Episode 286 - 99 Apfelsine Blätter

Welcome

00:00:02Oliver Spake: We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri and Dharawal people, traditional custodians of the lands on which we record this week. We also acknowledge the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and recognise and celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing cultures and connections to the lands and waters around Australia.

00:00:09[music]

00:00:22[26 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:00:48Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 286 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. I am Ollie Spake and I am joining from Dharawal Country.

00:00:58Melissa Ellis: And I am Melissa Ellis and I'm coming from Wurundjeri Country. How are you Mel? I am very good. How are you?

00:01:06Oliver Spake: I am very well, thank you. I'm bunkered inside with the rain and the storm outside. So I'm hoping that I don't lose power or have a giant clap of thunder to earn me a fine. Goodness. Being a clap, of course. Yeah.

00:01:22Melissa Ellis: Okay. Understood. Yes. We're not used to this in Victoria. We are usually the ones getting... Rubbish for our rubbish weather. And, yeah, fine day today here in Melton.

00:01:39Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:01:40Melissa Ellis: And sunny skies. I've also seen Queensland's got more rain up there as well. So you guys are getting hammered.

00:01:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, there certainly has been some wild weather. It continues around the country. I've seen it across the course of the last week in the west as well. So I hope everyone's staying safe out there and relatively dry.

00:02:01Melissa Ellis: That was a nice welcome to country, Ollie. Thank you. Thank you, Mel.

parkrun news bulletin

00:02:06Oliver Spake: Let's jump straight to the news. Why not? Because it is in Australia National Reconciliation Week. So we like to acknowledge that and take a moment to celebrate a special part of our culture in Australia. And every year, National Reconciliation Week in Australia does have a theme. It is marked in the last week in May. I think it's generally always that last week in May. And the theme that has been announced for this year is Be Brave, make change. And it's a challenge to all Australians, individuals, families, communities, organisations and government to be brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can make change for the benefit of all Australians. So as the message continues, the call is that this year we're all being asked to make change, beginning with brave actions in our daily lives, where we live, work, play and socialise, I should say, Mel. And I suppose first thing, like to make a Again, an acknowledgement of is all the wonderful work our volunteers do with so many people, including an acknowledgement of country as part of a run brief. Not everyone does it and it's not a mandated part, but I do really enjoy getting to stop and to acknowledge.

00:03:21Melissa Ellis: Yes, that's right. And I have had feedback in the past that that welcome to country does make a difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders when visiting parkrun events. So let's hope that we get to see a little bit more of that on Saturday and moving forward.

00:03:36Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:03:37Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, let's turn our attention to parkrun day just gone. This was a bit of a shock. You kept this very mysterious, but you weren't at home.

00:03:48Oliver Spake: I wasn't at home. And look, it's always a temptation to stay at home. But I did somewhat jump on the opportunity to take a bit of parkrun tourism and tick off another parkrun on my list that I had been hoping to do for some time and hadn't quite worked out how to do it. So I went, what the hell? Pardon me, but I just did it. So tell us where you went. I went to Geeveston, Mel, which we've heard of Geeveston a number of times on the podcast. We've had some great roving reports there and heard from some of our own Channel 5 news crew visiting, as well as some of the adventures and misadventures of our podcast.

00:04:29Melissa Ellis: previous parkrun adventurers hosts um there we are good evening who have we got Mel oh chico he's been sleeping just the whole time and just when we press record he gets up and decides to have a wander around

00:04:44Oliver Spake: Yeah, with a hot ticket.

00:04:46Melissa Ellis: Please continue.

00:04:47Oliver Spake: Yes, sorry. I digress. So, yeah, Geeveston was certainly a target. I was very much taken when we visited Tasmania for Palm 2022 in March. I do have plans to return to Tasmania relatively soon again later in the year, but I didn't quite know how to fit three parkruns into two trips, so I just had to adjust the maths. Yeah, so I headed interstate, Mel. Unfortunately for my family, I headed solo. I was looking forward to taking Cathy down, but that's going to happen on the next trip. And I managed to squeeze in a little bit of Friday tourism to head on down, stay in Hobart. And then on Saturday morning, head down through the mist on a very chilly Tasmanian morning to enjoy the beautiful surrounds of Geeveston parkrun. As we have heard before, it is a gorgeous location. Geeveston is one of the southernmost towns. It's the southernmost parkrun in Australia. And the team there with Talena as the Run Director were just fantastic. They were welcoming. They were very pleased and surprised, I think, to have us there. They have had a few visitors. I've noticed actually some familiar faces and we've heard of some familiar faces down there in recent weeks. But some of the weather they've had and certainly the cold snap coming through has dropped their numbers. So with numbers in the, I would say, low 20s and a very cold morning in my standards, I think it was about three degrees when I arrived.

00:06:24Melissa Ellis: Oh.

00:06:27Oliver Spake: I was treated to an opportunity to run relatively solo. I don't think anyone else was really sort of looking to take a particular mantle that I've never achieved before. And I have to stress, it's not a race, but I've never come first before, Mel.

00:06:44Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's awesome. First finisher. Yes. Yeah. Well done, Ollie.

00:06:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, that was an unexpected surprise and, yeah, it did help me warm up running around. I have to say, again, I can't recall being in a mist where I could see the particles of water just floating in the air around me. Wow. It was beautiful in the light, but... just kind of emphasised the freshness. But as I said, lovely community. It was great to have a run, to finish, to have a few chats, to get to walk out on course, because I did catch up with some of my old school friends, managed to convince at least one to come and walk the parkrun and catch up with another, I think, Geeveston semi-regular who had been to school with me. I'd be generous to call it a friend. We just knew each other's names. But hey, that was an excuse, and to, yeah, walk the course and make the most of that. And then I was lucky enough to catch up with a few friends and to go walking in the Hartz Mountains area in southern Tasmania in the day. So it was a wonderful way to spend the morning and felt like a bit of a treat.

00:07:54Melissa Ellis: Sounds like fun, Ollie. Did you see any platypus?

