visiting, Mel.

00:02:09Melissa Ellis: Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you for putting together a little crew for us to do Banksia Avenue, not parkrun.

00:02:15Oliver Spake: Oh, look, I don't think there's any credit owed to me. We were pretty stoked to get to spend the morning with a bunch of, well, listeners, fellow parkrunners, and to do, I think you've put it offline, of course, as close to scanning the whole barcode thing as you can possibly get without scanning the whole barcode thing.

00:02:36Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's exactly right, Ollie. And as we were just discussing, fundamentally, a group of people, there was, what, eight of us meeting quite early for a parkrun, 6am, much to some people's dismay, for a run around the local area and then going and spending an hour or so having coffee and brunch. Perfect. Everything that parkrun stands for in my book is

00:03:05Oliver Spake: I think so. And look, for those listeners that might not be up to speed and maybe haven't gotten the context, this was your visit that was intended to be for the relaunch of parkrun in New South Wales, which... Despite Victoria having relaunched, you still came and joined us anyway.

00:03:25Melissa Ellis: Well, yeah. Look, I was disappointed when I discovered that New South Wales was postponing their return, which meant that my trip... was not going to get me a new event in New South Wales as originally intended. But then I thought, you know what, it doesn't matter. I can go and visit some friends. I can hang out. I stayed with the Fraser's. I went to the local theatre and caught up with you guys on Saturday morning for a nottie and my bucket was full.

00:03:58Oliver Spake: Well, and you couldn't have picked a better nottie course, really, could you?

00:04:02Melissa Ellis: Oh, the famous Banksia Avenue and the Windang Bridge.

00:04:06Oliver Spake: That's right, yeah. And, look, it was, of course, very unfortunate, to say the least, for all of us to rock up to Banksia Avenue, not parkrun, without Bec Bailey. But, you know, the host that she was, she still managed to give us the run brief and all of the details remotely and make us all feel welcome. So special thanks go to Bec.

00:04:32Melissa Ellis: She did. And I did share a few photos on our Facebook page after we did the morning's events. And the photo of us out the front pointing to a signpost of Banksia Avenue is actually outside Bec's house. So that was a bit creepy.

00:04:46Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:04:48Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm curious if Bec's housemates were up early and looking out the window wondering what on earth was going on. But nonetheless, all good fun.

00:04:59Melissa Ellis: And we should mention who was present. So other than ourselves, Ollie, we had Chris Fraser.

00:05:04Oliver Spake: We did.

00:05:04Melissa Ellis: And Caro Vos, another long-time parkrun adventurer friend.

00:05:10Oliver Spake: And distance traveller, Caro, thank you for coming down.

00:05:13Melissa Ellis: That's right. We also had Karen and Ralph.

00:05:17Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:05:18Melissa Ellis: Part of the Shellharbour crew.

00:05:20Oliver Spake: And Karen we've heard from on the podcast before.

00:05:23Melissa Ellis: Yes, fellow runner five.

00:05:26Oliver Spake: Yes, wearing the headband too, I did notice.

00:05:29Melissa Ellis: And Brendan Scholarly came down to join in the fun. And Patrick Shymitzek.

00:05:36Oliver Spake: Or Shimo. As now I'm advised, I could have been calling him the whole time. Shimo? Shimo. Shimo. Shimo. Yeah.

00:05:44Melissa Ellis: Well, that would have been easier.

00:05:46Oliver Spake: Yes. I think we've all had enough practice, and you in particular, Mel, who took away the kudos for the best pronunciation.

00:05:54Melissa Ellis: Oh, no. I was a bit chuffed about that.

00:05:57Oliver Spake: Yes. Our Strava artist extraordinaire.

00:06:00Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:06:01Oliver Spake: But it wasn't quite the sunny morning we had hoped, so the light shot was a bit of a dull shot.

00:06:09Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's probably my only complaint. I left some pretty nice sunny blue skies in Victoria, jumped on the plane, only threw in a vest at the last minute as an afterthought, thinking more of the evening's trip to the theatre, assuming that it would be just as hot up in New South Wales as it had been at home. And it wasn't.

00:06:34Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's some summer we're having so far. Yeah, not quite what we had intended, but hey, yeah, you still got to run the Windang Bridge, which was hopefully everything you'd hoped for.

00:06:47Melissa Ellis: It was, and it actually wasn't that cold. It just wasn't very sunny.

00:06:50Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah.

00:06:52Melissa Ellis: So that was all good and a very enjoyable weekend. Came home exhausted, but that's all good. I've got all week to rest up before my next adventure.

00:07:01Oliver Spake: Yes, and certainly look forward to hearing about that one. But you did back up, I'm assuming, for Junior parkrun.

00:07:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, I absolutely did. Yes. So we had a small group of children this week. I think we had 14 kids enjoying their morning in the forest down at Eynesbury.

00:07:22Oliver Spake: Excellent. Well, that's lovely to hear another successful weekend, Mel.

00:07:26Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And Abby was back, so it's always nice to see her happy, smiley little face.

00:07:33Oliver Spake: Yes. One of the talents behind the pod, would you say, Mel?

00:07:38Melissa Ellis: Oh, definitely. Integral part, I would say now.

00:07:41Oliver Spake: Yes.

Social Adventurers

00:07:42Melissa Ellis: But we can recap a few comments, Ollie, that we had on last week's episode post. Yes. Of note, we heard from Ingrid Botha. Who said, after a very busy weekend, I'm finally listening to the pod on Sunday afternoon. Melissa Ellis, I am happy to put my body on the line to come and check out the gluten-free winner with you. And thanks so much for the tip on the 5K app storing the barcode. I have a bunch of physical barcodes and now I am doing the same electronically with three separate ways of accessing my electronic barcode. Don't forget your barcode. Or she's actually put DFYB. Now, this is interesting, Ollie. So you know what I did today? Okay. I managed to find an app to put a barcode on my Garmin.

00:08:32Oliver Spake: Yes. Look, I have seen reference to that. The techie in me is not up to scratch yet.

00:08:39Melissa Ellis: Well, see, here's the problem. Yes. I did enough to find out... how to download it onto the Garmin IQ Connect or whatever it is and then hook up my watch to the computer and then do the sync. But now apparently it's on my watch, but I don't know how to find it. Getting closer. Yeah, I'm getting closer.

00:08:59Oliver Spake: You're about five steps in front of me, so you're doing well now.

00:09:03Melissa Ellis: I think it's there, but now I've got to Google how to find it. Yeah.

00:09:07Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:09:08Melissa Ellis: Because I didn't make it the watch face because I want to actually be able to see the time. I don't want to walk around all day just with a barcode on my wrist.

00:09:15Oliver Spake: Well, maybe on a Saturday.

00:09:17Melissa Ellis: Well, yeah, but I wouldn't remember how to toggle backwards and forwards enough to find the time when I wanted to know what the time was. That would be problematic. But in any case, yeah, I'm halfway there.

00:09:28Oliver Spake: Well, when you work it out, please tell me.

00:09:30Melissa Ellis: Will do.

00:09:31Oliver Spake: Yes. I believe we've got another helpful suggestion from Janet Reid. So Janet said, sound effects. We need sound effects before the Obi recipient is announced, followed by applause. Spoiler alert, as for Not Abby, he sounded just like a child, full of joy and glee.

