Episode 298 - Not Flat

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 298 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:33Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I am joining once again from Dharawal Country.

00:00:38Melissa Ellis: And we are two very worn out and tired podcast hosts. So apologies listeners this week. Bear with us as we recount our very exciting weekend.

00:00:50Oliver Spake: Yes. I don't know where to start, Mel. Firstly, I hope you've had a chance for a bit of sleep.

00:00:56Melissa Ellis: Well, no, not really. But that's okay. It was a huge weekend. I only landed late last night, came home pretty much straight into bed and up and off to work this morning. So there hasn't been a lot of time for reflection yet. So this will be a nice way to get that done, I think, Ollie.

00:01:17Oliver Spake: That's very true.

00:01:18Melissa Ellis: I hope you've had a bit more rest than me.

00:01:20Oliver Spake: I have had a bit of sleep. I must admit I have some angry, angry toes and the legs aren't all that happy either.

00:01:31Melissa Ellis: But we should wind back because we are, of course, referring to more the goings on on Sunday that wore us out. But our weekend started on Saturday morning.

00:01:42Oliver Spake: There's probably an apt way to recap that. I'm not sure I can do it justice. How do we start, Mel?

00:01:48Melissa Ellis: Well, our intrepid Office Lady did manage to capture some audio for us, so perhaps the best thing to do is to listen to that first.

Roving report Sam Schroder — Cooks River parkrun

00:01:58Sam Schroder: Hi, parkrun adventurers. Sam here, calling in not from the comfy chair on Level 2 with a view, but from Cooks River parkrun, where some awesome people have been participating. And I'm here with a couple of lovely participants who you may have heard of once or twice on the pod. Hello, Mel and Ollie. So, have you had a good morning? It's a great morning.

00:02:18Melissa Ellis: The sun's out and Sydney's put on the weather for us. I don't know about this rumour that I bring bad weather from Melbourne. It's all right. It is.

00:02:25Sam Schroder: You left the weather in Melbourne, I think. They've got the rain. And did you enjoy the course this morning? Yeah I had a lovely run chaps. Excellent, excellent. Somebody who was a little bit quicker than us this morning out on course was Ollie. How'd you find the course?

00:02:40Oliver Spake: It was just wonderful to be here and to see so many of the adventurers but I did have the opportunity to have a bit of a jog with a few of the adventurers out there so I Great to run one leg or half a leg with Patrick, with Paddy Oshimo. Lovely. Catch up with a few of the Windang clan. So, yeah, it was a little partisan maybe.

00:03:00Melissa Ellis: And did you, you had a special, I don't know how you, what do you call it? Encounter? Did you have a lead bike?

00:03:07Sam Schroder: I had a lead bike. Yes. I couldn't think of a clever way to say it. You get a bit of a lead bike advantage on course.

00:03:12Oliver Spake: I got a little excited as I kept running and running, preparing for tomorrow's city to surf which we are all excited for but as I did build a bit stronger funnily enough the fastest part of my parkrun this morning was following the lead bike in the sprint to the finish uh so yes thank you to said lead bike for that very very strong finish

00:03:32Sam Schroder: It's great how many people have turned up today. It is. It is. I haven't actually done a head count. I know we've got a cafe booking for 15, which we should get a move on and go to, but I reckon there were more than 15 adventurers here today. It'll be interesting to see what the frond numbers turn out to be, although maybe some of them were volunteers. But it's been a beautiful morning and just the prelude to what's going to be a fantastic weekend. So thank you both so much for having a chat with me. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Sam.

00:04:00Oliver Spake: Thank you for sharing this special day with us, Sam. So thank you very much to Sam, the birthday girl of the morning, might I add.

00:04:08Melissa Ellis: She was. It was a little bit overshadowed and we are sorry about that, Sam. But, you know, you have your birthday on parkrun Day.

00:04:17Oliver Spake: It just extends the fun, hopefully.

00:04:19Melissa Ellis: She did get a happy birthday rendition at brunch. You'll be glad to know, Ollie.

00:04:23Oliver Spake: Good, good, good. And sorry I missed it. Sorry, Sam. But as Sam so eloquently pointed out, yes, we were at Cooks River parkrun with a few others. And, Mel, of course, Cooks River parkrun taking place. In, well, around the area of Canterbury, which is, of course, I reckon Eora land and one that I had only visited previously as part of a longest run. So that was a new event for me.

00:04:50Melissa Ellis: Excellent. You're climbing the ranks, Ollie. Yeah.

00:04:55Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm not sure I can say climbing the ranks in this company, but that was event number 39. Thank you.

00:05:01Melissa Ellis: I think you've done more this year than for quite a while.

00:05:04Oliver Spake: Yes. My parkrun year-on-year profile has taken a bit of a turn this year. Excellent.

00:05:12Melissa Ellis: Good. We're having a positive effect.

00:05:14Oliver Spake: Yes. That's right. That's right. I am infected. Affected. Whichever one.

00:05:20Melissa Ellis: Maybe don't go into that, Ollie.

00:05:22Oliver Spake: Okay. Okay.

00:05:25Melissa Ellis: So, Mel, how was it? How did you enjoy our massive frond? I had a lovely run chat with my friend Helen, who was up also from Victoria, the great estate, and with her son Christopher, who lives in Sydney. And Helen also was catching up with another Helen.

00:05:44Oliver Spake: Yes, Helen Rubin.

00:05:46Melissa Ellis: That's right.

00:05:47Oliver Spake: Fellow world tourist, yeah.

00:05:49Melissa Ellis: Correct.

00:05:50Oliver Spake: Absolutely. That's a fine for me. I keep talking over you. That's a fine for me. Sorry, Mum.

00:05:51[crosstalk]

00:05:55Melissa Ellis: That's okay. We had a wonderful morning. I just, yeah, had an easy run. I wasn't too worried about times, just happy to do a run chat pace and save the legs a little bit for the next day. It was lovely to meet some new people. We had a few new faces there and I didn't get to talk to everybody, unfortunately, so I'm sorry to those who I didn't get to speak to. But, Ollie... Did you identify a certain Mr. Bike?

00:06:26Oliver Spake: Steve's bike was there? Oh, Ollie. As a matter of fact, Mel, as may be evidenced by my brief interlude of bicycle race by Queen just before we got underway, I had a bit of a hunch. It became more evident to me, I must say, as I was nearing the finish and, well, aside from the calls of bike out on course at certain points, I had a lead bike for the finish, which was incredible. It was an incredibly fast lead bike too because that was the fastest part of my parkrun. Because you were trying to save your legs. Well, I started out and I was enjoying running with Patty Oshimo, actually, for the first quarter of the parkrun, being a double out and back there. But then I got excited. I saw some of the Windang clan flying around, so I tried to catch up with each of them. Two out of three ain't bad. But yes, the lead bike to finish was an absolute highlight for me.

00:07:25Melissa Ellis: Set in a Sydney, is that how you would describe Cooks River? In a local park, double out and back course, quite green, a bit of water.

00:07:37Oliver Spake: A couple of puddles and some wet grass, in fact. We were very fortunate that the rain had cleared it having rained a bit.

00:07:43Melissa Ellis: And an abandoned trolley. Did you spot it? No.

00:07:48Oliver Spake: I didn't, actually. You didn't? I didn't. I can't unsee trolleys. No, you can't, can you? No. Was said trolley returned or we left this one?

00:07:57Melissa Ellis: Oh, now I've got guilt. Brunch was calling. I didn't have time for these things.

00:08:05Oliver Spake: Don't tell Will.

00:08:06Melissa Ellis: I'll send Will. I need a snap, send, solve, will.

