Episode 300 - Tricentennial

Welcome

00:00:24Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 300 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:34Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I am joining on this fantastic milestone from Dharawal Country.

00:00:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, 300. How about that? Woohoo! So congratulations to the whole community collectively for getting us this far and for coming with us on the journey.

00:00:54Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, that's right. And you're quite right, Mel. It's all about the community. I mean, it's not lost on me the fact that I wasn't even a listener for episode one. I was slightly late. Once again, thanks to Brendan Scholarly for the tip-off, but it's everyone that has made this possible, not least, of course, the wonderful hosts and custodians and creators and contributors of the pod that have come before. But yeah, it's nice to be here. It's nice to be here keeping things going, and we will talk a bit more about that, but Firstly, Mel, I would like to ask, in the spirit of keeping things going, how's your streaking?

00:01:35Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ollie.

00:01:39Oliver Spake: Bad segue.

00:01:42Melissa Ellis: My streaking was going so well up until last Monday when we recorded last. And you know what happened? On Tuesday last week, I had a really big day where I had some appointments and I had to go into work.

00:01:59Oliver Spake: And the streak was broken. Well, you know what? That's perfectly acceptable, Mel, because that means you get to enjoy a new streak. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But commiserations. It was going very well.

00:02:13Melissa Ellis: But thank you for bringing it up.

00:02:16Oliver Spake: My pleasure.

00:02:16Melissa Ellis: You know what? Sometimes we can't get the streak done and we can't get too hung up about it. Good to have goals and it's good to strive for things, but I'm not beating myself up, Ollie. Life got in the way. I actually had a really good night at work.

00:02:30Oliver Spake: You did? Would you like to share why?

00:02:32Melissa Ellis: Well... I got called into work. I might have had a presentation. I might have had a little recognition for some work I did during COVID, which was really lovely. So work was, how would you say it? So I worked from 1pm till 10pm. So that didn't give a lot of time. Yeah. After I drove the hour home for Streets and Such, I was a bit tired after the previous night's recording. But it doesn't matter. I'm going to start again. I'll start tomorrow.

00:03:05Oliver Spake: You've almost timed that to perfection too, Mel. But I'll be a day behind you perhaps, maybe two, but we'll see.

00:03:13Melissa Ellis: Thank you for checking in. But, Ollie, you were away this weekend and we're all dying to know where you park ran.

00:03:21Oliver Spake: Well, I'm not sure I kept it too secret, but I did manage to have a bit of a getaway. So Friday afternoon, Kathy and I took the younger two, Sally and Ava, up to Sydney to stay at Mum and Ken's place up in the northern beaches there. So it was a good opportunity for a bit of a sneaky getaway on early Saturday morning with Mum. It was rather wet, so no one... No one otherwise was keen to join. And aiming for a parkrun with a 7am start pretty much put a second nail in that one. Nonetheless, we did make the trip. It was about a 35-minute drive from the house to Willoughby parkrun, which I had previously visited as the final event in one of Sydney's longest runs. but for a long time had been looking forward to make it back on a real-life parkrun day. So for those that may have yet to discover the joys of Willoughby parkrun, it's located on Cammeraygal land in northern Sydney. It's just a little further north than North Sydney parkrun itself, and it starts and finishes in a lovely wooded sporting field reserve area. And is this being the wet weather course with quite – Yeah, quite a bit of a sloshy ground still. The wet weather course is entirely on paths, whereas typically it would include a lap of the oval as well. But Mel, beautiful course. There are some fantastic paths that wind through underpasses and under bridges and with there having been so much rain, some lovely flowing streams as well. So it was quite magnificent. And despite the rain when we did arrive, and we were greeted by a very warm First Timers Welcome. The rain did clear in about the first kilometre. So, yeah, it was a pretty good morning and I took the opportunity to try and, yeah, it felt okay. But to be honest, I'm still a bit sore from the City to Surf and not having recovered properly from that.

00:05:25Melissa Ellis: Would you describe it as an urban course? Is it suburbs? What's the kind of location in Willoughby?

00:05:32Oliver Spake: Yeah, it is absolutely northern inner suburbs of Sydney. So it is an urban location, but you almost wouldn't know it a number of the times. I suppose a number of the parkrun courses and Cooks River springs to mind, because we've been there recently, the paths run a long... in a reserve that is to the back of properties. But Willoughby in particular, I think it just has so much woodland around it that it feels like a little oasis amongst the suburbs. It's I should have given a better course description, but it begins with a loop, usually two loops, which would have had one on the oval, as I mentioned, but a loop of a path that tracks around the outskirts of an oval, but then is primarily two out and back legs along some pathways. So... Yeah, a lot to explore. The second leg is quite long. So yeah, that makes for interesting, diverse surrounds as you go. And yeah, just a lovely feel. And it was actually nice to run with dogs again. So I don't get a lot of that.

00:06:36Melissa Ellis: Excellent.

00:06:37Oliver Spake: Not that I was running with a dog, but yeah, they were there. They were happy.

00:06:40Melissa Ellis: And lovely that you got out there again with Galen. Hi, Galen.

00:06:44Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. So I think mum was keen for the opportunity to have a parkrun together. We don't get it as often as we used to, so it was quite nice. And to have a chat with second-time Run Director Lee, who did a fantastic job as well.

00:06:59Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Well done, Lee.

00:07:02Oliver Spake: But Mel, what about your parkrun day? How was it and where were you again?

00:07:06Melissa Ellis: Well, last Saturday I returned to Puckapunyal parkrun with fellow adventurer Andrew Reynolds and his son James and girlfriend Michelle Carlos. Andrew is one of my RDs at Juniors but also an impressive tourist in his own right, having run in the most countries of anyone in Australia. Andrew currently sits on 341 runs, one behind me, much to his annoyance, and is eagerly awaiting my next work commitment, which stops me from attending on a Saturday.

00:07:35Shirley: And they call me competitive.

00:07:38Melissa Ellis: I interviewed Andrew for the pod back in episode 161 in June 2019, when he was RD at Point Cook parkrun. Now Michelle and I have been friends since we met when our sons Jake and Bradley were in prep together and Michelle was actually the one who got me involved in Berwick Springs parkrun. It was a lovely mild morning out at Puckapunyal with nine finishers and four volunteers. Michelle was Tail Walker while Andrew and James nabbed second and sixth place respectively. It was my third visit to Pucka and I was pleased to improve on my previous time. But I also happily nabbed first female and my highest ever finished position of fourth. Well done. Thank you. There was plenty of kangaroos on course and when we walked back out, To join Michelle, we also spotted an emu. Sadly, most of us had other commitments, so for the second week running, I was not able to attend brunch and we were back in the car for the shortish return journey home. Thanks again to EDRD Annika for her warm welcome. Not to be overlooked, Ollie was juniors on Sunday. I have been away from Eynesbury the last couple of weeks as my amazing team has had everything under control. But this week was market week and I was happy to slip back into the RD vest to steer the good ship Eynesbury. Again, it was a lovely mild morning and we were happy to have 13 enthusiastic kids participate on our slightly puddly course. It was so lovely to receive... a homemade poster wishing us a happy 300th episode from Abigail and Hannah. And a special thank you to Hannah, as I am led to believe it was largely all her effort.

