Episode 323 - Big Things

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 323 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis, here with Chico, and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:34Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake, and I am joining once again from Dharawal Country.

00:00:40Sarah Jefferson: Hello, Ollie. Hello, Mel and Chico. Hi.

00:00:44Oliver Spake: It's nice to catch up with you again. And look, Mel, I better say it up front, we do have a bit to get through in the episode this week. So forgive us for being a little prompt in jumping straight into things, but it's very exciting. And aside from the roving reports and Dazza's and even Rachel with Club Corner a bit later, what We've got Sarah. We do. Yeah. So Sarah Jefferson joining us shortly for a rundown of the palm23 events. So we can't keep Sarah waiting. No, best we don't do that. But we do have time for a bit of a recap. And Mel, you did have an adventure. Yeah.

00:01:25Melissa Ellis: I might fall more in the misadventure kind of category this week.

00:01:29Oliver Spake: You might want to share that, yes.

00:01:30Melissa Ellis: Saturday did not start well when, after a late night editing to get the pod finished, my 5 a.m. alarm failed to go off. I had set a backup alarm, but stupidly, this was an hour later. So by the time I glanced at my watch, it was 6.30 a.m., You may recall I was supposed to be travelling with Chris Fraser and some quick calculations deduced that it was going to be impossible to pick him up from the city and make it to Frankston by 8am. So I rang him in a panic and he said, go straight there, I can go to Parkville. So off I set, minus my morning kombucha, green tea and coffee. It was just over an hour's drive to Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve parkrun on Bunurong Country, which I also profiled in episode 269. Jodie and Brendan were already there and I made the decision to join Brendan to walk the course and have a chat while Jodie barcode scanned. Frankston is a one-loop course on a fire trail with a gradual uphill for the first three and a half kilometres. Maybe, if I ever go back, I will remember to pause and admire the view of the bay from the highest point. Eye roll. Also present was South Australian statesman and adventurer Errol Poole, who walked back after his run to join us, and Michelle Taylor, who was on Finish Tokens. It was event 59, with the lovely Kate Mason as RD, managing the 146 finishers and 16 volunteers, with Brad Gossett taking his own veteran men's 40 to 44 age category record by five seconds, running 18.27. This record stood for 42 weeks. It was my second visit to Frankston, which prompted me to ponder how many Victorian events I have done twice. I checked, and of the 106 events in Victoria, I've completed 48 at least twice. Afterwards, we headed to Rosie's Kitchen Pantry for a very lovely catch-up brunch and an extended park faff. And that's it, in a nutshell. But do you want to know why my alarm didn't go off, my 5 a.m. alarm, Ollie?

00:03:48Oliver Spake: Yes, yes.

00:03:49Melissa Ellis: So you have to be really careful when you're tired and setting alarms because sometimes they're set for particular days of the week and my 5 a.m. alarm that I toggled quickly on in my hurry to jump into bed is my Sunday morning junior's alarm. Oh.

00:04:08Oliver Spake: So that's why it didn't go off. Oh, dear. Oh, Mel.

00:04:11Melissa Ellis: So lesson learned.

00:04:13Oliver Spake: Yes, yes.

00:04:14Melissa Ellis: But I will just add I was feeling terribly guilty that I didn't get to pick up Chris and enjoy a parkrun day with him, but I did pick him up from the airport on Friday and take him for a freedom walk off the Eynesbury Forest. Oh, very nice. So we did get to catch up. All was not lost.

00:04:31Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. And I trust Chris still enjoyed his parkrun day morning.

00:04:36Melissa Ellis: I believe so. But, Ollie, there's more exciting news. I did post a spoiler. I don't know if you saw.

00:04:42Oliver Spake: Which spoiler are you referring to now?

00:04:45Melissa Ellis: The one that says where you did parkrun.

00:04:47Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, I did parkrun.

00:04:50Melissa Ellis: Did you not see the post? I saw that.

00:04:52Oliver Spake: I saw the post. I saw the post.

00:04:53Melissa Ellis: You're tricking me. Okay. Tell us about it.

00:04:56Oliver Spake: Well, look, I went somewhere else. And apologies to one adventurer that I wasn't at home. But this last parkrun day was an opportunity I was aware of for an adventure. And after a bit of chat over the weekend prior, I was a little more motivated. And I I had a bit of support, so I had chatted with Bec, one of the Bailey shot, and teed up to travel with her and housemate Lance. Sorry, housemate Lance.