00:09:53Melissa Ellis: Yes, Not Abby was quite popular because we also had Tracey Wood saying, great episode, love the waffling, love the Obi Award, love the outtake from Not Abby.

00:10:04Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:10:06Melissa Ellis: But as for Janet's suggestion of a sound effect for the Obi recipient, I will get onto that. It might take me a few weeks because it's got to be special. It's got to be appropriate. And I do spend a lot of hours searching the internet for sound effects.

00:10:24Oliver Spake: Ah, right. So, well, hey, maybe the listeners have got some good sound effects suggestions. If anyone's got a lead, let us know.

00:10:31Melissa Ellis: Or we just use one of those items that Mel brings to Palm for the quiz. Yes. We could just have a honking horn, a clown horn. Is there a name for one of those?

00:10:41Oliver Spake: No, my clown knowledge is quite lacking. It's certainly not my preferred topic.

00:10:46Melissa Ellis: Radio.

00:10:47Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:10:48Melissa Ellis: So, yeah, if anybody's got a suggestion what an Obi sound effect should sound like, let us know. Applause, that should probably be a little bit easier even if I just record myself clapping.

00:10:58Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:11:00Melissa Ellis: Maybe I could do that at parkrun on Saturday. I'll just say to the crowd, can everybody just clap for me? One, two, three.

00:11:08Oliver Spake: Get them to record an Obi chant while you're at it. I'm sure we can come up with an Obi chant. There we are.

00:11:14Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:11:15Oliver Spake: But Mel, there's been some other goings on in the parkrun world.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:11:18Oliver Spake: As we see, Germany. It's birthday time for Germany. Fourth birthday for parkrun in Germany.

00:11:25Melissa Ellis: Happy birthday. We did try to look up how to say that in German, but it seemed a bit hard.

00:11:32Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, a bit of primary school German lessons just hasn't prepared me for this. But that's gone. I'd say it's gone quickly, but I suppose I've lost the perspective in the last couple of years. But I do remember parkrun Germany launching and obviously launching completely on app and without stopwatches and whatnot. Oh, that's right. Yeah. But look, it always seemed like a pretty important country to have in the parkrun world, and it's been great to see its success. Yeah.

00:12:01Melissa Ellis: Do you know how many events they've got now? How many over there? We should ask the informant to give us that information.

00:12:08Oliver Spake: Ah, a German special.

00:12:09Melissa Ellis: I'll put in a request.

00:12:10Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:12:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah, no, I won't try and Google it now. Yes, and, Ollie, we had the announcement of the new most northern parkrun launching on Saturday just gone, Vorkuta, Vorkuta City Park in Russia. Yes. They launched with 15 participants, and I believe they are located behind the Arctic Circle.

00:12:35Oliver Spake: So that sounds like one impressive place to do a parkrun, Mel. I haven't yet looked up how one gets to Vorkuta City Park. I mean, I'm presuming, obviously, we'd need to fly in through Moscow, but it's a fair way north. So that takes the title from Finland, if I'm not mistaken.

00:13:00Melissa Ellis: I don't remember. I'm not very good with my actual worldly compass points. I think I tried to ask the question last time about how you figure out the East and the Western one. Like I feel like South, Northern and Southern are easy, but the East and the West puzzles me a little bit. And I think I put a call out to Peter Pohlman and he said he didn't do that kind of stuff.

00:13:24Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:13:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, needless to say, it's a place that would require some resilience, I'm sure, as going into this time of year as well, if I understand correctly, temperatures are generally well below zero. So, yeah, rug up and welcome to the family, Vorkuta.

00:13:43Melissa Ellis: And I wonder if it's worth mentioning I did see in the social media post the question was raised as to do people know what the Arctic Circle is? So I looked it up. I Googled it. Yep. As one does when one wants to know such things. And it turns out the Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of the Earth. It marks the northernmost point at which the centre of the noon sun is just visible on the December solstice and the southernmost point at which the centre of the midnight sun is just visible on the June solstice. midnight sun puzzles me a little bit but is that something to do with them just having daylight all day yes and then certainly well with respect to the timing of the solstice there it's picking up at the the extremities there so it goes on to say the region north of this circle is known as the arctic and the zone just to the south is called the northern temperate zone The Arctic Circle is roughly 16,000 kilometres in circumference. The area north of the circle is about 20... Is that 20 million, Ollie?

00:15:02Oliver Spake: That's 20 million.

00:15:03Melissa Ellis: 20 million kilometres squared and covers roughly 4% of the Earth's surface. So there you go. There's your geography lesson for today.

00:15:11Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. I do love geography. There's plenty I don't know, that's for sure. And I did not know that. Obviously familiar with the existence of it, but the detail, no, none at all. So it's a fascinating part of the world. I'd love to get to explore it. Now I've got another reason.

00:15:28Melissa Ellis: Yes, very interesting. So welcome to them, Vorkuta City Park in Russia.

00:15:34Oliver Spake: Yes, back a bit closer to home, Mel.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:15:36Oliver Spake: We have heard from some of the parkrun world out there this weekend, so we do have a bunch of roving reports. So why don't we have a listen?

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Grette Wilkinson — Anstey Hill Recreation parkrun

00:15:52Grette Wilkinson: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Greta here reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. And today we're travelling to a new parkrun in South Australia. There's been a few new ones open up recently in South Australia, so we're sort of spoilt for choice. But this one is going to prove, I think, to be a very interesting one. We're going to Anstey Hill Recreation parkrun. Anstey Hill Recreation Park is obviously a recreation park that's in the foothills of Adelaide. It's to the northeast of Adelaide and probably about half an hour from the CBD. And I hear that there's a fair bit of elevation in this one. So we'll see how we go and then we can do our run and see if we can find some people to talk to.

00:16:36Lynette: All right, so I've just finished my run.

00:16:39Grette Wilkinson: I'll tell you about that in a minute. And I'm here with Run Director today and also Event Director, Monique. And wow, what a run.

00:16:47Monique: Yeah, it is, isn't it? It's a little bit tough.

00:16:51Grette Wilkinson: Slightly tough. So you haven't been here for very long, have you?

00:16:54Monique: Yeah, this is number seven for us. Yeah, we're very exciting to finally be up and running.

00:16:59Grette Wilkinson: Yeah, so tell us about getting started. How long did it take you to get this one off the ground?

00:17:04Monique: Yeah, so I started talking to parkrun in probably 2019 and, you know, thought maybe we could get a parkrun going here. So it's taken us two years to get us up and running. We've had a lot of setbacks along the way. COVID was one of those. But, yeah, we're finally up and running now. But it took a long time to get there.

00:17:21Grette Wilkinson: Yeah, well, it is a beautiful course. So I was saying to the listeners before, it's in the Adelaide Foothills. But do you want to just describe the course for us?

00:17:29Monique: Yeah, so it's a trail course, so it's a dirt run. And basically we head up like a pipeline, so some trees and kind of nice shady area up to the ruins here at Anstey and then up the notorious Torture Hill and then down a lovely, nice, long downhill with views over the city as well, lovely trees and sort of bush vibe.