00:07:58Oliver Spake: I didn't see the platypus.

00:08:00Melissa Ellis: Me either.

00:08:01Oliver Spake: There was obviously quite a lot of water in the brook there, but I don't think I looked closely enough. So I probably would have missed it if it was there.

00:08:10Melissa Ellis: Well, good for you for getting an adventure. That's very exciting.

00:08:13Oliver Spake: That's right. That's my cup filled. You'll know where to find me for the next month or so, Mel.

00:08:21Melissa Ellis: No doubt, yes.

00:08:23Oliver Spake: Yes. So while I went south, which direction did you head in, Mel?

00:08:27Melissa Ellis: Well, on Saturday, I was the least travelled out of the pod hosts. I drove up the east coast to Pambula, the country of the Thaua people, to check out the recently relocated Merimbula event at Panboola Wetlands and to record my 18th New South Wales event. It was event number eight and I was one of 39 participants. As the name suggests, the event runs in wetlands, but making the event unique is the fact that it runs along an old racetrack situated adjacent to the township of Pambula on the far south coast of New South Wales. A little bit of research uncovered that the former Pambula Racetrack received government funding to upgrade the track, which is a recycled plastic base laid and topped with granite to create a stable, waterproof surface suitable for walkers, runners, bikes, prams and wheelchairs. The former race course had its last race 25 years ago and is part of the wider Pambula Reserve and a culturally significant Aboriginal area. In 2019, the Wetlands launched a biennial one-day ephemeral festival celebrating arts, creativity and nature. So that might be something to look at when planning your visit. I did speak to the Event Director, Peter, and visiting tourist, Alan, which we'll hear shortly in the roving reports. Mmm. After the event, I headed straight home to vote and join my family for a birthday dinner. Although brief, I very much enjoyed my visit, which was also blessed with cool yet sunny conditions.

00:10:04Oliver Spake: That sounds lovely. And I did manage to spot a couple of your pictures. I'm glad you avoided the weather down there.

00:10:11Melissa Ellis: I know. I was very lucky. Two very fine days in Pambula while I was there. So I did get to get down to the beach and have a little look. Would have been nice to spend more time in the local area. It always would be. But there was time restraints, I guess you could say, being that I needed to get home to vote. I knew that by the time I left the area, I had calculated I would be home around 5pm and knew that polling... closed at six. So I thought I had time up my sleeve. I did get a little bit concerned with the two traffic jams that I came across.

00:10:53Oliver Spake: Yep. Yep. I could understand that. Yes.

00:10:56Melissa Ellis: Where the freeway slowed to a crawl and I was desperately watching the time to see if I had to make an emergency stop somewhere along the way to vote. But I got home in time, so I did get to cast my vote, which is very important, Ollie.

00:11:10Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. It certainly was a big day. I did plan ahead, I must say, and vote before I did head into state. But I'm glad you made it back just in time, Mel.

00:11:22Melissa Ellis: That was very wise. I really wish I had have done a pre-poll. I had not. However, when I did arrive at the polling booth at about 5.30 p.m., I actually ran from the car to the door and straight up to the desk and get my name ticked off. I wasn't held up at all. So that was really good. I guess the rest of the world knows we have had a change of government in Australia. Yes. So we've got a new prime minister. And so that was all of a lot of interest for the day and for the night. Yeah.

00:11:56Oliver Spake: Yeah, that certainly was. It was a very big day, a lot going on. And that rolled into a parkrun Day Sunday too.

00:12:04Melissa Ellis: Yes, juniors as well, which I was a Marshal for. I had special guests in attendance and I had a very special junior RD take the reins this week, which we will also hear about later.

00:12:19Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, I think we will.

00:12:21Melissa Ellis: We've also got another report from the morning, though, Ollie, from Sam. So should we listen to that?

00:12:28Oliver Spake: I think that's a resounding yes.

00:12:32Melissa Ellis: I don't know what their problem is.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Sam Schroder — Shellharbour parkrun, New South Wales

00:12:37Sam Schroder: Hi, Mel and Ollie. I got out of my comfy chair on level 2 with a view today to go for an adventure and I just knew you'd want to hear all about it. Luke's working the election so I was travelling solo. A parkrun a little to the east of me needed a Timekeeper and volunteering in volunteer week seemed like a good idea. So I decided to drive down to Shellharbour parkrun. The first time I ever visited Shellharbour was in 2019. In 2021, I volunteered at Shellharbour a couple of times while I was recovering from injury. Then this year, I double dipped with both volunteering and completing the Shellharbour course back in muddy and puddly March. I was the Tail Walker one week and I did the First Timers Welcome to Shellharbour the next week. As you may have heard once or twice before, it's very pretty at Shellharbour. I was expecting to see Ollie, but I need to tell you that he was not at Shellharbour. I guess that means he hasn't even said the word Shellharbour once in this episode. Is that right? Just as well I've said it eight times in this message then. Hey!

00:13:53Oliver Spake: And it looks like I missed all the action at a certain parkrun, Mel.

00:13:56Melissa Ellis: I think you did, Ollie. Ha ha! Now, there was reference to that parkrun a lot in Sam's report.

00:13:57[laughter]

00:14:05Oliver Spake: There was. I know all about references to that parkrun. And far be it from me to want to cast that particular penalty in anyone else's direction, but...

00:14:18Melissa Ellis: Is it who says it that earns the fine? I don't know. We kind of make the rules up as we go, so we could make an executive decision. Oh, you don't like being the bad guy, do you?

00:14:30Oliver Spake: I hate being the bad guy.

00:14:34Melissa Ellis: Go on, do it, Ollie, do it. It'll be liberating. I dare you.

00:14:39Oliver Spake: Not for saying that, parkrun Mel. That's not fair. Nope, nope, that's it. Sorry, Sam. I'm pretty sure you said that was eight. That's a fine.

00:14:50Melissa Ellis: That's eight fines.

00:14:52Oliver Spake: That's eight fines.

00:14:53[sound effect]

00:14:53Melissa Ellis: Money in the jar.

