Episode 312 - parkrun party

Welcome

00:00:24Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 312 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. I am Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:32Oliver Spake: I'm Ollie Spake and I'm joining back once again from Dharawal Country.

00:00:37Melissa Ellis: Welcome back, Ollie. We're so proud of you.

00:00:41Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel.

00:00:41Melissa Ellis: You ran up a mountain. I did. I did.

00:00:44Oliver Spake: It was fun.

00:00:46Melissa Ellis: Only you would say running up a mountain was fun. It was great fun. We're getting ahead of ourselves, though, aren't we? Tell me first about your parkrun morning.

00:00:56Oliver Spake: Ah, well, straight into it. But look, I only got off the plane a couple of hours ago, so it has been a big weekend, parkrun morning, though, was... It was pretty nice. It was pretty special. And I guess, you know, a bit of context for everyone listening, this weekend, just gone, I did travel to Tassie and early Friday, Cathy and I flew to Tassie for a bit of a whirlwind weekend that tied in the The run you have mentioned, and I may have mentioned it once or twice on the pod, plus parkrun dinners, visits to family, history tour of Ollie's old homes, a concert, some gin bars and all the good things. But after a big day on Friday, we arose at a very respectable time. I'm a big fan of parkrun time in Tassie, to drive up to Queens Domain parkrun and look that one's been penciled in for a long time now after we did have the I think the the great advice and good fortune to do a freedom run there at palm 2022 I've certainly wanted to get back there on a parkrun day and it didn't disappoint so uh Naturally, Queen's Domain is in Hobart. It's in Nipaluna, Hobart. It's on Mui, I get this right, Muwinina country. Wow. Which is the Aboriginal country on which it's located. And it was fortunately a beautiful clear morning and a great crowd. There were 262 people there in looking up the stats for the morning and, of course, a bunch of volunteers and parkrunners as well.

00:02:35Melissa Ellis: Wow, and Cathy Ran.

00:02:38Oliver Spake: Cathy Ran, yeah, that's right. Cathy Ran, she's still counting her parkruns on one hand. She's still achieving new all-time parkrun PBs. So this was another one. After meeting several people at the start line, which I should come back to, Kathy and I did start the parkrun together. We went up to about half a K together, but soon enough she told me to go on at my own pace and she would do the same. So, yeah, I did see her at the finish but made the mistake of not getting the phone out in time because she was absolutely flying. But I digress. Mel, I got to meet... Andrea, who is an adventurer and had kindly supported my run and had reached out and said that she'd be down there. She was on a tour of Tassie that was a little rain affected. She'd been hoping to cycle and paddle over the course of the week, on some pretty impressive adventures that were curtailed somewhat by the poor weather that they had been having in Tassie. But fortunately, yeah, it was a nice morning and she was able to enjoy Queens Domain parkrun as well. So it was lovely to meet her and fellow tour member, Andrew, who is a parkrunner from the Brisbane area and also had the fortune of meeting the Gordons, who I believe are well connected at Lower Hutt parkrun. And needless to say, shortly after meeting them, I already had a message from Alison, Channel 5 News crew member, Alison, excitedly claiming that I'd met the Gordons as well. So they move in some circles.

00:04:14Melissa Ellis: And a connection to Lower Hutt, which we might refer to later in the pod.

00:04:18Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, that's right. But the fun didn't really stop there. As I said, I went on at my own pace but shortly fell in behind another parkrunner, it seemed, from your neck of the woods, Mel, a Westerfoldian by the name of Chris, who... We started chatting after he noted that someone was following him. And we, of course, discovered we were both doing the run the next day. So we had a good chat over the course of the remainder of the parkrun, finished together. And in fact, yeah, we started together around the first seven or eight Ks of Point to Pinnacle the next morning together. So that was a lovely experience to meet so many new faces and really get a good chance to have a lot of chats along the way.

00:05:04Melissa Ellis: Oh, that sounds so good. No, I'm just Googling the latest results for Queen's Domain because I want to see who the Chris was that you ran with.

00:05:15Oliver Spake: So Chris is Chris Pittock.

00:05:17Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay.

00:05:18Oliver Spake: Yeah, he was down also for Point to Pinnacle with his daughter and friend and he was certainly telling me some of his Victorian parkrun adventures as well. Excellent. And well done to Chris's daughter that got him into parkrun. So, you know, this is him 212 parkruns later, so that's obviously dating back a little bit. But, yeah, Chris has certainly been one of the supporters in that neck of the woods, I believe, between Darebin parkrun and a couple of others.

00:05:48Melissa Ellis: Uh-huh. Fabulous. Sounds like a wonderful morning now. Tell us about this mountain. I know you're happy with your time.

00:05:57Oliver Spake: I'm over the moon, Mel. I had just been panicked. I'd really been panicked because there was a cold front coming through. It was particularly chilly as Kathy and I went out to a concert the night before yesterday.

00:06:12Melissa Ellis: You don't know taper very well, do you?

00:06:16Oliver Spake: Dude. I think she saw the expression on my face change midway through the concert when I realised, oh, standing up for three hours is not great. I mean, I was moving around and stretching while she was dancing, but it was good fun. But yeah, the winds were rolling in, the rain was rolling in, it was forecast a chance of snow. And I had no idea whether we were going to get to the top or as does occur, that would change the course to be a lower altitude or lower elevation course, which obviously would have helped, but wouldn't have quite been the same thing. So, but to get to the point... The weather was in our favour. It was fresh, but then it was sunny on the way up. We got to the top. I believe the feels like temperature in the absolute gale force feeling winds was negative seven. So it was, yeah, it was a great experience. Thanks Mel.

00:07:08Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Wow. We're so proud of you. How you did? How did you go with your fundraising?

00:07:14Oliver Spake: Look, thank you to everyone that supported. In the end, I've raised in the vicinity of $1,350, which went towards the Carrie's Beanies for Brain Cancer charity and getting together with the team there after the event. It was just such a positive and powerful experience to be a part of that team, hearing some of the stories. And obviously not just from Carrie, but from many people who themselves or their loved ones had been touched by the experience of brain cancer and well over $300,000 raised through the combined fundraising efforts so far of the team. And what's more, just being a part of a team like that, getting to chat and to cheer to so many on the way up was a great experience because I probably didn't mention that. I talked the whole way up.

00:08:03Melissa Ellis: Of course you did.

00:08:05Oliver Spake: I cheered and chatted the whole way up and it was, yeah, it was just such a positive experience and I can't say thanks enough to everyone that did donate. And to finish faster than my goal time was also wonderful.

00:08:19Melissa Ellis: Oh, wow, did you?