00:09:22Oliver Spake: Nice work.

00:09:22Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, we had a new visitor to Eynesbury Juniors in the form of Gary and Barry.

00:09:30Tracey Wood: Oh.

00:09:31Melissa Ellis: Wow. Wow. Wow.

00:09:31[24 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:09:55Melissa Ellis: After juniors, I sat chatting with friends at the Birdies Cafe while Zoe walked around the Eynesbury Market enjoying some newfound independence with her parkrun buddy, Alicia.

00:10:06Oliver Spake: That sounds like a pretty spectacular weekend, Mel, and I think you've covered a wide variety of animals in that weekend.

00:10:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I just love how the kids are embracing nature.

00:10:17Oliver Spake: their event that they're owning it it's beautiful oh it is lovely I I am curious you know the next first time a four-year-old that comes along or you know maybe a little older that maybe takes things a little literally uh what that expression is going to look like but um that's cute

00:10:33Melissa Ellis: I do have a photo of Marshall 2 running back from their Marshal position, carrying Gary and Barry, chasing one of the juniors. But it's okay. It was his daughter, so.

00:10:46Oliver Spake: Okay, yeah, yeah. That's sanctioned.

00:10:49Melissa Ellis: But they even named the sharks. So cute. They came up with Gary and Barry themselves.

00:10:54Oliver Spake: Oh, very good.

00:10:55Melissa Ellis: So that was, yeah, that was my weekend and very enjoyable once again. But on to feedback, Ollie, from our last episode.

Emails

00:11:04Oliver Spake: That's right. So we had, I'd say, a reasonable amount of feedback. So thank you, everyone, for sharing your feedback in relation to episode 299. We did have a message from Geoff Glaab on our Facebook post who added, following a bit of the discussion we had in last week's episode, which was actually reflecting on the episode before, so follow the breadcrumbs, everyone. Jeff said, meant to chime in after last week's pod and say this, but yes, mullets are huge in the US right now.

00:11:35Tracey Wood: Right?

00:11:36Oliver Spake: So I'm not sure if that's reassuring, but thank you, Jeff. Yeah.

00:11:40Melissa Ellis: I do believe that the Office Lady is also on board with you growing a mullet.

00:11:46Oliver Spake: Oh, no. Yeah, I did socialise that particular suggestion at home here. Let's just say the beard is slightly more popular than the mullet idea.

00:12:00Melissa Ellis: What a shame. Well, we also heard from Val Warwick who said, great pod, great roving reports, great number of contributions from Dazza's parkrun visitors and a really great rendition of a completely unintelligible song by the pod master himself. Loved it all yet again.

00:12:19Oliver Spake: Thank you, Val. Great is not a word I'd use to describe that, but I'm glad it was appreciated and thank you for the kind comments that people have shared in relation to my song effort. Your unintelligible song. Yes. Yes. And we also heard from Heather Hunter who said, great episodes, so many wonderful stories. I want to meet Phyllis.

00:12:41Melissa Ellis: I think I want to meet Phyllis.

00:12:42Oliver Spake: Yes. So, yeah, once again, it's a great example of what we can discover just by sharing our parkrun experiences and parkrun stories. Nice to have that.

00:12:52Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Johan who said congrats to adventurers David and in brackets 10, 50, 45 and Ralph, 8, 41, 12 at Comrades.

00:13:04Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:13:05Melissa Ellis: And that was reference to our two adventurers who ran just this morning, Ollie. I don't know when it finished, but it wasn't long ago.

00:13:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, last night our time, last night, Sunday evening. was the majority of the event. And wow, some amazing times there. I know that everyone has a goal, but that is such an incredible event. And I do want to say congrats in particular to Ralph, who absolutely blitzed his PB and David, who I do believe it was David's first one

00:13:42Melissa Ellis: I'm led to believe that too. And I believe from what I saw on Twitter that he had a little bit of difficulty even making it to the start line with some flight cancellations. So there was a bit of last minute scrambling for a lot of people trying to get to Comrades.

00:13:59Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:14:00Melissa Ellis: Flying into... the wrong airport not being able to get flights to wherever they're supposed to go I'm apologise I'm not 100 across where they needed to be but hire cars had to be had to be sourced so we're glad you got there and we hope you were happy with your run well done to you both

00:14:20Oliver Spake: And we hope you're all recovering well. I mean, it's a tough one and, you know, that sort of an event is particularly brutal. There is another Shellharbour parkrunner who unfortunately did have to pull out just before the 50K mark. So, yeah, look, I think nothing but well done to everyone for your efforts.

00:14:39Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, there's a big question yet to be answered. Did Ralph get to Piggly Wiggly?

00:14:45Oliver Spake: Ralph did get to Piggly Wiggly.

00:14:47Melissa Ellis: Woo-hoo!

00:14:49Oliver Spake: And I did see shared rather discreetly a couple of photos of the, was it a pig hedge at Piggly Wiggly and a doormat amongst other things. But yes, well done. Well done, Ralph. It looks like a fairly successful weekend.

00:15:07Melissa Ellis: Excellent. And we might just add that David was at North Beach parkrun in South Africa.

00:15:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, so great to see some more tourism in addition to our lovely podcast family already over there across South African parkrun this weekend.

00:15:24Melissa Ellis: Four events represented this week in South Africa on the Consolidated Club Report. But, Ollie, Episode 300, it's time to maybe do a little bit of reflection or have a little bit of discussion. I mean, we've concentrated so much in the last couple of weeks on 299.

00:15:42Oliver Spake: Yes. And look, as everyone can tell, I didn't spend weeks and weeks and weeks rehearsing. But yes, I was quite fixated on 299 for some reasons. But yes, I guess I wouldn't say it was lost on us, but catches me on the hop. I have to admit, 300 follows 299 and that's a big number.

00:15:59Melissa Ellis: It is. And although we weren't really focused on the episode, it's been lovely to discover that our community, without us knowing, was... Working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that we didn't forget, Ollie.

00:16:14Oliver Spake: That's an understatement. And as I may have said already, I think I did in the introduction, it's the community that makes this podcast. It's the community sharing their experiences and their motivation and their kudos and just the warmth between everyone that really makes it what it is. And that comes through so much in the wonderful... photos and videos and messages and memories and tributes and thanks and everything that so many have already shared on this kudo board that has been set up.