00:05:31Melissa Ellis: Oh, it's Lance. We've been saying it wrong.

00:05:33Oliver Spake: We have. We have. And I do apologise, Lance. Yeah, one job. One job. And so, look, we'd considered a few options, as I suggested in the pod last week. There was a bit of consideration to travel north. It wasn't really fixed, but there was always going to be a bit of a lean towards a few of the events in Sydney that none of us had been to previously. And so chipping Norton parkrun was the destination. Yeah. So Chipping Norton parkrun, which is in the southwest of Sydney, is in the, well, it's in the land of two traditional custodian areas. So the Dharawal people, which inhabited the southern side of the Georges River, and the Dharug people to the north and west of the river. And Chipping Norton is on the south side of the river. We arrived relatively early, thanks to me planning a bit of contingency in and taking a wrong turn, eating up some of said contingency, but we're greeted by RD Nazreen. Nazreen, who had in fact become the Event Director following COVID and had been instrumental in helping bring back the event from its floods that it experienced in last year's Sydney floods. Was that last year, actually? I've lost track of the years, Mel. But it was in that sort of timeframe. But we had an opportunity together to meet a few of the other parkrunners. I also met another visitor who was from nearby Sandon Point. It's nearby to me. That is in Shellharbour, not so much to Chipping Norton. And it turns out that he was the Event Director at Sandon Point. So, yeah, all the South Coast Event Directors on the road, um took on the course which is a lovely out and back course I had visited it as part of the longest run in one of the previous years on the Sydney longest run but it's an out and back course in two directions west along the Georges River and then come back past and then east it was hot and sunny and I was I suppose spending most of the parkrun trying to keep up with lance before I managed to find a bit of energy reserves there. Couldn't catch the front parkrunner though with the pram though. Those pram runners are something else.

00:07:51Melissa Ellis: Did you overtake Lance?

00:07:53Oliver Spake: I did. I did.

00:07:55Melissa Ellis: Nice work, Ollie. Yeah, yeah.

00:07:57Oliver Spake: That's my little bit of satisfaction. He's hard to catch. But it was a fantastic morning. The volunteers were lovely. The sunshine was great. And I was able to take a photo with Nazreen and Michael and myself to have a fellow ED photo. I don't get too many of those ED catch-ups. And a photo of Michael who was sailing his seventh sea to become a pirate. So yeah, that was very exciting. Then afterwards, housemate Lance had canvassed the locals and found out that there was in fact a nearby market just 100 or 200 metres down the road. So we moved the car down there. We found some coffee. We found some bacon and egg rolls. And we even found a Picton parkrunner, not the Office Lady, selling cider and apples. So we had to purchase some of that too. So fantastic morning. I suppose my mishap, Mel, was in the car on the way home. It was discovered that I got something wrong in the calculation of the number of seas I had sailed and I'm now a pirate.

00:09:01Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ollie, that was going to be my next question. How are you going on your pirate challenge? When I saw you at Chipping Norton, I thought, oh, I wonder if you're getting close to that pirate status. And there you go. Accidental pirate. Oh, and you didn't even get to dress up.

00:09:18Oliver Spake: I would have liked to have worn the eyeliner.

00:09:23Melissa Ellis: One job. Oh, my goodness.

00:09:30Oliver Spake: Yeah, didn't even click when I was taking the photo of someone else becoming a pirate. One job. But yeah, so it was nice to have an adventure.

00:09:39Melissa Ellis: It sounds like a good adventure and how wonderful to catch up with a couple of fellow ADs. That's a nice bit of synchronicity.

00:09:46Oliver Spake: That's right. That wasn't everything going on on parkrun Day weekend or parkrun Day over the weekend. I'm not sure how I say that, Mel.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:09:56Melissa Ellis: A few launches. Yeah, there were. So we had three events launch silently in Australia. We had Maria Creek Reserve in South Australia. Now, this is a slightly removed event, would you say? It's not up... Around Adelaide.

00:10:16Oliver Spake: A little more remote.

00:10:17Melissa Ellis: Yeah, a little bit more remote. So they had 49 participants. We had Point Hut Pond in the ACT, bringing the total number of events in the ACT to nine now. So they launched with 275 participants. And we had a new event in your very own home state, Ollie, New South Wales, with Australian Standing Stones, which I believe is in the suburb of Glen Innes, and they had 74 participants for their first event. Now, interesting to note the acronym for Australian Standing Stones, Ollie, not quite as cool as the recent POW in Victoria.