00:08:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, so I'd hoped to do it in two hours and 20 because I was a little unsure of my preparation in the end and I finished in two hours and 11 and a half minutes. You're such a legend.

00:08:33Melissa Ellis: We're so proud.

00:08:34Oliver Spake: Thank you. So I look forward to going back next year.

00:08:36Melissa Ellis: Oh, good. You're going to go back.

00:08:38Oliver Spake: Can't wait.

00:08:38Melissa Ellis: Are you going to train this time?

00:08:40Oliver Spake: I will train more. I did do several laps of Saddleback Mountain in the weeks beforehand, but it just was a disrupted training program.

00:08:48Melissa Ellis: The weeks beforehand is actually the taper time. You know, you do know this, right?

00:08:53Oliver Spake: Yeah. I mean, after the tonsillitis, it was just.

00:08:57Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, that's true.

00:08:58Oliver Spake: It was a little abbreviated. You had a crappy preparation. Yeah.

00:09:02Melissa Ellis: And you did so well despite all your hurdles. So well done you.

00:09:07Oliver Spake: Thank you very much, Mel. And thank you everyone for the kind messages of support as well. But yes, look, I had a wonderful weekend. It was an absolute whirlwind. And once again, a huge trip down memory lane. parkrun was a great experience. But I am mindful that you're still limping through parkrun Day here. So I would really like to hear about your parkrun Day if you'd like to share.

00:09:32Melissa Ellis: I would. As you know, Ollie, I usually prepare my notes on my tourist trips so that I remember everything because there's usually a lot to tell. I haven't really done that this week. I'm feeling a bit flat. I can't lie.

00:09:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, we all have those.

00:09:50Melissa Ellis: It's all about you this week. It's not about me. So actually after we recorded last week, so I did announce that I'd injured my ankle in last week's pod and I didn't believe it. I was advised it was probably a sprain. And I had had x-rays during the day on Monday and I went back to get the results of those x-rays on Wednesday and was promptly told that I had a fracture and off you go to hospital. You're going to have to get either a plaster or a moon boot. And I was quite surprised because although I initially said, well, I think I might have broken it because I heard a crack, everybody was like, no, no, no, you're walking, you're fine, you'll be fine. So I broke my ankle back in grade six.

00:10:33Unidentified speaker: Yep.

00:10:34Melissa Ellis: And I walked home from school on it. So I've been in this situation before. So I was like, yeah, I do know that breaks can sometimes not hurt as much as a sprain. Anyway, it turns out it was broken. But the good thing is, and it wasn't a bone in my foot, it's actually my fibula, which is, you know, the minor leg bone. But right at the bottom where the ankle bone part is. Yes. To use a not very medical term.

00:11:04Oliver Spake: Helps for people like me.

00:11:05Melissa Ellis: The knobbly bit of your ankle, I think. Anyway, so all I need is a moon boot. And all I was told was it's just for my comfort and I can keep walking. And I only need it on for a week or two. They might have said three. But, you know, only as long as I needed it to be comfortable. So being as they told me I could walk, walk I did. Yeah. I didn't press them on how far I could walk because, you know, I didn't want to risk them saying, oh, no, you can't walk five kilometres. So, yes, I was very fortunate to get a lift down to Peppertree parkrun this week, Ollie. That's good. It was. And I didn't just get any old lift. I got a very special lift, almost in a time machine. Oh. So turns out the person that afforded me my lift to Peppertree was somebody that we've heard of way back in episode 249 with an interview from the Richmond Olympic Event Director. Yes. When a Wyndham Vale parkrunner did the – I think she might have even been the last person to do the time travel before it got disallowed.

00:12:23Oliver Spake: Yes, yes.

00:12:24Melissa Ellis: parkrun, the fun police. Yeah. Yeah, Donna. Donna picked me up in her lovely little hot pink car. Now, I know I have a pretty recognisable car when it comes to parkrun tourism, but Donna's would be on par with my little green Miduri because she has a little hot pink. It might be, oh, I should have checked exactly what it was, but it's something really little like mine, like a Morris Minor or something.

00:12:50Unidentified speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:12:52Melissa Ellis: A mini, yeah.

00:12:53Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:12:53Melissa Ellis: So that was fabulous. So I got chauffeured to Peppertree parkrun. I hobbled along as fast as I could with the Tail Walker. And it was a small, intimate group of parkrunners. And sometimes, you know what, Ollie, that's just all you want.

00:13:08Oliver Spake: Oh, it sure is.

00:13:09Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And my daughter came out from the other side of town. Olivia came and picked me up from Peppertree. So off we went for a little brunch, a little mother-daughter brunch. So that was also really lovely. Not something I get every week. turning a negative into a positive. I had a beautiful morning joining Adrian out there with his lovely team at Peppertree. And then, yeah, yesterday I wasn't running up mountains or anything, but as I was driving to Juniors, I had one eye on the time and I did excitedly tell my guest for the weekend, Tracey, Tracey in a Tutu, who had been out and, as we'll hear later in her roving report, had attended Albert Melbourne's anniversary celebrations and then made her way out to Meltown to do volunteerist at Junior parkrun and accompanied me yesterday to a music festival. So this one last year, Ollie, we both went to one electric day, didn't we? Or was yours a different one?

00:14:11Oliver Spake: I had a different one. I remember the day you went to One Electric Day. Yes, I had a different event.

00:14:17Melissa Ellis: But we were both at music festivals. That's right.

00:14:19Oliver Spake: That's right. And we almost lined it up this time. Mine wasn't a festival, but yeah.

00:14:22Melissa Ellis: We did, didn't we? Yeah. So I was out at Werribee Mansion, the beautiful grounds of the Werribee Mansion parkrun.

00:14:28Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:14:30Melissa Ellis: Unfortunately, Werribee Mansion parkrun is not running at the moment. It's still flood affected. Yeah. But I did sit in a deck chair. I didn't dance around on my ankle. I was wearing a blouse. And Tracey did all the driving. She got to drive my little car around all weekend.

00:14:45Oliver Spake: Well, it's good to hear that there were some lifts to uplift your parkrunning and partying weekend, Mel.

00:14:52Melissa Ellis: I'm very lucky, very lucky. And I was also there, Tracey and I were there with Abby's mum, Renee Jackson. Lovely. The girls were having a good day.

00:15:00Oliver Spake: Favourite act?

00:15:02Melissa Ellis: Oh, well, I was there for Noiseworks.

00:15:04Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:15:05Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I was there for Jon Stevens and Noiseworks, I've got to say.

00:15:08Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:15:09Melissa Ellis: But also highlight, they did announce during the concert that John Farnham, so he's Victorian, but you would know who John Farnham is, right? Yeah.

