Episode 272 - Ercan Boduk

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 272 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:34Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I'm coming from Dharawal Country, along with the cicadas too, Mel.

00:00:40Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's nice. Well, you may get a little helping of chihuahua barking in the background.

00:00:45Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. It's not a sole effort, this. We have a lot of help.

00:00:49Melissa Ellis: Teamwork. Yes. And so I didn't adventure this week, Ollie, so I really don't have a lot to offer, but what about you?

00:00:58Oliver Spake: Well, great parkrun adventurers that we are. I also did an adventure. I was, however, run directing back at Shellharbour and we did have a little bit of a challenge in that there was no cafe. So our beloved cafe at the moment has closed. Oh, no. And there's a bit of uncertainty as to whether the cafe is going to be able to reopen.

00:01:21Melissa Ellis: The farm.

00:01:22Oliver Spake: The Farm Cafe. So thankfully I had forward notice and was able to forewarn everyone to prepare their own coffee shots. But for someone who is quite accustomed to being able to just walk straight in and grab a coffee, I know, first world problems, hopefully we'll be able to get them back or find another solution. But it's looking a bit tricky, Mel.

00:01:43Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's a shame.

00:01:45Oliver Spake: I might lose a bit of my parkrun shine on Saturday mornings without that caffeine.

00:01:49Melissa Ellis: Don't you have a fancy coffee machine at home where you can prepare your own to go?

00:01:54Oliver Spake: I do, but I'm continually just trying to sort of balance it between the endorphins of a parkrun morning and the buzz of the caffeine high. And sometimes it needs a bit of finessing and I go for the second coffee. So, yeah, life's tough.

00:02:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear.

00:02:09Oliver Spake: Yes. But now, unlike last week, which was a thoroughly interesting podcast for anyone that does follow music festivals, this week we actually have people talking about parkrun. So coming up in the episode, we will have an interview with Ercan Boduk, the Event Director of the brand new Wentworth Common parkrun up in Sydney, and a couple of roving reports as well as the informant. So rest assured, someone did adventure. Someone is talking about parkrun.

00:02:38Melissa Ellis: That's good. We have to fly on the shirt tails of others.

00:02:42Oliver Spake: Teamwork, as we say.

00:02:43Melissa Ellis: Is that the right analogy? I think it is.

00:02:46Oliver Spake: Coat tails, shirt tails?

00:02:48Melissa Ellis: Oh, you know what I mean.

00:02:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, we all do. That's fine.

00:02:51Melissa Ellis: But to recap a few things from last week, Ollie, Richard posted on our page and said, for those playing along at home on the 5K app, have you noticed the slight change to date bingo? It's changed from running a parkrun to attending a parkrun, meaning that volunteer days count toward your bingo. Now, I had a few people point this out to me, Ollie. This is a big change and a lot of adventurers are very excited about this.

00:03:22Oliver Spake: Yes. Has it bumped you up a little bit, Mel?

00:03:24Melissa Ellis: I haven't even looked.

00:03:26Unidentified speaker: No.

00:03:28Melissa Ellis: You know, I don't really follow a lot of those types of challenges. I'm just a purist, Ollie. I just like to go to new events. I don't really get too involved in all the other challenges that are around. But I appreciate that some people do and this was noteworthy.

00:03:45Oliver Spake: Absolutely. Look, like you, I'm going to use the purest term, but I will say I'm probably ignorant. I'm now on 307 of 366 days. So I'm predicting that, well, I'm assuming is probably the right term, that that actually helped me. So thanks, guys. And it's nice to see some good recognition for the volleys in there.

00:04:05Melissa Ellis: And also, Ollie, we heard from Alison this week who tipped us off on a new thing to do, I suppose, parkrun-themed thing to do called parkrundle. Now, have you been doing Wordle, Ollie?

00:04:22Oliver Spake: Well, I can now confidently say yes because I downloaded it about an hour ago and And I'm not terribly good.

00:04:30Melissa Ellis: Right.

00:04:31Oliver Spake: No success yet.

00:04:32Melissa Ellis: I haven't been doing Wordle. But from what I gather and a little bit of investigating I had previously done, it's sort of like a modern day digital version of Hangman where you have to guess. a word by suggesting letters. And then as they populate, you get a clue as to what the word could possibly be. So I haven't done it, but it's flooding my social media feeds at the moment. I have a lot of friends very excited about such things. Anyway, Alison got in touch and she wrote me a little brief, so I'll read it to you. Have you seen Wordle? It's a word game where you have six chances to guess a five-letter word. Well, there's now a parkrun version. It's called parkrundle and it's based in the UK, so only good if you know UK event names. In this version, the name can be up to nine letters long. You type in your guess and you get hints as to whether you've got the right letter in the right place, a correct letter but in the wrong place, and which letters don't appear at all. There's only one a day, so it doesn't take too much time out of your day. So I guess it's kind of like probably older generations would have a constitutional to do the crossword every morning in the paper. It's kind of like that, isn't it?

00:05:52Oliver Spake: Yeah. And I love it. Again, I don't have the skill for it. So I'm sure that it will take quite a lot of effort to build the skill for Wordle and especially for parkrundle. I need to brush up on my UK events.

00:06:08Melissa Ellis: Do you think it matters if we can't pronounce them?

00:06:13Oliver Spake: Probably less so than when we talk about them on a podcast, but yes. But thank you, Alison. Yes. See, I see these as the perfect games. Now, I'm trying to spruik the public transport side of things here, maybe a hidden agenda there, but I think it'd be lovely to sit on a train or a plane and play these games. It sounds really peaceful, actually.

00:06:33Melissa Ellis: You should probably give context to the public transport hint that you just dropped, Ollie. Because we did discuss late last year that you changed jobs, but would you like to tell everybody more about your new role?

00:06:46Oliver Spake: Ah, well, look, I'm not sure what I said previously, but I did change roles. It was a bit of a change from the aged care sector, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but... Naturally, it's a sector full of amazing people that I have a lot of respect for and a lot of, I guess, pain seeing the challenging times that they've all been through. So it was difficult to say goodbye to aged care. But yes, public transport, the illusion being I am now working for New South Wales Transport. So yes, working as a part of the New South Wales Transport Regional Transport Group. So looking at those public transport improvements across the network. And for me, Mel, just seems like the perfect excuse to go and travel to some regional New South Wales parkruns.

00:07:36Melissa Ellis: I think so. And you can be the man on the ground in trying to help the adventurers get good public transport to their events. Yeah.

00:07:45Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, I'll do my best. I'll do my very best. But needless to say, it's early days, so I've got to get out there, got to live it, got to experience it. And one such place to travel to, Mel, how's this for a segue? In response to last week's episode... Maybe I lied a bit when I said this wouldn't be as much about music festivals. Chris Fraser on Facebook did provide us a response with some handy tips as well. Another music option for you, he said. Mudgee, a day on the green, plus wineries, plus hot air ballooning, plus parkrun. Not necessarily in that order. I did Mudgee prior to Billy Thorpe and George Thorogood. He did go on to add in a separate comment, actually, I saw them at Bowral, which also has a parkrun. I saw Hoodoo Gurus at Mudgee. Yeah. They're all over Australia, different lineups at different times. And, yes, speculating there that it's probably on hold, of which many events are. So some good options there, Mel.