00:11:04Oliver Spake: Do you want me to say it?

00:11:06Melissa Ellis: Well, it speaks for itself, doesn't it? ASS.

00:11:09Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's the ASS. But look, on that very tasteful note, welcome to our fellow parkrun communities and well done to the event teams in getting those up and running. Yes.

00:11:23Melissa Ellis: I also or I think we have had some interesting challenges suggested to us, too, that could potentially involve the new ASS parkrun and maybe the two Blackbutt associated parkruns. But maybe that's a conversation for Park Faf one day.

00:11:41Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. Yeah, so plenty going on. And Mel, there was even more going on.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:11:50Oliver Spake: We do have a couple of roving reports, as I mentioned earlier in the pod. So before anything else, let's have a listen to those.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Centennial Park parkrun

00:12:04Tracey Wood: Good morning, parkrunners. It's Tracey in a Tutu, and I'm here with Nicole, otherwise known as Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson, because we're down in Sydney, and we're at Centennial Park today. We're going to Centennial Park parkrun. Okay, we found the area, and lots of people are turning up. So it took us a while to get here because some idiot got lost with the GPS and went the wrong way. Never mind. But I has the coffee. I has the yellow Tail Walkers vest and I was ready to go and it's looking good. Beautiful day. Absolute cracker of a day here in Sydney, actually. We've walked here from, where did we stay? Darlinghurst? Potts Point? Somewhere like that. Yeah, Nicole's nodding, going, yes, okay. One of us is not geographically challenged. Anyway, we walked here, saw some really lovely buildings. We're going to go back later and check them all out. I think we saw the reservoir and a couple of churches, op shops and bookstores. So, yep. Anyway, I'm going to go see who I can chat to. Hey, parkrunners, I'm out here on Centennial parkrun course, and you know what? I found a horse marshal. Oh, my goodness. This is exciting. And it's David, isn't it?

00:13:18David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: Yes, David. Hi.

00:13:20Tracey Wood: Hi. David, what's your role here?

00:13:23David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: Well, this is a first marshal spot on the course, and Centennial Park has a lot of equestrian centres nearby, so people ride. So the rules for parkrun are... if a horse needs to cross, we actually have to stop the parkrun runners, allow the horse to cross and then resume the run.

00:13:39Tracey Wood: Wow. How many times has that happened?

00:13:42David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: It has happened a few times and it almost happened this morning.

00:13:46Tracey Wood: Oh, goodness. What, just as parkrun was starting?

00:13:49David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: Yeah, actually, just before. We started a few minutes late today, and that was really fortunate because this equestrian rider today, she needed to exit. And, yeah, if that was last week, we would have had to stop about 400 people.

00:14:03Tracey Wood: Wow. All right. That's fascinating. So, horse marshal, who knew? So, David, tell me about your parkrun history. You're volunteering today. How many times have you done parkrun?

00:14:14David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: I've done 50. 50?

00:14:14Tracey Wood: Good work.

00:14:15David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: Yeah, and volunteered a few times. I try and volunteer sort of 1 out of 10.

00:14:19Tracey Wood: Good on you. And is this your home parkrun?

00:14:21David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: This is home, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I live very nearby. This is my backyard, Centennial Park.

00:14:25Tracey Wood: I love it. Okay, thanks for chatting with me, Horse Marshall.

00:14:28David - Centennial Park parkrun horse marshal: You're welcome.

00:14:30Tracey Wood: I have finished Centennial parkrun and I have found Jeremy, who is the Run Director for today. And Jeremy tells me it was his first time. Jeremy, how did you go?

00:14:40Jeremy - Centennial Park parkrun Run Director: I think I went all right today. Everybody seemed to listen mainly when I did the welcome briefing. And I don't think we lost anybody on course. So that's pretty much a success.

00:14:49Tracey Wood: Or not that you know of anyone.

00:14:51Jeremy - Centennial Park parkrun Run Director: Yeah, not that I know of at the moment. Yeah, it's all good.

00:14:53[applause]

00:14:53Tracey Wood: And a bit of a cheer. What's going on?

00:14:55Jeremy - Centennial Park parkrun Run Director: So we are basically just in the process of breaking down. Everybody's going to put all the equipment away. All of the volunteers have had their photo taken. We're all just basically now uploading the results, going to head off for a coffee and see what happens from there. And then go on with our normal Saturday activities.

00:15:13Tracey Wood: And how long have you been at this parkrun, Jeremy?