00:15:18Oliver Spake: Absolutely, yes.

00:15:19Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and that he's recently had an operation. He had cancer in his jaw and he's been, you know, recovering in hospital. But his wife apparently was adjacent to the Werribee Mansion at the Equestrian Centre because their big horse... enthusiasts oh right yes the announcement came over that Jill Jill farnham was at the equestrian centre so did they not play you're the voice as loud as they could everybody uh everybody sang and it was lovely so that was a special moment nice tribute yeah that's right but this isn't a music podcast Ollie no well sometimes we make it that we do oh yes stay tuned

00:16:02Oliver Spake: But nonetheless, we do have a bit of feedback and announcements to catch up on before our roving reports for this week. But look, firstly, in terms of feedback, just generally, thanks to everyone. We loved all the comments in the discussion enlightening us about snoods, Sneetches.

00:16:21Melissa Ellis: and dr seuss and uh yeah look that's clearly why we love our adventurer community so thank you everyone and also for the kind best wishes for your recovery Mel oh yes thank you very much everybody yeah but Ollie um there was another announcement that came in our socials this week and we thought it's probably something worth mentioning and it was from our very much loved Tony O'Connell TOC. Yes, TOC. And if I may read, now this wasn't on the adventurers socials. This actually was on his very own parkrun page, but it was a very public announcement to all those that know and love Toc very much. So if I may read it. Toc said to all my parkrun friends, tomorrow marks the start of a new era for me. After eight years as a Territory Director, Event Ambassador and Regional Ambassador, I have stepped down. Tomorrow, I am just a 772279 again. Thanks to Tim Oberg for having faith in me right back at the start. The journey has introduced me to many wonderful people, too many to name. I hope I meet you all at a parkrun soon. To the current regional ambassador crew, you are legends. Thank you, Carol, for everything. Toc from Inverloch, A772279.

00:17:43Oliver Spake: And I guess first thing to say is we'd like to say thank you, Toc, for everything you've done for all of us and a huge number in the parkrun community.

00:17:52Melissa Ellis: I absolutely agree. I think the contribution that he has given over the last, what did he say it was, eight years.

00:18:01Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

00:18:03Melissa Ellis: I met, well, I knew of Toc. I don't know if I met him really early on in the Berwick Springs days, but I actually do remember him being at Berwick Springs prior to him launching Inverloch. I think he might have even been volunteering on my very first parkrun at Berwick Springs.

00:18:19Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:18:20Melissa Ellis: And it didn't take long when you're a tourist in Victoria to meet and get to know Toc and the encouragement he's given. He was the one that helped me become a roving reporter. He's just always there to support everybody and he gives so much of himself and whatever it takes, he's always there to help. So thank you, Toc. Thank you so much for everything you've done.

00:18:43Oliver Spake: That's right. And, yes, we too look forward to seeing Toc at a parkrun sometime.

00:18:48Melissa Ellis: But don't go thinking you're stepping down as a roving reporter.

00:18:52Oliver Spake: Well, that wasn't addressed. I mean, going off your literal interpretations of comments, that might be the theme of the week. He hasn't addressed that. So unless he says so, then he has not stepped down as a roving reporter. That's right.

00:19:06Melissa Ellis: Correct.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:19:07Oliver Spake: Ah, I'll tell you who else isn't stepping down as roving reporters.

00:19:11Melissa Ellis: Nice segue.

00:19:12Oliver Spake: Tracey and Lyndell, who we're going to listen to right now.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Albert Melbourne parkrun

00:19:24Tracey Wood: good morning parkrunners it's Tracey in a Tutu and I found myself at Albert Melbourne parkrun the theme for the day is rainbow and I'm sure I'm in the right place because I'm seeing people with uh rainbow tutus and fairy wings and hats and socks and tutus and everything and it looks so good anyway I'm here this morning um I'm guiding Casey around the park so hopefully I don't push her into a pole or into the lake I don't think she'd like that I actually haven't run here before, and to be honest, I actually haven't done a Victorian parkrun before, so this would be my first. Alrighty, I'm going to head off and talk to some people before the run. Okay, adventurers, I have found Monica. Monica, what's your role this morning? Lead bike. Lead bike, how about that? I have not interviewed anyone who's done lead bike before.

00:20:15Monica: I think I've done about 31 at Albert Park Lake.

00:20:17Tracey Wood: Have you really? Yes.

00:20:19Monica: And what does lead bike entail? Well, my job is to ride in front of the first runner and I have to warn all the oncoming traffic. All the walkers, parkwalkers and strollers and runners, that there will be about 500, 600 runners coming behind me. So please get out of the way. Watch out, watch out, 500 runners coming. That's my role, to warn them. Do you have a little bell on your bike and you go ding, ding, ding, ding? I have three bells and a hooter.

00:20:48Tracey Wood: Do you actually use that?

00:20:49Monica: I use all. I use all. I use all the hooter. You know, toot, toot, toot. And I've got a bell that's so loud, it rings like, come here and I'll show you.

00:20:58Tracey Wood: Oh, I can't. Excellent. It's like Avon calling. That is great.

00:21:06Unidentified speaker: I remember Avon.

00:21:07Tracey Wood: Excellent. And is this your home park right here, Monica? It is. It is our park.

00:21:12Monica: I've done about 200, probably about 280 today, yes well done Tracey she's famous yeah she's famous you're famous she's famous well it was lovely to meet you Monica thank you thank you it's a really satisfying role but unfortunately sometimes when I yell so loud saying that please get out of the way 500 runners coming and look back there's one two three that's really at my tail and then there's a big gap behind me but these days people are getting so fast Sometimes there will be about 20 runners right behind me. I feel like I am a carrot dangling in front of them. They are trying to chase me. It's a great ground.

00:21:17[crosstalk]

00:21:54Tracey Wood: I love it. Excellent. All right. I think we better get moving. I think they might be doing a volunteer photo quick run. Okay. Talk to you again.

00:22:01Monica: Bye. Enjoy your run. Thank you. Enjoy your guiding today.

00:22:06Tracey Wood: Okay, if you might have heard, there's lots of dogs here this morning. Probably because there's Eukanuba here as well. And I've got Gemma and Holly. And what's happening here, Gemma? Why are the dogs here? Hi, I'm Gemma. We're from Eukanuba with parkrun today. Here to... Let the dogs know about our delicious Eukanuba diets and give away some free bowls and some food. Oh, fantastic. So what's happening over there? You've just got a stand set up and you're just going to be giving people stuff?

00:22:35Unidentified speaker: Yes, exactly. We just want to bring awareness to our Eukanuba brand. We've got some dog drink stations. We've got food. We've got goodie bags. All to give away. You can enter a competition to win a year's worth of free feeding. So we just want to be able to come down and support and say hello to everyone.