00:08:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah. Something to put on the list for potential later in the year. I've actually got a couple of – well, we've got Palm obviously coming up, Ollie, and – also got um an adventure in the planning stages for Easter so uh yeah that is a good option for the latter part of this year yeah isn't it nice to be planning adventures again it is it is it really is we'll enjoy that for as long as we can however I suppose it's time to to listen to our interview Mel I think that's a good idea Ollie let's uh let's have a listen to you and Ercan

00:08:53[crosstalk]

Interview Ercan Boduk — Event Director, Wentworth Common parkrun (Sydney Olympic Park, NSW)

00:09:24Oliver Spake: Our guest this week has completed 210 parkruns and recently became the Event Director at one of Australia's newest parkruns, Wentworth Common. He has completed 52 different parkrun events and volunteered on 54 different occasions, I believe. Welcome to the podcast, Ercan Boduk. Thanks, Ollie. Thanks for having me. Thank you very much for your time. It's great to get a chance to chat to you when we've had some exciting developments in the Sydney parkrun world in particular. So I'd love to hear more about that. But given we've got a chance to speak to you, we'd love to start with your journey. So could you please kick us off and let us know when and how you discovered parkrun?

00:10:06Ercan Boduk: Look, after attempting to run consistently for 10 to 15 years, and the most I could usually do was five kilometres, I'd just gotten back from a nine-week overseas holiday in early 2016 where much food and drink was consumed. And I had a look at myself in the mirror and I gave myself one last chance to do this running thing properly, to lose some weight and to get fitter. So I started running three to four times a week, usually at the western end of Olympic Park in Sydney, which is only a few kilometres from home. Actually, the spot I was running from is maybe less than half a kilometre from my current home parkrun, which obviously didn't exist back then. Anyhow, after five or so months of consistent running, which allowed me to go from 90 kilos to about 75 kilos and about seven minutes quicker for 5K, I thought doing a 5K fun run would be nice. So I did some Googling, and the first thing that popped up was, next Saturday, parkrun. The following Saturday, parkrun. Every Saturday for the rest of the year was parkrun. So I thought, okay. So the closest one was actually just on the other side of Olympic Park. So suffice to say, I was addicted after one week. And actually since that first week, which was back in September 2016, I've only missed two parkruns, which was early on because of bad weather. Not that this would stop me now. And I missed two weeks when I went overseas for five weeks. So I still managed to tick off three runs while I was away. I've also missed a few weeks when other running events have clashed with parkrun on the same day. But yeah, I haven't missed a week since I think mid to late 2017.

00:11:55Oliver Spake: Look, that's impressive and well done. It's amazing how the bug catches when it really catches. And I think the bar shifts, doesn't it? The definition of bad weather seems to evolve with parkrun. Definitely. And look, despite well over 100 parkruns at your home, which I understand was Rhodes parkrun, you've still managed to visit over 50 different parkruns. So, I mean...

00:12:20Ercan Boduk: many there to talk about but throughout that have you ticked off or do you still have any specific goals oh look my main goal is just to tick off as many different events as possible over time and just to be able to enjoy the variety of courses out there and just to see how event teams do things differently aside from that no sort of specific goals

00:12:40Oliver Spake: I did notice, incidentally, you are a pirate, so well done. Cheers. And two off the stopwatch bingo as well.

00:12:48Ercan Boduk: Yeah, it's been a bit of a tough one to tick off. I don't want to cheat, but yeah.

00:12:52Oliver Spake: Ah, so you're a purist, yes. Correct. And you mentioned along there as well that you have managed to visit some parkruns overseas, which I understand were in the UK and Sweden. What were they like and which ones were they?

00:13:04Ercan Boduk: Yeah, I mean, I was conscious of not going too much out of my way to get to an event whilst I was on holidays. And luckily, two of the three events I did overseas were only a couple of kilometres away in Edinburgh and Stockholm. But I did make sure I got to Bushy parkrun when I was staying in central London, even though it involved a 90-minute journey from accommodation to the start line. I did make sure I also wore my apricot top with my home event on there. And I did get a few inquiries from fellow parkrunners at the events I did go to when I was overseas, yeah.

00:13:39Oliver Spake: Excellent. Hopefully some budding tourists when conditions are a little more favourable for that form of parkrun tourism. Absolutely. Look, it must have been quite an experience. That time of year would have been, was it autumn?

00:13:53Ercan Boduk: It was in September and October. So what's that?

00:13:58Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, just after the northern summer. So fairly favourable conditions for a northern parkrun, I believe.

00:14:04Ercan Boduk: Yeah, that's right.

00:14:05Oliver Spake: Yeah. Look, I will ask you for a top three at the end, but we'd love to hear about the baby of Sydney parkruns, Wentworth Common. Can you tell us how did the idea and location come about?

00:14:18Ercan Boduk: Look, it's been great to see participation numbers increase just in general over the last few years, but this has also meant some congestion for certain locations, especially my former home parkrun at Bicentennial Park, also known as Rhodes parkrun. So part of the reason was to take a bit of pressure off their numbers. Olympic Park also has so many nice paths for running and walking and I've occasionally run through the section of which is now Wentworth Common parkrun. It's a bit of a hidden secret in the area as other parts of Olympic Park are much more popular with walkers, runners and cyclists. So I tentatively thought of pursuing an event at that location back in early 2020 without acting on it. But when the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, who are landowners of part of the Rhodes parkrun course, mentioned to us at the Rhodes event team about whether we'd be interested in having another event within the park, I jumped at the opportunity. This was early 2021, especially given how difficult it can be to convince landowners to obtain permission to have a parkrun event.

00:15:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, well and truly. Yeah. And that's been an interesting time to establish a parkrun, obviously with all the disruptions that we have had. So what's been the experience like in starting up during COVID times?

00:15:40Ercan Boduk: Look, the biggest thing I've noticed is that numbers across most events in Sydney are down by 30% to 50% for some events, which is fair enough given the current level of case numbers. This has also made it a bit more challenging to find volunteers. And again, I'm referring to most events. So the biggest challenge, I think, is to make sure physical distancing and good hygiene are being practised.

00:16:03Oliver Spake: Yeah. And fortunately, I think there are a lot of understanding parkrunners out there who have had the opportunity to weigh up, I think, how to approach it and the meaning of parkrun to them. So I think we owe a lot to our community for being understanding and coming on the journey and supporting us with these practices as well. Absolutely. And the course, yes, I have been there and thoroughly enjoyed it, but perhaps you can give us a bit of an auditory tour of the course and its highlights, please. Yeah.

00:16:30Ercan Boduk: Yeah, so to start off with, I had roughly 10 different versions of a potential course. I would imagine, yeah. Some were tougher than others in terms of elevation gain, complexity, and requiring more Marshals, and some involved running beside the road for small portions. I wanted to avoid repeating parts of the course, or God forbid, a two-lap course. Making sure the start point was close to toilets, free car parking, and covered seating were also important factors. So with the final course, we start off with what's called Wentworth Loop, which is roughly an 850 metre loop, which contains both trail and a bitumen path. And you can choose where you want to run as they are side by side. After about a lap and a bit, we enter the main path, which is my favourite part of the course. It's very shaded. There's a small swamp on one side, lots of trees, and it's super quiet. So you pretty much have the entire path to yourself. As you approach the halfway mark, you run nearby the Olympic Stadium, which brings back so many memories and good memories for a lot of people. That's if you're not huffing and puffing at that stage. There's a pond on one side and a grassy hill on the other as you approach the turnaround spot at roughly 2.9 Ks. You then do a U-turn and you head back into that main path. There's a slight undulation, roughly 21 metres for the entire course of elevation gain. And the hardest bit, I reckon, is that final 200 metres where you actually can see the finish line on the other side of the grass. But what you do is you run on an internal path, a half loop, and that 200 metres feels like 600 metres. And you pretty much end up very close to the start point.