00:08:11Oliver Spake: Goodness. But I can't thank enough the wonderful team at Cooks River parkrun, of course. It was nice to chat to a few of them, to meet the Run Director, Rosalie, and the photographer. The dirty cheater himself, Mr Paul Rainbow. So thank you so much to the volleys of the morning for making it an extra nice parkrun.

00:08:33Melissa Ellis: They absolutely did. And yes, it was great to catch up with old mate Paul Rainbow. Good to see you, Paul.

00:08:39Oliver Spake: And to all of our adventurers. I mean, what an effort. What a turnout.

00:08:42Melissa Ellis: I'll name them later in the Consolidated Club Report.

00:08:45Oliver Spake: Of course. So how was brunch, Mel?

00:08:47Melissa Ellis: It was very busy. And the Cook's Cafe did a brilliant job accommodating us because I think we had about 25 people back for brunch in the small cafe. But yeah, they were more than accommodating and lovely meals. It was hard to drag myself away.

00:09:05Oliver Spake: I bet. I did manage to wait until the Tail Walkers finished, but I did so rudely have to depart. I had to go and pick up my brother and his daughter, who I was meant to be hosting at my place, but they had some car trouble. So I got to drive to the city, pick them up and take them south. And... Spend a bit of time and then drive back to Sydney. But that was my day. So I got a bit of podcast listening squeezed in, Mel, and a little bit of singing too. How did you spend the rest of your day?

00:09:32Melissa Ellis: We did a Freedo out at Greenway parkrun. So that was nice to get a bit of a sampler of another Sydney parkrun, one to come back for perhaps next year when I do return.

00:09:47Oliver Spake: Oh, it is a good spot there. Mm. And then Saturday night and Sunday.

00:09:51Melissa Ellis: We just had a quiet evening, just enjoyed at a local pub. Who came? Shotzi came and joined Sam, Luke and myself for dinner at the pub and marvellous Mark and his lovely wife, Nicole. So it was another little meal which we very much enjoyed. Just, you know, chewing the fat about parkrun as you do. As you do. And then an early night because of the big event.

00:10:16Oliver Spake: The big event. Now, should we go into the big event now or should we save it for our news and discussion?

Emails

00:10:21Melissa Ellis: I don't know. Yeah, no, perhaps we'll move on to feedback from last week's episode. Graham Wilkinson, Ollie, he was quite pleased, I think, with his award. And he said, listen to the podcast today. Perfect end to a great week of parkrun. Poster boy and Obi award made my week, I can tell you. The building in the background is the Parliament buildings where the Northern Ireland Assembly sits. Kudos to Mel for the singing. Not long to wait for Ollie's turn. No pressure, Ollie.

00:10:51Oliver Spake: None at all. And well-deserving. Well done again, Graeme. And thank you for clarifying the background to the buildings in the background. We also heard from Val Warwick. So we got some great feedback from last week's episode, Mel, and I think there were some very clear reasons for that. So Val said, we loved, loved, loved this week's pod. Thanks for all those great roving reports and Patrick for the fabulous poem. Mel, I take my hat off to you for your bravery. It really was an enjoyable week. Have a great weekend. All adventurers who are meeting up this week, we're looking forward to having a frond in the southern state.

00:11:31Melissa Ellis: Oh, thanks, Val. Yeah, I was brave. I think I was brave because I'm certainly not a very good singer, but I tried my best.

00:11:42Oliver Spake: I think that a few of our adventurers would attest to you actually being quite a nice singer, Mel. And, look, I'll read out the next one. We also heard from Calum Burrell who said, sea shanty Blizzard by adventurer Melissa.

00:11:54Melissa Ellis: And Calum is probably referring to the amazing sea shanties that have previously been played at the end of episodes of With Me Now, which are really, really amazing and nothing like what I did. But thank you, Calum, in any case, for the feedback, yes um but uh the ideas man mr Bruce Purdy said thank you Patrick and Mel for the poem zone tribute to Peter Allen it made me wonder if we could do a little poem zone by request the logistics are send in your poem and nominate who reads it and the style in which the poem is read um and then did Patrick follow on from that or is patrick's a separate patrick's was a separate one so

00:12:36[crosstalk]

00:12:36Oliver Spake: I'll jump in. I'm talking. He said, I've been meaning to say since I listened to the podcast within an hour of it being dropped that I enjoyed it immensely and was fortunate enough to be able to thank Mel personally for being a great sport about the poem zone. And I concur with Bruce Purdy's suggestion.

00:12:55Melissa Ellis: Seems like it might be a thing now, Ollie, people writing in with... revamped lyrics, would we say?

00:13:03Oliver Spake: I think so.

00:13:04Melissa Ellis: That are parkrun related, that we may or may not have to sing.

00:13:09Oliver Spake: Oh, my goodness. I think, as usual with this podcast, the answer seems to be yes. The answer's almost always yes. And, look, I love a good silly song. So I welcome these creative talents and I feel like there'll be some more challenges coming on.

00:13:27Melissa Ellis: But just remember, everybody, if you would like to nominate your favourite Channel 5 news crew reporter to do some singing... You can do that too. Or Abby.

00:13:38Oliver Spake: Oh, goodness.

00:13:39Melissa Ellis: Or the informants. Or the Office Lady.

00:13:44Oliver Spake: That's right. Or the budgies. Oh. No, too far. Or Chico. Or Chico. Is Chico okay?

00:13:56Melissa Ellis: Debatable.

00:13:59Oliver Spake: As he coughs up a lung. Oh, dear.

00:14:01Melissa Ellis: Okay, let's move on. Ollie, news and discussion.

00:14:03Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah. As we alluded before as part of this intro, rest assured, everyone, we do have some roving reports coming up, but we had a lot of fun. So let's talk about the city to surf, which was the... I guess the 50th non-virtual City to Surf event, and it was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning. It is, of course, held on Gadigal land of the Eora Nation. And Mel, how did you enjoy it?

00:14:28Melissa Ellis: As always, it was an absolutely brilliant day, full of excitement. I mean, lining up in, is it College Street?

00:14:37Rochelle: Is it Street? Yeah.

00:14:38Melissa Ellis: Yeah. There's just that many people and you can't articulate the vibe and the music and the atmosphere. It's not really that COVID safe, let's be fair. But I was wearing my mask. Until I started running, I was wearing my mask. It's just unique and I just love it. I wouldn't miss it if I could help it. I was very excited to be there with Sam and Luke. It was their first time, so I was feeling like the proud host. I saw gorillas. I did see a Wonder Woman. I didn't feel in my wave at least or in the section that I was running in, I didn't see a lot of fancy dress, maybe less than normal. I was dressed up. Sam and I were sort of running in 80s-themed clothes to try to just bring the 80s party because, let's face it, I felt that I was in the mullet wave. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Are mullets just an Australian thing or is that a worldwide?

00:15:39Oliver Spake: I'm feeling like mullets are Australian. Well, it feels like it's maybe overrepresented in Australia, that's for sure. But maybe some of our international listeners can let us know.

00:15:49Melissa Ellis: So the idea about the mullet was it was all like business at the front and party at the back. So, Ollie, you were at the front, if I could. Well. You're at the business end. We were way at the back in the mullet end having the party.

00:16:04Oliver Spake: I love that analogy. And might I add that you and Sam were marvellously complimented by Luke as well, dressed for the occasion, and the medals. You matched the medals perfectly also. Yeah, it wasn't an accident.

00:16:19Melissa Ellis: We were themed.

00:16:19Unidentified speaker: Yes, yes.

00:16:21Melissa Ellis: And we also bumped into Brendan and M. Scholarly as we were running along just at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill. Couldn't have planned it absolutely better. So that was wonderful to see them and we stopped for selfies. We stopped for selfies in front of the bay with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. The weather was perfect. It was a beautifully warm morning with a bit of a breeze, just enough to cool you down as you were running.