00:15:15Jeremy - Centennial Park parkrun Run Director: I've been parkrunning probably for about two and a bit years now. Obviously with COVID in the middle, meaning that we didn't get to run for about six months. But yeah, it's been about that. I've done, I don't know, 50, 60, 70 parkruns now and about five or six volunteers.

00:15:29Tracey Wood: Good on you. And did you enjoy run directing today?

00:15:31Jeremy - Centennial Park parkrun Run Director: Yeah, it was all good. It's all good. It's fabulous. Good on you. Thank you for having us. It's a pleasure.

00:15:36Tracey Wood: okay heading off now in search of coffee breakfast and other important things um that was Centennial parkrun uh important things to note it's at mckay sports ground Centennial park is a big place so you probably should find out where exactly mckay sports ground is before you go to Centennial park it is a seven o'clock start which is unusual for New South Wales it has toilets here There are a lot of doggos on course, which is just fantastic, but they're all very well behaved today. Shout out to the beautiful Ellie who really wanted to run, but her owner had a sore leg. Great area. We saw horses, ducks, geese, heard the kookaburras. We didn't get lost. So great day. Cheers. See you later.

Roving report David Messenger — Garvey Park parkrun

00:16:22David Messenger: Hello, fellow parkrun adventurers. This is David trying my hand as a first time roving reporter. I first found out about the podcast when I was interviewed back in March 22 by Sarah at Mount Clarence parkrun at Albany Western Australia when I was touristing around WA. I ultimately completed 42 parkruns around WA to bring my total different parkruns to 185 after previously completing others in all states except Tasmania and Northern Territory. Today I am challenge chasing Prime Event 103 at Garvey Park parkrun, east of Perth in Western Australia, just five kilometres from the airport. Garvey Park parkrun starts in a parkland by the Swan River. The course is well signposted and is mainly flat. It consists of one large two kilometre loop of the parkrunning on gravel trails under tree cover. And a second smaller one kilometre loop, partially overlapping the first loop in the opposite direction, giving you your first opportunity to see other runners. And finally a two kilometre out and back stretch on tarmac along the river's edge, including a short footbridge near the turnaround point. There is ample parking, toilets, barbecues, a playground for the kids and a cafe above the Ascot Kayak Club. This therefore also allows the option of a paddle or dip after the run. But mosquito repellent is recommended due to the proximity to the river. I have run here twice before and tail walked also. I will see who I can find to talk to after my run. Run over and I had the delight today of a bee deciding to kamikaze inside my shirt at the one kilometre mark and sting me. So that's something different. At least it's not running into a kangaroo which I've done before. I'm here with Matthias talking about his journey to 50 parkruns.

00:18:13Matthias - Garvey Park parkrunner: Yeah, it took me a while. I started back in 2014. I had a parkrun that doesn't even exist anymore. I was doing well until all of a sudden I hurt my foot. I had no idea what was going on. If I'd go for a run, the foot would just hurt for days. After seeing a couple of different podiatrists, couldn't get a good diagnosis or getting it fixed, I just got really disillusioned and stopped running for years. Then finally, I went and saw another podiatrist that other runners recommended who just, as soon as they saw the x-ray, they said, that's your problem right there. You need to get a carbon foot plate in your shoe. And here I finally am, having managed to hit 50 parkruns three weeks ago.

00:18:51David Messenger: Well, congratulations. There's lots of parkrun stories out there about people who have return to parkrun or turn their life around. So congratulations on your 50. Yeah, thank you. I'm here with Cale, who is the husband of the Run Director. Tell me about your parkrun story.

00:19:07Cale - Garvey Park parkrunner, husband of the Run Director: So I started parkrun because I used to be a mountain biker on a Saturday morning, used to disappear for hours. The missus and the boys started running, so it was about family time, spending time with them, and it's just gone from there. You know, the community, just getting out, running, having fun. Breakfast after the run, can't beat that. So, yeah.

00:19:31David Messenger: Yes, it's really a great community thing. It's not just for runners, it's very inclusive.

00:19:35Cale - Garvey Park parkrunner, husband of the Run Director: That's it. It's, you know, it doesn't matter how slow you are. You're out there. You're doing it. So, yeah, no, you can't beat that.

00:19:45David Messenger: I'm here with Noel, and he was Tail Walker today, which is the 45th time he's been Tail Walker out of 77 volunteers. So tell me about your parkrun story, Noel.