00:18:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, I can vouch for that finish. It did feel a little counterintuitive to run in the other direction near that finish, but it's a great way to finish and it's nice to have that atmosphere driving you on as you're coming around that final loop. Absolutely. Oh, look, and I like your point around bringing back memories. Absolutely. The stadium really is a place of so many different events. And I look forward to the day when there's a Socceroos or Matildas game on and I can combine the two just to make it a really highlight of the day. But what's the experience been for yourself and the team there since the launch? You've now had, I think, five events. Is that right? Yep.

00:19:01Ercan Boduk: Five today. Yep. Yep. So far, so good. I've got lots of good help around me. And I've found that with the effective use of safety cones, we try and run a lean volunteer roster. As I said before, it's a little bit tricky getting volunteers because for us, at least, most people want to tick off that new event first, but we're still going okay.

00:19:20Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, it's a fantastic atmosphere and I really did appreciate the support of the volunteers when I was there. Good to hear. So, yeah, huge kudos to you all. Now, I did hold off earlier when you did mention a couple of events and a couple of your experiences so far, but would dearly love to hear, are you able to share with us your top three parkruns from your journeys over time?

00:19:45Ercan Boduk: Oh, that's a tough one. Yeah. Look, I'm not a huge fan of multiple lap courses, but I have to say the three-lap course at Galston in Sydney's northwest was an absolute beauty. You start from an elevated position in a big park, and even though only part of it is used for the actual parkrun course, it's a very scenic park. Wildflower, which is on Sydney's upper north shore, is an extremely lush, albeit a very tough course, with a hill in the middle which makes the Sydney City to Surf Heartbreak Hill look like a speed hump. And last but not least, there's one down near Wollongong. You may have heard of it. A very tough but extremely, extremely scenic course. I think it's called Shellharbour. I'm not sure we've heard of that one on the pod. LAUGHTER It had everything, bitumen, grass, sand and lots of elevation. That was a very scenic one as well.

00:20:34[laughter]

00:20:43Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, there are some tough ones in there and I take it that might be a flavour that you enjoy.

00:20:50Ercan Boduk: Possibly. Yes. And look, to be honest, all parkrun courses are nice in their own unique way. I'm not a huge fan of multiple lap courses, but sometimes, you know, the amount of space you've got to work with, it can't be helped. So, you know, well done for those events that have got parkruns with limited space.

00:21:08Oliver Spake: Very true. Oh, look, thank you. And clearly with your support setting up Wentworth Common, the home in Rhodes and a top three there, you're a great ambassador for parkrun New South Wales. And almost entirely Sydney. Oh, that's very kind of you. And it's almost like we're developing a little hub there, a little hub there around Rhodes, Parramatta and now Wentworth Common.

00:21:30Ercan Boduk: It's a bit of a hotspot for parkrunners, yes. I mean, if you look at a map of Sydney, some events are fairly well spaced out, whereas others are quite close together. But that Parramatta parkrun, which is actually in Ermington or Rydalmere, Well, it starts in Ermington, I think, and finishes in Rydalmere, or it turns back there. Rhodes, which starts at Concord West, and the turnaround point is actually at Rhodes. So it's a bit of a tricky one, that one. And Wentworth Common, very close to each other, but lots of high-rise apartments going up in Olympic Park. And it's just an absolute hotbed of parkrunners. So Parramatta and Rhodes, the numbers have probably doubled in the last five years. So there's definitely, I did have a few comments saying you're so close to Rhodes and Parramatta, but the area can support it because there's just so many parkrunners in that area.

00:22:22Oliver Spake: That's right, yeah. Look, it's clearly the place to be. Well done to yourself and as I said to the whole Wentworth Common team and community on a fantastic new parkrun and the support from your fellow parkrunners nearby as well. I trust that you're having many of them dip across. Absolutely. But thank you, Ercan. It's been a pleasure to have you on the pod and we look forward to hearing more about Wentworth Common and your adventures when you do get back out there. Thanks for the invite, Ollie. And thanks very much, Ercan, for your time and the chat and hearing a little bit more about Wentworth Common parkrun.

00:23:03Melissa Ellis: Yes. Well done, Ollie. It was nice to hear from Ercan and get to know a little bit more about him. Hopefully I can meet him in person sometime soon.

00:23:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, look, next time you do make it up for a longest run, Sydney. I don't suppose that'll be this year, but there's always that opportunity. And I think we've got to keep our eye on that part of Sydney because it really does seem like it's developing as a little bit of a hub there. There's some good spots for running. That's good. So some new events, Mel, hopefully.

Emails

00:23:33Melissa Ellis: We've also got mail, Ollie.

00:23:36Oliver Spake: You've got mail.

00:23:37Melissa Ellis: We heard from Glenn Moore and he said, hi, long time listener, first time emailer. How do we get new challenges added to the apps? My suggestion is we should have a new challenge called On Every Saturday and the challenge is to complete all 32 events listed in the book of the same name. Love your work.

00:24:00Oliver Spake: Thank you, Glenn. Love your work too.

00:24:02Melissa Ellis: That's a good suggestion, Glenn, and I think we did perhaps reference that back when we profiled the book, Ollie, and spoke to David and we potentially... named it the Crookbook Challenge, didn't we?

00:24:17Oliver Spake: Yes, which people could miss the linkage, I suppose, if they're looking up their challenges, if we were to get it included.

00:24:24Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so my understanding is through the 5K app, the 5K mobile app, there is actually an ability to email the creators. And I think other people have done that in the past to suggest challenges. I'm not sure if... If it's more of a global focus with the challenges and maybe the on every Saturday being more of an Australian-based thing, whether or not they would consider it. But you could definitely try, Glenn. Get onto the 5K app and look for that link to message the app directly to

00:25:00Oliver Spake: Yes, I think it'd be a fantastic step to see us move in the direction of having a few more challenges across the globe, because you could think of some similar challenges elsewhere. And once we can all jump across the ditch and travel further afield, it'd be nice to be able to chase some of them.

00:25:21Melissa Ellis: The Chrome extension definitely has a few challenges that are UK-based that we obviously haven't really got the ability to do, like the Ponty. Yes. The full Ponty obviously is UK-centric.

00:25:35Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah.

00:25:35Melissa Ellis: So it wouldn't hurt for us to have our own Aussie-based type thing.

00:25:40Oliver Spake: That's right, yeah.

00:25:41Melissa Ellis: We do seem to create every week new challenges though. Yeah.

00:25:48Oliver Spake: Well, that's right. There's our quota for this week. We'll just ignore the fact that we might have called it Cookbook before. We'll call it the new challenge for the week. And yeah, keep us posted.

00:25:58Melissa Ellis: It's a good name for the challenge on every Saturday.

00:26:00Oliver Spake: Yeah, much more direct link.

00:26:02Melissa Ellis: This week's group challenge idea tick.

00:26:06Oliver Spake: That's right. And thanks for your email, Glenn.

Dazza's

00:26:08Melissa Ellis: Yeah, good to hear from you.

00:26:09Oliver Spake: Meanwhile, speaking of people we heard from at Dazza's this week, we were contemplating the weather with Dazza's saying, welcome to Dazza's. It's too hot for sausage rolls after parkrun in Australia at the moment. So come in where it's cool, grab a refreshment, maybe even some granola and tell us about all your adventures. Hashtag don't forget your smile.

