Episode 315 - Honey Stud

Welcome

00:00:24Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 315 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. I am Ollie Spake, and I am joining from Ngunnawal Country.

00:00:33Melissa Ellis: I am Melissa Ellis, and I'm coming from Wurundjeri Country. Ollie, we've nearly done 100 episodes.

00:00:41Oliver Spake: We have. We have. Well, if I didn't keep taking holidays, maybe we'd be a bit closer, but...

00:00:50Melissa Ellis: I think we started 216, didn't we?

00:00:53Oliver Spake: Oh, I should have looked this up. I should have looked this up. I mean, firstly, huge thank you to Simon. It was lovely to hear Simon and thank you for helping me have a holiday. But, yes, we are very, very close.

00:01:06Melissa Ellis: So if we're up to 315, does that technically mean we've done 100? Oh. Yes.

00:01:10Oliver Spake: We need a maths genius to step in then. Yeah, let's technically say if it was from 3.15, there have been 100 since we did earn the keys. But actually it was from 2.16. Yeah. So, yes, that makes this the 100th episode since we got the keys.

00:01:37Melissa Ellis: Hooray.

00:01:39Oliver Spake: Yes. I feel like we've earned our stripes. I think so. 100 episodes. That's right. And thank you to everyone that supported along the way too, not just those who have stepped in and helped us co-host and contribute to the pod, but everyone, everyone for coming along for the ride.

00:01:57Melissa Ellis: a whole menagerie.

00:02:00Oliver Spake: We are a menagerie, that's right.

00:02:02Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, you have to give us some feedback. We haven't heard about Hamilton Island yet.

00:02:08Oliver Spake: Ah, well, it was hot, Mel. It was a lovely family holiday. It was rather busy because there were 14 of us and it was like an you know, Christmas family holiday movie in real life, but you can't complain about that sort of thing.

00:02:25Melissa Ellis: You didn't leave anybody at home, did you?

00:02:26Oliver Spake: No, we did not. Just Sphinxie and Mum. But, yeah, that's right. It was Cathy's side of the family and we did manage to take everybody, thankfully. Even James and his boyfriend got to join us for a chunk of it.

00:02:41Melissa Ellis: Next time, can you say your co-host has to come?

00:02:47Oliver Spake: I mean, I was going to make a mention, I may as well now, that James seems to have been invited along to these in-laws family holidays quite quickly. I think it'd be a big stretch to invite the co-host, Mel, and just pointing out that I was never invited to one of these big family shindig holidays until this one. So... It takes a while to earn the stripes, unless you're James, it seems.

00:03:10Unidentified speaker: Wow.

00:03:11Oliver Spake: Yeah. Good work, James. But, yes, sorry, Mel, I digress. I'm out of habit, out of practice. I did visit Hamilton Island. I was there for a week and fortunately had planned. I won't say that parkrun dictated planning, but I was able to influence it to go in on Friday and to visit Hamilton Island parkrun, which is on the land of the Ngaro people, is my understanding there from only some brief research. I... Didn't really know much about the course. I did know that it did include some sand running, some beach running, which, you know, I have missed. So it was good to have that back and that it is a two lap course. But as you'd expect being in a resort area, plenty of first timers, plenty of unknown finishes and a fairly good turnout in the high 60s. What I hadn't thought about was that it was high tide and with the rising high tide, some beach running in the heat would be a bit challenging despite it being a nice 7am start. But it was great fun and it made all the more special because it was actually Hannah's 50th parkrun and that's been a long time coming because she's had a half there, half not kind of relationship with parkrun. But yeah, she has been looking forward to this celebration. So happy 50, Hannah. And she's celebrated by volunteering as the Tail Walker, alongside a lady by the name of Laura, who I believe is involved in supporting the volunteers at Airlie Beach parkrun. So shout out to the Airlie Beach team. I took the opportunity to run and then barcode scan, managing to push myself to a speedier finish as I could imagine. Kathy also joined and ran and came within 30 seconds or so of a PB, which I don't know how she managed with that sand. And the small team, a team of three organising the event were lovely and it was great to chat to them afterwards as I barcode scanned for them and get some good tips for the island. The highlight was probably chatting with the third place finisher and the first place finisher. I was in between. And when third, who was in fact the partner of the Tail Walker, not Hannah, but Laura, when we realised our first place finisher didn't have his barcode, we managed to help him download the 5K app, find his login, find his barcode and record his first ever official parkrun completion, which coincidentally was on his honeymoon. So, yeah. And Mel, he was a Victorian. Yeah. Of course. So, yeah, half his luck. Married in the Yarra Valley in Victoria and honeymooning on Hamilton Island before they ducked down to Byron Bay in New South Wales. So, yes. But... Fantastic experience. Thanks to the Hamilton Island team and great to chat with a number of other visitors as well. I met a gentleman from Sirromet. I can't remember all of the other parkrunners I spoke with, but, yeah, again, one of the highlights of barcode scanning is you get to ask everyone how they went.

00:06:28Melissa Ellis: Were most of the runners on Hamilton Island parkrunners that were there on holidays? Yes.

00:06:35Oliver Spake: Yes. Interestingly, I did notice in the results, as I said, a lot of unknowns, but there were several that had one parkrun to their name, and so would Cathy's mother have had one parkrun to her name, potentially, if she'd agreed to be signed up and finish the course. But she did take on the first chunk of it, so well done to Christina. But, yeah, I suspect given the number of first-timers, first-time parkrunners, that Maybe there were a few people dragged along with family and friends to participate as well.

00:07:10Melissa Ellis: Oh, that sounds good. No, well done. That's fabulous.