00:19:56Noel - Garvey Park Tail Walker: I like it. The people, you're seeing different places that you normally wouldn't venture to. And when you're tail walking, you get there and you can actually look off the path or track or whatever you're running on. You can actually see the bush land, the river, the people. You're not concentrating on every step you're taking. It's just a great feeling it brings you.

00:20:19David Messenger: Thank you, Noel. Great job. Keep it up. That's David checking out now from a very friendly parkrun at Garvey Park parkrun. Happy adventuring.

00:20:34Melissa Ellis: And thank you to our roving reporters. Ollie, a new debut from David Messenger coming to us over there at Garvey Park with Matthias, Cale and Noel. And I was interested to know Garvey Park only 5k from the airport. Handy one for planning.

00:20:52Oliver Spake: Yes, yes.

00:20:54Melissa Ellis: Always like to know those ones.

00:20:56Oliver Spake: Yeah, and look, I haven't measured it, but Centennial Park wouldn't actually be too far from the airport either, just slightly more complicated in the logistics side of things. But thank you to Tracey for joining us from Centennial as well. I was particularly impressed in her finding the horse marshal.

00:21:12Melissa Ellis: I have walked out of Sydney Airport down to Centennial Park. I can tell you it's five kilometres. Oh, there we go. And my little suitcase will tell you that too because it nearly wore its wheels off.

00:21:21Oliver Spake: So a parkrun podcast about five kilometre reports and that's kind of fitting. Anyway.

00:21:26Melissa Ellis: But now we've got a special guest to introduce Ollie. That's right.

Interview Sarah Jefferson — palm23 organiser, Perth / Western Australia ("Sarah from the West Side")

00:21:31Melissa Ellis: That's right.

00:21:31Oliver Spake: We mentioned it earlier and it's finally time to talk about Palm. So welcome to the podcast, Sarah from the West Side.

00:21:40Sarah Jefferson: Thanks Mel and Ollie for having me. Very excited to be here.

00:21:43Melissa Ellis: Now, we've brought you on to give us the rundown of all the activities that we've got planned. So, are you ready to roll into it? Should we jump straight in? We haven't done small talk, but we've got a lot to get through.

00:21:55Oliver Spake: Well, we'll have to do small talk afterwards at least, but we are kind of excited. So, Sarah, over to you.

00:22:02Sarah Jefferson: Very excited. All I can say is make sure you get lots of rest before you head over to the West Side. I think it's going to be a very busy few days. So we'll kick off our Palm Weekend on Friday afternoon around 4.30pm, meeting down at Cottesloe Beach. So we'll complete a Freedom Run, starting at Coruso Surf Club, followed by a dip in the Indian Ocean, fish and chips, and hopefully watching an amazing sunset. Saturday morning, we'll head to UWA parkrun, hoping that lots of people can tick off a U course or a West, lots of west Australian history around the site as well also across the road there's matilda bay so you can go and check out the swan river also head around to the famous crawley boat shed you've probably seen lots of these pictures on Instagram um would you believe I've lived here for seven years and I've actually never got a photo there so maybe I need to change that on palm weekend oh there we are group photo there we are Sounds like a plan. We'll then head to the university club for breakfast after that, followed by the recording of the pod. Just so you know, if people are not hiring a car, really easy spot to get to going with the 5K theme. It's about five kilometres from the city. Or you can get on a free cat bus out from the city to UWA parkrun. So good spot, easy spot to get to. Then in the afternoon, head to Applecross parkrun around 2 o'clock, run along the Swan River, check out the city views, look at all the mansions, pick one that you want to dream about living in one day. That's what I do there. After this, you have time to head back to where you're staying, chill out and then freshen up for our themed night at the Captain Stirling Hotel in Nedlands. Again, really easy to get to with public transport or lots of parking if you are planning on being more sensible for the night. You're able to just pay for your meal as you get there, so that's really easy. If you haven't RSVP'd, please, can we get you to jump on and just give us an indication so that we can let the venue know? That would be great. Sunday morning, get up, meet at South Beach Recreation Reserve at 9am for our Freedom Run right along the Indian Ocean. There's also a pontoon thereafter for a swim if you wish to do that. Head for a coffee and then the day's yours to explore Fremantle markets or in and around Freo. There's lots to see there. Are you exhausted yet, Mel and Ollie? And then Monday, the 8.30am ferry over to Rottnest to check out the quokkas, grab a selfie, explore there. There's lots to see and do. That's the planning so far.