00:26:31Melissa Ellis: And our most popular, post this week Ollie with the most likes was Nadine crawford's post Nadine said I wasn't going to post this week but then something happened all-time PB after nearly seven years that is phenomenal

00:26:50Oliver Spake: Well done.

00:26:51Melissa Ellis: Well done, Nadine. She is in amazing shape, looking fabulous and running really well.

00:26:57Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:26:58Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Ingrid Botha. Absolutely flying with the tailwind today at Dolls Point, and I even had a moment where I thought, I'm actually enjoying this run. I even managed to hold on to that feeling after the turnaround when the tailwind became a headwind. I would never have moments like this without the parkrun community.

00:27:17Oliver Spake: Well said. I think it gives a lot of motivation, especially when that headwind turns. And I have felt the Dolls Point headwind. That's something to write home about. Believe me.

00:27:29Melissa Ellis: But we're starting on a high there with our first two girls who are feeling all the love and running really well.

00:27:36Oliver Spake: Speaking of on a high, Richard. Hey, Dazza. Firstly, just need to clear up some miscommunication from pod number 271. Today is my 100th run, not my single time. Having moved late last year, that milestone has to restart. Sorry for the confusion, guys. Anyway, off to San Remo parkrun to get my black shirt. And on the central coast of New South Wales, it's only 20 degrees. Happy parkrun Day, everyone. So big congratulations, Richard. Thanks for clearing it up. And well done on the 100th.

00:28:11Melissa Ellis: Yes, thanks, Richard. I actually did realise that after we recorded the pod last week when I was going back through some of the notes and I clicked on Richard's parkrun profile and realised he was sitting on 99 runs and went, oops, never mind. It's all cleared up now and that's what matters.

00:28:32Oliver Spake: And Richard also did reference the temperature. Our weather pondering was slightly off track in some parts. It was a rather chilly Saturday morning actually, but still a good parkrun morning all the same. Over in New Zealand though, Tanya Bailey shared with us, Pegasus parkrun has a challenge going at the moment. Five kilometres every day of February. And so far I have managed it. Easy when you have a large dog to exercise. Looking forward to when we can do some touring. A visit to Sydney and Melbourne is hopefully in the horizon. Earl Grey tea and savoury scone for me this morning.

00:29:09Melissa Ellis: Good to hear from Tanya. I've got a feeling if it's Sydney versus Melbourne that Sydney might be on the winning side of that competition, being that maybe, well, not maybe, that is the location of Bec.

00:29:22Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah, that might be a strong factor in there. But hey, maybe there's some Bailey shot tourism around Australia that could happen.

00:29:32Melissa Ellis: They could all just meet in Melbourne.

00:29:34Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's true.

00:29:36Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Helen Rutter. For my 50th birthday weekend away, hubby gave me my very own parkrun. He also arranged for a friend who lives in the area to meet us, which was so lovely and all a complete surprise. We went to a cafe called Toast where they all had full English and I had scrambled eggs on toast and a big pot of tea. And welcome, as a first-timer poster to Dazza's, welcome, Helen.

00:30:02Oliver Spake: And Helen shared the photo there in front of the crowd at St. Helens parkrun. I like that. That's a lovely gesture. And happy birthday. Yes. On top of all that. Yes.

00:30:11Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so yeah, I'd be quite happy with a parkrun tourism trip for my birthday. So her hubby did well.

00:30:19Oliver Spake: Very nice touch. Speaking of parkrun tourism, Mel, Natalie McMullen. The more planning I put into adventuring, the less likely it is to eventuate this year. Left home at 5.30am for a planned visit to North Sydney parkrun and a day of city adventures, only for the brake cable to snap on the pram, locking the rear wheels when we arrived at the station. So drove home, swapped prams, then detoured to St Peter's. This meant my three-year-old still got his promised trip to the Harbour Bridge and a ride on a ferry after parkrun. St Peter's is a lovely course, but the hill on the first loop is brutal, especially with a pram.

00:31:02Melissa Ellis: I can concur with that. I have done St Peter's, so well done, Natalie. And sorry that your adventure started out on such a difficult footing, but well done on managing to get to St Peter's.

00:31:15Oliver Spake: Yes, good recovery, good switch.

00:31:17Melissa Ellis: Now, Ollie, this next one was also a tourist, we think, and also a first-time poster, we think. So we heard from Steve's Bike. Steve's bike said, hi, Dazza. My 170th parkrun today at a mysterious, flattish location in Victoria. A great run with some friends. A chocolate milkshake to aid the recovery, please. Cheers, Anonymous. We've got a mystery on our hands, Ollie. A real mystery. We've both spent a considerable amount of time trying to solve this mystery.

00:31:55Oliver Spake: That's right. I mean, not only is it the first time we have, in fact, had a bicycle posting at Dazza's and joining us for a chocolate milkshake, but we don't know who the bicycle is to come clean. Yeah. And it's irking us.

00:32:12Melissa Ellis: We've got an idea, but the likely candidate doesn't line up with 170 parkruns, which is what's causing us some angst. I did have a look at the Consolidated Club report for the Victorian parkruns. As Steve's Bike alluded, he was in Victoria. There were no Steves on the Consolidated parkrun report. So, Steve's Bike, you've got some homework this week and please keep the clues coming.

00:32:46Oliver Spake: Yes, I'm intrigued.

00:32:47Melissa Ellis: Let us figure it out. And let's appeal to the parkrun community. Do you know Steve's Bike?

00:32:52Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:32:53Melissa Ellis: Our collective wisdom could work this out. We also heard from Irene Bumacanti. This one, Ollie, comes under the adventurers Catch-Up banner. North Sydney parkrun and brunch at Ven Cafe after. Iced latte and poached eggs with avo. Yum. Lots of us from Melbourne and Tim from ACT. Also joined by the Wagi Bridge celebrity, The Troll. And a lovely group of photos posted by both Irene and Parth, I believe, showing some delicious brunch shots with the special guest.

00:33:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, I am very hungry after that. So thanks, guys. It looked like a nice catch-up. I mean, the troll is great company.

00:33:33Melissa Ellis: Troll draws a crowd.

00:33:34Oliver Spake: Troll certainly does. So more adventures for the Wagi Bridge Troll. I wonder where Troll is going next. For anyone that hasn't checked it out, by the way, look up on Instagram, Wagi Bridge Troll, and follow the adventures. There are some great shots popping up there. Meanwhile, Mel... We heard from Pippa over in the UK. Pippa did share. Oh, Dazza, after my COVID says no weekend, I was really worried I wouldn't get out today. Managed two early release negative tests. So went to King George V playing fields. Amazingly friendly team. Really, really lovely. The best morning. But my parkrun was very cold. So please, can I have a sneaky hot chocolate? Thank you. And Pippa did also share a photo of her in her green tutu, in fact, in green and gold, which I particularly liked, and added, with my smile on, my tutu because it's 20 tutu. And my personal challenge to do parkrun in a tutu every opportunity this year, guest appearance by Betty the dog.

00:34:41Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:34:42Oliver Spake: And I should have mentioned Betty was indeed in the photo as well. So well done, Pippa and Betty. Keep up the good work. I hope it warms up for you, though.

00:34:49Melissa Ellis: That wasn't all in the show notes.

00:34:52Oliver Spake: That's all right.

00:34:53Melissa Ellis: Yes, well done, Pippa, and well done, Ollie, for your research.