00:14:54Oliver Spake: I'll go your halves.

00:14:56Melissa Ellis: Oh, wee. Oh.

00:15:01Oliver Spake: But, Mel, I do believe we had some feedback from last week's episode.

00:15:06Melissa Ellis: Well, I don't know if you'd call it feedback, Ollie, but when I listened back during editing to the interview that Sam did with Pippa, Pippa referenced her Flake parkrun. Yes. Which she has actually mentioned this week in Dazza's as well. And I was... A bit confused because here in Australia, a flake parkrun or the reference to a flake, it didn't have meaning. I couldn't understand that reference. So I did reach out and ask Pippa what she meant by her flake parkrun and it turns out that running or volunteering at a 99th location is well known as being a 99 in its relation to a Cadbury ice cream with a flake?

00:15:54Oliver Spake: Yes. It's a treat I have not enjoyed.

00:15:57Melissa Ellis: Well, we can buy them. If you go to the beach anywhere in Australia and there's a Mr. Whippy van, you can buy a soft serve cone with a piece of flake in it. It's just that here it's not known as a 99. Yeah.

00:16:11Oliver Spake: This is not something I expected to learn on a parkrun podcast, but I have been intrigued and I have been feverishly Googling the different theories as to why it was originally named that. I'm sure there must be some that are widely accepted, but I'm looking up all the conspiracy theories now.

00:16:27Melissa Ellis: It has military connotations.

00:16:30Oliver Spake: That is certainly some of the suggestions I have read. That's right.

00:16:34Melissa Ellis: But anyway... That's still interesting to know now. So when we hear of somebody referring to a flake, we know what that means.

00:16:42Oliver Spake: Yes, that's exactly right. And I look forward to trying one myself too. It's got me hungry. But some more excitement happening, Mel. I believe it's someone's milestone this weekend.

00:16:55Melissa Ellis: Yes, there has been the word going around. There's a certain event happening at Wagi Bridge this coming Saturday.

00:17:02Oliver Spake: This coming Saturday, and it'll probably remiss of me because I think technically the milestone's been achieved. 100 unique locations, not only from across Australia, but from across the globe, the Wagi Bridge Troll. So, you know, befitting of any milestone at Wagi Bridge to be honoured with the walk across the bridge before parkrun.

00:17:24Melissa Ellis: A lovely little tradition, Ollie. And we must stress the Wagi Bridge Troll does not have a barcode. So this is not breaking any rules in any way.

00:17:33Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:17:34Melissa Ellis: With such things, it's just a little arbitrary acknowledgement of the mascot of Wagi Bridge.

00:17:41Oliver Spake: And all of the parkrunners and the parkrun community that the Wagi Bridge Troll has touched along that journey. He's been to Ellis Ballas. And the Windang Bridge. True. Yeah.

00:17:52Melissa Ellis: Ah, but Ollie, now... might be a good time for us to throw to our roving reports. You can hear my chat with Peter and Alan at Panboola Wetlands and we will hear from Tracey. So let's have a listen.

00:18:06[music]

Roving report Melissa Ellis — Panboola Wetlands parkrun, Pambula, New South Wales

00:18:15Melissa Ellis: Good morning, adventurers. It's Melissa. I ventured down to the very new Panboola Wetlands parkrun this morning. I've got with me E.D. and today's R.D. Peter. Good morning, Peter.

00:18:25Peter: Hello. How's it going?

00:18:26Melissa Ellis: Good. You're up to Event 8 here, is that correct? Correct, yes, Event 8. And recently relocated from Merimbula.

00:18:35Peter: We did, yes. We had to close Merimbula, unfortunately. It was a nice run, but we were very lucky with the Panboola Wetlands Committee to let us run here.

00:18:42Melissa Ellis: Very good. It's a unique course. Would you like to describe it for us?

00:18:46Peter: It is a very flat course. I actually think it'll end up being a very fast course. It is unique. There's a lot of kangaroos. It's two laps of an old race course.

00:18:57Melissa Ellis: And I noticed a surface I haven't run on before. How do you describe this surface?

00:19:02Peter: It's a black plastic course around the racetrack, and that was actually donated by a local here. I can't actually tell you the name of what it is, but it's actually quite good. And during the weather we've had, it's actually held up quite well. Good hint to anyone that's coming here, run on the very inside. It is a lot further if you're running in the middle or on the outside because it's a round circle.

00:19:23Melissa Ellis: Oh, damn, didn't know that. And what about yourself? How long have you been involved with parkrun?

00:19:29Peter: Probably been involved since 2013 when Merimbula started, probably a couple of months after Merimbula first started, so I've been a volunteer since the mid-2013. We had our very infamous Donella Roberts, who sort of organised it and got it up and running, unfortunately left and went to Noosa. And we had no one actually taking it over, so that's how I sort of got involved. A few people sort of come to me. We were trying to save Merimbula, but look, I'm grateful we have actually got the wetlands here. It's actually a great course, very safe. No risk at all. Lovely kangaroos. Lovely place. That's all I can say. It's a lovely place. Lovely group of people come here and run. So if you haven't ran here before, definitely come down and run with us.

00:20:13Melissa Ellis: I can concur with that. It was a beautiful run this morning. I was very grateful for the flatness. It's National Volunteer Week, so thank you very much for your contribution to parkrun, Peter. And thanks for chatting with me today.

00:20:23Peter: No problem. Thanks a lot.

00:20:27Melissa Ellis: I'm here now with Alan. Good morning, Alan. How did you find the parkrun this morning?

00:20:32Alan: Nice and flat and fast, so it was good. I liked it.

00:20:34Melissa Ellis: Now, I believe you're a tourist. We were chatting earlier. Would you like to tell everybody where you ran last week?

00:20:39Alan: I actually ran at Toolern Creek because I'm staying there because I work in Deer Park, so it's a bit of a local one and I actually quite enjoy that course as well. And I managed a sub 30 last week, so...

00:20:53Melissa Ellis: That's hilarious. So we actually ran together last week and we didn't know, and here we both are in Panboola Wetlands parkrun. So, and you'd like to tourist a bit, you were telling me?