00:16:51Melissa Ellis: I That blew me away when I discovered it. And let's take a very favourite phrase of Scotty's and peel back the curtain. Yes. When I became aware of the Kudo board on Sunday night, which was only yesterday because we're recording on Monday, I I was very overcome. There may have been tears. Actually, there really was tears. I was crying with, I guess, happiness and I was overcome with emotion. And it may sound like a little bit over the top. Paul actually had to come from the other room and check on me because he could hear the noise and he thought somebody had died or something like that, might not be a really good reflection on the noises I was making. But not only was I overcome by the lovely messages that I was reading, and granted it's not all just for you and I because it's very much also messages for Scott and Mel and what they began. Yes. Because we're only the custodians, we've taken over, but it's very much a podcast that was started by them and we're very mindful of that. But I think the biggest thing for me, Ollie, was that I had absolutely no idea that this was all going on without us realising that this was a surprise. And I'm not somebody that is ever surprised. I'm always accidentally discovering surprises. Like, you know, my surprise 30th birthday I accidentally discovered about and any presents I'm ever bought I accidentally find out about. I just always find out and I'm never surprised. So I think there was just that overwhelming emotion of that I had no idea that this was being put together.

00:18:30Oliver Spake: You've met your match.

00:18:35Melissa Ellis: And that's absolutely not a challenge to anybody out there. I'm just trying to, I guess, put some perspective on why I was so overcome with emotion because it was a new experience for me. Yeah, yeah. Which I really appreciated and was so lovely.

00:18:51Oliver Spake: We can't say thank you enough to everyone, to the instigators and coordinators, but, you know, those contributions. I did fail to mention there's a song in there as well and a front yard roving report and just some wonderful memories as well. I mean, amongst all of the palm images, I love the palm images and, you know, shout out to Mel Erbacher, of course, for capturing some of those moments where we got to meet her, which was kind of cool.

00:19:16Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Photos from the very first time that we met in person. So many lovely memories from all the different palms. Photos we've had with different adventurers over the years, Ollie. Darwin was there. Yep. Gnomeville. Gnomeville was there.

00:19:34Oliver Spake: Yep. Video of Darwin, video of Gnomeville, a photo of Fluffy.

00:19:38Melissa Ellis: Yeah, early light shot under the Windang Bridge.

00:19:41Oliver Spake: Yep, I'm pretty sure I see Pepper there.

00:19:43Melissa Ellis: So many lovely things.

00:19:44Oliver Spake: Yep, Jemima Puddle Duck.

00:19:46Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:19:47Oliver Spake: Yeah, we could go on and on. But another highlight certainly is a video call that brings back the memories where a I think around the time of episode 200, we had a video call with the then host and former host of this podcast as they were just giving us a few driving lessons on the Ferrari.

00:20:08Melissa Ellis: Thank you, Mel, for having the presence of mind to capture that moment where we were all on that video call.

00:20:14Oliver Spake: Because it is funny, whilst I haven't done a lot of reminiscing lately because we did actually celebrate so much around 250, I did listen back to episode 200 and, well, to parts of it. And it's funny, Mel, that just at the end of that episode – There was a hint that after 200 episodes of there always having had been a Mel or a Scotty on the podcast, that there might be some different voices in the next episode. So, yeah, interesting that it comes about at this milestone, at 100 episodes on.

00:20:51Melissa Ellis: And we will add that during the week, the Office Lady is going to put up a link for the Kudo board, just in case there's anybody else out there that would like to add to it. We're not searching for more, what would you say, Ollie?

00:21:07Oliver Spake: Yeah, not more kudos, but it's an opportunity to be a part of the celebration if you'd like.

00:21:12Melissa Ellis: To share your memories. I guess over the last 300 episodes, anything, it doesn't have to be about me and Ollie. It could be any memory that you've got relating to any episode over the years or any time that you've had an interaction with any of the hosts.

00:21:26Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:21:27Melissa Ellis: You're welcome to share on the Kudo board and add to the, I guess, like a living memory of the achievement.

00:21:34Oliver Spake: That's absolutely right. And naturally, I think it's appropriate, well, I think we may have already thanked the instigators and the community, but in particular, a special thanks to our Channel 5 News crew and to our pod team for all of their support in getting us through to this milestone and beyond. I think it's Tim Oberg that suggests another 300 to go, or is he saying another 200? I don't remember what milestone he set us there.

00:22:02Melissa Ellis: I don't either, but I hope the pod continues for a very long time. May not even be us in the seats in the future. Who knows, Ollie? Hopefully the pod can always transition.

00:22:12Oliver Spake: So Mel, do I have your permission to go into Podbean, which is where we do upload our episodes and change what I've just discovered tonight is the episode number limit being 300. Should I increase that now? What? Absolutely serious.

00:22:30Melissa Ellis: Oh, my goodness. Please change that.

00:22:33Oliver Spake: We'll up it by 100. So when we get to episode 400, remind me to update that or whoever's controlling things.

00:22:41Melissa Ellis: That was nearly awful.

00:22:43Oliver Spake: There we are. Wow. There we are, peeling back the curtain well and truly.

00:22:47Melissa Ellis: Does that mean the previous hosts had not much faith that the podcast would ever last past 300?

00:22:53Unidentified speaker: Well...

00:22:54Oliver Spake: Whether that was consciously or unconsciously, not sure. It's probably a default. Let's go with that. I think so.

parkrun news bulletin

00:23:01Oliver Spake: But other things to celebrate, other things in the news. And we have a special news update from another special person in the parkrun news world, Mel.

00:23:13Melissa Ellis: We do. We heard this week that there was a new Australian men's record set and it was set by James Hansen in Launceston, Ollie, and parkrun adventurer Sally Heppleston, who's also a social media ambassador for parkrun Australia, interviewed James. So we thought we would bring to you the words coming out of Sally's interview. So if you would like to indulge us.

00:23:38Oliver Spake: Yes. So... A mishap with booking flights turned into parkrun glory for Launceston parkrunner James Hansen, who broke the parkrun Australia record today, being last parkrun day just gone, in a time of 13.53. Now, for context, we've already done two of James Hansen's parkruns just in this intro. But anyway, I digress. Mm-hmm. James was supposed to be at the National Cross Country Championships in Adelaide this weekend, but messed up his flight booking and couldn't get there. With plenty of training under his belt, he used his peak fitness to have a crack at the parkrun Australia record, which he knew stood at 14.02. He ran 14.12 a few weeks ago, breaking the course record and not realising how close he'd gone to the Australian record. This week, He set out to claim the unofficial but prestigious title of Australia's fastest male parkrunner, and he did it. James' Launceston wasn't the fastest course to do it on, but set out at the start line with the record and sub-14-minute time in his sights anyway. There's a few undulations and there's a little steep hill, he said. James' overall five kilometres is 13.34 on the track. A 1500 metre runner normally, he's been trying longer distances of late with some decent success. James, 28, has been running since he was seven. Like many, he started at Little Athletics. He has a few national championships to his name, including the Albie Thomas National Mile Championship, and he raced a few 5k events last year and won the Launceston 10k fun run on the road in June this year. However, parkrun was his first real exposure to the 5k distance.