00:34:57Oliver Spake: And indeed, also checking in at Dazza's, on the volunteer side of things, Lee Caparita. Guided Jack, who's visiting from Melbourne at St Peter's with Shauna and Sally. Bianca joined us for the last kilometre after doing Willoughby first. Such an athlete. headed to the local coffee shop for a green juice and mocha. Don't judge me. No milestones, but getting closer to becoming Rayfarers. And Lee shared a photo with a few of the team there in front of the stacks at St. Peter's and a flag in the Achilles shirt with a couple of volleys there too. Good work, everyone.

00:35:35Melissa Ellis: Oh, so Lee was there with Helen. No, was it Helen at St Peter's?

00:35:38Oliver Spake: No, it was Natalie.

00:35:39Melissa Ellis: Natalie, yes.

00:35:40Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:35:41Melissa Ellis: Oh, very good. Thank you, everybody, for joining. And once again, our abridged version of Dazza's.

the Obi Award — Natalie McMullen

00:35:49Melissa Ellis: Let's draw the winner of the Obi. Ollie, have you got the envelope?

00:35:54Oliver Spake: Oh, hang on. Let me just grab it from our intern once again. Just a moment. Okay, now I do. Sorry. Okay. Apologies for the delay there. I will open the envelope. And the winner of the Obi is Natalie. And congratulations, Natalie, for, I think, as we said before, that quick pivot from one planned adventure to another. And I know it's a skill the adventurers often have, but in mastering those circumstances, turning it into a good day, that deserves an Obi.

00:36:41Melissa Ellis: 100%. I agree. We have to think on our toes when we're adventuring. It doesn't always go to plan. And congratulations, Natalie. Thanks for coming to Dazza's.

00:36:50Oliver Spake: And, look, I've just made the connection as well. Sorry you missed the troll because you would have been at North Sydney. But, yeah, at least you were at St Peter's where Lee was. We can't have everything.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:37:01Oliver Spake: But, Mel, what we can have is we can have roving reports and we have a couple of roving reports to listen to. So let's throw to them and our informant.

Roving report Paul Kitching — Mawson Lakes

00:37:19Paul Kitching: G'day parkrun adventurers. This is PK tuning in for another roving report from the awesome Mawson Lakes. Mawson Lakes parkrun out in the city of Salisbury. I'm here at the finish line. Just come over and it is a Z course and so very popular for the Zoolanders. So all the Zoolanders absolutely love this course. Anyway, it goes past lots of beautiful places, wildlife, lake life, etc. And I'm going to go and chat to some legends who've come. I don't know. I'll get them to introduce themselves. G'day. What's your name and what do you do? My name's Darren. I'm a singer in a band. You are too. Exactly. I was going to get to that. That's awesome. I'm glad you dived straight in. That's beautiful, man. Darren and Rachel. Sorry, Rachel. Hello. Hello. Darren, I usually see you out at Lochiel. What brings you to Mawson Lakes, mate?

00:38:10Darren: Just a change of scenery today. We do try and switch it up a little bit. We've been to a few different parkruns, so this is always a nice one when the weather's good. A little bit windy today, so we made it a tough one, but yeah, it's been a good day.

00:38:20Paul Kitching: Yeah, as I was saying, definitely the headwind, you know, that's what, you know, meant that we couldn't get a PB today, clearly.

00:38:28Darren: I think I might have done. I might have got this year's best so far.

00:38:31Paul Kitching: Well, mate, you whipped past me. Well done. What is your favourite parkrun course to do?

00:38:35Darren: That's difficult. We've run in Brisbane. We've done Sydney. I've run Sydney. Kangaroo Island. Wow. So, yeah, we've been around a little bit. I don't know what my favourite is. I'll have to think about that.

00:38:45Paul Kitching: No, it's a hard one, isn't it? It depends on whether it's like flat or whether it's the people or whether it's the coffee, which I know you're dying to get. Yeah, indeed. How many parkruns have you done, Rachel?

00:38:54Rachel: 170 something or other.

00:38:56Paul Kitching: Nice. And Lochiel is your local usually? Yeah, it is.

00:38:58Rachel: My favourite one as well.

00:38:59Paul Kitching: Yeah, it is a beautiful course, isn't it? Fantastic. And yes, mate, we've got to cover off the fact that you're in a band. Tell us about the band.

00:39:05Darren: It's been a band called Noasis, which is an Oasis tribute band, established in 1996. Awesome. And then migrated to Australia in the 7th year.

00:39:13Paul Kitching: So good. And not only that, your son's in it.

00:39:16Darren: He is, yeah. We've got two father and sons in the band now, which is crazy, isn't it?

00:39:21Paul Kitching: That's brilliant. Are any of them parkrunners?

00:39:24Darren: No.

00:39:24Paul Kitching: Oh, well, no. That's the next thing. Jimmers.

00:39:26Darren: Jimmers.

00:39:28Paul Kitching: Good on you. Yeah, look out for Noasis. They're playing, you know, in a venue near you soon. I don't know. You're playing in Victoria this next week.

00:39:35Darren: We are in St Kilda Friday, Geelong Saturday, and then, yeah, we've got a fringe show on the 5th of March at the Aquabar.

00:39:43Paul Kitching: Yes, look at that. Love it. Well done, Legends. Thank you so much for coming out. Thank you. Good on you. Thanks, guys. How about that? Some parkrunners and also in a band as well. I love it. Who else can I come and find at this lovely course? I might come and bug my mates. Hello, Dan. Good morning, PK. How are you, mate? How was parkrun for you? Oh, lovely.

00:40:02Ercan Boduk: First time at Mawson Lakes for me.

00:40:04Paul Kitching: Yeah, good on you. Go, Sam! We're just yelling across the lake. Yep, yep, there's the wave. Beautiful. I love it. I love the fact that at the finish course, you can actually admire people still doing the course. What are your thoughts on the course, Adrian?

00:40:16Darren: I loved it. I loved it. It's nice and flat, easy, beautiful water view all the way around.

00:40:21Paul Kitching: Yeah. I'll be back. How good is that? I know. Beautiful. And, Penn, memories?

00:40:26Unidentified speaker: There were slight undulating hills, which was very nice, and I did like the little shortcut on the way back.

00:40:32Paul Kitching: So I was out on the course and I saw this awesome parkrunner go past in a parkrun top. And then I happened to see her corner elbow, elbow, shoulder. And oh my gosh, it is a parkrun tattoo. Hello, Kerry. Hi. How are you going? Congrats on the, tell us about the parkrun tattoo.

00:40:49Kerry: Well, I started parkrun about six years ago and it changed my life. parkrun absolutely changed my life. I have a little group that we all go running on runcations away together. Runcation.

00:41:00Paul Kitching: Great word.

00:41:01Kerry: Met through parkrun. And so I figured that if I was going to get a tattoo, it had to mean something, really mean something to me. And parkrun, I said, changed my life. So I thought, I'll get a parkrun tattoo. And it's got my little runners ink on it, which is my little group. They'll love it.

00:41:16Paul Kitching: Yeah, and you've got it on your parkrun top as well.

00:41:18Kerry: Yes, and we've actually got it on our parkrun. I'm not wearing it, but our parkrun hat. We had it screen printed. So, yeah.

00:41:23Paul Kitching: Absolute legends. So, this is your local parkrun? No, no.

00:41:27Kerry: Our local is Torrens, actually. Right. But one of my little group lives locally. Awesome. So, we're tourists to be.

00:41:33Paul Kitching: Yeah. So, how many parkruns have you done?

00:41:36Kerry: 239. Oh, coming up to the 250.

00:41:38Paul Kitching: Yes, I am. Where are you going to do your 250, do you reckon?