00:07:14Oliver Spake: So, yeah, that was parkrun a week ago. And then, of course, more recently I was back home. I had hoped to run direct, but just as a precaution because we were flying back in Friday night and I was a bit concerned about a strike afterwards. At the airports, Karen had kindly agreed to step in. So Karen and Darwin looked after us, run directing for the morning, and I was a Marshal, which allowed me to, well, firstly, join the First Timers Welcome and welcome some of our visitors, including some new home parkrunners who have moved down from Dolls Point. But, of course, including some very special guests from Victoria, Mel. So it was lovely to welcome Craig and Rebecca visiting up and get to show off our course to them. And we were joined by our other parkrun family with Sam and Luke joining us back down at their home parkrun and a number of others. And, yes, as a Marshal, it conveniently allowed me the opportunity to set up the kick yay program. On my phone, on the post next to me as I cheer people in.

00:08:22Melissa Ellis: Hang on, mate, that finished weeks ago. What are we talking about?

00:08:26Oliver Spake: I do appreciate Simon's point. It is a global event. And that particular morning, the parkrun happened, walkie talkies, which we do have, were rather heavily utilised as Ralph and I were commentating on the penalty shootout between Argentina and the Netherlands in the quarterfinal.

00:08:46Melissa Ellis: Are they still in it, Argentina? They're doing really well, aren't they?

00:08:49Oliver Spake: They are doing well. They are doing very well and, yeah, they're in it. We had Brendan and Em chiming in as Tail Walkers over the frequency. But, yeah, good way to enjoy the game whilst volunteering at parkrun. And we will see. I mean, my early money had been on Argentina for the tournament, so I'll be very happy if they win. It will complete our record of every time we lose in the knockout stages of losing to the World Cup champions, which isn't a bad thing to say. Yeah.

00:09:17Melissa Ellis: Fun fact, one of the Wyndham Vale co-EDs, Maria, is of Argentinian descent. She's a very big supporter. I've been seeing a lot of social media posts of Maria in an Argentinian jersey, guernsey, whatever. Hmm.

00:09:37Oliver Spake: And, yes, Hannah looked at me rather confused and expectantly. I don't know how those two, there was probably a sequence for those two looks. When on the bus in Hamilton Island, I'd been sat next to two girls from Argentina as we were going around the island and hadn't brought up the football, which Australia had just lost to Argentina a day or two beforehand. Yeah. Not that it was raw. It was a wonderful performance, but it is.

00:10:07Melissa Ellis: You said football and you threw me because it's either kick yay or soccer. Sorry, Mel. Football is how you tell.

00:10:13Oliver Spake: Old habits die hard. Old habits die hard. But, yes, I am still watching. I am still enjoying it. That's good. Yes, and so to complete the recap, after parkrun, after we had finished, we got a few snaps with some backwards flags and made our way down to the cafe by the marina where I had hoped to stay a bit longer, but the girls' dancing concert was a bit earlier than planned, so I had to duck off for that.

00:10:41Melissa Ellis: I did borrow one of those snaps.

00:10:44Oliver Spake: Edited slightly.

00:10:45Melissa Ellis: My creative editing.

00:10:47Oliver Spake: Yeah, the trees look wrong.

00:10:49Melissa Ellis: Michael Gentle thinks he's going to get the better of me. It's game on, Michael, game on.

00:10:54Oliver Spake: Nice. So, yes, there's my ramble. Thanks for having me back to ramble, Mel. But, yeah, thank you to everyone for the last two weeks that have made my parkrun day special. What about yours? You had a bit of an adventure, which you did allude to last week as well.

00:11:11Melissa Ellis: I did.

00:11:11Oliver Spake: Mm-hmm.

00:11:12Melissa Ellis: I said I was going to go north, Ollie, and I did. And I shouted out to Melissa Currie and she heard the call, Ollie.

00:11:19Oliver Spake: She did.

00:11:20Melissa Ellis: She heard the call and she reached out to me and we had dinner on the Friday night up in Goulburn, which was lovely. Herself, her lovely husband, Peter, her daughter, Montana, and her two nieces joined Zoe and myself at the local pub. Oh, I got a story to tell about... Look in a room above the local pub. Goodness me, you should have seen my view. Oh, it was a good view of the car park.

00:11:50Oliver Spake: Oh, dear. Is this pod friendly, Mel?

00:11:53Melissa Ellis: Very convenient for dinner, though, I must say. But anyway, we had a fabulous dinner and we joined Mel and Peter the next morning for Goulburn parkrun on Wiradjuri Country. Now, Goulburn's claim to fame, Ollie, you might be interested to know, is that it is Australia's first inland city. Now, this was gazetted as a municipality in 1859 and, well, became the first inland Australian city in 1863. Now, one of Australia's iconic big things and symbolic of the city, known as the fine wool capital of the world, is the Big Merino. So Zoe and I had to stop and have the obligatory selfies in front of the Big Merino. And also for a beautiful panorama view of Goulburn, you can also head to the Tower Lookout at the Rocky Hill War Memorial and Museum. However, we were very limited in our time in Goulburn. We just drove up on the Friday and then after brunch... Did you go to the Paragon?

00:13:01Oliver Spake: We went to the Paragon. That's the one. Yes.

00:13:04Melissa Ellis: That's the one. So, after our parkrun, we headed off to Paragon Cafe. Now, as I have mentioned in my recording that we're about to listen to, it's not the regular post-parkrun cafe, but... but it was highly recommended. Enough of me rambling.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Melissa Ellis — Goulburn parkrun

00:13:23Melissa Ellis: Let's have a listen to the audio that I recorded on the day. I'm here with an adventurer that I found at Goulburn parkrun this morning. His name is Bill. Good morning, Bill. Good morning. How are you? I'm good. And this is your home parkrun here at Goulburn?

00:13:38Bill: Yes, this is my 98th parkrun.

00:13:40Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Big milestone coming up. Hang on a minute. You're wearing a 100 shirt.

00:13:44Bill: This is for Goulburn. I've done 120 something.

00:13:50Melissa Ellis: So you're a bit of an adventurer.

00:13:52Bill: Yes.

00:13:53Melissa Ellis: What events have you done?

00:13:54Bill: My favourite one is Kingscliff up near the Queensland border. Love that one. And also I like Wagga Beach down in Canberra.