00:16:48Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:16:48Melissa Ellis: But tell us, Ollie, I mean, goodness, this was just me at the back having the party, but you're at the business end breaking some PBs. Well. Yeah, I was... Come on, Bragg, Bragg, come on.

00:17:00Oliver Spake: Before I do, let's celebrate. So we've been looking forward to these kind of events for a long time. We've had our virtuals, it's been a couple of years of it and the crowd definitely was down. So about 46,500 people out there. including some familiar names to the pod. So, you know, let's firstly say congratulations to the first place finishers, so Samuel Rizzo, elite wheelchair, Leanne Pompeani in the females, and Liam Adams back from the Comm Games in the males. So congratulations to those. And, of course, a special mention to the fifth place finishers, male finisher, Aidan Hobbs. Superman himself that, Mel, we spotted him on his return leg after he'd finished, run back to the start and then completed the course with the rest of the super family.

00:17:48Melissa Ellis: That was really exciting to see Aidan. Did he run his first leg, his fifth place getter? Was he in the Superman suit for that?

00:17:59Oliver Spake: Yeah, my understanding is he broke the record for the fastest Superman, at least at the City to Surf. I haven't researched that, so I could be wrong. I didn't quite have my wits about me yesterday.

00:18:09Melissa Ellis: But he is well known, isn't he? It didn't come up in Sam's interview with him, but he regularly runs in the Superman suit at City to Surf. is my understanding.

00:18:19Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:18:19Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it was very exciting to see. I was just excited because I saw three people in Superman suits before I realised and Sam squealed, Aidan!

00:18:27Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right, that's right. And I was also impressed finishing around that same time with someone pushing a lawnmower too. So that was, yeah.

00:18:38Melissa Ellis: Really? That could have been you, Ollie.

00:18:41Oliver Spake: I did come home and mow the lawn actually. So... Oh, dear, I just clapped too. I'm going to get the clean sweep of the fines this week. Thank you, Michael Gentle, in advance. But, yes, the lawnmower pushing in the city to surf was very impressive.

00:18:44[applause]

00:18:58Melissa Ellis: I saw a Forrest Gump and it wasn't Ralph.

00:19:00Oliver Spake: Oh, Ralph, yes. His time will come. Look, congratulations. I mean, I'd single them out, but there have been some amazing runs across all of our adventurers. Again, so wonderful to see so many and to catch so many afterwards as well. On a personal note, I was most pleased to see Ralph. I don't quite remember seeing him when I finished. And I did see Karen and Ralph before the start. You pushed yourself. I did push myself. So I had been looking forward to this one. I prepared a whole playlist and I ran with music, which wasn't really part of the spirit of the event, but I'd really thought it out and had my songs. And I could be disappointed because I mistimed the finish. I was timing my finish with the end of one of my favourite Eurovision songs. I was about 10 seconds too early, but I've discovered in the photos tonight that my screen was well and truly captured. To the subtle notes of Shum, which was, of course, a Eurovision entry from Ukraine, not this year, but the year before.

00:20:06Melissa Ellis: That sounds like the perfect song to sing next week.

00:20:09Oliver Spake: I don't know if that would be... I don't know if that would be suitable for the pod. I'm not sure I could do it justice. It's not the lyrics, probably just more the capability.

00:20:22Melissa Ellis: But I don't think we've said to those listeners who are international that City to Surf is a 14-kilometre race. True, yes. And it's mostly uphill. I know you say there's downhill bits. I don't remember them.

00:20:36Oliver Spake: I think technically it's more downhill than uphill.

00:20:39Melissa Ellis: I just remember the uphill. There's a lot of uphill. And, Ollie, would you like to share with your time?

00:20:45Oliver Spake: Yes, my finish time was 56 minutes and 25 seconds, which I was over the moon about, especially once I realised that my Garmin had saved. Again, thank you, Ralph.

00:20:56Melissa Ellis: Very good. And listeners, Ollie has just shared with me one of his race photos where he is basically dying as he crosses the line, but had the presence of mind to point to Shellharbour on his apricot shirt as he was running. I'll wear that fine because I'm quite impressed.

00:21:14Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. Thank you, Mel. And, yes, I did do a Zoomie as well.

00:21:19Melissa Ellis: Not as good as mine.

00:21:20Oliver Spake: No, no, that's a fantastic photo. So, yeah, we look forward to seeing more of the photos.

00:21:25Melissa Ellis: Just prior to recording, we were checking out our race photos on the website that had just been released and notified to us by one of our fellow runners. So thank you to Ali, I think it was, that tipped us off. That's right. And this is why we're an hour late for recording.

00:21:41Oliver Spake: Priorities, priorities. No, the pods are priority, of course. Of course. But again, and I'm sure I've said it many times, congratulations, everyone. There were some fantastic achievements. I mean, some of our adventurers have done so many city to surfs and had such incredible runs yesterday that it was really uplifting. So thank you, everyone, for giving me a spectacular weekend.

parkrun news bulletin

00:22:03Melissa Ellis: Yes, but somebody else, Ollie, that is going to be having a spectacular weekend very soon is parkrun Malaysia. Now, last Tuesday, parkrun Malaysia announced that they will be returning on the 20th of August. They said, we are incredibly excited, to see restrictions ease, allowing parkrun to reopen across Malaysia. We can confirm that Taman Pudu Ulu parkrun and Presint 18 parkrun, Putrajaya Forgive me for that. Anyway, they will reopen on Saturday the 20th of August 2022. Taman Tasik Danau Kota parkrun will launch later in the year when an event team... has been established. So great news for parkrun Malaysia, finally coming back. You must be so happy, Harry.

00:22:55Oliver Spake: I bet, I bet. And to have another parkrun coming to the family soon, yeah, that's a wonderful compliment to the news as well.

00:23:04Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. But in other news, Ollie, the August volunteer update was released just this last week, featuring news of the Event Day Course Check becoming compulsory for all teams around the world. So far, the percentage of teams confirming this role has risen from 24% to 91%. And it is important for the safety of the event and insurance purposes that this check is done in the morning prior to the event.

00:23:31Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, certainly. And look, I acknowledge, I know my home parkrun does have a few additional hazards to what many other parkruns would have. But knowing the unpredictability of, well, the world we live in, it's good to see that people are getting out there and checking the course.

00:23:47Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:23:48Oliver Spake: And look, there was also a reminder to everyone of the parkrun policy for hot and cold weather with a link to the policy. So that's a good reminder for all, but especially those areas experiencing hot temperatures that they may not be accustomed to. For example, here in Australia, we're used to dealing with warm weather. We know to keep hydrated, avoid the sun in the middle of the day between 11 and 2, apply sunscreen with our slip, slop, slap, and recognise signs of heat-related illness. parkrun has included a link so event teams can identify heat exhaustion and take appropriate action.

00:24:23Melissa Ellis: Yes. Now, the update also features the latest in the volunteer video series highlighting the role of the Run Director. A key point here is that the RD must be at the start finish area at all times and must not undertake any other role whilst the event is taking place. Additionally, the update explains that people can be assigned to more than one role at a parkrun event. For example, the RD can also receive a volunteer credit as a Results Processor. A volunteer may carry out the Event Day Course Check and the pre-event set up before volunteering as a Timekeeper or a Barcode Scanner, for example. And the first time is welcome, maybe done by a volunteer who also has another role on the day too.

00:25:05Oliver Spake: Yeah, so there are some great combinations that people can pull together. And I'd be interested if we can come up with some creative names for some of the combos, by the way. We've got a winged photographer. I think that's pretty standard, you know, and usually I think it's Lance from the Windang Clan that volunteers as winged photographer. We've had several volunteers, one, but he particularly calls it that, which is simply the photographer who runs and takes photos.