00:25:03Melissa Ellis: That's excellent. I'm looking forward to seeing those quokkas.

00:25:06Sarah Jefferson: Very cute they are. And there's lots of them. Fabulous.

00:25:10Oliver Spake: So not hard to pick then, not hard to spot.

00:25:13Sarah Jefferson: Not hard to spot. What I will say is that they're generally well fed. So some of them will kind of hide away from humans because, yes, they don't really need... the food and the attention at times because they get lots of it.

00:25:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, I can imagine.

00:25:28Melissa Ellis: And we should warn people, yes, it is a very big weekend and it is on the go. Even though it says you can have a little rest, it does feel like you're always on the move going from one place to the other. So hence why I am going to be spending a few more days in WA after Palm because I learnt last year that I needed a rest. Yes. After all the excitement to wind down. But also we have events on the Facebook page, the parkrun adventurer Listener Meetup Facebook page. All the events are there. Is that right, Sarah?

00:26:02Sarah Jefferson: They are all there. There is also an option if people are staying on the Tuesday as well to go to East Perth and hire a bike and then ride around and tick off a few of the parkruns, Burswood and Claisebrook, if you still have energy for that. But I know that some people will be heading home as well, but they're all on Facebook.

00:26:21Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. And we also have a Facebook chat going, which is a really convenient way for us to get in touch with people at the actual time while all the events are happening if we need to get a message out to you for any reason. So if you haven't already joined that palm23 Facebook chat group, messenger group, reach out to Ollie and I and we can arrange to get you added into it because... We've learned from past experiences that it's good to have quick comms and those Facebook chats are just the easiest way to reach people.

00:26:52Sarah Jefferson: And I think as well, Mel, would I be right in saying this is the only palm in terms of being a different time zone? Normally it's being just on the same time zone, right? So we two hour time change. You've got to factor that in.

00:27:04Melissa Ellis: Yes. Will it be two hours?

00:27:06Sarah Jefferson: You will be gaining two hours coming. Yeah.

00:27:10Oliver Spake: Woo-hoo. Yeah, bonus. Yeah. So we'll come back even more exhausted though.

00:27:14Melissa Ellis: Well, that's right. We did have a time change when we went to South Australia, but that's only half an hour. Yes.

00:27:21Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:27:22Melissa Ellis: Stand corrected. You're right.

00:27:24Oliver Spake: But certainly the biggest time change. And, yeah, look, it's fantastic. I'm really excited to see those West Australian parkruns. Having been to WA but never having done a parkrun, it is just very exciting.

00:27:38Melissa Ellis: Very exciting. And to meet the West Australian communities.

00:27:42Sarah Jefferson: Yes. That's what I'm looking forward to. Very excited that it's venturing over this way, that's for sure.

00:27:47Oliver Spake: And so I suppose you've mentioned swimming, you've mentioned riding, you've mentioned going to the, well, going to Rottnest Island. The fancy dress is, of course, a big highlight. So, Sarah, have you got your costume ready?

00:28:03Sarah Jefferson: No, but I have my idea ready, which it is top secret, but... Yep. Yes, I've got my idea.

00:28:12Oliver Spake: Excellent.

00:28:12Sarah Jefferson: Love it.

00:28:13Oliver Spake: That's all right. I'm just fishing for hints because... What about you guys? I'm not ready. No. You're not ready.

00:28:18Melissa Ellis: Okay, Mel? I'm waiting for payday. I know what I want to buy. Ah. Ooh.

00:28:24Sarah Jefferson: I'm just waiting for payday. Very exciting.

00:28:27Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:28:27Sarah Jefferson: I don't even think I can give a hint. I'm going to resist giving a hint.

00:28:32Melissa Ellis: So does the venue know that there's going to be hordes of people turning up in costume? We do get funny looks usually, but it's mostly for TOC because he's often got a mohawk.

00:28:42Sarah Jefferson: Yes, I did warn him when I booked this and I did say to the man, please don't worry, it's not an 18th or a Hens or a 21st themed event. So hopefully they won't be surprised. But, you know, always adds a bit of excitement to the location, I guess. We could even drum up some business, get some extra people in going, what are these people doing? And, yeah, why not? Yeah.

00:29:09Melissa Ellis: We should all have our parkrun business cards ready to convert the local community at the venue.

00:29:17Sarah Jefferson: Sounds good. Going back to what Ollie said, for Rottnest, actually, you could chuck in a snorkel if you've got one as well.