00:17:49Grette Wilkinson: That downhill was lovely, but I am going to have to come back to that aptly named Torture Hill track. One question, why?

00:17:59Monique: Well, it gives you a little bit of a challenge and you get some lovely downhill views on the other side. So, yeah, it's a nice challenge and people seem to be keen to come out and give Torture Hill a try. But, yeah, the lovely downhills definitely make up for it.

00:18:12Grette Wilkinson: Yes, there is definitely a payoff at the other end. Yeah, yeah. And it's a really interesting course because it's not an out-and-back.

00:18:18Monique: Yeah, correct. I'm hearing a lot from people that this is one of the limited loops. They tend to be out and back. So it's a nice kind of get to go all the way around and you don't have to trudge back on what you've already seen. So it's good. Yeah, no, it's great. And how long have you been parkrunning for? So not very long prior to when I actually started this one. So I probably had done maybe a handful, 10, 13 parkruns before I got interested in starting this one. So then I've obviously been involved for the two years getting it started. So not too long. I haven't got too many under my belt just yet, but yeah, it's been good.

00:18:50Grette Wilkinson: And where's your home parkrun? Anstey Hill Recreation um but prior to here I was at Jubilee just around the Jubilee Way yes that's a lovely one too isn't it yeah very different it's a kind of go there for a holiday it's a little bit flatter than this one go there for a break yeah yeah yeah and come back here when you want a challenge but yeah it's good yeah well look thank you so much for starting up this parkrun we are standing here in the foothills and just looking over the beautiful um city of Adelaide and it's just and it's green and it's a beautiful day and um Yeah, congratulations. It's an amazing parkrun and thank you for bringing it to South Australia.

00:19:23Monique: Yeah, no worries. I'm happy to. I'm really glad that we've got some lovely people out here and starting to build a great team. So thanks for your time. Thanks, Monique.

00:19:31Grette Wilkinson: So that's a wrap from Anstey Hill Recreation parkrun. So there is some contention I hear about whether that might be the hardest parkrun in Australia. So what I can tell you is that the elevation gain, according to my Strava, was 193 metres. So take from that what you will. But if you do want to find out whether it's the hardest parkrun in Australia, I challenge you to come and give it a go and see what you think. So that's statesmanship regained for the Wilkinson Four and a handy little Wilson Index and a beautiful day out in the Adelaide Foothills. See you next time.

Roving report Lynette — Nathalia Showgrounds

00:20:10Lynette: Hi, this is Lynn checking in as a roving report on behalf of the Channel 5 news crew. And I am at the Nathalia Showgrounds launch of a new parkrun event today. We're in northern Victoria and Rod Cairns is the event ambassador. And I've got Rod here and we're going to ask Rod some questions. Rod, how did the event go today overall?

00:20:38Rod Cairns: Yeah, really good. A good number, not too many, which is nice. So I had a bunch of visitors and a few experienced parkrunners, which we really appreciate because that helps us get some familiarity. Most of the volunteers are newbies, so it was really good to have some experienced people around us. And yeah, the event's gone really well. We're very, very pleased.

00:20:59Lynette: We've got a beautiful day too. It's about 16 degrees and we've got quite a nice breeze coming through. Probably cool for the volunteers, but it was nice for the runners. And you've been supporting the Run Director, Helen, over the last probably 18 months? Yes.

00:21:15Rod Cairns: Yeah, a little over 12 months since we started. I think today was our third launch date, so we've had a lot of issues with getting close and then getting locked down and having to stop, so it's really good to finally get here.

00:21:33Lynette: Finally get it done, yes.

00:21:36Rod Cairns: We got the news last week that we could restart, so we put our second trial together very quickly during the week and made sure that everything was okay and We're delighted to finally get here.

00:21:47Lynette: Fantastic. And it's a beautiful track along the Broken River and it was really picturesque, lots of gum trees and it's great to see some locals out enjoying the parkrun today. Thank you, Rod, for speaking with us and I'll try and catch up with Helen, maybe over coffee.

00:22:04Rod Cairns: Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you very much.

00:22:07Lynette: Okay, it's Lynne here again and I've got Helen, the Event Director at the Nathalia Showgrounds parkrun and we've had a very exciting launch today. Helen, how are you feeling about how things went off today?

00:22:21Helen: Good. I'm happy the first week is done, I guess. Just the unknown. Yeah, we had a good turnout. So all our volunteers have done their jobs well in the first week. So yeah, I'm pretty pleased the first one's done.

00:22:36Lynette: Fantastic. And it sounds like you had some good support from the community with your funding and volunteering today. Yeah.

00:22:42Helen: Yeah, we were lucky. We had a few businesses chip in and then we got a grant from the Shire. So that just topped us over and we were ready to get started and then COVID hit. So we've had a big wait and I've had a good little support team that have been willing to be here as soon as we can get started. So it's been good.

00:23:00Lynette: Fantastic. And you had short notice to get going last week.

00:23:03Helen: week yeah yeah we had um we were lucky we had the Lions Club chip in today with Marshalls and things like that so fantastic yeah really good I'm so so glad that the community is on board with it because it would be a big job for yeah just the couple that were yeah interested yeah and a perfect day as well the weather's been turned on just perfect for you yeah a little bit windy I wish I hadn't been running but yeah yeah

00:23:25Lynette: There was lots of smiles out there. The track was good. So there was a couple of double prams, double width prams, and the track was still able to manage.

00:23:31Helen: Yeah, it would have been good to see them cross the squeezy bridge with the fastest runners. But the double prams were fast running people, so they were good. They were right up the front. So, yeah, no, it was good. Good track. Yeah, not too narrow. There's always a little bit on the sides to overtake, so that's all right.

00:23:51Lynette: Yeah, no, it was great. It's an all-abilities track. It's bitumen all the way across. Yeah. It's a letter H, as you say, and it runs along the river with a bridge in between.

00:24:00Helen: Yeah, so the only is doing the second lap.

00:24:03Lynette: then you've got to overtake if you're running so that gets a bit squeezy but people today said it was fine and everyone was mindful of each other so it worked out yep everyone stuck to the rule and you told us all at the beginning keep left and those rules were in place and it was all very safe and a fabulous event well done congratulations on your launch it's very exciting and all the best for the future running of Nathalia Showgrounds parkrun thank you thank you for speaking with me today thanks

Roving report Sarah Jefferson — Cottesloe parkrun

00:24:31Sarah Jefferson: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Sarah here checking in from Cottesloe parkrun. Today, Cottesloe parkrun is celebrating their 300th event. Woo-hoo! And just when you think it was taking quite a while to sneak up, it has arrived. It's great to see so many people wearing bright colours, tutus, bright socks, and high-vis shirts even. I'll check in soon once I can tell you all about the event. It's Sarah checking back in from Cottesloe parkrun. There have been over 104 participants today and there were 10 volunteers present. I can now tell you that there is no watermelon left and the cake is quickly disappearing. Great morning down here. It was a 35 degree day in Cottesloe this morning. So lots of people were heading down to the ocean to jump in straight afterwards. It was definitely vibing this morning. Lots of energy and lots of smiles going around. Dr David Honey, MLA member for Cottesloe, was down there as well this morning and actually started the runners off. What a great event it was. And again, so, so super grateful that we are able to hold parkruns at the moment and also, you know, really enjoying the community spirit. So well done to Cottesloe parkrun for such a great event. And if you're ever in Western Australia, particularly in summer, and you love to have a swim and a run, head down to Cottesloe parkrun.