00:25:30Melissa Ellis: Okay. Like he's flying with wings. That's right. Yeah. Right. Okay. I like that.

00:25:37Oliver Spake: Some good volunteering opportunities there.

00:25:39Melissa Ellis: Um, wow.

00:25:41Oliver Spake: I know we said we were tired.

00:25:42Melissa Ellis: Wow. This has been a long intro. I just looked at the time.

00:25:46Oliver Spake: Oh my goodness. So look, it's probably time to hand over the reins to some of our roving reporters who've had a couple of adventures at the weekend. So we've got three roving reports for you this week. So why don't we have a listen to them now?

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Tracey Wood — Atherton parkrun

00:26:07Tracey Wood: Good morning parkrunners, it's Tracey on the trails and I've travelled to Atherton parkrun in Northern Queensland. So from Brisbane we took a two and a half hour flight, arrived at Cairns Airport, we then hired a car and came out to Atherton. We're actually staying at Lake Tenry Resort which is very, very nice, and I've just come into town to the parkrun we had a look around and we found the flags and it's quite exciting there seems to be a bit of collection of people gathering here I've found the rd and let's go meet some people okay and I've wandered along and I've found Carolyn good morning Carolyn hello how are you Yeah, good. Now, Carolyn tells me she's a regular here at Atherton parkrun. Is that right? Yes, it is. How many have you done here?

00:26:53Carolyn: I think I'm up to my 54th. Oh, well done. And you're obviously volunteering as well? Yes, doing the first-times briefing, which is a great thing to do on the day when you're also running.

00:27:03Tracey Wood: You can get it over with and keep going. Excellent. So you volunteered a few times as well?

00:27:08Carolyn: Yeah, just the various jobs. It's pretty easy to do once you're shown what to do. And why do you like Atherton parkrun? I think it's just a great thing to do on a Saturday morning to get your fitness up and get it over with early in the day. Good chance to catch up with people and just say hi in a friendly environment. And it's a really pretty course here, so enjoy that.

00:27:30Tracey Wood: Yeah, well, I was going to ask what brings you back to parkrun, but I think that comes quite a lot here.

00:27:35Carolyn: Yeah, no, it's lots of fun.

00:27:36Tracey Wood: Do you feel there's a bit of a community being a smaller area? Definitely, definitely.

00:27:40Carolyn: There's some diehard regulars that we have, all walks of life, all shapes and sizes, as would be the case with parkrun everywhere in Australia, I think. But there's certainly a core group of people that turn up every week.

00:27:52Tracey Wood: Yeah, and what about tourists?

00:27:54Carolyn: How do you go for tourists here? Yeah, amazingly, since we're up in far north Queensland, we seem to get people from as far south as Tasmania and Victoria just usually on school holidays. Yes. They turn up and it's great.

00:28:06Tracey Wood: And maybe even people from Gatton. Hi, Barb. Hi, Barb.

00:28:10Carolyn: I don't know if we've had a Gatton one yet, but great, we have. Yes, she did.

00:28:15Tracey Wood: Yes, Barb tells me she came here exactly one year ago. So she said, yes, you'll enjoy the parkrun. I didn't know it was on a trail though. So it's being Tail Walker this morning. I don't think there'll be any problems with me getting lost.

00:28:29Carolyn: No, no, it's a fairly straight course following the rainforest along the creek. So it's...

00:28:33Tracey Wood: Very pretty. And it looks flat too. It is, yeah. Very good for that. Okay. We're also known, Atherton is also known as the Atherton Tablelands. Could you tell the listeners at home why is it called the Tablelands? I can see it's fairly obvious here, but why is it called that?

00:28:50Carolyn: A plateau that you come up onto from down the coast.

00:28:53Donna: So I think Atherton rises to about 800 metres above sea level, something like that. 700, 800 metres above sea level.

00:29:02Carolyn: So it's... Very impressive. Cooler up here, you'd notice this morning. A bit cooler than Cairns or places like that, but that's part of the attraction, and that's the nice part of doing parkrun here in summer.

00:29:12Tracey Wood: Oh, wow. It's a little cooler. So it's cool in summer as well. Awesome.

00:29:15Carolyn: Yeah, it's good.

00:29:16Tracey Wood: Okay, listeners, put Atherton parkrun on your radar. Lovely place to visit. I'm going to get myself ready, and I think we're heading off soon. Thanks, Carolyn.

00:29:25Carolyn: No worries.

00:29:26Tracey Wood: Okay, Carolyn has just kindly done the first time's briefing and we've got a great selection of tourists here this morning. Who have we got? I'm Jen.

00:29:34Oliver Spake: I'm from Penrith, New South Wales and I'm currently travelling around Australia with my family in the caravan.

00:29:39Lynn: Hi, I'm Lynn. I'm from Adelaide. I come up here to Cairns because I wanted to go up to Cooktown and then I've come to Atherton because my sister's here and it took me three years to get here with COVID.

00:29:48Brad: Hi, I'm Brad from Melbourne. Doing a half lap with the family in the caravan so I thought it was a nice spot to wake up and do a parkrun in the morning.

00:29:56Rochelle: Excellent. What's your home parkrun?

00:29:58Brad: Cheltenham.

00:29:59Rochelle: Hi, I'm Rochelle. I'm from the Central Coast and I'm travelling with my partner and two dogs. And we're from Mount Penang parkrun.

00:30:05Tracey Wood: Excellent. Thanks, guys. Okay, and I've finished the parkrun and I found Michael, the RD. Hi, Michael.

00:30:13Michael: Hello, how are you?

00:30:14Tracey Wood: Good. How did it all go today?

00:30:16Michael: Ultra smooth today. Ultra smooth. No issues, no injuries.

00:30:19Tracey Wood: No, excellent.

00:30:19Michael: Nothing exciting, just what we like.

00:30:22Tracey Wood: It was an excellent course. It's lovely and flat and wide. I notice it's called a rail trail. Why is that?

00:30:30Michael: This used to be the railway line, so they've taken up the sleepers and stuff on sections of here, between here and Mareeba, and it's turned it into a recreational trail for bike riders and walkers and anybody who wants to use it. So it's getting better and better. It started out fairly rough from removing the tracks, but it's getting smoother and smoother as we go.

00:30:57Tracey Wood: Yeah, no, it looks quite good. And how long have you been RDing here?

00:31:01Michael: Oh, gosh. Probably the last couple of years I've been involved in run directing. I started out just parkrunning and then got involved with volunteering and then run directing and I've tried all the jobs now. So I'm okay with most of them except Tail Walker. I wasn't a great Tail Walker.

00:31:21Tracey Wood: Can you get a bit impatient?

00:31:23Michael: No, people fooled me. They swapped carrying a child halfway through and so I ended up like a kilometre behind or something.

00:31:31Tracey Wood: Oh, no. Now, I believe you also have Ultra Runner to add to your credit. What would you like to tell the listeners about that? Because that sounds pretty awesome.

00:31:40Michael: I don't know. I think I'm an Ultra Runner in name only. But I actually wanted to do the Kuranda to Port Douglas team event, but I kept having injuries and I pulled out of a couple of different teams for other things and so in the end I decided I still wanted to go and so earlier this year I signed up for the for the whole thing and 60k's and I knew I had to lose weight so I lost 11 kilos on the way um but that was probably still I probably could have lost a few people anyway I better keep moving my lift is coming soon thank you for chatting with me thank you for coming to Atherton parkrun it's been a pleasure having here oh it's been lovely what a very nice parkrun thank you very much Michael no problem bye

00:32:34Tracey Wood: Okay, it's Tracey on the Travels signing off from Tablelands Trail, also known as Atherton parkrun. I'm heading off in search of coffee and breakfast. Sounds awesome. That's all from me. See you on the V-side. Bye.