00:14:02Melissa Ellis: Ah, very good. So do you have family in the area? Is that what takes you there?

00:14:06Bill: No, I just travel around. Every chance we get, if we're on holidays, we do as many as we can.

00:14:11Melissa Ellis: Now you tipped me off on course about a certain police academy. Do you want to tell us a little bit about the police academy that's out that we can see?

00:14:19Bill: Yes, the police academy has been in Goulburn since 1983 and the course goes behind the police academy and you can see where they have a train, a bus and they do their scenarios on policing incidents on buses and trains there.

00:14:33Melissa Ellis: Bit of insider knowledge, I never would have known that otherwise. What do you like most about the Goulburn course?

00:14:39Bill: It's just an even fair course. The hills aren't that big, but there's enough undulating in there to test you. It's a very good thing with the water next to it. It just looks and feels lovely.

00:14:52Melissa Ellis: We had a good turnout today. I know I was number 68 and I was a walker, so there was good numbers. How was your run today?

00:14:58Bill: Very good. I always take 30 minutes on, either win or I lose, and I beat it this time.

00:15:03Melissa Ellis: That's brilliant. Thank you. Well, thank you very much. Thank you for introducing yourself this morning. It was lovely to meet you, and happy adventuring. Thank you so much. Well, we're in the cafe now, post-parkrun, and I've had a lovely breakfast with Melissa and Peter Currie and the kids. So I'm here now with Melissa. Good morning. Good morning, Mel. Thanks for all your hospitality. I really enjoyed the Goulburn course. I won't say Goulburn. Do you want to explain the course for everybody?

00:15:32Melissa Currie: It's an out-and-back course, pretty flat with only a couple of small hills, except for the end, which is a zipper course, so it ends on a hill, which is a bit nasty, but it goes along the river and there's some geese and sometimes magpies, but no magpies today, so it was pretty good. Did you enjoy it?

00:15:50Melissa Ellis: I did, yeah, we had a beautiful morning. The numbers were quite good. Now, we first met at Bathurst, and now that was just a few months ago where I met yourself and Peter when you came up and joined us for the Punish, and you're an adventurer yourself, is that right?

00:16:04Melissa Currie: Yeah. Yeah, that was the first time that we'd ever been to Bathurst and we really had a great time. It's fantastic. Everyone should come next year for sure.

00:16:14Melissa Ellis: And you like to tour around yourself a little bit and adventure. How long have you been parkrunning?

00:16:21Melissa Currie: We've only seriously been parkrunning for the last year. We started in 2019, but with all the lockdowns and everything, we haven't been able to do many. We're up to 15 different events now, but next year we'll definitely get out and about and do a lot more.

00:16:36Melissa Ellis: And can you tell me what three of your most memorable parkruns have been?

00:16:43Melissa Currie: I really liked Dolls Point, which I know is controversial. That is a very pretty one. I haven't done all of Sydney, so not sure if it's the prettiest, but I really like Dolls Point. I loved North Wollongong, which is one of the first ones we did. That's a really beautiful course too. And in the ACT, I really liked Burley Griffin. There was nice undulations and some beautiful trees. Yeah, that's my top three. And I believe you're going to join us at Palm next year over in WA. Yes, I'm really looking forward to it. Never been to Western Australia before, so looking forward to going there and catching up with all the other adventurers.

00:17:21Melissa Ellis: Now, we're in the lovely Paragon Cafe. It was recommended to me, so we've come down here to enjoy our brunch. The kids have enjoyed waffles and smoothies and everything else, but it isn't the normal cafe meeting point for your parkrun, is it?

00:17:36Melissa Currie: No, it's a bit out of the way from where parkrun is. It's in the main drag and there's not much parking, but it is a beautiful old cafe. I think it's been here since the 1930s. Don't quote me on that, but they've renovated it recently and it's looking lovely, if I don't say so myself. And where does the crew usually go for their brunch? So a lot of people go to the garden centre called Gales and they go to K&G's and some people go to Green Grocer. So there's a mixed bag, but there's quite a few cafes involved. So if you're coming here, there's plenty to choose from.

00:18:14Melissa Ellis: Excellent. So I noticed there was good parking at their parkrun. There was a playground that the kids were enjoying. Toilets. Do they have toilets close by?

00:18:25Melissa Currie: Yes, there are toilets. They're just outdoorsy kind of toilets. Not very fancy, but there are toilets. And there's also water fountains and a place for the dog to have a drink of water as well. So everything's there.

00:18:40Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Well, thank you very much. I've really enjoyed my visit to Goulburn and thanks for coming out and having dinner with me last night and breakfast, brunch afterwards. I really enjoyed it and happy adventuring.

00:18:53Melissa Currie: Thanks. Thanks, Mel. I'm lovely to see you and Zoe. Come back.

00:18:59Oliver Spake: And thank you, Mel, for a roving report. It sounds like it was a great parkrun day.

00:19:03Melissa Ellis: It really was, and it was nice to meet Bill and spend time with Melissa and Peter. So I feel like I've known Mel for ages. Oh, actually, she is more commonly known as Liss, so I have to get used to that.

00:19:20Oliver Spake: Yes, Mel that's not a Mel. And stay tuned, everyone. We do have another roving report coming up later on, but it just suited to talk about it then. But Mel, I believe we've got a bit of feedback from last week's episode.

00:19:36Melissa Ellis: Yeah, we do, Ollie. So I wasn't sure that Brett Robinson, who broke the marathon record last week, I wasn't sure that he was a parkrunner and we didn't lay claim to him being a parkrunner, but... We're gonna... Yeah, we're going to. I did get some intel from our friend Michael Gentle to say that he believes Brett Robinson is parkrunner A345295 and possibly ran Ginninderra while training at the AIS.

00:20:07Oliver Spake: That's a good one to run.