00:25:25Melissa Ellis: Sometimes he's there to lay it all on the line and other times he's happy to jog in the pack for a chat. It can be great for a good hit out. Sometimes if there's no one to train with or if I'm struggling for motivation, parkrun makes things so much easier. The global parkrun record has stood at 13.48 for 10 years, so after learning how close he was today, James said he would keep it in his sights. I need to find the right course for that, I think, he said. James said as well as looking to chip away at parkrun records, he has plenty of other running goals. I'd still love to make the Olympics team. I'm closer with my 1,500 metre times, but my 5k is really coming along. I'll have to wait and see what happens, he said. James said he loved the concept of parkrun and would continue to use it as part of his training. It's cool to bring the elite and the social running community together. I do a bit of coaching too and I've got people trying to break 30 minutes and then I'm there trying to break 14 minutes. It's just great to have that social aspect though. You know with parkrun it's always going to be on and it brings people together. The hardest thing with running is getting out the door, but when you've got people around you, it's so much easier. I really love the idea that with parkrun, anyone can do it, James said.

00:26:40Oliver Spake: Yeah, well said. And congratulations, James. And thank you, Sally, of course, for sharing that incredible achievement.

00:26:47Melissa Ellis: Yes, but, Ollie, that wasn't the only exciting thing that happened this week. Moving swiftly on, there was another milestone happening in the parkrun world. Paul Sinton-Hewitt and wife Jo ran their 500th event at… Dietenbach parkrun in Freiburg, Germany.

00:27:05Oliver Spake: And I apologise for that pronunciation. Thank you.

00:27:09Melissa Ellis: So in a twin time of 34 minutes 37, that was the time that Paul and Jo ran. The Dietenbach parkrun team would like to thank Joanne and Paul, the founder of parkrun, for visiting us, they said. They ran their 500th parkrun with us. We presented them with certificates and medals for their achievement. It was an honour for us to welcome you. We had lots of fun and are inspired by your words and motivation. So that was a little quote from the team there at Dietenbach, which we found on their website. Facebook page. Yeah, yeah. And a relatively small turnout there. It was 46 participants and only their 43rd event.

00:27:51Oliver Spake: I think that just goes to demonstrate how diverse the parkrun world is. But congratulations to both Paul and Joanne.

00:27:59Melissa Ellis: What an achievement. Absolutely. Yes, great to see a celebration there and not lost on me that it would appear that the Sinton Hewitts may have snuck off overseas for a low-key celebration.

00:28:14Oliver Spake: Yes, it does seem to be the case and I'm sure that they will get some congratulations in weeks to come.

00:28:21Melissa Ellis: Maybe they have a Kudo board. Maybe they do.

00:28:23Oliver Spake: Maybe they do. Well, Mel, that is a big intro. In fact, that's a little closer to Paul and Joanne's time than James's time. But I think it has been good to reflect on the many, many wonderful aspects of the parkrun day and, in fact, the parkrun years gone by. But we do have someone else's experience from parkrun day to share.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:28:47Oliver Spake: So why don't we have a listen to a roving report now.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Fodder Forest

00:28:56Tracey Wood: So when my youngest daughter was about two or three, she couldn't do the F sound. So we bought a fighter fish, we named it Finny, and her job was to feed the fighter fish on Fridays with fish food. Why am I telling you this? Because I'm at Fodder Forest, and that's all I could come up with. Good morning, parkrunners, it's Tracey on the Travels, and I'm out chasing my NENDY. Okay, and I found Shirley here at Fodder Forest who actually tells me that she's a parkrun adventurers podcast listener.

00:29:28Shirley: Is that right, Shirley? That is, yeah. I've listened to them, oh gosh, over the last few years here and there. Unfortunately, I'm not a regular weekly listener, but... I do listen, yeah. Did you know it's their 300th podcast next week? I did not. Wow, that's exciting. Congratulations to the whole team because that's a lot of effort.

00:29:45Tracey Wood: It is indeed. Now tell me about Fodder Forest parkrun. We're here now.

00:29:50Shirley: I've had to navigate my way here. Where exactly are we right now? So Fodder Forest parkrun is in Victoria Point in the Redlands. We are not even a year old yet. Our anniversary is coming up on the 16th of October, I think it is. And we're looking forward to celebrating our first year here on our beautiful course. Our course is a relatively fast and flat course. We've got a path that then meanders into some boardwalks. and we've got some changing terrain throughout our course. So we go over a river and then we go through some beautiful bushland as well. So you get kind of the best of both worlds. It is shaded, so it's going to be great in summer. And it's kind of like a modified Y course. So we've got two sections of out and back and then come back to home. Our regular runners love it here, and we've got a great group now of regular runners and regular volunteers who come down. We absolutely love tourists, so everyone's welcome. Excellent. And how many finishes would you get at Fodder Forest? On average, each week, we're getting around that 60 to 80. So we're a relatively small parkrun which a lot of people actually really like because you're not jostling to find your space out there, you can spread out. And what makes our course quite unique is that we have a large amount of walkers and we welcome walkers here at Fodder Forest.

00:31:05Tracey Wood: Do you have a nice little community here, do you think? We do. We've got a lovely community.

00:31:08Shirley: We've got people who have made friends just by coming here to Fodder Forest. We've got a couple of lovely older ladies who started walking by themselves and have now made a firm friendship and meet here every week to walk. And our locals have discovered us and have started to get on board and bring their friends and family down, which is lovely. And can you tell me about your parkrun history? Where did you start? Oh gosh, so I've been running now for about seven years and I originally started at Capalaba parkrun. I joined the event team there and I was a Run Director there for about two years. And then when COVID hit and the events all closed, then I left that team and we started to do a lot of touristing. So I did a lot of touristing before I decided that I really wanted to start up our own event at Fodder Forest. I am the Event Director here and a co-ED here with Matt Williams. And I'm also an outreach ambassador for parkrun Australia, which a lot of people don't know. So... And part of that role is also to encourage people to come along to parkrun for the first time and get started. And we're working at the moment in the older generation to encourage our older generation to come along to parkrun. And just to know that it's okay to participate in whatever way you want to participate. It doesn't have to be running, walking, volunteering. It's all welcome here at parkrun.

00:32:29Tracey Wood: So were you at Kingscliff last week?

00:32:31Shirley: I was at Kingscliff last week with the 120 other ambassadors that were there. Yes, I was, yeah.

00:32:35Tracey Wood: I wasn't. I didn't get an invite, parkrun, please fix that.

00:32:39Shirley: It was so much fun, parkrun Australia outdid themselves and really took great care of us. They were amazing.