00:21:02Alan: Yeah, I think this is about 34 or 35 or something like that, that have done different parkruns. I've done nearly 250 parkruns now. I think I've got about 17 to go to get to 250, so...

00:21:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And you're coming back from an injury, you were saying?

00:21:17Alan: Yeah, I had a crash six years ago almost now and I had to learn to walk again and use my right hand and all that sort of stuff. And then I walked a fair bit in 2017 and Then I injured my heel and I was another four months off. And then COVID hit. So I think I'd done nearly 200 before COVID, so...

00:21:44Melissa Ellis: And you're running with your lovely wife today.

00:21:45Alan: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sharon's done almost 100 now, so, yeah, she does parkrun when I do it.

00:21:53Melissa Ellis: Excellent.

00:21:55Alan: So we're trying to organise the 250 and 100 together, but we might not work out yet, so... That's fun to do. What other challenges do you enjoy? Well, I'm trying to get under 100 kilos. That's a challenge. So I've got three kilos to go, so I weigh 103 at the moment.

00:22:17Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay.

00:22:18Alan: Other challenges, beating times because I'm a numbers person and I look at my watch and go, you need to pick up your pace or you need to slow down. Okay. So, yeah, it's fun. I like just meeting people. That's not really a challenge. That's just something I do.

00:22:38Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Have you got plans for next week already?

00:22:40Alan: Yeah, Toolern Creek.

00:22:41Melissa Ellis: Oh. Back at the creek. Yeah. We love it there at Toolern Creek.

00:22:45Alan: Yeah, I work every second Saturday, so. Yep. And when you finish at 2 o'clock in the morning, you get about three hours sleep and then you go to the parkrun.

00:22:53Melissa Ellis: Good on you.

00:22:54Alan: So, and then I have to work Saturday afternoon.

00:22:57Melissa Ellis: Ah, well, it was nice to bump into you today. Yeah, likewise. I might see you again locally, so.

00:23:01Alan: Yeah, yeah, I'll be there. Enjoy the rest of your time. All right, thanks, Mel. Thanks. All right, bye.

00:23:05Tracey Wood: Bye.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Elliott Heads Beach parkrun, Queensland

00:23:08Tracey Wood: Good morning parkrun adventurers, it's Tracey in a Tutu and I'm checking in from Elliott Heads Beach parkrun and it's not a good day here today. The winds are 24 kilometres an hour, it's raining, it's awful, it's cold but we're here and we're going to do this. I've just been out walking along the course, lots of puddles as expected. Back to the start and I think they've finished setting up so I'm going to go find someone to talk to. Okay, I'm walking back along the course with Barb, who's the ED. Good morning to you, Barb. Good morning. Well done for coming out in this weather today.

00:23:47Barb: Oh, it's been lovely. How strong did you say the winds were? We started off in 25-kilometre winds today, but when we did the trials, we were doing 36, so this isn't our windiest.

00:23:59Tracey Wood: Oh, well, fantastic. Okay, for our listeners, can you tell us where exactly Elliott Heads Beach is?

00:24:06Barb: So we're in Queensland. We're on the coast and we're about 20km east of Bundaberg. Bundaberg's midway, about five hours north of Brisbane. And how would you describe this course? This is such a scenic course. It's such a pretty course. It's an out-and-back course and we just go right along the coastline on a footpath. We've got views of the ocean all of the way and we're looking out for dolphins and whales and we'll even have the occasional kangaroo. Oh, wow. Fantastic. And you're a bit of a tourer yourself, are you, Barb? Yeah, well, I've done parkruns in a few different places now. We are aiming to get one in each state, but we're relatively new parkrunners. I've only done about 50, so we're not up there with the best ones. Oh, but you've got a couple of volunteer tokens under your belt too, volunteer roles done? Yeah, mostly we've been doing local ones, so Bargara, and then we decided we might as well share our coastline here, so we decided we'd start up with Elliott Heads. Yeah, fantastic. So what's on your touring list? Where are you heading to when you get away from Elliott Heads? Well, the next big one is we haven't done one in WA yet. So in July we'll do a parkrun over in WA as well. So just getting this one up and running. This is only our third one so far at Elliott Head. So we're still working out our course and our track here. But it's great to see all these people come out in the rain. Yeah, fantastic.

00:25:28Tracey Wood: All right, let's head back to the finish. I think they're waiting for us. And then I think they're pretty keen to close up and go home for a hot shower and a hot coffee maybe. Sounds great. Thanks for talking with me.

00:25:39Barb: No worries, thanks.

00:25:41Tracey Wood: All right, I'm back at the finish and I've found Brian. Brian was one of our Tail Walkers today. Good morning, Brian. Good morning, how are you? I'm well, thanks. Are you a local?

00:25:50Brian: Yes, I am. I live down at Coral Cove.

00:25:53Tracey Wood: Yeah? And how long have you been living in Bundaberg?

00:25:56Brian: Oh, we've been here 20 years now and a very long time. But we've only been living at Coral Cove for about the last 18 months.

00:26:03Tracey Wood: Oh, okay.

00:26:04Brian: So, it's been good.

00:26:06Tracey Wood: And where were you before you came to Bundy?

00:26:08Brian: We were basically in North Queensland. We lived up and worked up there for about 30 odd years. And our last stint was in Charters Towers and then we moved from Charters Towers down to here. It's the best place in the world here.

00:26:22Tracey Wood: Yeah, lovely. So you volunteered as Tail Walker today. Have you volunteered at other locations or run at other locations?

00:26:29Brian: Yes, I have. We've been doing parkrun now for a couple of years, mainly at Bargara, but picked up one or two in other places. And then when Elliott Head started up, we thought it would be lovely to get right in at the start and, you know, it's close to home. And we love it. It's a beautiful walk.

00:26:49Tracey Wood: And are you a bit of a tourer as well?

00:26:52Brian: Tourer, yes, absolutely.

00:26:54Tracey Wood: Do you do other parkruns in other places?