00:41:41Kerry: Torrens. We always go home for milestones. Yeah, well done, mate. But we're tourists. We've done lots of things. We do runcations. Like I said, we go away and we do, like we did Clare Running Festival and we do Clare parkrun. Awesome. So that sort of thing.

00:41:53Paul Kitching: Yay. Well, thank you so much for stopping. I know you're desperate for your parkrun coffee, but I just want to say I love the tatt. Congrats. And good work, Mari, coming out on your first parkrun. Woo! Yes, Mari. Good on you, legends. Thank you so much. See you. I'm now here at the finish line with the very busy Kelly, who's the RD today. G'day, Kelly.

00:42:10Kelly - Co-Event Director, Mawson Lakes patron: G'day. How are you guys?

00:42:11Paul Kitching: Good, mate. And g'day, Justin.

00:42:13Justin: G'day, yep, Kelly's here this week.

00:42:14Paul Kitching: Indeed, yes, so Justin and Kelly are the co-EDs, I believe, of this awesome course, and I've seen them here many a time. Well, I think, I don't know if this is my third, I've definitely came here for the Zoolander takeover for the Z course, but congrats, how's it all going?

00:42:27Justin: Fantastic, yeah. Nearly four, five years in. Five years in, mate.

00:42:31Paul Kitching: Yeah, right. Will you have a fifth birthday to some degree?

00:42:34Kelly - Co-Event Director, Mawson Lakes patron: We certainly will. Awesome. COVID sort of put a stop to our third and fourth. We did that virtually. So yeah, we're looking forward to a big five.

00:42:44Paul Kitching: Love your course, mate. It absolutely is. Here we go. Here comes some tokens. Look at that. Kel's working whilst we chat, which is good. The actual course itself is deceiving because it's not... I love how flat it is, but then, you know, you've got... You know what I absolutely love? The corners, but I absolutely love... 15 corners. 15 corners.

00:43:00Justin: And... And they're all... Virtually all...

00:43:03Paul Kitching: 90 degrees. Yeah, but also sign marked. I love that.

00:43:05Justin: That's awesome. Did the council do that for you? No, we did that. We asked the council if we could put some arrows on the corners just to save us coming out in the early hours of the morning and putting arrows out ourselves. We used to knock them in in the early days. And that means people can do it during the week as well. That is so good, yeah, when people want to come and do it themselves.

00:43:24Paul Kitching: Makes it a lot easier for us. Yeah, and it's so simple. It's got the good branding, it's got the parkrun brand on there, and the arrow. Kel, you mentioned a movie that you're in, or you're going to be in. Let's give it a plug.

00:43:35Kelly - Co-Event Director, Mawson Lakes patron: Yeah, that's Heysen, Heysen 105.

00:43:38Justin: Nice. Finished the Heysen 105, which is actually about 115. Wow. It's about 115Ks, but kept the old name, which Kelly completed...

00:43:47[crosstalk]

00:43:47Kelly - Co-Event Director, Mawson Lakes patron: last year awesome so that's in editing now is it or is it editing yeah so we'll come to the big screens early hopefully yeah before the middle of the year awesome yeah well there's been a few um running running movies that are really taking off I could you know I can see that you know doing well

00:44:02Paul Kitching: Yeah, but none with... None with the awesome star, Kelly, all right? You know, you heard it here first. So, like, you know, when you go and see the movie, you can go, oh, that's Kelly, who I heard on the parkrun podcast, or that I met at Mawson Lakes. Good on you, Legends. I'll let you get back to it. Thank you so much for what you've created for the community.

00:44:18Justin: Thanks for coming back out.

00:44:19Kelly - Co-Event Director, Mawson Lakes patron: Yeah, we appreciate you being here. Good on you.

00:44:21Paul Kitching: Thank you so much. Thanks, guys. Alrighty, that is it. Me signing off for another adventurers Podcast Roving Report. It is beautiful out here. Mawson Lakes. Come check it out. It's a gorgeous course. Get your M and get your Z. I know it's not technically a Z, but it is a Z course. So, yeah, come and do a Z course. Alrighty. Cheers. Thanks, legends.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Tony O'Connell — Lewis Park Reserve

00:44:44Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, TOC reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. Today we've ventured west and for Mel that's if you turn around at your place and head towards South Australia, that's west. We've headed west and we've gone to a new parkrun on the circuit, Lewis Park Reserve parkrun in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs. And I'm here with Megan who's the Event Director. How are you Megan? I am great, thank you. Another fantastic event today.

00:45:10Megan: Yeah, big numbers today and weather was fantastic for our third event.

00:45:15Tony O'Connell: So, Megan, this is running on a lot of the same course as what Fair Park used to run. What was the reason for the change in starting location? Yeah.

00:45:25Megan: yeah yeah no it is pretty much the same course but we've added a little bit on at the end but the reason for our change is that well there's major project works going on at Fairpark Reserve they're building a new sports pavilion there so council approached us and asked us if we could relocate our start finish which Kept me up for a few nights, but that's okay. We got there, we got there and we've now relocated to Lewis Park Reserve, which is two k's down the road from where we were previously at Fairpark Reserve.

00:45:57Tony O'Connell: Okay, so give us a little bit of a rundown on your course, Megan.

00:46:01Megan: It's not quite a loop. We start at Lewis Park Reserve and we head back towards where Fairpark Reserve was and we continue to do a U-turn at the bridge there. Then we come back and continue along the same path as previous, going past Knox Shopping Centre. But instead of messing with people's heads, making them do another U-turn and come back, we've got them continuing along the course now and finishing at the oval at Lewis Park Reserve.

00:46:31Tony O'Connell: I actually like the loop finish format at the end compared to the old course. I enjoyed the old course, but I like the finish on the new one because it's a fairly bright, sunny day today, blue skies, and you've got a lot of gumtree, a lot of shade on the tail end of the course when it's starting to warm up.

00:46:47Megan: Yeah, we're very lucky. We are quite protected with the trees along our course. And we've got our little inclines out of the way early now. So once we're back past halfway, it's a nice flat course and people can get their rhythm happening and finish on a nice flat finish.

00:47:03Tony O'Connell: Yeah, no, it's a beautiful little course and well done. And yeah, enjoy your parkrun.

00:47:08Megan: Thank you. We love seeing people down here and hope to see more.

00:47:12Tony O'Connell: Howdy, parkrunners. TOC back again, and I'm with Tracey. Tracey was our marvellous Run Director today. Tracey, a beautiful day at Lewis Park. Good morning.

00:47:20Tracey: Yeah, we had a great day, beautiful sunny day. It's supposed to be a top of 27, so we had a really nice sunny morning. Yeah, so it was a great day, really good.

00:47:29Tony O'Connell: How many numbers did you have today, Tracey? It looked like a reasonable crew.

00:47:32Tracey: Yeah, so it looked like we had our biggest parkrun today, which was about 135 runners, so... Okay, excellent.

00:47:38Tony O'Connell: And everyone was spread out along the track really well. It was actually quite a nice vibe out along the track. There was a lot of people sort of, the out and back format, a lot of people sort of giving each other a bit of a G up.

00:47:49Tracey: Oh, good, yeah, that's what parkrun's all about. So, yeah, we love that.

00:47:53Tony O'Connell: Yeah, no, it was really good to see. And since the move, 135 is about the biggest, is it?

00:47:59Tracey: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's our biggest parkrun, so we're really excited about that and really happy to see the numbers and a few more people attending. So, yeah, yep.

00:48:08Tony O'Connell: And just for people that may think about coming along to Lewis Park, a couple of things, some of the facilities you've got here, it's really nice to have, like, toilets so close to the start line.