00:32:45Tracey Wood: Oh, so Toc and Janet and anyone else who went, this is Shirley. So I've got to mess with her by accident. Just by accident, indeed. All right, thank you, Shirley. Okay, you heard it first here. This is a fodder forest. It's fast and flat and friendly. So come here. Excuse me, sir. Did you know that Thorndon is the most westerly junior parkrun in Australia?

00:33:11Simon Mackley: I did, actually. I kind of remember it was a quiz question at one stage.

00:33:15Tracey Wood: I wonder if Janet knows.

00:33:17Simon Mackley: Janet? I don't think she does. No, okay, we might tell her.

00:33:21Tracey Wood: Do you know anything else about parkrun at all? Do you know any other interesting bits of trivia, maybe?

00:33:27Simon Mackley: Oh, gosh, there's so much about parkrun. Well, I know that there's a 300th episode going out today on the parkrun adventurers.

00:33:35Tracey Wood: I think it's 299 went out yesterday, but yeah, you're right, the 300 is coming next week, so that's pretty exciting.

00:33:42Simon Mackley: That'll be amazing. So you actually listen to the parkrun adventurers podcast? Once or 300 times, yeah. Or maybe once or 299 times. Well, how about that?

00:33:53Tracey Wood: And what's your involvement with parkrun?

00:33:56Simon Mackley: I'm an event ambassador for some of the ones in southern Brisbane. I'm a former ED of Mosman parkrun, co-ED, sorry. But now I'm just, yeah, running around Brisbane.

00:34:08Tracey Wood: Excellent. And for those who haven't picked the voice yet, I've got Simon Mackley, the quiz master himself here. And we're at Fodder Forest parkrun. And yeah, we're just checking it out and having a chat before the event. So, good to see you, Simon. You too. And thank you for bringing the buff from Alison. It's made its way all from New Zealand, so thank you for that.

00:34:26Simon Mackley: No problem.

00:34:27Tracey Wood: And are you a regular here?

00:34:29Simon Mackley: I am. This has been my regular now, yeah.

00:34:31Tracey Wood: This is your home parkrun now? Yeah. So, you've been telling me before that you don't often get to parkrun on a Saturday, though. You have other commitments?

00:34:38Simon Mackley: Oh, yeah. So, my son plays soccer, so I try and get to a parkrun before I go, but yeah.

00:34:42Tracey Wood: Well, good to see you here today, Simon.

00:34:44Simon Mackley: You too. Thanks, Tracey.

00:34:46Tracey Wood: So there you have it. This is Tracey on the travels, finishing up on foot at Fodder Forest parkrun. And can you believe it? It is event number 44. So put this one on your list, folks. It's fast, flat and friendly and fun at Fodder Forest. Have a good weekend. See you on the viewside. Bye.

00:35:12Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much to Tracey Wood coming to us from Fodder Forest, fast, flat and friendly, and catching up with listener Shirley and the Quizmaster, Simon Mackley.

00:35:24Oliver Spake: Yes, great. And yes, I echo that. Thank you, Tracey, for all of your contributions this week.

00:35:29Melissa Ellis: Now, Ollie, we've got mail.

00:35:31Oliver Spake: You've got mail.

00:35:32Melissa Ellis: We have. We heard from Eman this week who said, Hi, guys. Congrats on episode 300. This weekend, we ventured out west for Juno's first birthday in Perth and enjoyed completing our Compass Challenge at University of Western Australia parkrun. The course is an interesting two laps around the uni campus, with lots of turns we met fellow adventurer Alex and her partner at the start and enjoyed post-run coffee with a group of parkrunners introduced to us by Sarah Jefferson looking forward to coming back for palm23 regards amen wow that sounds like a pretty good way to spend a first birthday why is the compass point university of Western Australia has the Western compass changed oh

00:36:16Oliver Spake: No, compasses in the challenge where you have to have the words north, south, east and west. Yes. Yes. I see. Okay. Yep. Yep. And completely failing my adventurous quiz questions here and showing an unacceptable level of ignorance. I can't remember the name of the Australian challenge that has the northernmost, southernmost and eastern, western. Someone help me out here. I know you will. I should just check my app.

00:36:41Melissa Ellis: But I thought it was a compass challenge. The interpretation in the UK is that it's got the name north, south, east and west.

00:36:50Oliver Spake: Navigators.

00:36:51Melissa Ellis: Navigators.

00:36:52Oliver Spake: Navigators.

00:36:53Melissa Ellis: Mel Erbacher called it the navigators when she first referenced it.

00:36:57Oliver Spake: There we are. Yes. The navigator challenge is the different one.

00:37:00Melissa Ellis: Colloquially in Australia, we also refer to it as a compass challenge. That's right. To do the most northern, southern, eastern and western.

00:37:09Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:37:10Melissa Ellis: But we had more mail, Mel. Did we?

00:37:12Oliver Spake: Yeah. Yes, we have an email from, well, we have a message from Bruce, the ideas man, with another idea.

00:37:19Melissa Ellis: Shall I read it out? Please.

00:37:21Oliver Spake: Been thinking about this for a while now. Should a statesman of the greatest state be known as a greatsman?

00:37:29Melissa Ellis: I think so. No, that's a good term.

00:37:32Oliver Spake: Rigged. This is why we're friends, Bruce. Look, once the statistics swing in my favour one day, I'll be able to argue that point a little more. But I've seen the Consolidated Club report. So, look, open that up for discussion. If you have a suggestion or if you have a thought on Bruce's idea, please write to us.

Dazza's

00:38:00Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, Dazza's this week. Yes. Dazza has said it's International Banana Day. Dazza reckons bananas are a real love them or hate them fruit. What do you think? Come on in, share your parkrun fun and tell us, did you include bananas in your pre or post parkrun morning? Now, this was a very popular topic, Ollie. So many people eat bananas on parkrun day. Yes, exactly.

00:38:25Oliver Spake: A bit surprised, a bit surprised. But we did get some feedback on both sides of the scale there. And one such item of feedback came from Nathan Castle, who said, they taste nice, but my stomach doesn't really agree with them. So, we're all about balance here. And I have to side with Nathan. Like, I love bananas. I eat lots of bananas. Banana smoothies for half the week. Banana mango smoothies is breakfast. But I can't eat and then run. And a banana before a run in particular, I can't do it. So, it's a no to a banana on parkrun morning for me. Okay.

00:38:59Melissa Ellis: I'm going to abstain from this conversation on the grounds that bananas are not low carb.

00:39:04Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:39:05Melissa Ellis: Moving swiftly on, Isaac Hill came to us with an achievement. Grateful to be on magnificent Darkinjung Country at the entrance parkrun. Bet my longstanding PB to 1846. Then quickly jumped onto barcode scanning. Highly favourable temperatures and conditions on a flat and dynamic broad walk and cycle path through coastal wetlands. and alongside plenty of jetties and boat ramps. Encouraged PBs all round for friends and fam. And following a classic parkrun principle, never forgetting to start the morning of a parkrun day with a banana. It's a sacred tradition.