Roving report Richard — Sippo Lake parkrun

00:32:47Richard: Good morning parkrun adventurers, it's Richard here and I'm coming to you from the nice state of Ohio at Sippo Lake parkrun which is located in Canton and I'm speaking with Donna who is Run Director today. Could you please give us a quick description of your course and a brief history of Sippo Lake parkrun?

00:33:05Donna: Okay, Sippo Lake parkrun's got our 100th run in two weeks. We started, I think it was the year 2018. We of course had to stop during COVID and then we got started back up. Last winter we had some challenges because of our Ohio weather with some ice. had to post or cancel a couple of the events. So that's kind of put a little lag on our 100th. But our course, as to me, one of the nicest courses we have because you're on a natural surface, you're going through the woods, then you're going through some paved surfaces also. We've got our Cottonwood Trail. You've got Sippo Mountain greeting you at about the two mile mark. So you're going, oh, I know I can. I know I can. and then you get to turn around and come back. So it's a great course. Today is a gorgeous day here in Ohio. Temperature's in the 50s, but it's going to get a little hotter. But for August, no humidity. This is awesome.

00:34:02Richard: It is a beautiful day, and the course, I can attest, is beautiful. It is a nice course to run. Can you tell us a little bit about what brought you to parkrun?

00:34:11Donna: I am a volunteer for Stark County Parks. When I retired, it was just a great opportunity of something to do. I love the fellowship that we have here at Sippo Lake parkrun.

00:34:24Richard: Yes, I did notice that. Everyone's so friendly and very welcoming to a foreigner.

00:34:28Donna: Yes, I'm usually the Tail Walker because I like to get those miles in myself. I'm a walker, not a runner. But I'm also on the Friends of Stark Parks board, so we help sponsor parkrun.

00:34:43Richard: Okay, well, thank you for your time.

00:34:45Donna: Well, thank you. It's been nice talking to you and getting to talk about Down Under.

Roving report Abigail — Werribee Mansion parkrun

00:34:50Abigail ("Abby"): Hi adventurers, it's Abigail reporting in from the Werribee Mansion parkrun. I'm volunteering with Hannah and Mum. I'm going to ask the Event Director some questions.

00:35:02Loretta Fraser: What's your name? My name's Loretta Fraser.

00:35:06Abigail ("Abby"): Have you ever tried parkrun?

00:35:09Loretta Fraser: Yes, I have. In fact, I ran it today.

00:35:12Abigail ("Abby"): Why did you start this parkrun?

00:35:15Loretta Fraser: Well because I was a Run Director at Wyndham Vale which is nearby and I was approached to help set up this Werribee Mansion parkrun and it's so iconic because we have a mansion and we have a vineyard and a golf course so that's why it's a very nice place to have a parkrun.

00:35:35Abigail ("Abby"): I love Werribee Zoo next door. Have you ever had animals escape into the course?

00:35:41Loretta Fraser: Oh, no, not yet. Not yet. But what we do have here at our parkrun is we have some flying foxes in the trees. And you have to be very careful when you run past because they sleep during the day. So we have to be very quiet.

00:35:58Abigail ("Abby"): Thank you. No worries. Bye, adventurers. Stay safe.

00:36:12Melissa Ellis: And a good bunch of roving reports today. Thank you to Tracey in a Tutu coming to us from Atherton parkrun, Richard on his debut from Sippo Lake parkrun, and our Abby stepping up to a junior roving reporter at Werribee Mansion.

00:36:31Oliver Spake: That's right. It's impressive. Impressive ranks there, our junior roving reporters. So well done, Abby, and nice adventuring.

00:36:38Melissa Ellis: Yes, and mail this week. Yes, we have some mail, Mel. You must have been so happy with that, Ollie.

00:36:47Oliver Spake: I was over the moon. After last week's submission, it seems that we've struck a bit of a chord and we've got some mail this week from Tracey, Tracey in a Tutu, who has sent in another submission for the podcast. poem zone. And whilst Tracey hasn't given us a message with that, she has noted that it is inspired by Paddy Oshimo and his delightful poem submission last week, which was, of course, as we noted, wonderfully sung by yourself, Mel. And Tracey has indicated that this week's poem, which is a rather familiar tune, dare I say, is something for me to, well, I'd say read, but perhaps sing. Thank goodness, which it's a week early Tracey but I really appreciate the opportunity yeah but just don't think you're off the hook for 299 no no no I I completely understand that however uh much like last week we're gonna wait we'll leave it to the end what do you reckon Mel yes I think so too okay so thank you very much Tracey I hope I've done it justice and as Mel said last week if anyone would like to tune out when the credits roll or the the tone of the tune at the end I might be nervous or something see you understand now why I said that don't you you can just turn off Well, there's a lot to live up to, Mel.

Dazza's

00:38:14Oliver Spake: But moving swiftly along, Dazza's. At Dazza's this week, he said, it's International Left-Handers Day. Did you know that about 10% of the population is left-handed or that left-handed people have higher IQs? Is that right? Come on in. Tell us about your dominant hand or share your parkrun adventures. And joining us at Dazza's was Joe Richards, who certainly struck a chord for Joe, who said, bow down to the left handers of the world. We're special. And I'd like to thank parkrun for not making the volley apps difficult for us to use.

00:38:54Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Richard coming to us from the USA. As a proud lefty, I'm happy to celebrate a day, though my check-in to Dazza's may be a little bit late this parkrun day. Well, now that everybody else has left Dazza's, I can finally check in from Sippo Lake parkrun in Canton, Ohio, and boast that I'm now an international parkrunner. I'd order a coffee, but I'd have to settle for what they call coffee over here. Oh. That's a bit cheeky. Richard, we've got USA listeners. We can't be insulting them.

00:39:27Oliver Spake: Well, that's right. That's right. And I did fail to note in the notes that Richard did share a photo of the sign at Sippo Lake Trail there with a bit of a map of the park. Yeah, be nice, Richard. Don't get yourself kicked out there. But, again, congratulations, international parkrunner. Speaking of international parkrunners, at least from where we stand, Brett Bailey over in New Zealand who said, Hi, Dazza. My left hand is good for holding my watch and barcode bracelet. Walk jogged at a frosty minus two degree Pegasus today with 41 hardy parkrunners. Brunner was a bit naughty, so handed him over to mum, who was with the Tail Walker. Check out my Lady Di moment. Might have to have a word, with Chris the photographer about that flag. Oops, one was my bad. And DeGeffricorn paid us a visit too.

00:40:24[laughter]

00:40:24Melissa Ellis: I saw DeGeffricorn, but I'm just laughing because I hadn't actually read Brett's post and But I had seen the photo and noticed the see-through tutu shot. So as you were reading that and his reference to his Lady Di moment, I thought it was funny.

00:40:42Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. So Brett there in the rather transparent green tutu, runner tutuless in that particular shot, but it looks frosty. I looked at that and I thought, is that sand? No, it's just very cold grass. And also a photo of De Geffricorn.

00:40:58Melissa Ellis: And coming to us from home this week was Peter Pohlman. Greetings from the volunteer crew at the Beaches parkrun with a left-handed wave. And there was a lovely photo of the volleys on the beach waving with their left hands.

00:41:14Oliver Spake: Very nice. Well-coordinated. Now, puzzling me once again, Steve's bike popped in and Steve's bike had to say the broth was spoiled. And if it wasn't for the massive clue of Steve's bike being in front of me, I don't think I would have gotten that.

00:41:34Melissa Ellis: He does come up with some good ones though, doesn't he?

00:41:38Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. I do love a good cryptic.