00:29:24Oliver Spake: Ah, okay.

00:29:25Sarah Jefferson: Bring that over with you. Yeah. Because if you hire one, often they leak. So I would throw my snorkel. It's beautiful over there, absolutely beautiful. Wow.

00:29:32Oliver Spake: I definitely can't miss Rottnest. Looking forward to that very, very much.

00:29:36Melissa Ellis: And there was a day change for that too, just in case some people had originally seen it as the Tuesday. It's now been moved to the Monday.

00:29:42Sarah Jefferson: Yes, some people were heading home Tuesday. So to cater for most people, it's been changed to the Monday. So hopefully that helps out people's itineraries as well.

00:29:53Melissa Ellis: Thank you so much for all your help in organising it. And we do recognise that you actually haven't been able to make a palm yourself yet. So you've been... Organising this blind, obviously with the help and the guidance from the OG Party Planner and Tracey in a Tutu. But thank you for all the effort that you've put in, Sarah.

00:30:13Sarah Jefferson: You're welcome. And fingers crossed it all goes to plan. But you know what? It's just exciting all being together in WA. So, yeah, you're welcome.

00:30:22Melissa Ellis: Westralia.

00:30:23Sarah Jefferson: Westralia.

00:30:24Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:30:25Sarah Jefferson: Yes.

00:30:26Oliver Spake: And, look, we did promise a bit of small talk afterwards, Sarah. So between now and Palm, have you got any adventures planned?

00:30:34Sarah Jefferson: Ooh, I'm just bringing up my 5K app because I think that I do have a few planned. I am RD next week. Then I've got, I'm going to head up to Jurien Bay, tick that off. And I think that's actually all I've, ooh, and there is a whisper of something else starting up, so... Yes, I will be going to the one that I will not name. So I have got a few different events before then. Aside from that, I'll actually be at UWA quite a few weeks, myself ticking off some early event numbers of this Wilson Index that just never seems to get smaller.

00:31:13Melissa Ellis: What sort of numbers do they get out there at UWA? How did you say it?

00:31:20Sarah Jefferson: UWA. Over Christmas break, I think I was there last. It was maybe only about 60 or something. Yeah, I don't know. I've only been there twice, to be honest. So I'd say around less than 100.

00:31:35Oliver Spake: Very good. So plenty of space for us, hopefully.

00:31:37Sarah Jefferson: Definitely, definitely plenty of space.

00:31:40Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:31:41Sarah Jefferson: And let's hope it's not the alternate course. The last couple of times I've been there, they've been doing some work. So hopefully it's not the alternate course and we should be back to normal if all goes to plan. And Sarah, Matt will be joining us as well. Matt will be joining us. He doesn't really have an option, does he?

00:31:56Unidentified speaker: No.

00:31:58Melissa Ellis: Of course, he'll be joining us. He's very excited. And we should also say congratulations on your recent engagement. Yes.

00:32:06Sarah Jefferson: Thank you. It is very exciting. Up to engagement planning. I can't even imagine wedding planning at this stage.

00:32:13Oliver Spake: Right, right, right, right.

00:32:16Sarah Jefferson: So, no, it is very exciting. So, thank you.

00:32:19Oliver Spake: Well, we look forward to celebrating with you a little bit, with you both, of course. And as Mel said, thank you so much to you and the team for everything you've done to help prepare. We can't wait. It's going to be here before we know it, I can tell.

00:32:32Sarah Jefferson: It will be. It's just around the corner, that's for sure.

00:32:34Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:32:35Sarah Jefferson: All right. Well, thank you for having me.

00:32:36Melissa Ellis: No worries. We shall see you again soon.

00:32:39Sarah Jefferson: Thanks, Mel and Ollie.

00:32:41Oliver Spake: And so very exciting, Mel. It's a countdown. I haven't counted the number of days, but it won't be very far. So if you are still on the fence, if you are still deciding and you fancy a quick trip to Perth or you're in Perth or WA and want to come and join us, you are more than welcome. And, of course, if you don't have access to Facebook, please feel free to email us and we'll get you all of the details.

00:33:06Melissa Ellis: Absolutely, Ollie.

Dazza's

00:33:07Melissa Ellis: But now it's time for us to check in at Dazza's. Dazza's was at capacity on the weekend.