00:39:43Oliver Spake: Balance. And congratulations, Isaac. Now, we heard from Alison King over in New Zealand. Banana cake? Yes, please. Plain banana? Yeah, nah. Hmm. So, yeah, even more balance. No bananas featured in my parkrun experience this week. I marshaled with my 10-year-old son, Axel, my 123rd volunteer day and his first. All thanks to Isabel McKeown, who spoke at conference last week. She's 11. We enjoyed breakfast at the cafe afterwards, short dog for me and an egg salad roll for Axel. Sorry, I just paused. I can't remember what a short dog is. I'm going to have to look that up. Alison, I think you've told us before. I think

00:40:22Melissa Ellis: She's told us before. I was going to say the same thing. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's probably some sort of Frankfurt.

00:40:29Oliver Spake: Yes, but thank you for volunteering, Axel and Alison, of course, and thank you for sharing the photo, Alison, of yourself and Axel by the flag. Nice work, team.

the Frond

00:40:39Melissa Ellis: Next we had Alex Turner coming to us with a frond. Before the start of UWA parkrun this morning, University of West Australia, I was chatting to a family with a super cute baby wearing a sparkly tiara. It turns out it's her first birthday and they are visiting from South Toowoomba and they are adventurers. I'm new to the club, so I don't really know how it works, but does this constitute a frond? Great to meet you, Eman, Chris and Juno. And a selfie with the Vergaras and a backwards flag and we'll forgive them on account of the very cute baby.

00:41:17Oliver Spake: And your own contribution, Alex. And yes, that absolutely does constitute a frond. So happy fronting. Now, we heard from Steve Spike, who said, a banana on the roll down to parkrun this morning. As for the location, if the English football blues wanted to celebrate their 200th year, they should celebrate it here. Happy parkrun Day all. And you know what, Mel?

00:41:41Melissa Ellis: Did you get it? When I copied this in,

00:41:43Oliver Spake: I had no idea. But reading that out, yeah, I get it. I absolutely know it this week.

00:41:49Melissa Ellis: I got it for once. Should we unpack this for the listeners? Because we don't usually do that. But would you like to tell us who the English football blues are, Ollie?

00:41:57Oliver Spake: Ah, well, that would be Chelsea Football Club from the English Premier League.

00:42:00Melissa Ellis: And how do you describe a 200th year celebration?

00:42:04Oliver Spake: Well, a 200th year would be a bicentennial celebration. That's right. Does that mean this is our tricentennial, just incidentally? Is this the podcast's tricentennial? Have we missed that? That sounds like a good pod description. Tricentennial. Yeah.

00:42:18Melissa Ellis: Could be the name of the pod.

00:42:19Oliver Spake: There we are.

00:42:20Melissa Ellis: Well done, Ollie. That saves one problem this week.

00:42:24Oliver Spake: One job and I've done it for one.

00:42:28Melissa Ellis: the clue oh my god you're just kicking goals oh into the net too yeah next we heard from Johan over in South Africa who said I suddenly split from my initial plan and peeled off to the warmer north to go bananas for another b at Bronberrik parkrun in South Africa. And having just done my nottie, I can already peel it in my bones that Dumbbell Hill is not going to be very appealing when I get to it the fourth time a bit later. Oh, my goodness. And a very beautiful morning light selfie from Johan.

00:43:02Oliver Spake: It was a wonderful light shot. Absolutely stunning. Now, we heard from Val Warwick on the volley front very late to Dazza's today. But I definitely need that coffee. First time RD-ing and the upfront bit was easy. But you know when things go wrong, they go wrong. Took a while to sort out, but all's well that ends well. I possibly need a banana or two for energy to recuperate now. And Val did share a picture of herself and Carmel who visited or touristed from Queensland with Val, of course, in the RD vest. And... Val, well done. They certainly can go wrong, but we're sure you did a stellar job.

00:43:43Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. Now, next up, we have Chris Fraser with a nottie. And Chris said, I'm not a big fruit eater, but I'll have the occasional nana. It was my turn for COVID this week, so had to do a nottie 250 laps of the hallway with a homemade lap timer so I didn't lose count. And Chris shared a video explaining the course, including the advanced tracking used for the participants. Now, this was very impressive, Ollie. I loved it.

00:44:12Oliver Spake: Thank you, Chris.

00:44:14Melissa Ellis: So to explain, Chris does have quite a short hallway that he was using.

00:44:21Oliver Spake: As evidenced by the course map, yeah.

00:44:23Melissa Ellis: Yes, for his laps. And the video was quite amusing. Now, kudos to Kerry, who was the second place getter. and was doing quite a bit of the videoing as well. It was very, very amusing and very well done, and we're very glad that you got to still get your 5K in this week.

00:44:45Oliver Spake: Wow, well done. Out and about over in Canada, we heard from Richard who said, good thing, like so many cafes here, Dazza's is open 24-7 so the stragglers can drop in post-parkrun. Today saw me at River Oaks parkrun in Oakville, Ontario. Much easier to pronounce than Mississauga. Oh, dear, I forgot how I said it, in brackets Ollie was spot on last week maybe not this week um this is a beautiful course two laps on a flat crushed limestone and tarmac path through shaded woods a real international affair today with myself and three brits ps milkshake has travelled with me as per picture and evidenced in the picture that Richard shared of himself and milkshake in the selfie frame

00:45:34Melissa Ellis: Well done, Richard. And, Ollie, that just prompted me to remember something. As we were driving home from the Pucka parkrun along the Hume Freeway, I spotted a car with a personalised number plate that was Dazza. Now, I squealed and pointed it out and Andrew's like, do you want me to get closer? Unfortunately, we didn't get close enough that I was able to get a photo of the number plate, but it was a bit of a thrill.

00:45:59Oliver Spake: Who would have thought that Dazza's fandom would get to those lengths that people are now getting personalised number plates just in honour of Dazza's?

00:46:07Melissa Ellis: I know.

00:46:08Oliver Spake: Dazza has come a long way.

00:46:11Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, coming to us from the USA this week was Geoff Glaab. Good morning, Dazza. Trotted around Joe Creason with Pepper this morning and she is just bananas about parkrun. In fact, her favourite food are bananas. We share one every morning and it just might be the highlight of her day. Set up the course to get my 50th volunteer instance and then celebrated with an afternoon nap. And congratulations, Jeff, on your 50th volunteer. Thank you for volunteering. Yes. Thank you for sharing the photo of yourself and Pepper.