00:20:08Melissa Ellis: yes it is it was my first act parkrun and one of my very first tourist events so I am very fond of jindy me too it's a very pretty event yeah that's something we do have in common actually that combination yes now are we going to talk about the news oh do we want to Good news, Ollie.

parkrun news bulletin

00:20:32Melissa Ellis: There's a little bit of dissent in the ranks.

00:20:37Oliver Spake: That's right. Look, hopefully this is resolved by the time this episode hits the airwaves. But for those who aren't aware, two of our Sydney parkruns are happening, potentially, do we say closing or pausing? I'm not sure which is true in relation to obtaining ongoing free permission to utilise their locations, which is, of course, both in the one council area, if I understand correctly.

00:21:06Melissa Ellis: That's right, Ollie. So the City of Canterbury and Bankstown, they want to charge the events for use of the parks. Now, in the past... They have had an annual review to waive the fee, but this year it hasn't been given. So we understand the current agreement lapsed last week. So unless there is a resolution reached already, through the week, those two events will not be able to run this coming Saturday. But we do wish parkrun HQ luck with their efforts to find a way forward to resolve this issue. And we do hope that those events can resume as soon as possible.

00:21:47Oliver Spake: That's right, that's right. And as we know, parkrun Australia and parkrun globally will always endeavour to work with landowners, whatever their entity or identity, to find a mutually acceptable and free way to provide these events, which everyone listening to this podcast, I'm sure, is familiar of the benefits that parkrun does bring by providing free access to something that is both healthy and social. and gives so many people opportunity to give back. And I mean, I'd like to think in this current environment with such a huge focus on wellbeing that things other than money would take precedence in consideration of how landowners, councils, bodies make such decisions. But I know obviously there are a number of factors that we take into account.

00:22:41Melissa Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. So We'll cross our fingers and hope that those communities can be back parkrunning as soon as possible. But if there's a few weeks where those events can't be active, no doubt that the community can find another local event that they can frequent in the meantime.

00:23:04Oliver Spake: Well, that's right. It's a good opportunity for some tourism and I'm sure it's for no lack of effort from everyone involved. So thanks to everyone from the teams, the community and parkrun Australia for trying to continue these two lovely events.

00:23:18Melissa Ellis: Obviously, we did Cook's River recently, Ollie, when we were up for City to Surf. That's right. I have not had the privilege of visiting Panania. Have you been there yourself?

00:23:29Oliver Spake: I have not. And this is actually a mental blank that I've struggled with for a few years. Paul or Glenn might be able to keep me honest because I don't think I've done Panania. That's Paul Rainbow or Glenn Moore might be able to keep me honest. I don't think I've done Panania as one of the Sydney longest runs. I missed the first ever Sydney longest run and I Didn't do it this year, but I'm pretty sure I haven't been to Panania as a Freedom Run or as a Real Life parkrun.

00:23:57Melissa Ellis: It definitely wasn't included the week that, well, it definitely wasn't included the year I came up for season one.

00:24:02Oliver Spake: Too flat now. Too flat. Yeah.

00:24:05Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I know, right? They made all the eely ones the year I came.

00:24:09Oliver Spake: Good grief. Yeah. But not as many records this week or achievements that have fallen onto our radar. But, yeah, hopefully some better news next week. But, Mel, maybe it's time to flick to Dazza's.

Dazza's

00:24:26Oliver Spake: Shall we?

00:24:27Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah. Let's go to Dazza's. Let's see what Dazza had to say this week.

00:24:32Oliver Spake: Well, Dazza said, it's Let's Hug Day. Did you know that a 20-second hug releases happy endorphins? We are a big fan of hugs in real life and virtually. Come on in, have a hug with Dazza and tell us all about your morning.

00:24:47Melissa Ellis: And our first post comes from the bike. Ollie, the bike was back. Steve's bike posted. Bike was indeed back, yes.

00:24:55Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:24:56Melissa Ellis: And he said, Harry Potter. Now, there wasn't any photo attached to this. This was just a cryptical clue as to where Steve's bike was running or riding this week as it be. So do we need to explain this or shall we let it just evolve through Dazza's Ollie?

00:25:19Oliver Spake: Well, I feel that this is one that I can certainly guess. Yeah, even though I obviously would know. But, yes, I would have made the connection. I'm proud to say I would have made the connection on this one.

00:25:30Melissa Ellis: So to spell it out, it is a reference to Voldemort, which is a reference to the Voldemort parkrun, which is a reference to Shellharbour.

00:25:40Oliver Spake: That's right. Mm-hmm.

00:25:42Melissa Ellis: So the bike was at Shellharbour for real this time, not the pretend one that you got confused about some months back.

00:25:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's quite right. You'd have to narrow that down. I got confused many months back. But nonetheless, yes, we were very, very happy to have the bike there. And as I say, if anyone rides on our course, some do, not during parkrun, of course, but it's impressive. And the bike was very impressive. Also checking into Dazza's was Graeme Wilkinson, who was really on theme and said, might need a hug later. Driven three and a half hours for a new venue at, oh, I should have checked the pronunciation. Is it Elgin or Elgin or am I just way off?

00:26:27Melissa Ellis: I would say Elgin, but what do I know? I get stuff wrong all the time.

00:26:32Oliver Spake: Sorry, Graeme. And now praying it won't be snowed off. My Nendy from here is one hour, 25 minutes away. So yeah, a bit of commitment there. And Graeme didn't get back to us, but a quick search of the results showed Elgin went ahead.

00:26:50Melissa Ellis: We're very glad that Graeme got to parkrun after all. Now, next we heard from Richard and he had an achievement. Sally and I ventured down to Albert Melbourne parkrun this morning and were hugged by perfect weather. And Sally added Richard doing his 50th parkrun location at Albert Melbourne parkrun this morning and also his 50th parkrun this week. Wow. There was a photo of the volley standing next to a flag overlooking Albert Park Lake and also, shared by Sally, a selfie of herself and Richard.