00:22:55Tracey Wood: Excellent. Hey, thanks for coming, ladies. This looks great. Cheers. Good, beautiful day. Okay, I finished Albert parkrun course and I found Joanne who is looking very rainbow resplendent this morning.

00:23:06Joanne Watkins: Good morning, Joanne. How did it all go today? It was fantastic. It's our 11th anniversary and we used the rainbow theme again, which we have been using for the last five years. And we love it. People come, dress up. But like any week, we want people to come, feel welcome, to participate, to run, to volunteer and just have a great parkrun.

00:23:26Tracey Wood: Joanne, I can't stop looking at your beautiful eyelashes. They are just gorgeous. For those at home, Jo has rainbow eyelashes and I'm very envious of them.

00:23:37Joanne Watkins: They look great. So how long have you been doing this for? So Scott and I found Albert Melbourne on its seventh event, so just under seven years. So next year will be our 11th anniversary. We took over as Run Directors after the first year because Carol had been the founding Event Director. She now works for parkrun Australia. And she got a job in Singapore, and she took us out for lunch and said, do you want to be the Event Directors? And we were a bit shocked and said, sure. And I've ended up sort of doing most of this now because Scott took a role with the board volunteering, and so I do the event directing here at Albert Melbourne.

00:24:13Tracey Wood: Awesome. All right. I'm going to wander off in search of coffee because, as you say, it's not about the run, it's about the coffee.

00:24:19Joanne Watkins: So I'm going to head off, and thank you very much for having me today. You're most welcome, and everyone is welcome at Albert Park, as with every parkrun. Awesome.

00:24:27Tracey Wood: All right, it's Tracey in a Tutu signing off from Melbourne parkrun. It's been very lovely and colourful this morning. Had a great time, except for the mosquitoes. If you come here, don't forget your mozzie spray. Yeah, I need to go head off, find some coffee, check out, and head on to my next adventure. See you on the beach side. Bye.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Mudjimba Beach parkrun

00:24:48Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I'm coming to you from Mudjimba Beach parkrun. I've had trouble saying that, I don't know why. I better go, they're calling first timers. This is my first time at this event, I have not been to Mudjimba Beach or to the predecessor parkrun that used to be here, Town of Seaside, anyway I better go and listen to the briefing so I figure out where I'm going I am on the lands of the Kabi Kabi people here on the Sunshine Coast and if you can hear any of that background noise we're very close to sunshine coast airport so there's a tourist tip right there all right I'll go and find out where I'm going and I'll check in with you after the run all righty I've just finished Mudjimba Beach see I'm having trouble saying this Alrighty, I have just finished my parkrun and I'm going to let Jo say where we are because I keep saying it wrong. Jo, you're the Run Director today of?

00:25:43Jo: Mudjimba Beach parkrun. See, you can do it. Why can't I? I don't know. Now, your first time run directing today? Yes, yeah, first time flying solo with the RD job. It's a lot of fun. So, yeah, having a good time out here today. Excellent.

00:25:58Lyndell Murray: And Mudjimba Beach is not your local parkrun, not your regular?

00:26:02Jo: No, it's not my regular. My regular is Brightwater here on the Sunshine Coast. But this is an absolutely gorgeous parkrun up here on Mudjimba Beach. So very happy to join in and help out here.

00:26:13Lyndell Murray: Yeah, it is a nice parkrun here. How would you describe this course? Yeah.

00:26:19Jo: Oh, absolutely stunning. It's, you know, we're right next to the beach. We have quite a bit of the course is shaded with, you know, a lot of trees, nice big open space to start and finish. And yeah, little loop to mix things up in the middle there. And yeah, lots of families, lots of dogs. Yeah, great community out here. Excellent.

00:26:40Lyndell Murray: Now, enough about Mudjimba Beach. Let's talk about you, Jo. Run directing today, you've probably got a pedigree of volunteering. Let's talk about that. How did you get into it?

00:26:49Jo: Yeah, absolutely love parkrun. You know, I've been doing parkrun for a number of years. Tried all the different roles of volunteering. And so I thought, why not give run directing a go? You know, and it's not as... It's not as difficult as I thought. So it's a lot of fun. And you've always got such an amazing team of people. And that's what it's not about, you know, one person. It's just one role within the team of volunteers. Everyone just playing their part to, to make sure it's a successful and safe event, you know, for everyone.

00:27:21Lyndell Murray: Yeah, and once it starts, you just stand around, really, and everyone does the work, right?

00:27:25Jo: I do. I just get to chat and I'm here, you know, cheering everyone in through the finish line. So, yeah, there's not too much work involved, all right now you've done a lot of the different roles do you have a favourite one or what's the one that surprised you the most or what would you like to tell us about um I actually quite enjoy um marshalling because I'm a big cheerer so I really love clapping and cheering everyone on um so yeah that would have to be my my favourite role after the Run Director yeah awesome all right now this podcast is for parkrun adventurers have you done much touristing in your time through checking out different parkruns. Just mostly on the Sunshine Coast, to be honest. I haven't been outside of the Sunshine Coast when it comes to the parkruns, but I've almost got myself around to see, to run in most of the parkruns on the coast. There's still a couple that I need to tick off the list. So, yeah, hoping to accomplish them over the next couple of months.

00:28:25Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And you're volunteering today, volunteering at a different parkrun. So good on you for doing that. Is there anything else that you would like the listeners of the podcast to know about parkrunning or parkrunning on the Sunshine Coast or volunteering?

00:28:38Jo: I think probably a little bit biased, but it is such a beautiful place on the Sunshine Coast. And we do have a number of different parkruns here and each of them have a very unique have their own flavour to them you know their own community so um yeah no parkrun is the same and so absolutely you know recommend trying to get around and tour to the mall um to to really see what the sunshine coast has to offer excellent well thank you Joe for having a chat to me today thank you for all the work that you've done on the sunshine coast building parkrun and for your first time run directing today well done thank you thanks very much it's been great

00:29:17Lyndell Murray: Okay, now I'm here with Vibka. Vibka is one of the Co-Event Directors here at Mudjimba Beach parkrun. I can't believe I got that all out in one go. I'm on a roll here today. Now, thank you for having me here today at Mudjimba Beach. Can you tell me a little bit about your parkrun and the history here? Now, I understand that it's changed its name and location. Yeah, I don't know whether you want to talk about that or just where you are now. Over to you.