00:26:57Brian: I do, but we don't search them out necessarily. If they just happen to be there, then we'll do them. But we're now in the grey nomad time of our life, so we do a lot of tripping around. A lot of places don't have them, of course, but more populated places do. Yeah.

00:27:12Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:27:13Brian: We haven't started on our ABC yet, but that's something for the future. But you do know about that.

00:27:18Tracey Wood: Yes, excellent.

00:27:19Brian: That'll become a bit precious then when we start having to pick up the letters, you know, to make up our alphabet.

00:27:24Tracey Wood: Yeah, excellent. All right, let's get out of this wind. Thank you for talking with me, Brian. Happy Volunteer Week and you have a good day.

00:27:30Brian: Good on you. Thank you.

00:27:33Tracey Wood: Okay, this is Tracey in a Tutu checking out from Elliott Heads. It's cold, it's still raining, and it's still windy. I'm going to go find coffee, shower, clean clothes, dry clothes, and that would be it for me for the rest of the day. Have a lovely day, everyone. Thank you to all the volleys for this week. See you on the seaside. Bye.

00:28:00Oliver Spake: And thank you to our roving reports from, well, you, Mel. Thank you very much. And Tracey at Elliott Heads Beach speaking to a couple of the team there. Well done, Barb, and everyone in some pretty adverse conditions.

00:28:18Melissa Ellis: 25-kilometre winds. Goodness.

00:28:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's all right if it's in the right direction. Generally, these things tend to take turns. They work against you too, but nonetheless, thoroughly enjoyed it. And now, Mel, let's see if you can spot the connection here.

Emails

00:28:36Oliver Spake: We've got mail. Guess who it's from? Tell me. We've got mail from Tracey. And this follows on from Tracey's suggestions last week. So thank you very much for getting back in touch, Tracey. And I will read it out if that's okay, Mel. Okay. Yep. So Tracey's email said, hi, Mel and Ollie. I'm really glad you like the frond meaning I came up with, but I have to give the listeners a piece of information. To avoid a fine being put on me for stealing a friend's idea, I'm just confirming that it wasn't me who came up with the term Nancy and the ownership of such is actually unknown. Having said that, I'd like to know, is there a parkrun lingo handbook? If not, I'll happily volunteer to get one started, but that begs questions. One, how can I receive contributions? And two, where should I place such a document for review? Happy Volunteer Week to you too. Thank you for all you do to bring this podcast to us every week. Lots of love, Tracey. And thank you, Tracey. Good questions, Mel.

00:29:41Melissa Ellis: They are. And I think it's a great idea about a lingo handbook. I'm assuming it would be more of a parkrun adventurers lingo perhaps, but incorporating all types of parkrun terms.

00:29:56Oliver Spake: It certainly could. I mean, all things start somewhere. I mean, we have to acknowledge some of the work of David. David Crook on every Saturday did have some parkrun lingo in the book there. And I can't off the top of my head recall how much lingo has been published elsewhere, but I think there's an opportunity there. But we might need a bit of brain's trust to think of the best way to get those contributions for you, Tracey.

00:30:22Melissa Ellis: People can definitely send them in to us.

00:30:24Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:30:24Melissa Ellis: They can message or email us and we can use that as content.

00:30:30Oliver Spake: Well, that's right. And, hey, Dazza is an awfully good chef but somehow manages to multitask and collect a whole lot of information every week. So Dazza could always help too.

00:30:42Melissa Ellis: Correct. As for somewhere to place such a document, that might take more thought. I don't know if our page can accept files. It probably can. And I just haven't ever thought of it.

00:30:59Oliver Spake: And nor have I. That's challenging my technical capabilities.

00:31:04Melissa Ellis: Maybe we need a spreadsheet.

00:31:06Oliver Spake: Who do we know that's good with spreadsheets?

00:31:09Melissa Ellis: Who's got a really big spreadsheet?

00:31:12Oliver Spake: All right. We'll have to think about that one. Thank you, Tracey.

Dazza's

00:31:17Oliver Spake: Is it time for Dazza's, Ollie? I think it is. So at Dazza's this week, Dazza said, it's election day in Australia. Did your parkrun adventurer include a side trip for a democracy sausage? Come on in, give Dazza your order and tell us all of your parkrun news. And side note there for anyone that hasn't been around in Australia on an election day, The sausage sizzle is common. It's like a trip to the Bunnings hardware store. It's always there.

00:31:50Melissa Ellis: First up, we heard Ollie from Michael Gentle. With a bit of tourism and an achievement, he said, hi Dazza. A spot of tourist adventuring today to our new outer Shellharbour parkrun. Who thought up that idea? Seriously. Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens course. Ticked off a new NENDY, another S and a South for the Compass. Great new event and I will certainly be back. Hashtag, hmm, if it's not Shellharbour, it's Outer Shellharbour. Did Michael just stitch me up for three fines? But he had a backwards flag, so there's a fine for him.

00:32:31Oliver Spake: He did try and edit that, but sorry, Michael, the crew on level two with a view may have noticed. Moving on. Moving on, Dave Allmark checked in. Corinne Glade's parkrun for Fibonacci, number 377. So that's an achievement. Well done, Dave. And thank you for what was a stunning autumn leaves shot with some beautiful colours there, Mel. If you haven't seen it, well, we'll put it in front of your face again because that's a gorgeous picture.

00:32:59Melissa Ellis: I love autumn colours.

00:33:01Oliver Spake: I really do have a soft spot for autumn. Definitely.

00:33:04Melissa Ellis: Next, we heard from Brendan Schollery, who was volunteering, I believe, in my neck of the woods. Ticked off my third state in my volunteering quest, followed by French toast with English breakfast tea. A delightful start to the weekend. I had to do a bit of... searching to figure out where Brendan was, Ollie, because you can't stalk somebody's Facebook profile and figure out where they volunteered. So I had to reach out to a few mutual friends for a clue and we did figure out that Brendan was most likely at Wangaratta parkrun.