00:27:27Oliver Spake: So happy half Cowell, Richard. Yes, congratulations. Now, hopping in for the first time, Susan Roddick, who said, my son and I having a hug after he achieved a PB at San Remo parkrun. And Susan shared a photo of her and her son, Baxter Camera, having a hug with her in her 25 shirt and him in a 10 shirt. So huge congratulations on the PB.

00:27:54Melissa Ellis: Congratulations. Now, we also heard from Chris Rooney, who was volleying. And he said RD at Karkarook. Note the brand-new ugly visor. Also well-deserved hugs for two awesome regular volunteers, Cheryl and Jen, who both volunteered for the 25th time. Jen also ran, walked for the 25th time. And Chris shared a volley group shot showing that he was wearing his ugly visor. At Karkarook.

00:28:27Oliver Spake: Now, there have been a lot of uglies popping up, for sure. We'll hear of more. I'm quite ashamed to say I wasn't ugly at Shellharbour, but many were. We had a real tinsel, so I will fix that next week.

00:28:40Melissa Ellis: You were letting the side down. I didn't notice that. I'm sure you're just proud to be your 25th volley shirt. Was that the first time you'd worn it?

00:28:47Oliver Spake: The green, that's right, yes. It was the first time.

00:28:51Melissa Ellis: We forgive you for that. Thanks, Mel.

00:28:53Oliver Spake: Now, a very much liked entry was Mr. Bruce Purdy, the ideas man, who said, the scout takeover at Wallaby Track parkrun this morning was an amazing experience. 92 participants supported by 30 incredible Wallabies. Even Des, the mayor of Ballarat, came along with a huge photo shared by Bruce of a group shot there of the Wallabies.

00:29:18Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Very happy for those at Wallaby Track, even though they did bump me for the most likes this week. I'll have a word to the ideas man about that. But also touristing, we heard from Greg Garner. He said, Melissa Ellis. Now looking forward to seeing Billy Joel tonight at the G. So Greg posted a photo of himself and his daughter. So I thought, wow, the G, does that stand for the greatest? There was actually a frond visiting Billy Joel that night. I didn't know this.

00:30:04Oliver Spake: It was.

00:30:04Melissa Ellis: But there at the G was Richard and Sally, Renee and Andrew, as well as Greg and his daughter in attendance. So not only are we the education state, you might also call us the events capital and the sporting capital and as well as the recently voted friendliest city in the world.

00:30:26Oliver Spake: You might claim that, yes.

00:30:28Melissa Ellis: Well, you know, the winners were decided on a number of factors. Resident happiness, safety, LGBTQIA+, inclusivity, top attractions and highest rated hotels. Our city's top attraction was the Queen Victoria Market. So bring it, Sydney, bring it.

00:30:49Oliver Spake: Sorry to say I didn't visit the Queen Victoria Market when I visited this year.

00:30:53Melissa Ellis: Okay, well, you can come back. You know, we've got lots to see and do.

00:30:57Oliver Spake: Well, I am coming back. I've got tickets to the Matildas game next year. So I'll be there in August.

00:31:02Melissa Ellis: Lock it in, Ollie.

00:31:03Oliver Spake: Lock it in. Matildas versus Canada. I'll be there.

00:31:06Melissa Ellis: Oh, hang on. You haven't double booked yourself a city to surf. Tell me you haven't. No. You sure? No, no.

00:31:12Oliver Spake: the week before City to Surf, right, okay it's all planned out Brisbane the week before I'll go to Auckland too if I get the chance oh my goodness melbourne's on the Monday night hang on wait who are you and what have you done with Ollie never rains but it pours Mel but it's kick yay so okay I'm really struggling to stay on task here, but the segue there, New Zealand. Brett Bailey also popped in and said, hi Dazza, 74 parkrunners at Pegasus for number 299 with 11 first timers and a new male course record of 1527. Wow. Run by Alex Witt, Brunner lined up for his parkrun hugs and we park walked for the first time today due to a tight calf muscle. Tanya and I wore our ugly shirts. And Pegasus number 300 next weekend with a pea theme. And Brett shared a photo of himself with Brunner finishing parkrun and being handed the token by Tanya.

00:32:15Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. Good to know there's an arbitrary milestone coming up next week over at Pegasus. That's right. Now, next we heard from Leigh Cabarita. That's her porn. She was touristing and she said, here's Sally and I looking unfairly attractive in our deliciously ugly singlets after Cajula Parklands parkrun this morning. Cajula is a sweet, mostly flat two lapper. Now there's only three, Curl Curl, East Richmond and Campbelltown, more for Sally to catch up. So Bianca, Sally and I can all become Regionnaire together at Rouse Hill earlier next year. I've been on one for ages. Hugs to everyone. And Lee posted a photo of herself and Sally in their gingerbread man uglies. Okay.

00:33:08Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, that's getting very close and spectacularly ugly there too. Speaking of whom, Stephen Warwick, who was fronding and said, and the reference is the photo, just for clarity. Yeah. No hugs for me today, but then I didn't give any either. However, we did have a wonderful morning at Bells Parade parkrun where I was RD. The conditions were great for the many first timers and PBs were recorded. It's always a bonus when the results are easily processed, all the tokens are returned and the following week's roster is full for handing over to the next RD. After the event, a number of us gathered at Oliver's Latrobe Bakery Cafe for coffee and whatever else took our fancy. The lovely lady and I were joined by Dawn Branton for a little frond with plans to helpfully meet up on 1st of April at Eastern Gardens as we make our way westward for some peculiar event that will be held in April. By the time we left, it was getting close to midday and Steve shared a photo of he, Val and Dawn Branton. Maybe Steve really has a very long arm or someone else could have taken that. We can't tell. And another one of Steve and Val looking fantasmically ugly.

00:34:30Melissa Ellis: Fantasmically?

00:34:32Oliver Spake: Yeah. That one's easier to say apparently. Yes.