00:46:41Oliver Spake: I think I could celebrate with a nap. Yeah, that's a good idea. But from over in Ireland, we heard from Christine Imbert. Hi, Dazza. Just got back from Dublin where I was the Tail Walker at Malahide parkrun. Malahide parkrun was the first parkrun in Ireland and will be celebrating its 10th birthday this November. Missed having a banana for breakfast but had a lovely brunch of salmon and scrambled eggs. And Christine shared a lovely photo of herself in the selfie frame there. She did. You're looking great, Christine, and thanks for sharing. Yes.

00:47:14Melissa Ellis: And lastly, Ollie, we heard from Paris Lawrence, who was at home, and she said, was so good to walk with my friend Leanne. Leanne, Leanne, Leanne. We had a good laugh and chatted, and she shared a photo of herself and Leanne with the Medibank flag. Yes. Or the Mediank flag, as you wrote it, Ollie. Yes.

00:47:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's not just pronunciation I do badly, it's typing too.

00:47:41Melissa Ellis: Oh, goodness.

00:47:43Oliver Spake: Good fun. Thank you, Paris, and thank you, everyone, for joining in Dazza's. Indeed. We hope that you'll all have personalised number plates in honour of Dazza someday.

the Obi Award — Alex Turner

00:47:52Oliver Spake: But for now, we'll just enjoy our bananas and our Obi, because I guess it's time to award an Obi. Absolutely.

00:48:02Melissa Ellis: Please open the envelope, Ollie.

00:48:04Oliver Spake: The envelope. Well, it has been very meticulously prepared for me this week by the Office Lady. Thank you very much. More of a cardboard envelope this week.

00:48:15Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's a bit disappointing in the sound effect department.

00:48:18Oliver Spake: Oh, well, got paper inside it. There we are. But the Obi this week goes to Alex Turner. New club member and I suppose freshly invited guest to Juno's first birthday.

00:48:22[music]

00:48:42Melissa Ellis: Hooray. Happy birthday to Juno.

00:48:43[music]

00:48:45[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:48:59Oliver Spake: Happy birthday, Juno. But congratulations, Alex, and thank you very much for sharing your parkrun morning with us. I should say, special mention to Chris Fraser. That's 250 laps. Very few have taken on the nottie at that style, of course, and it is an impressive feat.

00:49:20Melissa Ellis: Absolutely is. So an honorary runner-up Obi this week goes to Team Fraser.

00:49:25Oliver Spake: That's right. Ah, dear. Yes, once again, lots and lots of parkrun fun, lots and lots of celebrations and, yeah, certainly a few achievements in there. But, Mel, I think it's time we listen up for a few more achievements and stats. So let's have a listen now to our informant.

the Informant

00:49:51The 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 457 runs held down under, up 6 on last week, 419 in Australia and 38 in New Zealand. This is out of 1,765 worldwide. Aussie New Zealand attendance was 39,255, up 2,000 on last week. That's out of 210,000 worldwide. There were five event launches. Beaufort Lake in Victoria, Lake to Lake Trail in New Zealand, along with two in South Africa and one in the United Kingdom. Down under, we had 4,951 PBs, while 1,769 people participated for the first time. 77 juniors reached their Junior 10 milestone, 155 people reached their 50 milestone, 115 reached their 100 milestone, and 29 people reached their 250 milestone. A record 31 people called bingo. Jack Daniel was quickest on 147 runs, while Neil Taylor was slowest on 307 runs. There were six new statespeople, Andrew Castle, Dwayne Abbott, Brooke McBride, and Malcolm Peaty in the Northern Territory, and Melissa and Peter Shortman in South Australia. In the most events list, the biggest mover is Amanda O'Reilly, who ran her 87th different parkrun, and moved up nine places in the rankings to 233. 132 people reached their Wilson Index. The biggest mover is Cindy Robins, who moves up 33 to 110, and fourth place in the Victorian state rankings. In the I-Index rankings, four people moved up two. Mark Ziegler and Hayden Hands moved up to two, while Martin Tomasini and Laurie Perino moved up to three. In the adventurer Challenges, we have no Peel Club inductees. James Coulthard, Peter Baraglia and Andrew Hay running their 100 different event to join the Cowell Club. and 20 people joined the half Cowells. Short and sweet this week. If you would like to see 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 Informant, and my spreadsheet is bigger than yours.

00:53:01Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much to our informant this week. Good to hear the stats as usual. Yes, yes.

Consolidated Club Report

00:53:08Oliver Spake: And as always, let's keep it going, Mel, with the Consolidated Club Report. What are the latest?

00:53:14Melissa Ellis: Well, the adventurers Consolidated Club report for Saturday, the 27th of August, was a total of 284 members. That's up 10 from the previous week. 236 took part on this date at 129 different locations across the UK, USA, South Africa, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.

00:53:38Oliver Spake: Well done, everyone.

00:53:39Melissa Ellis: Yes, and the largest frond this week, Ollie, was a draw. Yes. We had seven adventurers at Orange parkrun. They were Jo McLean, Louise Garbers, Natalie Wilson, Sarah Coghlan, Alison Sutton, Kim Mahoney. Mahoney? Mahoney? Mahoney? How would you say that, Ollie?

00:54:00Oliver Spake: Marnie, Mahoney. I actually, yeah, I've always struggled with that name.

00:54:04Melissa Ellis: Okay. Adventurer Kim and Penny Prosser. And out at Umbagong parkrun, there was also seven with Bill Turner, Kristy Hill, Yvette Turner, Mia Horrigan, William Barlow, yay, Sara Jurek and Rebecca Gordon. And a special mention to the Ponds parkrun with a frond of six this week, which included our very own and very favourite, Bec Bailey.

00:54:27Oliver Spake: Yes, and there were some Dazza's visits in from some of the crew there, including a bit of fun and a bit of fine fun, I should say, at the ponds and another great picture of Graham, I noticed, at Umbagong. But nice fronting, everyone. Absolutely was.

00:54:42Melissa Ellis: I don't think there's much else to mention in the frond or the Consolidated Club Report stakes. I already mentioned that we had four events out at South Africa this week, which was larger than normal.

00:54:57Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:54:57Melissa Ellis: Victoria topping the list again in Australia with 32 events. Mm-hmm. Just in case you wanted to know. And WA was up as well, I believe, this week. Yes. With six.

00:55:10Oliver Spake: Yeah. Look, welcome on board to our new members, and we look forward to seeing where you all pop up next week.

Streaky September

00:55:16Oliver Spake: But, Mel, something we also look forward to, and we hope as many of you as, well, It does feel like it, let's be honest. Come along for the ride of Streaky September, which by the time that you are listening now, unless you have the ability to travel through time, back in time and listen to this episode before it's released, hopefully you're already streaking.

00:55:36Melissa Ellis: Yes, and we are very happy to have more audio this week with more tips coming to us from the fabulous Pippa from the UK. So let's have a little listen to Pippa.