00:29:47Vibka: First of all, welcome to Mudjimba Beach parkrun. Thank you so much for actually running our parkrun or walking or hopping or whatever you did. Well done for finishing five kilometres. Thank you. Yeah, I'm one of the Co-Event Directors here. I'm actually fairly new to this particular parkrun. I'm also fairly new to the entire concept of parkrun. So my first parkrun was actually done in 2019. Yep. Mudjimba Beach parkrun was already here. They changed their location from the town of Seaside and then came down to here. We do have, as you just experienced, a very nice, easy, flat parkrun. So we're one of the flattest here on the coast. I think we have a whopping three metres elevation on here. So, oh, yeah, it's one of these things that just happened to me so um I came on board uh very late I was initially a little bit put off of parkrun of the entire concept just because it actually had the run in that name um I'm not fast I'm more of a walk slash jogger sorry but when I actually came here I was I was pulled into the entire magic of parkrun so I had a lovely team that uh got me on their side pretty much straight away and I was hooked from the first time onwards How wonderful. It is absolutely amazing. Just the entire concept that actually people come together on a Saturday morning, no matter where you are. Obviously, I do love Mudjimba Beach more than anything else, obviously. No, just because it is so nice. We have the sea right next to our awesome course. We have a very easy course to follow. It's not convoluted or anything like this at all. We have a little bit of a loop in there just to actually make it a bit interesting. Yeah. We do have an absolute amazing group of runners and volunteers that I'm very, very proud to actually say, yes, I actually belong to Mudjimba Beach parkrun. That's amazing. I just love seeing the friendly faces every Saturday just come here, just having a big smile on their faces, no matter if they do volunteering, if they do running, if they do anything else. So, yeah, and we just try to be there for everybody. And we are very, very happy for everybody that shows up every Saturday morning.

00:31:54Lyndell Murray: How terrific. Now, you said that you've been running or involved here for a few years. Do you do much touring as a parkrunner? Do you go to other parkruns around the place?

00:32:06Vibka: I would love to. I always come back to Mudjimba Beach, obviously. I try to. So I've been for... for a few of them uh not all of them I actually have to admit so I have still have not been to all of them but obviously to our neighbouring ones I've been to Kawana one I've been to Brightwater one and to uh Noosa not sorry it's Noosa yes Noosa and Nambour actually so excellent yes but um just for an easy nice Sunday Saturday morning run

00:32:37Lyndell Murray: obviously here is the best home is the best place exactly there's no place like home all right thank you very much for talking to me today and thank you for everything that you've done for parkrun um is there anything else you would like the people listening to this podcast to know about your journey as a parkrunner

00:32:55Vibka: Just come and show and experience the magic of parkrun. No, you don't have to run. You can walk. We do have awesome volunteers that actually are just walking. They are called our parkwalkers. We also have somebody that is always at the back of the pack. So you are not going to be last. No matter how long it actually takes you, give it a go. Get out of bed. Show up to your nearest parkrun and just say hi to the parkrun family.

00:33:20Lyndell Murray: And experience the magic. Thank you so much. And thank you for everything that you've done for this amazing community here at Mudjimba Beach. Thank you so much. All righty, parkrun adventurers, I think that's a wrap from me from Mudjimba Beach parkrun. How's that, the magic of parkrun? I do feel the magic here at Mudjimba Beach. It is a lovely course. There's a whole heap of coffee shops just in the vicinity. There's still people sitting around having a chat and congregating at the finish line to cheer each other home. So I would agree, it is a magic little parkrun here at Mudjimba Beach. All righty, that is Lyndell over and out for the Channel 5 News crew on the parkrun adventurers.

00:34:05Melissa Ellis: Thank you to two of our lovely lady roving reporters, Tracey and her tutu out at Albert Melbourne, talking to Monica, their lead bike. Tracey ticked off another volunteer role for her original challenge, Ollie. She had never interviewed somebody doing lead bike before. And there was Gemma and Holly from Eukanuba. So shout out to parkrun sponsors in Australia, Eukanuba, being there and handing out gift bags for the doggos down at Albert Melbourne who were celebrating their anniversary. Yeah, what a morning. And Joanne Watkins too. So shout out to Joanne. They had a rainbow theme there. as you would have heard. And we also had Lyndell at Mudjimba Beach, and Lyndell was stumbling over saying Mudjimba Beach.

00:34:56Oliver Spake: I do stumble over that one.

00:34:57Melissa Ellis: Can you say Mudjimba Beach, Ollie?

00:35:00Oliver Spake: Yeah, Mudjimba Beach. Excellent. Yes. And, yeah, so the town of Seaside, I went and did a Freedom Run there after Palm 2021. After hearing about that one, I checked out the course and went and explored that one.

00:35:15Melissa Ellis: Yes, Mudjimba Beach being the substitute event for Town of Seaside. Yeah. I actually saw interesting – I've recently joined the Stats Geeks group on Facebook, of course, I should say, and I noticed somebody – I probably should have taken notice of who it was – To give them credit, apologies, there was a spreadsheet, as there are often with stats geeks, saying how many events had closed and a new event had launched within a 5K radius as, you know, potential replacement events, I think the thing was. It was quite interesting to look at that chart. So anybody who's... You know, in that Stats Geek group, it's worth having a look at that. And there was quite a lot of Australian events, actually, on that spreadsheet.

00:36:02Oliver Spake: Yes, there certainly have been a few over time.

00:36:04Melissa Ellis: And Town of Seaside and Mudjimba Beach being two of them. Yeah. Or one of them, I should say, because it's like... Well, that's true.

00:36:10Oliver Spake: One instance.

00:36:11Melissa Ellis: Yeah, one instance. Correct.

00:36:13Oliver Spake: Yeah. So thank you, Lyndell and Tracey.

Dazza's

00:36:16Oliver Spake: And well, now I suppose we should also thank Dazza because it's time to catch up on our, well, our good company from Dazza's. So at Dazza this week, he did say that today, as was Saturday, today is International Men's Day and Dazza would like to acknowledge and celebrate the positive value men bring to the world. the families and communities. How was your parkrun morning? Come on in and share your stories. And firstly, joining us as a first timer was Darren DeGroote, who said, Broad Park parkrun number seven was sadly cancelled due to the weather conditions. So managed to get to Foster parkrun number 163. Conditions were just as bad, but... But we had a great time in the pouring rain and Darren did share a photo there. Well, it was a very wet photo showing the flooded path at Foster. So good you made a parkrun.

00:37:14Melissa Ellis: And we heard from Ian and Lydia Knox. They were also first-timers, Ollie. All the first-timers came in this week. Yes. And they said Campbelltown parkrun... 29th Sydney parkrun location today for Lydia. Well done, Lydia. And they shared a lovely photo, a lovely sunny photo of Lydia as the field was walking to the start line.