Roving report Paul Kitching — Torrens parkrun

00:26:06Paul Kitching: G'day parkrun adventurers, this is PK with an unexpected roving report because I am adventuring but I hadn't planned to do a report but then when I came to where we are doing parkrun today, stumbled across their 9th birthday. How crazy is that? I am at Torrens parkrun in South Australia. And someone said to me, where's your cat outfit? And I'm like, what do you mean? And they said, you know, nine lives. And I'm like, what? Nine? Nine. And then, yeah, we're celebrating our ninth birthday. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. Have not been to Torrens for a long time, so much so that they've changed their start and finish area. I'm just checking it all out now. They've got a funnel for the end as well. I think they had about 350 here last week because Pakapakanthi was closed. But anyway, g'day crew, it's PK here and I'm going to go and have a chat to some of the crew. So I'm here with the legend, that is Marilyn, who has been, how long have you been here for? the whole run the whole the whole so all the three except for three of the however many what number is it today here at uh Torrens who knows well nine years nine times 550 oh who knows mate yeah well not not not anyway it doesn't matter we are there's quite a few hey um congratulations how does it feel to be nine uh very very good I didn't think it'd be this long but enjoy every bit of it so keep coming back I love it yeah well as I was just saying in my intro I haven't been here for so long and it's so good to see so many people starting a new start kind of thing and lots of people getting into the theme tell us more about the theme

00:27:46Marilyn: Because it's our ninth birthday and cats have nine lives, so the theme is cats. So come looking like a cat.

00:27:51Paul Kitching: Exactly. And any dog is called a cat today. So they're all park cats.

00:27:55Marilyn: Yes, definitely.

00:27:57Paul Kitching: Well, thank you for everything you do for parkrun. It's always a pleasure to see you. And you're such a special part of the parkrun community. Thank you.

00:28:06Marilyn: Thank you.

00:28:06Paul Kitching: Good on you. All right, let's go and do this thing. I am now here with Ojo. I kept the best to last. Ojo, congratulations on nine years.

00:28:17Ojo: Yeah, it's pretty exciting.

00:28:18Paul Kitching: Yeah. Oh, mate, you are. Well, you're always excited. But to celebrate nine years of parkrun and be the RD, I mean, they couldn't have chosen a better person to be on the mic today, really, right?

00:28:29Ojo: Well, you know, I'll show up at the opening of an envelope. I love the sound of my own voice. It's the best conversation I have all day.

00:28:37Paul Kitching: Far out. Mate, you sound like my wife tells me that all the time, mate. No wonder we get along. Well done. Hey, nine years. What a journey. How's it all? I mean, I don't know. Tell me about some of the highlights.

00:28:50Ojo: Well, I think nine years ago it was, I don't know, 30 or 40 people here, and nine years on it's, you know, 350. Yeah. So it's kind of nice that nine years on, not only have we still got a bunch of people coming to Torrens, but it was the start of a whole movement in South Australia where there's some fantastic events around South Australia. I was at Cleve the other week.

00:29:12Paul Kitching: That was the Yeldulknie Weir Trail.

00:29:15Ojo: So I've got my Y on my alphabet.

00:29:16Paul Kitching: Well done, mate. I've heard good things about that. So I really just wanted to say thank you, mate. Congratulations on everything. But, you know, you love it, don't you?

00:29:25Ojo: I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it. And I started coming here because I wanted to try and get fit, but I keep coming here because of the community.

00:29:33Paul Kitching: That is beautiful, isn't it? And I think that is the case with most parkruns. Got to love it. Congratulations on nine years. Well done. Keep doing awesome things, Ojo.

00:29:39Ojo: Here's to the next nine years. Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!

00:29:43Paul Kitching: Legend. Love his work. Yep, that is me signing off, saying thank you so much to parkrun Torrens. And happy birthday to parkrun South Australia. Happy ninth birthday to parkrun South Australia. I'm so glad that I stumbled across these celebrations. Let's go and keep celebrating. That's enough of me. I've yabbered on enough. Like Ojo, I love the sound of my own voice, so I'm going to stop it right now.

00:30:15Melissa Ellis: And another great bunch of roving reports there. Interesting that we had two anniversaries with Sarah celebrating the 300th event at Cottesloe and PK celebrating the ninth birthday at Torrens and Lynn celebrating the birth of an event at Nathalia Showgrounds.

00:30:35Oliver Spake: Yeah. Look, I'm really enjoying getting to hear some, well, some new events, some familiar events too, and some great celebrations. I was particularly fascinated by the, I don't know, do we have like a punishment trail of parkruns? That sounds like a club. The Punisher series? Yeah. But, yeah, Anstey Hill, welcome to the club.

00:30:58Melissa Ellis: Yeah, some mighty tough elevation there by the look of it, 193 metres, is it?

00:31:04Oliver Spake: Yeah, which we're reliably informed is not quite the highest. Well done, Mundy, you hold that title. But yeah, nonetheless, it's still right up there. So yeah, it has to be one for the list, I think.

00:31:17Melissa Ellis: Always up for a debate, those events though, because it always depends on the distance over which the elevation is gained. So there's always a lot of interesting conversations happening around that.

00:31:28Oliver Spake: Yes, and I'm always, I think, a little more fond of a loop course. Maybe that's to do with familiarity, Mel, but nice to see they've managed a great loop in there as well. I should probably mention, Mel, I did try and record a roving report this weekend just gone.

00:31:46Melissa Ellis: Oh, how did that go?

00:31:50Oliver Spake: Well, if you've listened to the pod up to this point and noticed it's not in there... Yeah, look, unfortunately for my guest, Whitney Houston and the announcer, Run Shellharbour got more airtime. But, Mel, I've got to say, I was pretty stoked. I ran an actual real-life running event yesterday, which was Sunday. I was... Fortunate enough to cross paths with dozens of parkrunners and see the parkrun family again, many of whom I haven't seen for a long time. Many of them scored a bit of bling too, Mel. They had gold, silver and bronze in all of the age categories and all of the events, which was, I think, a really nice celebration for everyone. And yeah, plenty of the Shellharbour family took home some bling. Notably, Patrick Silva-Szimisek.

00:32:41Melissa Ellis: I did see that. Yes. Well done, Patrick.

00:32:45Oliver Spake: Yeah. But, Mel, back to the roving report that wasn't, I got to meet Burpee Man.

00:32:51Melissa Ellis: Right.

00:32:52Oliver Spake: So whilst out on course, there was another runner who had a bit of music. So I made sure that I enjoyed it out there, thanked him for it, caught up with him after the finish and thanked him once again and was absolutely thrilled to hear that like us, he loves his parkrun, but he's also got a superpower and that is burpees.

00:33:14Melissa Ellis: Right, hence being called Burpee Man. That's right, that's right.