00:48:17Tracey: Yeah, so we've got bathrooms close to the start line. Our local Bunnings in Vermont South have been kind enough to donate a marquee for us and a table and some equipment. So we've got shade if it's a really hot morning. So, yeah, we're really lucky and it's a really lovely outlook, nice, you know, trees and stuff like that.

00:48:37Tony O'Connell: And you've got any amount of parking here as well?

00:48:39Tracey: Yeah, so we've got sort of ample parking. We ask people to park on the adjacent road, but, yeah, we've certainly got parking around the Oval as well, so...

00:48:49Tony O'Connell: And about 200 metres to a big shopping centre.

00:48:54Tracey: Yes, you can have breakfast and shop afterwards.

00:48:57Tony O'Connell: Plenty of things going on. It's been a sensational day down here. I've really enjoyed it. Fantastic. Thank you for coming. Lots of chatty people out and around, which is really good to see people hanging around the finish line having a bit of a chat afterwards.

00:49:08Tracey: They all have a chat, so it's good.

00:49:10Tony O'Connell: Well done. It's a great new event and time for coffee. Thank you for coming.

00:49:13Tracey: Beautiful. Thanks for coming.

the Informant

00:49:25The Informant: This is The Informant, coming to you live from Level 2 with a view. The view this week is, well, we can't talk about that. I got a bit of a dressing down from Oliver and Co last week, so this week we're all about business, being professional and boring stats. So strap yourself in. Last week in the Junior parkrun world, there were five events. 295 juniors participated, and there were 45 first-timers. 44 got a PB. Avalyn Bird, Brian BJ Bates, Georgia Roska, Hugo Torpey, Lavinia Buchan, Matilda Collins, Rory Maguire, Vincent O'Neill, and Xavier Webley all scored their half-marathon wristband for 11 runs. Abigail Jackson, Harrison Stimson, Summer Jenkins, Tamara Leonage and Xavier Fleiss scored marathon wristbands for 21 runs. Joshua Layton scored an ultra wristband for 50 runs. And Alexander Loganov became the second Aussie parkie to score a 100 wristband. Awesome work, Alexander! On to the 5k events. There were 410 runs held down under, which is up 5 on last week. 400 of these were in Australia and 10 in New Zealand. This was out of 1,689 worldwide. Aussie New Zealand attendance is up 800 to 41,361. 202,000 ran worldwide, down 7,000. There were seven launches. Cyril Curtain Reserve in Victoria, Henry Kendall Reserve, New South Wales, Jamestown Golf Course in South Australia, and another four in the United Kingdom. Down under we had 4,858 PBs, while 2,064 people participated for the first time. 90 juniors reached their Junior 10 milestone, 156 people reached their 50 milestone, 124 reached their 100 milestone, and 28 people reached their 250 milestone. 22 people called bingo. Brianna McEvaney was quickest with 164 runs, while Kevin Murray was slowest on 348 runs. There were 10 new statespeople. Ella Robinson, Dominic Ferguson, Jennifer Shanahan, and Mark Porter completed the ACT. Barbara Grady, Isabel Flanagan, Rodney Foster completed the Northern Territory, while Celeste and Brendan Whiteley became Tasmanians. In the top 20 most Aussie New Zealand events list, Erin Hardy moves up one to be equal eighth with Jim Woodruff on 177 different parkruns. The biggest mover overall was Tanya Ritchie who moved 11 places up the rankings to 227 after running her 82nd different parkrun. 246 people lifted their Windex this week. The biggest mover was Karen Baraglia. Karen jumped from 35 all the way up to 49, up 14. I'm adding a new segment to the stats show. How's that for professional? I'm calling it Adventurer Clubs where we'll celebrate new members of the Peel Club, Cowell Club and Freyne Club. Before we get into it, here's a quiz for you. How many Aussie or New Zealand parkies have completed 100 different parkrun events to get their Cowellell Club membership? The answer is online somewhere, but no cheating. Just have an honest guess. This week, six people ran their 100th event for the Cowellell Club. Stephen Trott, Neil Amos, Fiona Davis, Adelina Trott, Wendy Glen and Narelle McInnes. There were no Freyne or Peel clubbers, but there are a bunch of half Cowells and half Freynes. You can check them out on the spreadsheet. That's the one you can download from theinformant.me. That's www.theinformant.me or search for The Informant on Facebook. This has been The Informant, and my spreadsheet is even bigger than before.

00:53:29Melissa Ellis: And it was good to have a couple of roving reports again this week, Ollie. We heard a thank you to PK from Mawson Lakes, speaking with Darren and Rachel from Lochiel. And Darren, the singer from Noasis, the Oasis tribute band, Ollie. So we've still got the musical theme happening from last week.

00:53:50Oliver Spake: Well, that's right, and I love that. I'm jealous of you Victorians right now hearing that they're going to be touring over there. I would love to go to an Oasis. It's hard to say when you know that their name is Noasis, an Oasis tribute band show.

00:54:03Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And TOC over at Lewis Park Reserve, getting the lowdown from E.D. Megan and R.D. Tracy on the change. So that's been a bit of news that's happened in Victoria recently. One of our existing parkruns which is which was Fairpark Reserve has had a change and is up and running with a new name currently Lewis Park Reserve as TOC and ED Megan alluded to in the roving report so yeah all in all they had a good day they're getting some good numbers out there and good weather bringing the sunshine but Ollie our informants

00:54:43Oliver Spake: Don't we love them?

00:54:44Melissa Ellis: They're not toeing the line. I think we need a team meeting. Can we schedule that?

00:54:51Oliver Spake: Well, look if they're available.

00:54:54Melissa Ellis: Oh, I suppose that's the problem. Yeah, so we never know what they're doing. They don't get their notes in on time for the recording. There's just no control.

00:55:05Oliver Spake: Look, we'll have a soft discussion over a coffee or something, Mel. Something gentle.

00:55:11Melissa Ellis: You're too nice, Ollie. I don't know that Softly Softly's going to work with those two.

00:55:15Oliver Spake: I don't know. They're very receptive people.

00:55:18Melissa Ellis: All right, we'll go with your option first, and if not, then I'm toeing the hard line.

00:55:22Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's all about the impression, Mel.

00:55:23Melissa Ellis: Tough love, Ollie. It's tough love.

00:55:26Oliver Spake: Tough love. Yeah, look, I'll admit, you might be right in this case, but at least I get a coffee out of it, and I'm a bit worried about my coffee intake, so... I need to step it up. But thank you to our informants, whoever showed up.

00:55:41Melissa Ellis: Now, do you want to know about the Adventurers Club this week? I do.

00:55:45Unidentified speaker: Good.

00:55:45Melissa Ellis: Well, we are up another six on the previous week. Ollie, we're up to 111. Ah, Mel, we're halfway there. We are.

00:55:54Oliver Spake: Oh, yes. Oh, we're halfway there.

00:55:58Melissa Ellis: That's not Oasis. That's Bon Jovi.

00:56:00Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:56:02Melissa Ellis: We need a Bon Jovi tribute band.

00:56:04Oliver Spake: Wait, that would be good. Or the real thing.

00:56:06Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, yeah. Yes.

00:56:07Oliver Spake: Yes. And what we're referring to is the 210 members required to make the biggest clubs list in Australia. Our goal for the year. That's right.

00:56:16Melissa Ellis: Can you help us adventurers?