00:41:40Melissa Ellis: And Steve's bike, please continue because we do enjoy them.

00:41:44Oliver Spake: That's right. There's still many adventurers who may not have worked it out.

00:41:47Melissa Ellis: There absolutely is. And there may have been some at brunch that may have sat very close to you that absolutely didn't work it out. Not talking about you, Patrick. Now, our first timer this week to Dazza's was Helen Rubin, who we met, Ollie, at Cooks River. And Helen said, met Mel and Ollie at Cooks River. today. Mal is on my left. I am on the left of Ollie. Clever reference to the selfie we took with Helen.

00:42:22Oliver Spake: That's right. Lovely to meet you, Helen. Now, we also heard from Chloe Bravos, who had a bit of an achievement there out in the challenges, who said, lovely but chilly morning at Abbey parkrun for Nelson event. Number 444 today, with two-thirds of Team Bravos, finally got Lucy to smile at the camera. She is looking forward to her shout-out. I'm glad you found the Noongar seasons interesting. They're bang on for Perth, Boorloo, weather. And yes, Chloe did share a photo of herself and Lucy with the flag.

00:42:56Melissa Ellis: And hello, Lucy. Hello, Lucy. You're so cute. I hope we get to meet you when we come and visit West Australia next year for Palm.

00:43:04Oliver Spake: Yes, certainly. Yeah, we look forward to that. Thank you. Come on, Ollie, why have you got two in a row? Well, I'd like to read this next one out.

00:43:13Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:43:13Oliver Spake: So, touristing this week was Michael Gentle. We left home in the pre-dawn darkness and drove up the big hill. After two left turns, we were heading towards the nation's capital. Once again, I was not going to Shellharbour, with today equalling my tourist streak of eight. Umbagong District parkrun was one of the best sealed path parkruns I have been to. After an uphill start, the course turns left down a short hill to a U-turn. On return to the main path, it's another left turn to follow the path out to the other end of the path. In line with today's theme, there's a third left turn before the far U-turn and a direct return to the start-finish area. Some would say this is a flat course, but I was sure left with not much energy in the tank. After a quick visit to the cafe, we left Canberra and headed back home again. I even left the flag facing the no fines way. And Michael did prove that with a selfie and the flag left the non-left way around. He also shared a photo with Graham. And I suppose the next post in Dazza's elaborates on that a bit, which is actually from Umbagong District parkrun. So it's nice to have a parkrun join us in Dazza's this week. And Umbagong said, Dazza, today I met Michael Gentle and he really enjoyed meeting Umbagong parkrun's Graham, our pure gold volunteer.

00:44:44Melissa Ellis: Oh, I met Graeme when I visited recently. He was the one that told me all about the rocks that have the carvings in them. The carvings, yes. Yeah, and that's great. I'm glad that Michael had a good experience out at Umbagong and got to meet Graeme. Graeme was awesome.

00:45:01Oliver Spake: And I'm seeing a lot of people showing a lot of love for Graham, which is, you know, clearly a testament to the character he must be. So Umbagong absolutely is on my list now. Thank you, Michael, and thank you, Umbagong.

00:45:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah, you would like it, Ollie. It is absolutely not flat. I don't know what Mark is talking about.

00:45:18Oliver Spake: Excellent.

00:45:18Melissa Ellis: But coming to us, Ollie, with a frond. We heard from Val Warwick. Well, Dazza, I understand left-handers having produced one, Our Youngest, But enough about that. I am very late in to visit, having had my cappuccino and park faff that went to midday. Five adventurers had coffee and three also had brekkie after event two at Bells Parade parkrun. Three local and two brave Queenslanders who ventured south in winter. It was wonderful to welcome Russell and Pauline Taylor from Wishart to Tassie.

00:45:54Unidentified speaker: I've met them!

00:45:55Melissa Ellis: And they had a holiday dream fulfilled for Brekkie, a yummy scallop pie. Also in this frondly frond is an almost adventure from Karkarook parkrun who plans to join the adventurers ASAP. Unfortunately, he missed Brekkie. Six of us pictured with our bell. A deliciously fantabulous morning of adventure faff after a huge amount of talking as we shared tail-walking duties. Those who know Pauline and me can guess how much there was. However, I need a note to myself immediately, do not, when tail walking, put the orange vest over the top of the first aid bum bag. And I'm pretty sure there would have been a photo that Val was referring to.

00:46:41Oliver Spake: There was. There absolutely was. That's me with the show notes failing again. But there was a photo of a few of the volleys, in the orange vest there with the cutout selfie frame, and Steve in the Run Director vest. So well done.

00:46:58Melissa Ellis: And congratulations very much to Bells Parade on their recent launch. We look forward to hearing more about that in the weeks to come. No doubt we will.

00:47:08Oliver Spake: Now, another touristing achievement out there this weekend was Sue Keane, who said, Hi, Dazza. I'm not a lefty, but my chauffeur is. He drove me to Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens parkrun to get my NENDY done along with other challenges. And Sue did share a photo of herself with the selfie frame. So well done, Sue. And a big happy 250 in advance for next week.

00:47:34Melissa Ellis: Well done, Sue, for next week. Ollie, we had another first timer in Catherine Green Street. We had I've heard reference to the green streets in the past. We have. And Catherine said, we volunteered at Highfields this morning as Tail Walker and barcode scanning. And Catherine sent in a photo in the volley vests. So thank you very much for volunteering and welcome to Dazza's.

00:47:57Oliver Spake: And coming to us from the UK was Helen Rutter, who said, today we went to Whitley Bay to tick off another northeast region parkrun. It was an ultra parkrun, 3.26 miles. Had brekkie in a waltzer after. Thanks, Dazza. And what about that in the picture? That waltzer in the middle of a cafe there looks comfy and a lot of fun. I don't know what a waltzer is. I don't know how to describe it. It looks like, for those who haven't seen the picture and have the opportunity to check it out, but to try and paint a visual picture. So inside a cafe is a table and what you would see is a couch, except the table and the couch are part of what is essentially like a fairground ride, of something that I believe waltzes around, you know, on the ride. It moves. And it's just the capsule itself. I don't think it's actually waltzing in the cafe. It's just a feature of the cafe.

00:48:57Melissa Ellis: Helen, tell us if it moves.

00:49:00Oliver Spake: That would be rather chaotic than it does.

00:49:04Melissa Ellis: I want to have my brunch while I whiz around on a bumper car.

00:49:08Oliver Spake: And Helen did elaborate and say that the place was called Crab and Waltzer. Didn't ask about that, but thought it was fun. And it absolutely is. And worth noting, Helen did share another photo of a very foggy looking parkrun. So it looks like a fun morning.

00:49:22Melissa Ellis: I've got more questions. Why was it an ultra parkrun?

00:49:26Oliver Spake: Well, 3.26 miles. And my conversion rates are not great, but I believe that's about five and a quarter kilometres.

00:49:33Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay.

00:49:34Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:49:34Melissa Ellis: Rightio. Understood.

00:49:36Oliver Spake: Yeah. So more bang for your buck.

00:49:37Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:49:38Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:49:40Melissa Ellis: That's right. Well, and that's Dazza's.

00:49:43Oliver Spake: Yeah. Do you have the envelope or do I?

00:49:46Melissa Ellis: Let me look because the Office Lady's been busy seeing it's her birthday.

00:49:49Unidentified speaker: Oh, yeah.

00:49:51Melissa Ellis: It might be here. What colour is it this week? Is it red? I've got a red one.

00:50:00Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. No, I'm pretty sure it was going to be red this week.

00:50:02Melissa Ellis: Okay, because maybe it was in the red... What were you? You were the red...

00:50:08Oliver Spake: The red group.