00:33:18Oliver Spake: Not because he belches. No, no, no. A distinction I made quickly, but he hails from Rooty Hill parkrun, so one not too far from home for myself. And, yeah, his approach to parkruns and events more generally, not Run Shellharbour, mind you, but plenty of them, is unquestionably a way to add something to your parkrun by doing 30 burpees every K.

00:33:44Melissa Ellis: Every K. How have I never heard about him before?

00:33:48Oliver Spake: I'm not sure, but I'm really looking forward to when I can cross paths with Burpee Man, although he does have a secret identity, Steve, and actually getting to interview him properly. So my apologies, Steve, because it was lovely to talk to you, but I don't think our listeners would be able to make any sense of our conversation with thanks to my poor audio.

00:34:08Melissa Ellis: Ollie, I think this needs to be your initiation. You never got one. You never did anything.

00:34:13Oliver Spake: I need to find Steve.

00:34:14Melissa Ellis: You just flew under the radar straight into co-host position. I think I'm going to set you this challenge. I need an interview with Burpy Man.

00:34:23Oliver Spake: Yep. All right. Noted. That's been coming a long time. And look, given that, I'm not going to disclose Steve's top three parkruns, but needless to say, should we be at the Panorama Punish next year, it would be a great opportunity to see a repeat of Burpee Man conquering that and the neighbouring parkrun course.

00:34:46Melissa Ellis: Does he wear a costume? Has he got a cape?

00:34:48Oliver Spake: He does.

00:34:50Melissa Ellis: Oh!

00:34:50Oliver Spake: He does. So challenge noted. Also, well done and thanks to Steve. But Mel, we look forward to hearing from him in the future.

00:35:00Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. But I digress.

Emails

00:35:03Melissa Ellis: Mel. You've got mail. We've got mail. We do, Ollie. We had an email from Parth. Parth said, hi, Mel and Ollie. Thought you needed some more email. So I thought I'd send in an email to say that we, Irene and I, absolutely love the report from Abigail at the end. Hang out for it at the end of the outro music. And so you can read out our names. Bye from the Bomakantis. So there you go, Bomakantis, you got another mention.

00:35:34Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:35:35Melissa Ellis: And it was great to catch up with Irene and Parth at Juniors. They very kindly volunteered at Juniors on Sunday morning. Oh, wow. And we had brunch together.

00:35:43Oliver Spake: Busy weekend.

00:35:44Melissa Ellis: Mm-hmm.

00:35:45Oliver Spake: Which I'm sure we'll hear more about at Dazza's.

00:35:48Melissa Ellis: Hang on a minute, Ollie. Hang on. We need to go back a couple of steps. You just glossed over the fact that you ran your first event and I didn't get a chance to quiz you or ask you how you went.

00:35:58Oliver Spake: That's all right. You gave me a challenge. I thought that was pretty fair.

00:36:03Melissa Ellis: But so, Run Shellharbour, you ran the half marathon. I did. I do believe you did a little better than you were anticipating.

00:36:10Oliver Spake: I did indeed. And look, very happy to say that many, many parkrunners that I've crossed paths with, or should I say, crossed my path and kept on going, they did as well.

00:36:22Melissa Ellis: Stop deflecting.

00:36:26Oliver Spake: But, yeah, look, this time last, you know, it was 2019, in fact, when Run Shellharbour had its first event. It had its follow-up event, which was delayed in May when I got the opportunity to run its marathon. So this was its third running, and it now seems to be falling into a twice-per-year rhythm, which in the May version includes a marathon. So it's given me a lot of experience through these COVID times. And yes, I did improve on my half marathon time. So I was pretty stoked with that. By how much? Well, last time I ran it, I finished in an hour 55. I've not done a half marathon officially for a long time aside from that. The 140 mark was probably my best back in Sydney a few years back. But yeah, this one was a bit better. I managed just under 134.

00:37:21Melissa Ellis: Very impressive. Well done, Ollie. Well done.

00:37:25Oliver Spake: Thanks, Mel. Yeah, look, it was a favourable course, let's say, but yeah, a lot of fun. And might I just mention, it did not rain during the half marathon.

00:37:37Melissa Ellis: Oh, good. We were discussing that at brunch the day before, that it was maybe thank you to Karen that it didn't rain.

00:37:44Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah, I did make sure to thank Karen, who shall henceforth be known as the weather god's

00:37:50Melissa Ellis: And did you get into the slipstream of Ralph or was he just too far out?

00:37:55Oliver Spake: No, no, there was no entering that slipstream. Ralph did a fantastic job and also obliterated his goal.

00:38:03Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Good to hear.

00:38:05Oliver Spake: It might have had something to do with the lack of, was it six or seven kilo star costume, which Ralph did attempt the marathon in earlier this year for context. Yeah.

00:38:15Melissa Ellis: All right.

Dazza's

00:38:16Melissa Ellis: Well, Ollie, time that we turn our attention to Dazza's from Saturday.

00:38:21Oliver Spake: That's right. And the update from Dazza, welcoming us all to Dazza's, was that Dazza is tired. He yearns for a quiet corner to marshal under a tree with a deck chair, maybe near the ocean. But there's no rest for the wicked. So come on in and let us know how your morning went. You know you want to. And look... The first, well, maybe the first to make it in, certainly one of the early ones, we heard from Richard who had to say, hi, Dazza. After working 11 out of the last 12 days, it was a bit of a sleep in followed by a quiet morning. On the plus side, with fingers crossed, this is the last Saturday without parkrun. Road trip to the ACT next weekend before New South Wales kicks off again. And Sonja Pohlman checked in. And she told us it's National Psychology Week. And we joined our local annual APS walk.

00:39:21Melissa Ellis: And we have our Bailey shot. First up, Tanya Bailey. Nice not parkrun walk this morning down Woodend Beach. The racehorses were out this morning, which caused a bit of interest from the dog. Had to hold him a bit tighter, and Brett Bailey. Hi, Dazza. A nottie up the track and back down the beach to meet Tanya and Brunner. Then off to help with nippers at the surf club. Nice to see the team at Banksia Avenue. Hope we can get over there one day soon. Still no news yet on a restart here with plenty of confusion with our new traffic light COVID system here. And the parkrun adventurers. Enjoyable catch-up at Banksia Avenue, not parkrun, with a few fellow adventurers. The grey skies did little to dampen our enthusiasm. Great course and company. And we gave it five stars, fittingly and Rebecca Bailey hmm seen a few fellow adventurers on my front lawn this morning glad you enjoyed the course after a big hike across the crosscut saw yesterday the trips deserve to sleep in and it is a short hike down to Howitt Hut next to the river today And we heard from Alison King, ran a freedom run with a few friends and ran my second fastest five kilometre of 2021 and all of my 314. Today is also my hundredth nottie in a row. So well done, Alison.