00:33:43Oliver Spake: Yes, and I think as we agreed offline, the photo was a bit of a giveaway to those familiar with Wangaratta. So, Brendan did share the photo of him looking a tad fresh in front of a well-positioned flag in the gathering area that we recognised there. So, was that the one?

00:33:59Melissa Ellis: It was.

00:34:00Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:34:00Melissa Ellis: I've been to that parkrun twice, if not three times, because I used to frequent a running festival on a regular annual basis. And... It was only once it was suggested to me the event that I realised that those very recognisable stone seats, obviously Wangaratta. Unless Wangaratta's got a twin parkrun somewhere out there that I don't know about.

00:34:25Oliver Spake: Always possible. But Mel, over in New Zealand, we heard from Melanie McGregor who said, today four of us travelled to Russell Park parkrun from Greytown Woodside Trail parkrun to help me get my Wilson Index number seven. It was an early start with a two-hour drive to get there. We arrived in good time so that we could meet the locals, help out and chat with locals and tourists about their favourite parkruns and their parkrun achievements. It was not long before we were off for our stroll along the Russell Park Trail, chatting and congratulating other parkrunners along the way. To finish off our morning, we went to Zinc Cafe for coffee, scones and spinach and filo pie before we hopped back in the car to return home again. No voting here, but definitely a side trip. I love that we can make the most of parkrun tourism to fill in the gaps on our Wilson Index and other challenges. And we did see there a picture that Melanie shared of the gang in their parkrun apricot in front of the flag.

00:35:27Melissa Ellis: Ah, very good. Ollie, we also heard from Adrian Hillyer, who was touristing this week, and he said a late start, had to catch the Tail Walker. No time for coffee, back to the bowling alley. And Adrian shared a photo of himself in the roads cut out.

00:35:46Oliver Spake: Nice work, just in time. Checking in with a whole lot of likes was the Channel 5 News crew's own Tony O'Connell, who said, Hey Dazza, no snags, but Jack and I regained our state's people today at Werribee Mansion. Special thanks to John Fox for holding the flag the right way round. And yeah, we saw that with the gang there in front of a well-lit up mansion. Nice work.

00:36:13Melissa Ellis: I love it, Ollie. So many people are making that extra effort to get the flag the right way around in their photos. It's great.

00:36:20Oliver Spake: They sure are. Hang on. I'll go on. How come you've got two in a row? I'm greedy. So we also heard from Chris Gore, who said, today we clocked up number five of our touristing streak taking part in the Renmark parkrun. It was a chilly morning for us as we assembled on the grass area next to the river and across the road from the pub. The course is two laps of a sort of out and back along the river where you start and finish in the middle. It is a pretty course, especially this time of year where the trees are showing their autumn colours. It also turned out to be a fairly fast course for me, despite the four turnaround point. I achieved my fastest time this year, beating the time I set in Victor Harbor a couple of weeks ago by one second. Karen Gore also achieved her fastest time this holiday. This is another R for us, allowing Karen to complete her namely challenge. And one letter closer for me. I still need an I. Afterwards, we had an enjoyable post-parkrun coffee catch up with fellow touristing parkrunners from Adelaide at the Applebee Health Bar. Thanks, Renmark parkrun. And Chris and Karen shared the photo of them in the selfie frame in front of the water there. So it looks like a lovely spot.

00:37:38Melissa Ellis: I remember this post, Ollie, because I looked at it and I read it and I thought, how come Chris needs an L for his namely challenge? And I kept looking and I was like, there's no L in Chris Gore. And then I realised it was a capital I.

00:37:57Oliver Spake: Did I say I or L? No, you said I. Oh, I said I. Yeah, yeah.

00:38:02Melissa Ellis: No, no, that was just me. That was like my blondness.

00:38:06Oliver Spake: Well, that's right. Apparently I'm blonde too.

00:38:09Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Cass Castleton with a tourist achievement this week. And he says, well, after Yowie cancelled due to flooding on the course, I had to change plans and drive to Yamba to complete my sixth alphabet and got a surprise when Tony Jennings travelled down to help me celebrate. And there was a great photo of Cass and Tony there in the selfie frame. Number six.

00:38:33Oliver Spake: Well done, Cass. And I got his name right. Well done, Mel. Now checking in from South Africa, Johan, back at Heidedal parkrun this weekend where we unbeknownst took the sausage suggestion to heart for the event's fifth anniversary. And that was evidenced in some great shots of the celebrations, big number fives there, the crew all decked to celebrate, beautiful landscape and, yes, a sausage sizzle.

00:39:02Melissa Ellis: Happy anniversary to Heidedal. And we heard from Calum Burrell from the UK. It was lovely to catch up with Christine Imbert at Bramhall parkrun today. I was Marshall at the famous Duck Poo Corner. I'll have a Cornish pasty if you have one going, Dazza. By the way, I believe you love a backwards sign, right? Backward signs, they were being a bit cheeky. At first when I saw this photo, Ollie, I thought they were just stopped by the side of some, I don't know, shop or something that had a sign that was back the front because I didn't recognise it because it didn't look like an Australian parkrun flag. But it was a parkrun sign and it was back the front.

00:39:47Oliver Spake: Yeah, I believe they're worth more, which is fortunate because otherwise it wouldn't be a full pound with the conversion rates. So I believe that's a fine, Calum.

00:39:58Melissa Ellis: I believe so. And I am quite interested about duck poo corner as well.

00:40:05Oliver Spake: I do have a question as to whether we have a pronunciation fine based on disagreements as to how we pronounce words, but I'll move right along.

00:40:14Melissa Ellis: You're not going with pasty, are you? You went there.

00:40:19Oliver Spake: We also heard from Renee Jackson, who had a bit of a junior's post. Coming in late to the cafe this weekend. Sadly, no parkrun for me Saturday. But thank goodness for juniors. And either I'm shrinking or the RD vest is oversized. Wink. Excellent RD debut for Miss Abigail.