00:50:09Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that's fast. Okay, all right. I've got it. Are you ready?

00:50:14Oliver Spake: I am ready.

00:50:15Melissa Ellis: All right.

the Obi Award — Michael Gentle and Graham (pure gold volunteer, Umbagong District parkrun)

00:50:19Melissa Ellis: This week, the Obi goes to...

00:50:26Oliver Spake: It's a joint Obi.

00:50:27Melissa Ellis: It is a joint Obi. It goes to Michael Gentle and Umbagong? No, Michael Gentle and Graham. Thank you.

00:50:40Oliver Spake: Yeah, sorry, Umbagong. We then are completely made up rules. We can't give it to a parkrun, or not yet anyway, until we change the rules. So Michael and Graeme, congratulations. Hooray!

00:50:51Melissa Ellis: Well done, and well done on all your U-turns and left turns and touristing and being an awesome volley out at Umbagong. Yeah.

00:51:02Oliver Spake: And just for that, I think I'll pick up the fine on behalf of Michael this week for that post. Oh, really? For all of the lefts in there. It was very, very creative. Okay. What's one more going to do? That's right. Well, that's been a lot of fun. I'm absolutely lost. Where are we off to? I hope you're ready for a bit more fun because now we need to throw to our informant who is going to keep it going.

00:51:23Melissa Ellis: Oh, they are not going to be happy about the babysitter.

00:51:28Oliver Spake: Well, let's see. Let's see and have a listen.

the Informant

00:51:39The Informant: This is the informant. These are unofficial stats. They are only current at the time they are collected and may differ from the stats you read elsewhere. This week there were 448 runs held down under, down 2 on last week, 411 in Australia and 37 in New Zealand. This is out of 1,755 worldwide. Aussie New Zealand attendance was 33,003, down approximately 2,000 on last week. That's out of 186,000 worldwide. There were no event launches. Down under, we had 3,701 PBs, while 1,270 people participated for the first time. 67 juniors reached their Junior 10 milestone, 150 people reached their 50 milestone, 96 reached their 100 milestone, and 24 people reached their 250 milestone. 17 people called bingo. Ramesh Deepwal was quickest on 159 events, while Peter Daly was slowest on 318 runs. There were eight new statespeople, Laura Lee Evans in the ACT, Whitney Keller, Adrian Pritchard, John and Catherine Fielding in the Northern Territory, Michael Jones in South Australia, and shout out to Paul Greenwood and Helen Smith who completed South Island in New Zealand. In the top 20 most Aussie New Zealand events list, Tony Jennings moves up to equal 16th, after running at Tamworth Wetlands. Overall on the biggest movers, Ian Shaw and Jamie Laurent moved up 8 spots each after running their 88th different event. 173 people lifted their Wilson Index. The biggest mover is Neil Percy who moves up 44 to 151. The second highest mover this week is Steve Harris, who moved up 34 to 215 and top spot in the Queensland rankings. In the adventurer Challenges, we have two Peel Club inductees, Kelvin Grivel and Melissa Klein, while Anne Rayner is inducted to the Cowell Club. We won't discuss, but the iIndex has been updated with some corrections after feedback. If you would like to see the i-Index, and indeed all of these stats in full, you can download them from theinformant.me. That's www.theinformant.me. Or look for The Informant on Facebook. This has been the dulcet tone of The Informant, and my spreadsheet is bigger than yours.

00:54:41Melissa Ellis: And thank you, as always, to our informants. They did a great job looking after the office.

00:54:46Oliver Spake: All the help is appreciated.

Consolidated Club Report

00:54:48Oliver Spake: Now, Mel, we've already talked about some of the fronding from a Consolidated Club report perspective, haven't we?

00:54:55Melissa Ellis: Yes, we absolutely have, Ollie. But this week on Saturday, the 13th of August, of a total of 272 members, 215 took part at 108 different events. Now... we've decided we're not going to list all the events at all the countries in all the states this week. We think maybe it's time to just leave that for the socials. So if you are interested in seeing where everybody ran this week, you can jump onto our Facebook page and see a full breakdown of everywhere that all the adventurers ran.

the Frond

00:55:32Melissa Ellis: However, The largest frond this week was at none other than Cooks River parkrun, which I think had an all-time record of 21 adventurers. I don't know that we even made that many at Palm.

00:55:48Oliver Spake: Well, can you remember? Palm was well attended.

00:55:51Melissa Ellis: It was well attended, but it was back in the early days of the Consolidated Club Report. And I don't know that everybody had got on board with it back then. I think 21's a big number. So in any case, this week at Cooks River, we had Eman and Kristine Vergara, Housemate Lance, you, Ollie, Bec Bailey, Kristy Hill, Patty Oshimo, Chris Fraser, Ingrid Botha, Mia Horrigan, Me, Helen Davis, Dawn Branton, Michael Schultz, Sam and Luke Schroder, Craig and Rebecca Ryan, Roberta Williams, Rebecca Gordon and Caro Vos. And I must say it was a nice surprise to see Caro turn up. Thanks for coming down, Caro. Also missing from this report, Chris Davies. Helen, maybe we can get him on board for next time. There was another housemate missing, there was and um who else oh Kerry Fraser she did turn up but she only completed one of the two out and back loops so there's room for improvement for next time yeah look again wonderful to see so many of you uh apologies to those that I didn't really get to talk to

00:57:12Oliver Spake: It was a busy morning and we hope you all had a wonderful time.

00:57:16Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, can I interrupt? Please. I know I'm always interrupting you, but can I just say if we are somewhere and we haven't met you, please come up and approach us and say hello because we always feel bad when we walk away and realise there's people there that are adventurers that we maybe didn't talk to. So don't be shy. Come up and say hi. Bye.

00:57:35Oliver Spake: Please do. It's always a pleasure to meet new parkrunners and others in our ever-growing community that give us a bit of a boost every week. And one person that I haven't thanked, Mel, while I'm thanking everyone, Mr. Bruce Purdy. This was my first opportunity to run with the cheater ears too. That you were gifted by Bruce. That's correct. Yes.

00:58:00Melissa Ellis: It was good to see you. You might have

00:58:02Oliver Spake: given me the tip off I might have packed my cheater ears if I realised sorry that's okay you wanted to be special that's okay that's right yeah yeah uh but look um congratulations everyone and of course to those jumping on on our socials page and letting us know where you volunteered thank you also for your support and fear not if Tooting Common does appear I will put in the sound effect somehow

00:58:27Melissa Ellis: It might be randomly inserted anywhere in the pod. You might just have to listen.

00:58:33Oliver Spake: Maybe we need a Tooting Common Poems own entry. Anyway, anyway, looking forward, Mel.

Streaky September

00:58:40Oliver Spake: It's getting close to September. Too close. Yeah. I'm not sure we're ready, but hey, look, I am looking forward to streaking nonetheless. Are you?

00:58:51Melissa Ellis: I am. I am very much because do you know what? Today I am up to 21 days of a streak. Oh, wow. I am trying really hard. So I'm getting a head start on Streaky September.

00:59:03Oliver Spake: Well done. And I mean, that's a key point. There aren't that many rules and whatever rules there are, you can somewhat bend and In positive ways.

00:59:13Melissa Ellis: Even however you spell bingo, you can bend.

00:59:16Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:59:17Melissa Ellis: Any listeners out there who may be wondering why we spell bingo with an E on the end, that's a hangover from the previous hosts who couldn't spell.

00:59:30Oliver Spake: So we can't either. And we embrace that. But rest assured, if you are not familiar with Streaky September or the Bingoe card, we hope to familiarise you. Please keep your eyes peeled if you are on Facebook for our links to the Streaky group. And whether you intend to give it a try at Streak one day, try for more than one day, try and hold out the month, that's me, or if you kind of join these amazing streakers that are still going over a thousand days, it's all worth it. There's a lot of motivation, a lot of support, and a lot of opportunities to share some of the great experiences made all the richer by the Bingoe card too.