00:37:34Oliver Spake: And someone we mentioned a little earlier also popped in to Dazza's in a very much liked post. Tony O'Connell said, arbitrary, but 150 different event today on my 300th run. Jack did the zoomie. And there was a picture shared by Toc of Jack zooming over the finish line.

00:37:55Melissa Ellis: I love the teamwork, the team O'Connell. Yes. We heard from Roberta Winters, who had a milestone of sorts. And she said, today, a group of us went to Ginninderra parkrun, who was celebrating their 500th event. How cool is the 500 flag? And that's a flag I haven't seen before, Ollie.

00:38:15Oliver Spake: No, no, likewise. Yes.

00:38:17Melissa Ellis: They must have had it specially made.

00:38:19Oliver Spake: Yeah, I suspect that's the case. But, yeah, nice work and happy 500 to Team Ginninderra.

00:38:26Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

00:38:27Oliver Spake: Now we heard from Jack Corkill as well who was on the tourist front and said, lovely morning at Roma for run number 201 for me. My suggestion for Zoomie Day is the 31st of March, the birthday of the Royal Australian Air Force.

00:38:44Melissa Ellis: Well, that's a good submission.

00:38:47Oliver Spake: You make a good case. What do we think, Mel? We'll see? We'll see. We'll see. Okay.

00:38:52Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah, stay tuned. We've got a few suggestions. Now, Paddy Oshimo popped in. He was volleying. He said, I marshalled at Shellharbour today at the bottom of the first hill. I had the pleasure, question mark. of informing the runners to turn around and head back up the hill. Once the Tail Walkers had arrived, I joined them and chatted with local legend Peter, one of our octogenarians. He's a sprightly runner still, but taking it easy after having recently recovered from COVID. I also know his son from work about 15 years ago. Speaking of International Men's Day, they are both very impressive men. And we had a couple of photos from Paddy, One, showing us the hill and a selfie. And I must say, Paddy's getting pretty good at his selfies.

00:39:41Oliver Spake: I think so. When he applies himself, then he can do it quite well, can't he? And yes, the aforementioned Peter, what a parkrunner. He's pretty zippy too. But... Popping in with a bit of a challenge focus was Michael Gentle and he said, I enjoyed a Friday trip to Canberra and a short morning drive to start my collection of successor parkruns at Tuggeranong parkrun this morning. The course is a very flat, sealed out and back pathway along the shores of Lake Tuggeranong. The volunteers and other parkrunners were super supportive and full of amazing encouragement as I struggled to get around on dodgy knees that played up terribly. I even drew inspiration from Mel's unfortunate accident last week to keep moving just like she did. A memorable parkrun experience for me and the last of the eight ACT events now done. And Michael did share a photo, a selfie at Tuggernaut.

00:40:40Melissa Ellis: Well done. Congratulations, Michael.

00:40:42Oliver Spake: Nice to hear a bit of encouragement going there, Mel.

00:40:44Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And Liz Currie, she was at home and she said, shout out to the amazing first aid parkrunners at Goulburn parkrun today. They performed CPR and used the defibrillator, the defib, on an unwell parkrunner at the finish line until the ambulance arrived. Apparently patient is recovering well in hospital, but it could have been a different story if not for the efforts of these amazing people. So well done to the team out at Goulburn.

00:41:13Oliver Spake: Yeah, huge thank you for all of your support there, team. And that is positive news. about the parkrunner. Now, we heard from Graeme Wilkinson and Graeme said, join my fellow RDs, Scott and Kev from Stirling Juniors parkrun to visit the brand spanking new Scottish parkrun at Erskine Waterfront. It was my 111th event at their appropriately numbered one inaugural event. An out and back route running the first lap anti-clockwise, then out to the smaller loop, and a turnaround point about two-thirds of the way back to the start. So you do the small loop twice, unseasonably bright weather by the Clyde for November. I'm informed it's like a cut price Crissy Field as the Erskine Bridge isn't quite the Golden Gate. Very enjoyable morning for my second and last inaugural parkrun to satisfy my nerdiness in the Fibonacci Challenge. The sequence actually goes 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, etc. All the better with friends. We even met one of our Sunday volunteers, Alison, before the start of the run too. And, Graham, thank you for sharing the collection of the photos from the morning there. It did look like a lovely morning over there. And, yeah, well done on adding to your achievements in the challenge.

00:42:35Melissa Ellis: Seems like Graham is our Fibonacci expert.

00:42:38Oliver Spake: I think so.

00:42:39Melissa Ellis: Next time we need an explanation on Fibonacci sequence, we need to remember Graham.

00:42:43Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:42:44Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, Christine Imbert, she was touristing in Norway and she said, chilly but sunny morning at Toyen parkrun, in Oslo where I completed my first parkrun in Norway and she shared a lovely photo of herself in the selfie frame looking really snug in her beanie, I think beanie and buffs and all sorts of things.

00:43:09Oliver Spake: Yes, nice trip there and another country. Well done, Christine.

00:43:13Unidentified speaker: Uh-huh.

00:43:13Oliver Spake: Now, Johan hopped in in South Africa once again and said, I was supposed to RD at Prieska parkrun, but rising river levels led to a cancellation there and I deviated to Loxton parkrun, where they were running short of volunteers. We had an all-male event, which is quite apt for the theme of Dazza's this week, and Johan shared a photo of blue skies over water. And was that only two finishes?

00:43:42Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I had to Google that. When he said there was an all-male event, I thought, oh, we're going to look up those results for Loxton. And I wonder if he didn't deliberately drop that first parkrun in just to give us a bit of a tongue twister.

00:43:55Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, I appreciate that. Thanks, Johan.

00:43:59Melissa Ellis: But the mother of all tongue twisters is in my lap at the moment. So Tracy May, she was in Wales and she said, so I decided we would do Coed Cefn Pwll Du parkrun. However, the man in my life wishes he had chosen as he decided that a mud bath would be good. And Tracy shared a photo of said husband wearing his apricot shirt and covered in mud.

00:44:25Oliver Spake: Absolutely.

00:44:26Melissa Ellis: So it looks like he joined the stack club.

00:44:29Oliver Spake: Oh, so a lot of different events there. And I appreciate everyone dropping in and sharing your experiences from parkrun Day, Mel.

the Obi Award — Tony O'Connell

00:44:37Melissa Ellis: We do. But the Obi envelope, Ollie, it's on tour.

00:44:42Oliver Spake: Good, because I was worried I didn't have an envelope.

00:44:45Melissa Ellis: No, it's on tour. It's like past the parcel. We just don't know where it's going to be.