Consolidated Club Report

00:56:18Melissa Ellis: In any case, we had seven events this week on our Consolidated Club Report, Ollie, in the UK. We had St. Helens, Southport, Delamere, Cassiobury.

00:56:33Oliver Spake: I believe so.

00:56:34Melissa Ellis: Is that how you say it?

00:56:35Oliver Spake: I believe so.

00:56:37Melissa Ellis: Tooting Common, King George V playing field, Cheltenham and Broadwater. There was also one in New Zealand, Greytown Woodside Trail, one in South Africa again, Ebotse, and one in Germany, Hasenheide. And who did we have there, Ollie?

00:56:57Oliver Spake: Christine Imbert was over there and she did check in at Dazza's as well there. So, yeah, some great tourism there.

00:57:03Melissa Ellis: I think a bit of a tourist adventure for Christine. I saw she was with some fellow tourists adventuring over to Germany, and that was nice to see that that occurred, a bit more inter-country tourism. Is that the right term?

00:57:19Oliver Spake: Yeah, international.

00:57:20Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Let's go with that.

00:57:22Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:57:23Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so that is the wrap-up from the Adventurers Club this week. So there you go.

00:57:30Oliver Spake: And I guess it's time to look forward at what's coming very soon, Mel.

00:57:34Melissa Ellis: Oh, hang on. Hang on, hang on, hang on.

00:57:37Oliver Spake: My bad.

00:57:38Melissa Ellis: Can we wind back, Ollie?

00:57:41Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:57:42Melissa Ellis: Did we mention when we read Dazza's posts and we referred to Steve's bike, did we mention that he didn't appear on the Consolidated Club report?

00:57:52Oliver Spake: I'm not sure. I think there was a mention. There was, of course, perhaps not the in-depth discussion as to whether a bike can actually belong to the Adventurers Club, but at this point we'll take everyone. Intent. Intent.

00:58:05Melissa Ellis: Like the mystery person, the anonymous, whoever you are. I guess if he's anonymous, he doesn't want to join the club and risk outing himself.

00:58:17Oliver Spake: True.

00:58:18Melissa Ellis: But that poses a problem for Palm. Do you like that segue?

00:58:24Oliver Spake: I did like that segue. Okay.

00:58:25Melissa Ellis: Do you want to explain why, what our idea is?

00:58:28Oliver Spake: Not wanting to stir up too many wounds for everyone. Yes, we do. But gently, gently, we have been talking and clearly this is a few too many parallels here, but nonetheless. Adventurers Club. We may seek proof of Adventurers Club membership. Status. Status.

00:58:56Melissa Ellis: For? Entry to Palm. How's that for motivation, guys? There may be a bouncer at the door who's going to check off when you check in your Adventurers Club status.

00:59:11Oliver Spake: That's right. And, hey, look, I think in the spirit of what we've all, I was going to say, enjoyed, endured, experienced over the last 12 to 24 months, we haven't quite worked out the technology of it yet. We're not quite sure how to police it. But we can put a bouncer there.

00:59:27Melissa Ellis: You can do it, Ollie. You can do it. I know I've got faith in you.

00:59:31Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. But hopefully a bit of motivation.

the Frond

00:59:35Oliver Spake: I'll be sure that there are many of our adventurers coming out to join us at Palm, but let's boost those numbers and let's see if we can get the biggest frond we can possibly get at Bellerive parkrun on the 5th of March in the Consolidated Club Report.

00:59:49Melissa Ellis: We will go to any lengths.

00:59:52Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:59:55Melissa Ellis: But that's not the only exciting news we've got to announce, Ollie. We are going to also announce at the Palm recording we've got a dress code. This is the first time we've had a dress code for the Palm recording.

01:00:09Oliver Spake: Look, often there's been an unofficial dress code of an Ugly Christmas Singlet.

01:00:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but that's kind of a smelly leftover from the morning's run dress code.

01:00:19Oliver Spake: That's right. So we're talking about that quick change, which I'm a fan of.

01:00:24Melissa Ellis: This is a freshen up change of clothes for the recording dress code.

01:00:29Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:00:29Melissa Ellis: So we're not going to tell you why because that's part of the mystery that we're creating. But the dress code for the recording is to wear purple. Now, ideally, it would be your purple V25 volunteer T-shirt, right? But if you don't have one, it doesn't matter. Any kind of purple will do. Just come dressed in purple.

01:00:54Oliver Spake: And look, it's just occurred to me you could also have a 25 parkrun milestone purple shirt now as well. I don't know if you'd be able to order one in time for Palm.

01:01:03Melissa Ellis: No, I don't think so.

01:01:04Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:01:05Melissa Ellis: No. Although they're pretty quick with postage from the UK, but I wouldn't be risking.

01:01:10Oliver Spake: So there you have it. You've got a costume to prepare for on the Saturday night. Now you've got a dress code for Saturday morning too.

01:01:16Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that one's really easy. Yes. So I hope you're taking notes because you've got to join the Adventurers Club if you haven't already. You've got to prepare your costume and you've got to bring purple. And a tutu, but that's irrelevant just because it's 2022.

01:01:30Oliver Spake: Yes, that's true. And side note, Sunday's activity, still a mystery.

01:01:34Melissa Ellis: Correct.

01:01:35Oliver Spake: We will announce that in due course.

01:01:36Melissa Ellis: Yeah, we don't even know what it is. That's how much of a mystery it is. Have faith.

01:01:41Oliver Spake: Planning's advanced.

01:01:42Melissa Ellis: Yes. Let's go with that.

01:01:45Oliver Spake: But what we will point out for those of you that have not noticed, there are events. So for our listeners that are on Facebook, there are events now through the parkrun adventurers listener meetup page that you can find for each event. each activity that's happening. So please, please, please jump on there and indicate if you are going. We certainly understand if plans change, but based on the most current information, that will help particularly for some of The Venue events, non-parkrun venue events to help confirm and book numbers for our wonderful party planner. And for those of you that are not on Facebook, best send us an email if that's okay.

01:02:29Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes, I've just realised. And don't worry, Eman, we will make a plus three for all the events.

01:02:37Oliver Spake: So we're very excited. We can't wait. And if anyone's still teetering on the edge, just do it.

01:02:42Melissa Ellis: Just do it. It's getting closer.

01:02:43Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:02:44Melissa Ellis: Oh, my goodness.

01:02:45Oliver Spake: It's very close. So as we get closer, we will keep everyone, I guess, in the loop of when the pod's coming out as we get a bit closer and we start to spread ourselves thinly across different states. But Mel, I can almost feel it.

Sign-off

01:03:01Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it's getting scary. A little bit scary. There's a lot of anticipation. I'm excited. There's so much I feel like we have to prepare, but I'm sure it'll all just fall into place. And, of course, we've got our absolutely wonderful party planner, TOC, working really hard behind the scenes. Thank you, TOC. Thank you for all your help. We really do appreciate it. And we might get him on next week. What do you reckon, Ollie?

01:03:25Oliver Spake: Bit of a warm-up. He does a good job with that.

01:03:27Melissa Ellis: He can come in and give us a bit of a debrief and surprise, TOC.

01:03:31Oliver Spake: But I think with that look forward, Mel, we probably better leave it there. So as always, everyone, you can contact us via Facebook or if you're not on Facebook or prefer other means on our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But that's it for another week and we will see you all next week for more adventures.

01:03:46[music]

01:04:45Unidentified speaker: Bye.

01:04:58guest: Hi Mel and Ollie. Today it was special for me because I got my milestone wristband and at the end of Junior parkrun I got to do the conga line dance with my friend Eva. Bye everybody. Stay safe.