00:34:35Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:34:37Melissa Ellis: And last but not least, because our UK parkrunners tend to be the last on our published post each week due to time constraints, but we heard from Calum Burrell and he said a frond group hug at Burnage parkrun with Lindsay and Pippa White. With the Arctic conditions we had for parkrun, we needed it. We had a photo which looks like it came from the post-parkrun cafe of Lindsay, Calum and Pippa at brunch. There was also a photo, Ollie, that was posted on our Consolidated Club report post showing Pippa and Calum in the snow.

00:35:18Oliver Spake: Yes, that looked fresh.

00:35:20Melissa Ellis: They had some bad weather over there in the UK. I believe they had lots of cancellations this week and there was plenty of cold and snowy photos coming through. Yes. So thoughts over there to all our friends in the UK. Just quietly, weather's not so great here either at the moment. I had rain here today in the middle of summer. Rainstorms continually all day.

00:35:46Oliver Spake: I haven't quite had the same down in Shellharbour here, but I believe some cooler weather's coming. I'm down, you're up. Yeah, that's true. That's true. I am a little closer to the equator. Not as close as I was last week, unfortunately. Hmm.

00:36:01Melissa Ellis: But thank you, everyone, for joining us at Dazza's. Mel? Do you know what we haven't done, Ollie? We haven't worked out where the envelope's going to be this week. We haven't. We don't know. No. No, we don't know.

the Obi Award — Lee Cabarita

00:36:14Melissa Ellis: So we're just going to have to, in good faith, throw to the keeper of the Obi and see what happens.

00:36:21Oliver Spake: We love doing it that way.

00:36:28Calum Burrell: Here we are in the wastelands of Burnage parkrun, and I really need to find these marker cones, otherwise Lindsay's going to kill me. Where possibly could it be? All this snow really isn't helping. Oh, here we go. Oh, that's not what I was expecting. Oh, it looks like an envelope. Oh, shall I open it? Let's see. Let me just have a look at this. Okay, oh, it's an Obi. And, oh, I've opened it up here. It says the Obi winner for this week goes to... Lee Cabarita. Yay! That's a porn name. Yay, well done, Lee.

00:37:20Oliver Spake: And congratulations to our Obi winner, Lee. Very ugly and, as always, well-deserved. Mel, I was going to ask... and I don't know if we've covered this previously, you do say something when you do mention Lee's name. Do you know yours?

00:37:41Melissa Ellis: No. How do I work it out?

00:37:44Oliver Spake: Is there a trick? I'm sure there are many, many different ways to skin the cat, but I was always told that one way is to base it on the name of your first pet and then the street you grew up on. Yes. So I don't know if that's actually the methodology used in this case.

00:38:04Melissa Ellis: I've heard that before, actually.

00:38:07Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:38:07Melissa Ellis: So I would be Mel Honeystud. Mel Honeystud.

00:38:12Oliver Spake: You had a pet called Mel.

00:38:13Melissa Ellis: Oh, no, that's me.

00:38:15Oliver Spake: Oh, no. So your first name would be your pet's name. So it would just be Honeystud. Honeystud.

00:38:24Melissa Ellis: My first pet was a cat called Honey.

00:38:26Oliver Spake: Oh, that's nice. That's cute. Yeah.

00:38:30Melissa Ellis: Isn't this just a whole fishing thing to find out?

00:38:34Oliver Spake: Yeah. But I'm pretty sure it was around before the internet. Right. Surely, surely. Okay. Or in the early days before the internet. Yeah.

00:38:43Melissa Ellis: Okay. So my porn name is Honey Stud.

00:38:45Oliver Spake: Yeah, I believe so. Wow. Yes.

00:38:48Melissa Ellis: And yours, Oliver?

00:38:49Oliver Spake: Mine is Poochie Channel. Poochie Channel. Poochie being the cat that I had when I was very little. Poochie. And the Channel Highway in Tasmania.

00:38:59Melissa Ellis: Wow. Yes. The things you learn.

00:39:02Oliver Spake: Things you learn. So back to the point, congratulations, Lee Cabarita.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Tracey Wood — Victory Heights Trail parkrun

00:39:08Melissa Ellis: Let's move swiftly on and throw to Tracy coming to us with a roving report from Victory Heights Trail.

00:39:26Tracey Wood: Okay, this is the Victory. Where are we? We're at Victory Heights. Hey, hi, Tracy. Hi, Tracy. How are you, Tracy? I'm good, Tracy. That's good. Hey, this is Tracey in a Tutu with... Tutu Tracy. And we're at Victory Heights parkrun. And now... She's wearing the skirt, and it looks really nice. Okay, sorry, back to your normal programming. This is Tracy and Tracy at Victory Heights Trail parkrun this morning. We've turned up. We've seen a couple of people around. We think we're in the right spot, so it's looking pretty good. Tracy, why are you here? This is my Queensland Nendy. Okay, well, I'm just here for the heck of it. Definitely the right spot. Okay, let's go see who we can find. All right, out on Victory Heights Trail parkrun. It's a single trail for most parts with a bit of a fire trail. And I found Lindy, who's done this how many times, Lindy? This is my third. Third, excellent. So you're fairly new to parkrun? Yes, very new. Oh, well, I'm glad you kept coming back.

00:40:33Lindy: What is it you like about parkrun? Flexibility. I don't have to run. I can walk on my own pace.

00:40:39Tracey Wood: Yes. Yeah. And would you be able to describe what we're walking through for the listeners of the podcast? Oh, wow. Wow. Which wildlife, I would say.

00:40:50Lindy: Wildlife? Okay. Yeah, I saw some fairy wrens, the birds that I really like. Yes. And a leech yesterday. Oh, a leech. Okay. Okay, no to any visitors. Bring mozzie repellent when you come here.

00:41:02Tracey Wood: That's right, yeah. So it's got a few bumps on this path. I think that's for the mountain bikers. Is that right? Do you think? That's what I think. Yeah, I think so.

00:41:11Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:41:12Tracey Wood: It looks like a fairly well-used area. Yep. Great signage on the path. We've had no problems navigating where to go. It's fairly dense bushland. Yeah. I've been looking for koalas, but haven't seen any.