00:44:50Oliver Spake: Last week, thanks to some great help, it seemed to make its way very safely to new territory. And thank you very much for that. But yeah, so do we know who's got it this week?

00:45:04Melissa Ellis: Let's just let the listeners work it out for themselves.

00:45:08Unidentified speaker: Hi, Mel and Ollie. Firstly, love the show. Love everything that you do. Never miss it. And to all the listeners, thank you to everyone for supporting these guys. They're absolute legends. Now, the reason I'm here, the Obi Award for this week. What can I say about this amazing human? He is the founder of Inverloch parkrun, the godfather of parkrun in the Gippsland area. He's been a Run Director, Event Director, territory director, ambassador, all-round legend, Tony Toc O'Connell. Congratulations, Toc.

00:45:56Oliver Spake: And congratulations to our Obi winner. A very fitting Obi award recipient is Toc, of course.

00:46:03Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. Well done, Toc. You well and truly earned it.

00:46:06Oliver Spake: That's right. But I think we picked up on a few of the stats there in Dazza's mail, but have you got a few more for us?

00:46:13Melissa Ellis: I've got a few more. The first one I had on my list we've already announced. He won the Obi, so we can skip past that one. But Gordon Turner, Ollie, he got bingo this last Saturday after 361 runs. So well done to Gordon.

00:46:30Oliver Spake: Yes, well done, Gordon.

00:46:31Melissa Ellis: And Michael Gentle became an ACT Territorian and he was a little bit, what would you say, he didn't announce that in his Dazza's post. No. Oh, did he?

00:46:42Oliver Spake: Well, I think it was referenced in the words, yes.

00:46:46Melissa Ellis: It was, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, we wanted to highlight it, if you like. Yes. Now, Minky Lee achieved Peel Club status, so well done to Minky. And last week, so we got a couple that we missed last week, Ollie, that we have to recap. Monty Slade did his V350.

00:47:06Oliver Spake: Yes, well done, Monty, and thank you for all of your support.

00:47:09Melissa Ellis: And Tracey Wood did her V300 last week at Des Connor Junior. So good on you, Tracey. And thank you for supporting Junior parkrun.

00:47:17Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:47:18Melissa Ellis: Hashtag I volunteer to juniors.

00:47:21Oliver Spake: So yeah, look, some really impressive stats there. And thank you for sharing, Mel.

00:47:25Melissa Ellis: You're welcome.

parkrun Partysong by John Linsall

00:47:26Oliver Spake: But we've got something a little different next. Yes. I mean, we were talking about not being a musical podcast earlier in the pod, but that's not true. We are musical. Well, not you and I, or you might be. No. I'm not, but we have someone that is. So we have been reliably informed of a certain song that was released last month. And if you're listening to this a bit later, then that was in October in 2022. And this song is written and produced by a Kawana parkrunner by the name of John Linsall. Now, the song itself, Mel, is called parkrun Party, which I think captures how we feel about it quite well. And we are fortunate enough to be able to have a listen to that. So are we just going to cue it up and play it, Mel?

00:48:22Melissa Ellis: Absolutely, we are.

00:48:23Oliver Spake: Okay. So here's a bit of music. I feel like a radio DJ now. Here's a bit of music for your long run.

00:48:28Melissa Ellis: All my dreams have come true. Okay.

00:48:32Oliver Spake: Yes, but to reinforce, we have permission to play this, so please enjoy.

00:48:37[music]

00:50:09[32 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:50:41Alice: It's parkrun, yeah

00:50:43[26 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:51:09Alice: It's free, it's free, it's free.

00:51:14[19 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:51:32Melissa Ellis: And once again, we are so grateful to John for giving us the permission to play that song. And it's so catchy. Ollie absolutely loved it just on the first listen. So we hope, we really hope that we can have a chat to John and bring you an interview really soon.

00:51:49Oliver Spake: Yes, I absolutely echo that, Mel.

00:51:53Melissa Ellis: Now...

Emails

00:51:55Oliver Spake: Look, we've been catching up on a lot, but there's more to catch up on because we've got some mail. You've got mail.

00:52:01Melissa Ellis: We do, Ollie. Firstly, we had a message last week from Jenny Leslie, and she said, Hi, guys. I know you are big supporters of parkrun and Achilles Melbourne, so I thought you might be interested in knowing about an event we have planned for International Day of People with Disability. Achilles Melbourne are partnering with Kirkdale parkrun on December the 3rd, International Day of People with Disability, to get as many people with a disability running, walking or volunteering at parkrun as possible. Our main goal is to have all volunteer positions filled by people with disability. Achilles Melbourne will be posting about this event publicly via social media this week. If this is something you would like to share as well, and it is. Yes. Otherwise, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or email Melbourne at achillesaustralia.org.au.

00:52:52Oliver Spake: What a great initiative.

00:52:54Melissa Ellis: Yes. Thank you for letting us know, Jenny. We absolutely do want to promote that and get the word out as far and wide as we can.

00:53:02Oliver Spake: Now, we also heard from Alison in New Zealand, our very own Channel 5 News crew member, and she said, Hi, Mel and Ollie. Here's some news for you for the next pod. Lower Hutt parkrun founding ED Richard McChesney returned to New Zealand to complete his 500th parkrun at Lower Hutt. It's only the second 500 milestone to be recorded in New Zealand, but our next one will likely be on January 1. That will be the current Lower Hutt ED, Mark Malone. followed by at least a couple more in 2023. Porirua parkrun is closing in a couple of weeks and being replaced by Ara Harakeke, apologies for the pronunciation, meaning flax path. The park where Porirua parkrun is based is undergoing major wastewater infrastructure changes, to support the building of 2,000 new homes nearby. So they're moving six kilometres away. The last event is December 3, and Ara Harakeke will start on December 10 and will be considered a new event. First finisher at... Whakatane Gardens was Victorian-based parkrunner Ricky Thackray. That's A1356836. He was in Rotorua for an orienteering event but wasn't able to run Puarenga parkrun as it was part of the course and competitors weren't allowed on the course until the event. So that's an interesting situation and unfortunate for people Sorry, I digressed. Alison didn't say that bit. I got distracted. Apologies. The rest of Alison's email said, enjoy the rest of the weekend and good luck tomorrow, Ollie. And thank you, Alison. I'm sorry to interject in your email. Yeah, look, firstly, congratulations to Richard. Richard, who of course we spoke to in episode 258 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. He is a phenomenal ultra walker and that's a huge achievement. I wonder if he's done a park walk, Ollie. Cool. I haven't checked that.

00:55:04Melissa Ellis: You'd be in front of the runners, though, and you're supposed to stay behind the runners when you do park walk.