00:40:43Melissa Ellis: I can say I only was witness to part of Abigail's work on the morning because I was Marshall, so I got sent out for Bye, Miss Abigail, to my marshal position. But she certainly did a brilliant job as the volunteers were all arriving, marking them off and doing the volunteer brief. She was a little pocket rocket and we did share a photo of Abigail on our Consolidated Club report post on Sunday. Yep. So check her out. She's so cute.

00:41:13Oliver Spake: Way to go. Just to wrap up National Volunteer Week, steps in. Great work. Thank you, everyone. Another fantastic day or parkrun weekend, as it were, at Dazza's.

00:41:26Melissa Ellis: It was.

the Obi Award — Abigail ("Abby") — junior parkrun Run Director

00:41:28Melissa Ellis: So do we have staff in the office preparing envelopes this week, Ollie?

00:41:33Oliver Spake: We do. The staff have been busy. The envelope is here. It's a different colour today. It's actually two colours. This one, well, it's blue and it's got a bit of silver on it. So let's open it up and see.

00:41:49Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:41:53Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:41:54Melissa Ellis: You're getting better at that.

00:41:56Oliver Spake: Am I? I've had a lot of practice opening envelopes. You wouldn't think so in this day and age. But nonetheless, the Obi this week goes to none other than the newest juniors, RD, Abby. Congratulations, Abby.

00:42:01[music]

00:42:22Melissa Ellis: Well done, Abby.

00:42:23Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:42:23Melissa Ellis: You still have to pay your dollar, though.

00:42:26Oliver Spake: Fair's fair, right?

00:42:29Melissa Ellis: That's exciting. Hopefully, yeah, she was a little bit grumpy about her fine last week, but that might cheer her up a bit.

00:42:36Oliver Spake: That's right, Abby. I know how you feel.

00:42:42Melissa Ellis: I should share the photo of Abigail with her grumpy face holding up her $1 fine coin that I took.

00:42:49Barb: That was magic, that photo.

00:42:52[music]

the Informant

00:42:52Melissa Ellis: But now, Ollie, it's time to throw back to our informant on his recovery from his recent COVID to see what he's got to say this week.

00:43:11The Informant: This is The Informant, coming to you live from Level 2 of The View. These are unofficial stats, they're only current at the time they're collected, and blah blah blah, blah blah de blah. There were 437 runs held down under, which is down 9 on last week. 400 of these were in Australia, and 37 in New Zealand. There were 1,710 worldwide, which is down 47. Aussie New Zealand attendance was down heaps, 8,363 to just 29,823. Worldwide attendance was down 19,000, and there were two launches, one in Japan and one in South Africa. Down under, we had 3,958 PBs, while 1,265 people participated for the first time. 57 juniors reached their Junior 10 milestone, 127 people reached their 50 milestone, 73 reached their 100 milestone, and 28 people reached their 250 milestone. 12 people called bingo. Carolyn Southwell was quickest on 172 runs, while Tanya Ritchie was slowest on 301 runs. There were 13 new statespeople, nine in the ACT. Caitlin Lyons, Cora Cooper, Robbie Potter, Jason Martin, Trudy Kirk, Elise Cooper, Nicole Merrilees, Ryan Ashen, and Amanda Bolt. Three in South Australia, Trish Reimer, Matthew Stark, and Helen Liu. While in Victoria, there was one, Narelle McInnes. In the top 20 most Aussie New Zealand events list, Neil Scott moves up one to rank equal 15 after running his 160th location at Port Sorell. Overall on the biggest movers list, Russell Waugh moved up 10 rankings to 176 after running his 93rd event. 85 people reached their windex this week. The week's biggest mover is Lorraine Mayfield who moves up 23 to 62. In the adventurer Challenges, once again we had no Peels this week. There were two Cowell clubbers, Danny Rigoni and Fiona Edmonds. There were also one half Freynes and five half Cowells. Halfway through this report, I realised my opening stats are comparing to two weeks ago on account of the sickie last week. Well, I'm not trying to figure out the difference on last week's, so I'll just make the call and say it's all intentional. Now, I've got to go back and get my comfy chair that Sam stole while I was away, so I'm signing off. If you want to see these stats in full, you can find them 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 Ian Shaw's.

00:46:20Oliver Spake: And thank you to our informant. It's so good to have you back and I hope you're feeling much, much better.

Consolidated Club Report

00:46:26Oliver Spake: But now, moving along, how's the Consolidated Adventurers Club?

00:46:31Melissa Ellis: Looking. It's looking great, Ollie. We had 195 members as of Saturday last week, with 150 members taking part at 91 different locations. In the UK, there were 17 events at Bramhall, Woodbank, Bath Skyline, Pontefract, Lloyd Croydon, Southwick Country, Sewerby, Cheadle Hulme, Cirencester, Newborough Forest, Ross-on-Wye, Mallards Pike, Great Yarmouth, Itchen Valley, Greenfield Valley, Chopwell Wood and Durlston Country Park. In South Africa, we had two events at Heidedal and Homestead Lake. In the USA, good old Jeff was there at Joe Creason. And in Germany, Ollie, where were we?

00:47:26Oliver Spake: I'm going to go with Friedrichsau.

00:47:29Melissa Ellis: Thank you. Locally, there were adventurers at 25 events in Victoria, 15 in Queensland, 14 in New South Wales, four in South Australia, four in West Australia, four in ACT, and one event in Tassie. That was you. That was me. In Northern Territory, there were none. We really need to recruit up there. And in the North Island of New Zealand, there were three, but none in the South Island this week. So no bowling strikes this week, Ollie.

00:48:06Oliver Spake: No. And all our Kiwis went north. Yeah.

00:48:08Melissa Ellis: But still, everybody's been out and about. And I think a lot of adventurers volunteered this week, which is why we had a few less locations and a few less members actually running.

00:48:19Oliver Spake: Well, Well, and in fact, volunteering at events other than parkrun as well, given the election happening on Saturday.

00:48:26Melissa Ellis: Yes, that is correct.