00:41:26Lindy: Not yet, yeah. Not yet. But it wasn't closed since the flood in March. Oh, okay. And it reopened only three weeks ago, I believe. Yes, that's right. So I think everyone's really excited to have that track back.

00:41:39Tracey Wood: Do you know if there was much damage to the trails then?

00:41:42Lindy: Well, it took months and months for the council to repair the trail. Yes. So I would say there were extensive damage. Yeah.

00:41:50Tracey Wood: Well, this is looking pretty nice. I sort of feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere though because we're walking along and can't really see too many other people. Oh, look, there's a Marshal ahead. Yay, we're not lost. It's civilization. Thanks, Wendy.

00:42:05Lindy: Thank you.

00:42:06Tracey Wood: All righty, I'm crunching through the wilderness and I've found Tutu Tracy again. Hey, Trace. Hey. How's it all going? It's going good. A little bit of single trail here. So tell me, you said this was your Nendy, but it's a Queensland Nendy, is that right? Yes, by 100 metres. Right.

00:42:25Tracy Leiper: So how does that work? So according to the distance, Lismore is my actual Nendy, but it's only 100 metres shorter than coming to Victory Heights for me.

00:42:36Unidentified speaker: Right.

00:42:37Tracy Leiper: Yeah.

00:42:38Tracey Wood: So how many Queensland parkruns have you done?

00:42:42Tracy Leiper: I think this is about my 87th, 38th. Right.

00:42:48Tracey Wood: And how many parkruns in total? This is 352. Wow. And how many volunteers? 38. Good job. And what's your goals, Trace?

00:43:01Tracy Leiper: To come out and get 5Ks done. So, challenge-wise, I'm currently working on getting to 100 different parkruns and 50 volunteers.

00:43:14Tracey Wood: Nice. That sounds like a great goal. All right.

00:43:17Tracy Leiper: Thanks for chatting with me. No worries.

00:43:19Tracey Wood: All right, I've finished the parkrun and I found Susan, the Run Director, this morning. Good morning, Susan. Good morning. How did it all go this morning? Very well. We're still waiting on people to come through, but yes, it's gone. Bye. See you next week. Oops. No, that's all right. Keep going. It's all good. No, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, excellent. And Victory Heights has only just come back on after being out of action for a while. Yes. What happened there?

00:43:48Susan: Floods in February. So we've been back about three, four weeks now. And, yes, it's been closed down for maintenance and, yes, a lot of damage. Yeah, excellent. Thanks.

00:44:00Tracey Wood: And have you found that you've got the same number of people back that you had before as all the regulars returned?

00:44:05Susan: Yes, yes. A lot of them are, and we get lots of visitors because they try to get their V. V, yes, indeed. And how long have you been doing these? parkrun, parkrun or run directing? Yes, yes. Oh, a couple of years. I've been run directoring. I've got 370 odd runs. I can't remember now. Well done. 140 odd volunteers. So no, I started in about 2012 or something like that. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. Yeah, so you wouldn't have started here. No, no, no, no, no. We moved. I started at Kirra on the Gold Coast. Oh, yes, yes. And then went to Kingscliff. Yes. Because I like small venues. Yes. But we try to, my husband, we travel a little too. So my husband sets a, from Saturday to Saturday to see where I can go the next week. I think I like your husband. It's just wonderful. I just love it. And I like to give back, to what, you know, very isolated sort of where we are. And, you know, so I like to see all the friends and faces and you get into the community and it's just wonderful. I just love it. Well, thanks for talking with me and thanks for having us this morning. Thank you very much. It's lovely.

00:45:22Tracey Wood: Okay, it's Tracey in a Tutu with Tutu Tracy and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, signing off from Victory Heights Trail parkrun. It's about an hour and a half from North Brisbane. Lovely place to visit. Very nice and shady. Don't forget the mozzie repellent. And have a good day, folks.

00:45:47Melissa Ellis: And thank you, Tracy, for the roving report. So, Ollie, we heard from Tracey in a Tutu and Tutu Tracy, which was Tracy Leiper. Oh, right. We had an abundance of Tracy and tutus out there at Victory Heights Trail.

00:46:01Oliver Spake: Oh, goodness. I'm just trying to process how I can say that quickly. I'm not going to try. I'm not going to try.

00:46:05Melissa Ellis: No, no, no, no, no.

Consolidated Club Report

00:46:08Melissa Ellis: No, probably best to move swiftly on to the Consolidated Club Report.

00:46:12Oliver Spake: Yes. So what did we get up to, Mel?

00:46:14Melissa Ellis: Well, for the 3rd of December, we had a total of 341 members who took part at 280 events. 146 locations there were adventurers at 19 events in the UK one event in South Africa and one event in the USA Ireland and Sweden locally we had adventurers at 33 events in Victoria, 31 in Queensland, and New South Wales was relegated to third place with 24. So it was. South Australia was up two and had adventurers at 10 events. There was eight adventurers at events in Western Australia. There were five events in the ACT, five in Tasmania, and five on the North Island. Bringing up the rear was the South Island with two events. The largest frond was at Shellharbour Voldemort parkrun, who had 11 adventurers in attendance. They were housemate Lance, Craig and Rebecca Ryan. Luke. Julie and Gordon Turner Julie Wells Jason green Gaillyn Cooper and Brendan and Em Scholarly do you like how Luke is famous enough now to just be his first name just Luke just like prince you know just one of those yeah yeah he doesn't need a surname now we know who he is

00:47:43Oliver Spake: And just because I didn't name the other volunteers, a huge thanks to, obviously, Brendan and Em for volunteering, but to Sue, to Michael and to, well, Karen and Darwin, who I did mention as well. So, yeah, great turnout.

00:47:57Melissa Ellis: And the Office Lady.

00:47:59Oliver Spake: Oh, yes, of course. She goes without saying.

00:48:03Melissa Ellis: She goes without saying.