01:00:13Melissa Ellis: And probably, Ollie, if we do step back and break it down, many years ago, a thing called Streaky September was born. Whereas for every day in September, you walk, run, or find any way to be active for at least a minimum of two kilometres, whether you're swimming, riding your bike, skipping down the road. It's two kilometres of activity in any way you wish. And we have a Facebook group that you can join for support and to post your daily achievements. And we also create a Bingoe card for the month of September to give you little challenges to tick off with all sorts of fun things. And what have we done in the past, Ollie? We've done things like run in your pyjamas, get a selfie with the garden gnome. What else?

01:01:06Oliver Spake: There have been street sign challenges. We've had occasions where people have streaked with a friend. We've had some wonderful Strava art over the years from adventurers, from streakers.

01:01:18Melissa Ellis: We have. And we have to come up with a whole new bunch of things for this year's Bingoe card. But that's the idea. The Bingoe card is a way to give you little things to encourage you to get out and Spoonville one year.

01:01:33Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right.

01:01:35Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

01:01:36Oliver Spake: Yeah. And look, I was going to say as well, for any listeners that might not be too familiar, you might be wondering what happens if you win the Bingoe card, if you complete your bingo challenge and you might then discover that not much happens, but a whole lot of satisfaction.

01:01:52Melissa Ellis: You can shout bingo.

01:01:54Oliver Spake: That's right. With an E. Yeah, and it will be great to see those that find creative and very speedy ways to tick off those challenges. And, of course, some of us might save a few for later on. I'm not saying I'm slow or anything, but yeah.

01:02:09Melissa Ellis: Ollie, if the listeners have suggestions for the Bingoe card, it's not too late. That's right. Send us an email, drop us a private message, give us your suggestions. I'm sure the ideas man has already given us some.

01:02:23Oliver Spake: So we will release the Bingoe card soon, imminently, and there is opportunity for some level-up bingo challenges through the course of the month just to keep things fresh and rolling.

01:02:34Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, I think speaking of level-ups, you have just had an amazing run at City to Surf. Now, I know you don't like to blow your own trumpet, but... But I'll do it for you. So would you like to tell the adventurers about a new challenge that you've set yourself? Because it's quite impressive.

01:02:57Oliver Spake: I have mentioned it to the odd adventurer, anyone that wanted to listen. And I've been looking forward to the opportunity, particularly during lockdown periods where I couldn't travel interstate to join and take on the Point to Pinnacle Half Marathon, which is is an event that occurs in Hobart. And some of our adventurers have certainly taken it on and had some amazing runs at the event. And the 21-kilometre version stretches from the Wrest Point Casino on the edge of the Derwent River and heads all the way uphill, dare I say, to the point, the pinnacle at Mount Wellington or Kunanyi. And... Yes, 21 kilometres, 1,270 metres elevation, and I can't wait.

01:03:41Melissa Ellis: Gosh, Ollie, when are you doing this?

01:03:44Oliver Spake: That will be in, I think it's mid to late November. If I'm not mistaken, it's the 20th of November. So it'll be another trip back to Tassie. I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. I've really been embracing getting back to Tassie, getting back to my roots. Oh, wow. And, yeah, I'll have an opportunity to do another parkrun down there. I think Queens Domain is on the cards for my queue. And Cathy's going to come this time. Yay. She won't be running up kunanyi with me, but she will be waiting to have a beer afterwards, that's for sure.

01:04:12Melissa Ellis: I just clicked on my calendar to see if I could sneak down to Tassie to cheer you on. And I've booked a music festival for that day.

01:04:24Oliver Spake: Oh, no. Tough, tough gig.

01:04:26Melissa Ellis: I can't be there.

01:04:27Oliver Spake: That's quite okay. I'm quite excited because there's a music festival the night before at the casino. So I'll do that too.

01:04:33Melissa Ellis: You can't be doing that. You've got to save yourself for running.

01:04:37Oliver Spake: It'll be far too exciting. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. Yes. I'm looking forward to that. I'm trying to raise a bit of money as part of that and yeah, really, really excited.

01:04:49Melissa Ellis: Oh yes. Tell us those details.

01:04:51Oliver Spake: Well, a lot of people contribute to a lot of good causes. So I'm just trying to use this opportunity for my occasion, but I will be trying to support the Beanies for Brain Cancer, which was launched by Carrie Bickmore. So yeah, Yeah, raising money for that, Mel, and really just, yeah, hoping that I can make a bit of a difference.

01:05:12Melissa Ellis: I'm sure you will, Ollie, and I'm sure we will all get behind the cause. I'm very excited that you're finally going to get to go and run that event because I know you have wanted to do it for a while.

01:05:23Oliver Spake: Well, yes, yes. I have followed the journeys of some of the fellow adventurers. I did the virtual two years ago. And I have to say, I think probably one of the big sparks of inspiration came from my virtual city to surf event. Two years ago, almost to the day with Mr. Brendan's Scholarly, just thinking about how much of an enjoyable run that was and what else I could try. So, yeah, that little bit of motivation has grown, dare I say. So I look forward to it.

01:05:51Melissa Ellis: No doubt that from our music festival we can manage some videos of support. I'll start planning them now.

Sign-off

01:06:00Oliver Spake: Excellent. No, thank you. Now, more immediate plans, Mel. Where are you next parkrun day?

01:06:05Melissa Ellis: Next week, yes. Frank Keenan Reserve parkrun, which is in the Victorian town of Yarrawonga. It is Victoria's latest event to launch a few weeks back and I'm looking forward to getting there finally.

01:06:21Oliver Spake: Oh, that sounds fantastic. Another event.

01:06:24Melissa Ellis: Yep. Another new event for me up near the Murray River. So it's a border town on the border of Victoria, New South Wales. So very much looking forward to that. What about you, Ollie, back at home?

01:06:38Oliver Spake: Yes, I'm going to take one week off adventuring and run direct back at home. We'll be celebrating a aforementioned 250 milestone and we'll also have a bit of a commemoration for one of our late parkrunners who sadly passed away fairly recently. So it will be nice to be back there amongst the community and having a little bit of a gesture and a tribute. So I do look forward to that, Mel.

01:07:05Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Well, I hope it's a lovely day. May you have fine weather.

01:07:08Oliver Spake: Yes, may we all. But wow, a fairly big pod this week. It is, yes. I'll try to edit it down best I can. Oh, well, it's just been lots to talk about and not at all about me stalling. So... Yes, as we mentioned, we do have another Poem Zone entry, should you wish to listen. But, Mel, I think for now we'll say, as always, everyone, you can contact us if you would wish for a Poem Zone entry, for a Bingoe card suggestion or otherwise via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That is it for another week. We'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:08:29[music]

Poem Zone

01:08:46Unidentified speaker: The Poem Zone.

01:09:03Oliver Spake: Now, I have to thank Tracey in a Tutu for this week's entrant to the poem zone. And I hope I can do it justice. So here we go. Without the music. It's seven o'clock on a Saturday and the regulars all stumble in. The event crew have set up already and hammered the signposts in. Hey, won't you come a bit closer? Roars the RD to the people up back. I need you to hear the run briefing so you don't get lost on the track. Now Kim at the scanning is a friend of mine. I see her there most weeks. She's quick on the job with a smile or a nod and there's nowhere that she'd rather be. And the laughter sounds like a carnival as the finishers avoid going home. They're sharing the friendship of parkrun. No matter what country they roam. Thank you, Tracey. And can't match it with Mel, but I hope I did it some justice.

01:09:15[music]