00:40:53Oliver Spake: That's phenomenal. Well done. Mel, Sam Schroder also checked in and she said, hi, Dazza. This morning I walked into town and did a freedom run of the Bathurst parkrun course before heading back to camp. Walked back and forth in front of the caravan park when I got back for 100 metres to tip the Garmin over to 14 kilometres all up. That's a pretty decent effort. Tracey Wood. Morning, team. Darn hot today. I picked a great day to stand in the shade at Chermside and be Timekeeper. It's iced latte for me, please. And Claire Stutchbury, 106th, 107th location at Forda Forest this weekend for a sneaky number eight for our Wilson indexes. Very toasty. Summer is going to be brutal. I think we need a little bit of the Queensland weather down here, incidentally. But no, well done, team. And Cameron Drake. About to head out the door to check out South Beach Recreation Reserve parkrun after finally getting a Saturday morning free. Woo! Excited. It's been a while. And Greg Garner. Hi, Dazza. I think I found you the perfect spot that greeted me after completing Bargara parkrun this morning. And, Mel, I did see that picture. It looked like a very nice spot to sit and contemplate and take it all in.

00:42:18Melissa Ellis: It did, Ollie. I think it was exactly the place that Dazza was envisaging when he was requesting his marshalling position.

00:42:25Oliver Spake: That's right. Looking out over the beach at the waves, people enjoying it. Very peaceful.

00:42:31Melissa Ellis: We heard from Michael Schultz. Last available Fibonacci number for me at Minnippi this morning, 377. More than two years to wait for 610. Fairly warm and a slow 39.24 for me. Well done. Jodie Maisie. Good morning, Dazza. We did Peppertree parkrun this morning. It was such a lovely morning and I walked with Mark Smith and had a fantastic chat. And Brendan added, and we both achieved Wilson number 28 too. Parth Bommakanti. Hi, Dazza. Irene and I were at Patawalonga River parkrun near Glenelg this morning. Post run brunch at the Oceanique, quick service, and you get a free coffee if you volunteer. How good is that? Thanks to the volley team at the parkrun. We forgot to take a pic of our peanut butter porridge, which, by the way, had no peanut butter. But here's a pic of lunch at Glenelg on our way back now. And Jeff Whiffen road trip touristing to Newborough parkrun this morning, chasing down those Wilson numbers. Maybe Wilson index could be changed to Whiffen index. A perfect morning at Newborough. Saw me first time. Another Victorian event ticked off. Another event number ticked off. Till next week.

00:43:49Oliver Spake: Nice work. Nice work.

00:43:50Melissa Ellis: Nice work, Jeff.

00:43:52Oliver Spake: And complete with photo running up the path there in the woods. It looks lovely. We heard from Chris Hood, once again in an Ugly Christmas Singlet, I should say. Three loops around North Lakes, almost enough to make it dizzy. NENDY ticked off and halfway around the compass. So which compass points has Chris still got to go? And we heard from Michael Scott. What a beautiful morning at the Avenues parkrun in the Adelaide Hills. Completing the The Club once again. Tail Walker on a beautiful trail course on a beautiful morning. Vegetarian focaccia and a long black. Please, Dazza. And Michael, also enjoying the new Christmas shirt, added, thank you for my new Christmas shirt. So thanks to our Ugly Christmas Singlet or Shirt Day team there. A coffee for Steve and Glynis and my RSPT friends, please, Dazza. Lynette Anne. Very much enjoyed the launch of Nathalia Showgrounds parkrun and meeting some new adventurer friends. There were several Ugly Christmas Shirts on track. Made me wish I'd gotten my order in sooner. Perfect day for runners. Windy for the volunteers. Breakfast together afterwards is always a treat. Had a rookie first go at a roving report. Hope it's of use to you. And thank you again.

00:45:16Melissa Ellis: You did a great job, Lynette.

00:45:18Oliver Spake: Yes, loved it. And we heard from Stephen and Val Warwick. Hi, Dazza. I'm late again. However, I have a perfect excuse. Twelve months ago, we met Leonie Butler, Queensland statesman at Kate Reid. Leonie arrived back in Tassie last night, found out Steve and I were timekeeping at Devonport, so came across from Lorne to do Devonport. But we weren't quite the dream team as we both made one mistake. After coffee and a lot of talking at Drift, we went out to do a freedom at Railton and then lunch at Limestone Cafe with the wonderful Kelly. We then took Leonie on a drive through Sheffield to see the murals and were in time to see a steam tractor driving up the main street. Lots more talking, sharing of stats, the informant would be proud. and enjoyment of each other's company. I have now come in to say hello all, but no more coffee, please. How special to have had two interstate parkrunning friends spend time with in the last three weeks. Roll on March. And thank you to you both. We look forward to being part of that crew as well. That sounds like a wonderful morning.

00:46:33Melissa Ellis: It does. And when Val mentions, or Val and Steve mentioned seeing a steam tractor driving up the main street, I have to say when I was sitting at Wollongong Station, patiently waiting for my train for my journey home, in chuffed a steam train, I think you call it the picnic train. So that was quite nice.

00:46:52Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm ashamed to say I haven't been on it. But yeah, it's always nice to spend a bit of time and take in some of the old modes of travel, Mel, or the lesser used ones.

00:47:02Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And we've got some of our parkrun adventurers that were celebrating some things on the weekend, Ollie. Yes. Firstly, Grette Wilkinson. The Wilkinson Four regained statesmanship today at a beautiful morning at Anstey Hill Recreation parkrun, a gorgeous new trail parkrun in South Australia, which we heard Greta refer to in the roving report earlier. Sally Heppleston, a Warringal Parklands parkrun PB with Alfie in 24.03. We both needed a finish line lie down. Well done, Super Sal.

00:47:41Oliver Spake: Alfie looked pretty tired.

00:47:43Melissa Ellis: Nadine Crawford, a long-awaited 250th parkrun milestone celebration at my beautiful home parkrun Rosebud with all my parkrun family and a massive PB to top off the celebrations. Everyone made a big fuss and I literally smiled all morning. Couldn't have been better. Happy to achieve these things and absolutely love parkrun touristing, but it would be absolutely empty without my tribe. Hashtag love parkrun.

00:48:12Oliver Spake: Well done. Great to see Nadine there in her parkrun shirt with a 250 as well.

00:48:17Melissa Ellis: Mm-hmm.

00:48:18Oliver Spake: Mm-hmm. And still celebrating, Jane Luke got my South Australian statesman status. Try saying that five times quickly. Back at Copper Trail parkrun. And there she was crossing the line in the photo. And sorry, Jane, I would absolutely get tongue-tied if I try saying that.

00:48:36Helen: Mm-hmm.

00:48:37Oliver Spake: Janet Reid. Well, hello, Dazza. We meet again. Today was a special day aboard the mothership Lochiel Park. Yes, I'm back. Matt Noble, who started our parkrun, celebrated his 250th parkrun and his lovely wife, Katie, celebrated her 100th. Pre-COVID, there would have been cake, but alas, that was not to be. It didn't dampen our excitement, nor did it diminish our gratitude. Thanks to Matt, we get to be a part of a wonderful community as well as enjoying our free weekly timed five kilometres. An iced coffee for me, please, Dazza. See you when I pop in next parkrun day. Until then. Hooroo. And last week's Obi Award recipient... Pippa White. Hi, Dazza. Tea, I think, for me. And let me just check what Christine Imbert would like. Our Ugly Christmas Singlets and T-shirts arrived in time to show them off to celebrate three times two fifties and one times cow and all. And I mean all the cake. Christine and I were Car Park Marshals at Broadwater parkrun. A lot more hectic than I would have thought with very wavy hands and so many friends. Not without challenge. I have a car issue, so ended up on a train to stay over with Christine last night before misreading the GPS and sending us the wrong way. Thank you, amazing friend. A lot of rain overnight. We coped. Dry during run.