00:55:10Oliver Spake: Well, to be amongst, yeah, that's true, to be amongst walkers. So if there are other, you know, fast walkers out there, maybe it works. But, yeah, that would be interesting.

00:55:20Melissa Ellis: But, yeah, thank you. And the Porirua and the Ara Harakeke will also join that same spreadsheet as mentioned earlier.

00:55:31Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:55:32Melissa Ellis: So, yeah.

Consolidated Club Report

00:55:33Oliver Spake: We're finding a few common themes this week, Mel, but am I right in assuming that we might have a few more stats in the Consolidated Club Report?

00:55:42Melissa Ellis: We do. So the Consolidated Club Report on the 19th of November 2020 22 even, had a total of 336 members, 264 of which took part on that date at 144 locations. In the UK, there was 20 events. In South Africa, we had two. In USA, there was two. And there was one each in Canada. Canada, Canada, and Norway. I've done something wrong there, haven't I?

00:56:13Oliver Spake: That's right. We do love Canada. We do love Canada.

00:56:16Melissa Ellis: It was somewhere else. Where was it? Oh. Quick, you look while I keep reading.

00:56:21Oliver Spake: All right, yeah. You distract them. I'll have a look. Oh.

00:56:26Melissa Ellis: Locally, we had adventurers at 32 events in Victoria. Queensland was back up in second position with 26, with New South Wales hot on their heels with 25. South Australia came in fourth with nine events. Western Australia had eight, seven in Tassie, and six on the North Island. Oh, and four in the ACT.

the Frond — Prince of Wales parkrun

00:56:50Melissa Ellis: Now, our largest frond this week, Ollie, was in the Greater State with the inaugural of Prince of Wales parkrun. Now, this was the relocation event of Ballarat parkrun. So although it is an event number one, it did have a very experienced event team. So we will forgive the 13 people that attended event number one. They were Thomas Martin, Jordan Fuessel, Fusel, Fusel. Oh, Jordan, you've got to let me know. Robin Rishworth, John Bradshaw, Nadine Crawford, Larry April, Dan O'Connell, Cheryl Smit, Tanya Pollard, Michael Charlton, Kevin Green, Wendy Glen and Kirstie Ganji.

00:57:31Oliver Spake: Oh, go crew.

00:57:32Melissa Ellis: How'd you go with your homework, Ollie?

00:57:34Oliver Spake: Yeah, so the second Canada, that's Ireland.

00:57:37Melissa Ellis: Oh, rightio. Yay for Ireland.

00:57:39Oliver Spake: That's right. But...

00:57:43Melissa Ellis: Another big one. Busy, busy, busy.

00:57:44Oliver Spake: Now, I believe we had a suggestion in Dazza's about International Zoomie Day, Mel. We've got a few more. Is that right?

00:57:52Melissa Ellis: Yes. Well, jumping ahead on my little list, the suggestion in Dazza's came from Jack Corkill, who suggested the 31st of March, the birthday of the Royal Australian Air Force. Now, I'm a fan of this one.

00:58:03Unidentified speaker: Hmm.

00:58:04Melissa Ellis: It's a good time of year. It's before Palm. We're usually into April for Palm, so it would not clash. Still good weather for Zooming.

00:58:17Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

00:58:18Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but the ideas, man, hey, things outside the box. He really does. Now, he said he wondered if we should look at February the 11th as a possible date because that's the birthday of Leslie Nielsen from the Flying High movie.

00:58:36Oliver Spake: There's always a link there. Always a link.

00:58:39Melissa Ellis: Yes. And he did drop a Shirley joke in there, but I'm not clever enough to replicate that just quickly with you.

00:58:44Oliver Spake: Oh, okay. Okay.

00:58:45Melissa Ellis: Now, Tracey Wood suggested choosing a date related to Maud Bonney. Now, Maud was a South African-born Australian aviator and she was the first woman to fly solo from Australia to Britain. And one of her remarkable flights was actually done on Boxing Day. So there's a few dates in there of some remarkable things Maud did, but I ran out of time to add them all in the show notes.

00:59:11Oliver Spake: But we've got some good options there.

00:59:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and then Alison suggested the anniversary of the date that Concorde launched, which was the January the 21st. Wow. We don't have to make a decision yet. We can keep it open. We can vote.

00:59:25Oliver Spake: No, we don't. Yes.

00:59:28Melissa Ellis: No, that's always problematic.

00:59:31Oliver Spake: Online voting always sorts things out. But thank you, everyone, for the suggestions. Keep them coming. Keep them coming. I certainly support that.

00:59:40Melissa Ellis: And you don't have to just keep them coming on Facebook because we know we're reliably informed that not everybody uses Facebook. So we're also on Instagram and we're also on Twitter. So you can drop us a line anywhere or our email.

00:59:57Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right.

00:59:58Melissa Ellis: But we mentioned that at the end.

Sign-off

01:00:01Oliver Spake: Yeah, we'll mention that in about one or two minutes, maybe less because, look, looking ahead, which we usually do, I'm at home, I'm run directing. I think most of our regular listeners will be familiar with that story. So that's it for me for next week. What about you, Mel? Are you going to make a parkrun?

01:00:18Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so I am hoping to get out to Ballarat, to POW, to Prince of Wales parkrun. How cool is it to have an acronym for your event of POW?

01:00:28Unidentified speaker: Yeah, it needs the words.

01:00:30Melissa Ellis: It just reminds me of the Batman and Robin.

01:00:32Unidentified speaker: Yes.

01:00:32Melissa Ellis: POW. Yeah, it's the coolest name. So, yeah, hopefully I can get out there for event two. We shall see. I've got a busy day on Saturday.

01:00:39Oliver Spake: And a limb that needs a bit of recovery, but yes.

01:00:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm supposed to be taking it easy. Yeah. Tie me down.

01:00:48Oliver Spake: Yeah, nothing's going to stop you. I do hope you have a nice parkrun day.

01:00:51Melissa Ellis: Thank you. We're wrapping it up.

01:00:53Oliver Spake: I think we are. I think we are. It's been wonderful. Thank you again for all of your kind words and support too, Mel. But I will wrap it up and say, as always, everyone, you can contact us via Facebook, via Twitter, via Instagram, at a parkrun too, or on our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But that is it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:02:29Unidentified speaker: Hi, Abby. Hi, Mel. How did you go at Juniors today? I came 11th place and it was so fun. Plus, I tricked my friend Millie into walking. Did she complete the whole thing? Yes. That's excellent. And what are you doing after parkrun? I am going to a pool. Cool. Pool cool. That'll be fun. And what did you have to say to Ollie? I hope your run went well, Ollie. Have a good day. Bye, adventurers. Stay safe.