00:48:28Oliver Spake: Yeah. Thank you, everyone, for everything you've done volunteering in all capacities last parkrun day or days, as it were.

the Frond — Frond of seven at Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens (event 2): housemate Lance, Robin Rishworth, Bec Bailey, Michael Charlton, Paddy Shimo, Roberta Winters, Michael Gentle

00:48:36Melissa Ellis: But to bring up the largest frond. Ollie, it was at Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens with seven adventurers going to event number two.

00:48:46Barb: So good little adventurers going to event two, Ollie.

00:48:50Melissa Ellis: We had housemate Lance, Robin Rishworth, Bec Bailey, Michael Charlton, Paddy Shimo, Roberta Winters and Michael Gentle all representing out there. Yeah. We also had a comment that I thought I'd share, Ollie, from Steve's bike. Yes. He said... So close to 200, which we are. I did some volunteering today at juniors. My highlight from today was the junior boy who responded to my encouragement by yelling, thank you so much. I'm aiming to get eight minutes today. I'm unsure how he went, but his smile on the way back suggested that he was loving his run regardless of the time he did. And Steve did edit to say, I should also note the wonderful volunteer briefing this morning by a guest RD. It was awesome to witness.

00:49:43Oliver Spake: Well, that's a very nice report and, yeah, nice work.

00:49:48Melissa Ellis: And it was great. I shared a coffee with Steve's bike afterwards.

00:49:52Oliver Spake: It's an interesting transportation-themed refreshment.

00:49:58Melissa Ellis: It is. Oh, gosh, Ollie. So it's been a quicker pod this week.

00:50:03Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. I dare say I'm still a bit tired. That's all right. I'm not cut out for this adventuring thing on a regular basis. So it takes it out of me. And I imagine you must be too after such a drive. Yeah.

00:50:17Melissa Ellis: I won't say no.

00:50:18Oliver Spake: Yep, yep. So then looking forward, obviously, you're planning, what, a 10-hour trip?

00:50:26Melissa Ellis: Look, it's very likely, very, very, very likely there will be another long drive this week. If anybody out there is up for a Friday morning drive, Let me know. I'd love a co-driver. But, yeah, Ollie, I'm thinking. I don't want to make promises, but it looks like I'll head perhaps ACT way again and maybe knock off that last event in the ACT to get my Territorian status.

00:50:56Oliver Spake: No, what do they call it?

00:50:58Melissa Ellis: They call it – I've forgotten the phrase they use – Anyway, in any case, Mount Ainslie looks likely for me this week, but no promises because it is a very, very long way away. And what about you, Ollie? I'm assuming after your big adventure you'll be back home this week.

00:51:20Oliver Spake: There is a chance that I will not be visiting one of the outer Shellharbour parkruns this week. LAUGHTER I made it so far, so close to the end, but never mind. I'll wear that one. I think I probably got a fine straight away.

00:51:26[laughter]

00:51:36Melissa Ellis: Is that why they're calling it Outer Shellharbour, just so we keep saying it and get fined?

00:51:41Oliver Spake: Have you just demonstrated that? I don't know. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to run directing. So I am home and yeah, it will be good to be back.

00:51:51Melissa Ellis: Here's the ironic thing about these fines. We introduced them as a fundraising measure because we cover the costs for all the production of the podcast. So when we get fined, it really isn't any skin off our backs because we pay anyway.

00:52:08Oliver Spake: It's just a bit more of a justification. Yeah.

00:52:12Melissa Ellis: It's a bit of fun though.

00:52:13Oliver Spake: That's absolutely right. Now, another bit of fun, Mel.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

00:52:17Oliver Spake: We have to remind everyone because if you haven't already seen it, we are live, Mel, International Ugly Christmas Singlet or Shirt Day. The post is up. The orders are live. It is time. So anybody else feeling the chill and wishing for something warm and festive to brighten up your day, week, month or year? Yeah, as the page says we've got you Ugly Christmas in July is on the way and we are getting in the mood by releasing our special edition ugly Christmas buffs also known as neck warmers and joining the previous swag of designs we have the all-new 2021 matchy release of platypus and echidna orders are open much elf eye strain was sustained in the knitting of this design this new design the So we hope the new buff brings you warmth and spreads joy wherever you go. And we are also once again pleased to let you know that $1 from the sale of every ugly Christmas buff will be donated to Beyond Blue to support the work they do in improving the lives of all people in Australia affected by mental health conditions. So there are more details there on the page. The codes, the links, everything you need is there. Don't forget to get in quickly because the cutoff date for ordering is Wednesday the 1st of June. That is very soon. You have less than a week, folks. Oh, goodness. Check out the designs. Oh, of course, by the time the pod comes out, Ollie. That's right. That's right. So they're a lot of fun. Mine kept my left hand warm on Saturday. And if I'd only remembered to take ugly Christmas buffs of all the other designs, my right hand could have been warm as well. So in fact, if I just remembered my spare socks, I could have hiked with dry feet too, but that's all right. Oh, no. Nonetheless, four wonderful designs. If you've missed out on an ugly Christmas thing, little shirt before, and you love the design, here's a chance to enjoy a bit of neck warmth and satisfaction that you finally got your hands on one of them.

00:54:23Melissa Ellis: This year's does feature the platypus and the echidna design and our very own little Eynesbury Puddle Duck doing his zoomie. Yes. And I'm doing it. Nobody can see, but I've got my arms out.

00:54:37Oliver Spake: To demonstrate. Yep. That helps it. Thanks, Mel.

Sign-off

00:54:42Melissa Ellis: But who is signing out, Ollie? Me or you? I can't make the page go to the right spot to even see.

00:54:50Oliver Spake: Well, I'm going to jump in then. It has been wonderful to catch up once again. Thank you, Mel, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. As always, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That is it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

00:55:03[music]

Roving report Abigail ("Abby") — junior parkrun Run Director — junior parkrun (Melissa Ellis's local junior event, Victoria)

00:56:15Abigail ("Abby"): Hi Mel and Ollie. Today at Junior parkrun I was Run Director. It was so fun. I took mum's job and then I played for a bit. Listen to the podcast and how dare you give me a fine. Not happy Jan. Bye adventurers. Stay safe.