00:50:13Melissa Ellis: Sounds like another big weekend for Pippa.

00:50:15Oliver Spake: Yes. Great to hear the singlets and shirts are there.

00:50:18Melissa Ellis: Yes, absolutely.

the Obi Award — Nadine Crawford

00:50:20Melissa Ellis: And lots of celebrations going on, Ollie. But we have one that we have chosen this week to be our Obi Award recipient. So cue the music. So, Ollie, would you like to do the honours to announce our winner?

00:50:29[music]

00:50:40Oliver Spake: Absolutely. Just let me open the envelope. This week's winner of the Obi Award goes to... Nadine Crawford. Well done, Nadine. Yes. And look, you're spot on the money. And I think we all share that sentiment. It's wonderful with the tribe. So thanks for letting us be a part of the celebration too, Nadine.

00:51:09Melissa Ellis: Fantastic. Lots of fun and games going on in the last week, but...

00:51:15Oliver Spake: But, yes, that's right. There's always another angle to the fun and games, and that's the stats.

the Informant

00:51:23Oliver Spake: So, Mel, shall we catch up with the informant?

00:51:25The Informant: This is the informant. These are unofficial stats. They are only current at the time they are collected and may differ from the stats you read elsewhere. This week we see post COVID records for global number of runs held and global number of 250 milestones. There were 303 runs held in Australia, up 12 on last week. This was out of 1,572 worldwide, which is up by 258. There were three launches, one at Nathalia Showgrounds, Victoria, along with one in South Africa and one in Russia. Vorkuta City Park parkrun is the world's most northern parkrun, inside the Arctic Circle on continuous permafrost. Vorkuta has an average annual temperature of minus 1.4, and the record for the coldest temperature in Europe, at minus 52 degrees C. I'm guessing Ugly Christmas Singlets are not going to be a big seller in that market. Aussie attendance was up by 1,363 to 26,502 out of 151,252 worldwide, which is up almost 42,000 on last week. Down under we had 2,373 PBs,

00:52:49[12 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:53:01The Informant: while 964 people participated for the first time. 57 juniors reached the Junior 10 milestone, 154 people reached their 50 milestone, 90 reached their 100 milestone, and 21 reached their 250 milestone. 17 people called Bingo. Nick Burnett was quickest with 169 events, while Louise and Heidi Mahon were slowest on 305. There were 11 new statespeople this week. In the ACT, we had Leanne Cox, Barbara Hemingway, Monique Sheehan, Jessie Verstegen, Mirian Stemecki, and Ben Turner. In the Northern Territory, we had Rachel Murray, Julie Horland, and Rachel Warwick. While in South Australia, we had Melissa McTagg. In the top 20 most events list, David Messenger moves to equal 14th after running at Woodbridge Riverside. Robin Richworth moves to equal 8th after running at Anstey Hill. On the overall biggest movers list, Sarah Gee, Gary Light and David Cliff all move up 8 ranks from various starting points. Julie Reynolds was a standout on the Wilson Index, moving her index up 40 from 3 to 43. Julie was one of 71 people to increase her index this week. Now for a bit of fun and to celebrate the German anniversary, I thought we might take a look at some stats from the Autobahners. Germany held its first events on the 2nd of December 2017, with the simultaneous launch of Georgengarten, Kutschenholz and Neckarau parkruns. 162 runners attended All Up. There are now 45 events that have held 2,469 runs with an average attendance of 41. 23,368 athletes have scanned a barcode 101,522 times. Their highest weekly attendance saw an average of 64 runners across 25 events on 28 September 2019. Australian events averaged 87 runners last week, so a bit of work to be had getting the Germans off the piers and into their runners. If you'd like to see a full breakdown of the weekly stats, you can download them from my blog at theinformant.me. That's www.theinformant.me. Or look for The Informant on Facebook. This has been The Informant, and my spreadsheet is bigger than yours.

00:55:42Melissa Ellis: And thanks again, informant, for your report.

00:55:46Oliver Spake: Yes.

Consolidated Club Report

00:55:47Oliver Spake: And, Mel, checking in, how are things on the Adventurers Club front?

00:55:51Melissa Ellis: Well, thank you for asking, Ollie. This week our Adventurers Club is up by three members to 72. We had 40 people on the Consolidated Club Report, which was down three on last week, and 25 adventurers recorded notties. So things are pretty stable. We're getting more actual parkruns and less not parkruns, which is to be expected as the country's opening up.

00:56:23Oliver Spake: Yes, exciting.

00:56:24Melissa Ellis: And our (not)parkrun results this week, we had Cambo.

00:56:31Oliver Spake: Cambo, yep.

00:56:32Melissa Ellis: Cambo on 26, Port Mac on 13.

00:56:36Oliver Spake: Yeah, I was just thinking about that one. I mean, for some reason we're Aussie-ing things up today. Port Macca.

00:56:43Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, yeah, Macca.

00:56:44Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:56:45Melissa Ellis: And the next one, Ollie? Oh, the next one?

00:56:50Oliver Spake: I don't know how to abbreviate this one. Shallow.

00:56:54Unidentified speaker: Shallow.

00:56:56Melissa Ellis: Oh, that might not. Yeah. Shelzer.

00:57:00Oliver Spake: Shelzer. I mean, Shelley's easy, but that's confusing because there is a Shelley parkrun. So let's just discuss it for five minutes and really boost the SPF.

00:57:13Melissa Ellis: In any case, that Voldemort parkrun had 13 and came in third this week. Wow. Wow. Did you know there was a push for noise at Shellharbour?

00:57:24Oliver Spake: Not in the slightest, no. A shame to say, but thank you, everyone.

00:57:30Melissa Ellis: And down at the creek, there were two, me and Mike Lakeview-Scott.

00:57:36Oliver Spake: Oh, good work, team.

00:57:37Melissa Ellis: And what about our friends across the ditch?

00:57:40Oliver Spake: Yes, well, I'm sure they'll appreciate being Aussied up as well. So, yes, recording the highest number of not parkruns this week, Ando, 48. And right behind on 47, the fun. And... Pego? Pego. That's it. I'd forgotten what it was. Pego. Pego came in third on 40. Not too shabby. That's right. For the uninitiated, that's Anderson, Whangarei and Pegasus. But, hey, thanks for being part of the Aussie family this week, guys.

00:58:17Melissa Ellis: That's right.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

00:58:18Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:58:18Melissa Ellis: But looking forward, Ollie, to the coming weeks, we need to remind everybody that International Ugly Christmas Singlet or Shirt Day.

00:58:27Oliver Spake: I asked. Thank you.

00:58:30Melissa Ellis: is Saturday the 18th of December, which is hopefully, fingers crossed, the day that New South Wales will be relaunching and reuniting Australian parkruns.

00:58:44Oliver Spake: That's right, yes.

00:58:45Melissa Ellis: Completing the set, if you like.