00:48:06Oliver Spake: Sorry. Oh, dear. We're not going to have this rookie back next week, are we, Jay?

00:48:12Melissa Ellis: No, no, get rid of him. Yeah.

00:48:16Oliver Spake: But, yes, well done, everyone, 280, 280 out there. I know. Yeah, it's a good showing.

00:48:24Melissa Ellis: It was. Yeah, we've grown, Ollie, and we, as we said the other week, we hit our target. that we set ourselves earlier in the year. So we might want to consider setting a new target for the New Year, but perhaps that's not something that will be done today.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

00:48:40Oliver Spake: Perhaps not. That's something we can look forward to doing as we look forward to probably more imminent things, which are some tinsel celebrations. So not the Christmas kind, but the ugly kind, because it's time, Mel. It is time to get ugly. Of course, I don't need to say that to this crew because everyone except me has already gotten into the spirit.

00:49:03Melissa Ellis: Everybody has been sporting their uglies that have arrived. I am hoping that New Zealand will get their delivery in time for next week. So everybody cross your fingers and your toes for New Zealand to have their delivery. But, yes, the 17th of December is Ugly Christmas Singlet and Shirt Day, so we need everybody out there to be donning their uglies and spreading the ugly far and wide across Australia, New Zealand and the world because uglies have gone out to all the other countries as well.

00:49:37Oliver Spake: That's right. So a huge thank you to the elves behind that. We look forward to celebrating. And it's that festive time, Mel. So next week will be the last pod before Christmas. Is it fair to say it'll be the last pod for the year?

00:49:51Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I think so, Ollie. I think, yeah, no, we had a discussion about this prior to recording. We'll put another episode out next week, but then I think we need to take a little break. Yep. We're not sure if it'll be one week or two, but at least one. So, yeah, we'll wrap up next week with our final episode for the year. So, Channel 5 News crew, we need bonbon jokes sent in, please. It is a little tradition for the parkrun adventurers that we have some bonbon jokes.

00:50:25Oliver Spake: And fair to say that I think recycling bonbon jokes is becoming more and more likely. It has happened a couple of times already, potentially. So, hey, let's do it. Let's embrace it. All the bonbon jokes you have. And look, if anyone else out there is just bursting at the seams to share some bonbon jokes, well, in case you haven't listened to the last few episodes, we'll read out our email at the end of this podcast so you can send it to us.

00:50:54Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes, but it has to be in audio format. If you want your bonbon joke included in next week's podcast, as do the Channel 5 news crew, you now have to enter it in audio format to be inserted.

00:51:07Oliver Spake: Yes, that's it. Nothing too complicated, just a quick soundbite of you and your bonbon joke.

00:51:13Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, I was thinking earlier as I looked back on our calendar to see what we had listed for December, and it was to open the time capsule. That's right. Now, that was done a few weeks back when Mel and Scotty came on and hosted an episode. They opened that time capsule.

00:51:33Oliver Spake: Did they go through all of the data?

00:51:36Melissa Ellis: I think they did.

00:51:37Oliver Spake: I'll double-check. I'll double-check.

00:51:39Melissa Ellis: Well, go back and double check. But I'm pretty sure they did the whole time capsule thing and had a discussion about it. But it just, it caused me to reflect and I am wondering if we need to bury a new time capsule. So I'm going to put it to you, Ollie, that we need to come up with before next week some items for a time capsule and we need to decide how long it's going to get buried for.

00:52:08Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:52:08Melissa Ellis: Hmm.

00:52:10Oliver Spake: We've got some homework.

00:52:11Melissa Ellis: So put your thinking cap on.

00:52:13Oliver Spake: Can you hear me typing?

00:52:17Melissa Ellis: Why are you typing? So I don't forget. Are you putting like a note in your Outlook?

00:52:25Oliver Spake: It's gone in the show notes.

00:52:26Melissa Ellis: Ask Siri. Hey, Siri.

00:52:29Oliver Spake: Don't say that. It's going to be deafening in here. Oh, goodness.

00:52:33Melissa Ellis: Did you like the other week when I asked Siri who was going to win? What did Siri say? Are they out yet?

Sign-off

00:52:40Oliver Spake: Oh, goodness. Was it France? Was it referring to France? Well, it was either France or Argentina, but it was correct in its answer, even though it took it in a different direction. Oh, dear me, dear me. Yeah, so there's a bit to cover next week, but plenty of festivities and we look forward to catching up again and recapping wherever you're going next week, Mel.

00:53:06Melissa Ellis: You know what? I'm not going to tell you. Oh. It's going to be a surprise where I go next week and I'm deliberately not saying because wherever I go, I don't want them to know I'm coming.

00:53:17Oliver Spake: Ah, okay. Okay. All right. Well, I'll see you on Saturday at Shellharbour then.

00:53:21Unidentified speaker: Yeah, right. No.

00:53:27Melissa Ellis: And that's where you're going to be? Yep.

00:53:29Oliver Spake: You're so predictable. I have the vest. I have the vest for a couple of times this coming month or so. So I look forward to getting plenty ugly.

00:53:39Melissa Ellis: Do you actually have ugly Christmas paraphernalia?

00:53:42Oliver Spake: Yeah, I ordered everything.

00:53:44Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:53:44Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:53:45Melissa Ellis: Are you going to wear it this week? Yes, you have to.

00:53:47Oliver Spake: I have to. I have to. It's just a question of how I wear it, how I wear it all. Right. Yeah. Okay. But that's okay. Heaps of time. I'll work it out. I'll layer it.

00:53:59Melissa Ellis: Layers. Yeah. Layers. Onions have layers. Oh, it's getting late.

00:54:05Oliver Spake: It is. It is. So, well, yes.

00:54:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, it's me. Okay. It's me. It's me. I'm throwing. As always, Ollie, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week. We'll see you all next week for more adventures.

00:54:23[music]

00:55:34Melissa Ellis: Hey Siri, tell me a Christmas joke.

00:55:37Susan: What do you give a Christmas tree with bad breath? I want a mince.