00:55:54Pippa: Hi parkrun adventurers, this is Pippa from the UK and it's a street check-in. How are you doing? How was day one? How are you doing Mel? Your streaking sounded really good. I know I get really enthusiastic about streaking and parkruns, but you guys know because we all love parkruns what it's like when you find something that really works and wanting to get everybody else involved. But my message this week is to focus a little bit less on the legs, but much, much more about what's going on in your head. Streaking is as much about that time out, that 30 minutes for you, than it is about being able to sort of run 5k faster or walk sort of faster around a particular place. Take this luxury of this time for you. And here are some ideas of what you can do. So while your legs are moving, maybe you could organise to meet up with a friend. Maybe you could call a friend in a different town, city, state, country, continent. Maybe you could do some really good breathing exercises, perhaps out walking and making sure that it's good inhalations and good exhalations. Or maybe just breathe when it's running because, you know, we've all been at that place at some point. And if you're really stuck on all of those and you need something different, one of my tips is doing the five senses mental health walk, where we think about seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. And you do five, four, three, two, one on those activities. So you count five things that you can see, count four things that you can hear, etc., And I find this is really good for me resetting. Most times, getting out for a streak is as much about getting the legs going as it is about getting the heads going. Happy streaking.

00:57:41Oliver Spake: And thank you very much, Pippa. I think it's a great idea and something that hopefully we'll all get the chance to try. I really like the idea of experiencing a streak in several different ways. And Mel, as you said, thank you to Pippa, who is, well, I mean, she's effectively our Streakmeister. Ooh, I like that. She's heart and soul of Streaky September, certainly one of the greatest proponents and, yeah, her motivation has absolutely helped me previously. So hopefully it helps you and hopefully anyone that wants to hang in there is...

00:58:21Melissa Ellis: hanging in there. And you said you couldn't come up with a term for her in half a second. There you go. The Streakmeister.

00:58:28Oliver Spake: The Streakmeister. Well, yeah, Pippa, I'm not sure if you like that nickname. Happy to take other suggestions. Pippa is also perfectly acceptable, I'm sure. But So, again, by the time that you're listening, hopefully, if I've done all my homework, we will have a Bingoe card out for you to keep track of your streaking and the additional fun that we'll have along the way. If you haven't already, please do jump onto the Facebook group for Streaky September. I trust that's going to be renamed, Mel.

00:59:00Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's my job. I better make a note. I'll do that on Wednesday, writing it in the diary.

00:59:08Oliver Spake: Yes. Have a look. We can share links. We can share details on our Facebook page. And if you do have any questions, if you've missed any of our context, any of our tips, feel free to write to us or send us a message. We'd be more than happy to help out and point you in the right direction to make the most of your streaking.

00:59:29Melissa Ellis: Can I make it streaky Septmeber again?

00:59:33Oliver Spake: Just make it clear for anyone trying to look it up. Yes.

00:59:37Melissa Ellis: No problem.

00:59:39Oliver Spake: And Mel, will you start with a 2K streak or will you do a longer one on day one?

00:59:45Melissa Ellis: Day one is Thursday. I can probably manage it. I can manage a 5K on Thursday. Absolutely I can. My tricky day is going to be Mondays because I work during the day and I record in the evening and in between I I try to prep pod notes. So I've got to come up with a strategy to get that streak done. So I think that is going to mean that I am doing a 2K streak in my lunch hour.

01:00:09Oliver Spake: Yeah. Okay. Does that mean maybe we need to record an episode whilst out walking? We just dial in, record the pod while streaking so we can keep the streak alive.

01:00:18Melissa Ellis: How is that going to work? Does that mean I have to do it on my phone? I don't know if I'm that technologically advanced.

01:00:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, my ideas aren't as great as some of our parkrun adventurer community. So I'll put that one in the gutter.

01:00:34Melissa Ellis: I do like the idea, Ollie. If we could manage to do it on the phone and do like live on the field, you know what will happen? I will get swooped. That's what will happen.

01:00:47Oliver Spake: Well, we don't want that. As funny as that idea might be, we don't want that.

01:00:51Melissa Ellis: Or I might find a trolley and get distracted.

Sign-off

01:00:53Oliver Spake: Yes. I can't record while I'm pushing a trolley. Well, before we get carried away, happy streaking, everyone. And also coming up very close is another parkrun day, Mel. So where is this one going to take you?

01:01:05Melissa Ellis: This parkrun day is going to take me on an adventure to the very brand new sparkly Beaufort Lakes parkrun that launched last week.

01:01:14Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, I did notice that.

01:01:16Melissa Ellis: Beaufort Lakes is conveniently set in the little country town of Beaufort, which is out west, out my side of Victoria. It's probably... about an hour and a half's drive, which is practically a sleep in. So I'm very much looking forward to getting out there for event two. What about you, Ollie? Where will you be? No idea.

01:01:37Oliver Spake: Okay. But needless to say, I'll be getting into streaking and I will be more than likely pulling on a volley vest somewhere quite local. I'm planning on being away the following parkrun day, so I'll balance it out. And, yes, I do want to hit my volunteer goal, so I'm working on that.

01:01:59Melissa Ellis: I've just realised we have gone a whole episode without mentioning that word.

01:02:04Oliver Spake: We haven't. I mentioned it at the start.

01:02:06Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ollie.

01:02:11Oliver Spake: But I did try.

01:02:12Melissa Ellis: Oh, well. There's always next week.

01:02:16Oliver Spake: Oh, dear. Oh, dear. No, thank you. Wow. Well, look, parkrun Day aside, I have to say once again, thank you, Mel, for recording this momentous, what did we call it, tricentennial episode with me. And thank you, everyone, that's been a part of it to date and still to come, hopefully. Whether we've got 300 in the tank, I'm not sure, but we will see.

01:02:42Melissa Ellis: Thank you, Ollie. I'm just looking forward to 399.

01:02:46Oliver Spake: Was that your turn to sing?

01:02:48Melissa Ellis: No. It's traditionally the male compere that does the song.

01:02:53Oliver Spake: Right, right. And look, I should acknowledge, as I said at the end of last week's episode, there were some great suggestions. Thanks again to Bruce and to Tracy who both had some great ideas for songs. Sorry I didn't sing those, but it was a special running song for me. So I'm glad I butchered it. It really was great you did a really good job thank you proud co-host thank you now Mel I think I am going to go and have another look at the kudo board thank you again everyone for making this a very special episode 300 happy streaking and as always you can contact us via Facebook or via email which is parkrunneradventurers at gmail.com. Please keep an eye out for all your streaking encouragement and our Bingoe card and our kudo board and everything else. But that is it for another week, and we will see you all next week for more adventures.

01:03:46[music]

01:05:03Oliver Spake: love from the cool Eynesbury kids and Gary and Barry and Jemima the duck and everybody else