00:58:48Oliver Spake: So subject to changes in the COVID roadmap in my neck of the woods in New South Wales, we do expect to see a number of events restarting on that earliest available date, the 18th of December, just in time for that special day where we can all look fabulous and amazing and ugly and celebratory. So we look forward to that. And that's just squeezing in front of Christmas and New Year's Day.

Christmas Compendium

00:59:19Melissa Ellis: Fast approaching us and a timely moment to remind everybody that Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on Saturdays this year, so we don't get extra parkruns in our calendar, which we're all a little bit grumpy about. We're kind of used to that now. It's just lose, lose, lose this year.

00:59:40Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:59:41Melissa Ellis: However, just because parkrun Day is on Christmas Day, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that your parkrun is going to be running.

00:59:50Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:59:51Melissa Ellis: On Christmas Day or New Year's Day. And you need to check the compendium to find out if your event is going to be

00:59:58Oliver Spake: held that's right that's right and Mel look there are still a number of events to be declared and there's time recording time of fact checking there's still about 48 hours at least on current deadlines to um to see that confirmed we may see more updates as time passes but as things stand is less than half of those that will be running on those dates. So I think it's 151, again, time of checking, or I have declared that they'll be operating on Christmas Day, and 193 on New Year's Day. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that's at normal parkrun time because I know that there has been years gone by on that special day where you could have that just a little, let's say, parkrun time adjacent.

01:00:46Melissa Ellis: Those figures that you gave, Ollie, that 190, is that declared one way or the other? Or is that how many have said yes? Or is that just a declaration yes or no?

01:00:58Oliver Spake: No, thank you for confirming. That is the declaration yes. So there are other events that have declared no. And for context, on Christmas Day, I count 78 events that have declared that they will not be operating.

01:01:13Melissa Ellis: Okay.

01:01:13Oliver Spake: So... Now... Still a number to declare.

01:01:17Melissa Ellis: That leads me to a question that has been in the news this week, and that is, will there be Ugly Christmas Singlet or shirts running around Shellharbour on the 18th of December?

01:01:34Oliver Spake: Well, there will be Ugly Christmas Singlets or shirts running around Shellharbour, but It remains to be seen whether they'll be running around Shellharbour parkrun's course in any official registered capacity. But as things currently stand, the news you're referring to, so the beautiful, stunning park that Shellharbour is fortunate enough to operate in and has been for seven and a half years so far, which is currently a New South Wales state government owned asset and is managed by a designated operator. It was announced just this Saturday gone that the management of that park will transition over 2022 to the National Park Service, which follows a significant community-based campaign, and that's been across the public following consultation, which was not overly well received by the local community or by surfing foundations. And there's a huge surfing history in the park. It's synonymous with its surfing history as well. And that's seen this change, which is intent on preserving the park and ensuring that it is well supported into the future and remains a community asset. That's the background. This transition will take a little bit of time. That obviously means Shellharbour parkrun will need to work with the new operators to continue to provide the event. But as things currently stand, Mel, as you've alluded to, we are still seeking the permission we need to be able to return the event and seeking to work with the current operators to return the event to the community here. Again, not certain as to whether we'll be able to return in the way we know because we need to manage very carefully the access and the safety of our parkrunners in and around other park users. So in short, we're working on it. But, yeah, it's not quite there, Mel. Hopefully by the time this episode comes out, we've got it all over the line with great thanks to the help from those that have been involved. Yeah, we're really looking forward to getting parkrun back in one way or another.

01:03:53Melissa Ellis: Well, all jokes aside and the bit of competition that we make light of between Shellharbour and the creek, we really do hope that you are able to get the permissions to bring the event back with the rest of New South Wales. We hope you can get your course up and running in some sort of – iteration, whatever it may well be, so that the community can come back together and again, enjoy scanning their barcodes, doing their free weekly timed 5k and having a coffee afterwards.

01:04:28Oliver Spake: That's right. And I think as we've reflected on in this episode and many others, of course, there's a lot to be said for the experience of that. So, you know, even if for the time being or for the future, there are any adjustments that need to be made to our course or to our event, it's ultimately that that counts. You know, it's providing that environment that we all know and love and can get out there and enjoy that every Saturday.

01:04:59Melissa Ellis: So fingers crossed for you, Ollie, and good luck with all your negotiations.

Sign-off

01:05:03Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. But look... In terms of the coming week, do you have any plans? Where is it going to take you?

01:05:10Melissa Ellis: Oh, I do. I do. So as we've heard in the pod, there was a launch last week. So I think I will bundle Zoe in the car on Friday afternoon and we'll go on a little overnighter. Nathalia Showgrounds is only hop, skip and a jump down the road. Ha! Less than three hours. So I could really get up early and do it, but I won't. We'll have a little night away.

01:05:37Oliver Spake: Do it in style, yeah.

01:05:38Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and go and see the brand-new baby event that Victoria's birthed this last week.

01:05:45Oliver Spake: That's very exciting. I hope you and Zoe have a wonderful time and a great parkrun, of course.

01:05:50Melissa Ellis: Thank you. We haven't done a little mother-daughter road trip for a while, so she actually seemed quite keen, which I was pleased about.

01:05:58Oliver Spake: Yeah. Oh, what's not to enjoy? So we look forward to hearing all about that next week, Mel.

01:06:04Melissa Ellis: Thank you. Anything on your agenda, Ollie?

01:06:08Oliver Spake: Look, it's quite possibly the last weekend without a parkrun. I haven't made the dash to the ACT. Doesn't look like it's going to happen. I'm meant to be camping. So yeah, it looks like it'll be a pretty quiet one in my neck of the woods, just getting ready. So looking forward to that. And hopefully all the work, I've had a lot of work being done on my house. So hopefully all that's done soon and I get to have four walls once again.

01:06:36Melissa Ellis: Well, I hope so. And is there any potential to have a nice run where you're camping?

01:06:41Oliver Spake: Oh, yes, absolutely. Yes. No, I do love running down on the south coast of New South Wales where I do like to camp down around areas like Lake Conjola. We're going to Bendalong this time. So, you know, kangaroos around, great trails and tracks to run through the bushland that's just behind the beach there. And yeah, there's a a little sleepy town that I like to run out to from Bendalong that's not too far. But, yeah, it's called Manyana, and that's where I'll spend Saturday morning.

01:07:12Melissa Ellis: Foreshore camping, like in actual tents and the like?

01:07:16Oliver Spake: Yes, the kids have been talking up camping and Ava, of course, has never been camping in a tent. So I feel like a bad parent. We're going to set that right. It's meant to buck it down. So stay tuned. Oh, that's part of the fun. Exactly. Enjoy, Ollie. Yeah, thanks, Mel. But it's been a pleasure as always. You can all contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But that is it for another week. And we will see you all next week for more adventures.

01:07:45[music]

Abby's report

01:08:58Abigail: Hi Mel and Ollie. Today I went to Junior's and it was so fun. Plus I got bitten by a big ant. It was, like, really big, and they got it on my ankle. And then I came 13th place in juniors. And then after, Mum bought me a sandwich, but I didn't like it, so Mum ate it. And then Mum got this almond croissant, and I didn't like it either. So Mum's going to get me a hot chocolate soon. Bye, everybody. Stay safe.