00:33:16Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. And I think one reason, and it's because Dazza has said it's latte day. Yeah. Dazza is ready to make your drink of choice. What can he get you? And amongst the crowd, we heard from New Zealand. So Brett Bailey reported in and said, large flat white, please. Sorry, no photo today, which is a shame because I was resplendent in my red 50 top and red tutu and orange volley vest for our Valentine's run at Pegasus. I handed out 120 finished tokens today in cloudy conditions. Tanya ran Brunner after I started him off, then back to the Flat White Cafe for Park Faf quiz and Valentine's chocolate cake. And heads up, Tanya did share a picture of that Valentine's cake, which looked delicious.

00:34:07Melissa Ellis: It did look very good. Are you going to be celebrating? It's tomorrow, Ollie. It's tomorrow, Valentine's Day. Do you traditionally do anything?

00:34:15Oliver Spake: Yeah, I always use an excuse to have fun, Mel. So, yeah, I'm sure it'll be a busy day. It's my Sydney work day, so a long commute. But, yeah, when we get back, we'll at least have, yeah, if not a nice dinner, then we'll pop out for a quick drink or something. Always try and do things a couple of days before just to mitigate any risk of delay. So, yeah.

00:34:39Melissa Ellis: Good for you, Ollie. Yeah. Good for you. All right. So next we had a milestone from Yvette Turner. She said, large skinny latte after my 100th event attended at Gungahlin parkrun, including volunteering. And event number 444. So it was a Nelson event out there at Gungahlin Park. And there was a photo of Yvette standing with a Core Flute 100 sign. So congratulations, our 100th event attended. So I guess that is between both running and volunteering. Is that how you interpret that, Ollie?

00:35:18Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, I would say that's right, which I do like that way of looking at things, that's for sure. Fantastic celebration. Well done, Yvette. And a nice way to celebrate. Dazza approves. Yeah. Now, Mel, we heard also from Holly Pleasance and Holly did share a photo of herself and two friends at Park Faf after Toowoomba parkrun for event number 222.

00:35:48Melissa Ellis: So another Nelson themed event out there at Toowoomba parkrun.

00:35:54Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:35:55Melissa Ellis: And thanks for sharing, Holly. Now. Touristing this week was Natalie Soper who said cold water please after a warm morning at Balyang Sanctuary parkrun. This concludes my run of 50 tourist parkruns and I'll be back home at Parkville next week. Could still keep going but have to stop at some stage and 50 seems like a nice round number. And Natalie shared a screenshot of the 5K app tourist streak data showing her current tourist streak of 50 and longest tourist streak of 50. Yes.

00:36:28Oliver Spake: Very nice round number to notch it up to. Congratulations. We also heard from Joe McLean who was volleying and said, small double shot skinny cappuccino, please Dazza. I had RD duties this morning at the ponds. Love our fabulous group of volleys. We had a few last minute dropouts due to illness and everyone just shuffled around to make it work for our just shy of 600 parkrunners and walkers, in brackets, 592. Our photographer got a bit creative at the end today and Joe shared what was an awesome undershot of the volley team taken by the very talented photographer at the Ponds, which incidentally the Ponds have now made their cover photo. If you haven't seen it, it's fantastic. So thank you, Joe, and thank you for volunteering.

00:37:16Melissa Ellis: It is fantastic and that's why it's included.

00:37:18Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:37:19Melissa Ellis: And Carmel Roll came to us at Dazza's and said ice latte at Starbucks after number 333 at Central Lakes parkrun in Queensland. Carmel had a photo of herself with her breakfast, including said iced latte. So another Nelson event. They were happening everywhere around Australia this weekend.

00:37:39Oliver Spake: Now, we heard from Val Warwick, who was touristing and said, good morning, Dazza. We were at Georgetown parkrun today, meeting up with Debbie and Bruce from Korean Glades in WA. I walked and talked and continued to do so over coffee afterwards for more parkrun faff. Steve and I then took another walk before the day becomes unbearably hot. And this time it wasn't a coffee, but a milkshake. And Val posted a selfie with Steve further down and a Zoomy pic.

00:38:09Melissa Ellis: Yes, and this is your reminder, Ollie, that you had a task to connect with Corinne Glades for an interview. That's right. So that's why I included that one, just so I could remind you.

00:38:22Oliver Spake: Corinne Glades absolutely want to talk to you. So I haven't forgotten.

00:38:27Melissa Ellis: Now, coming to us again this week is that two weeks in a row bill Ellis who was touristing and he said this week I headed to parkrun adventurers promised land Shellharbour would I find Ollie driving down from Goulburn I'd listen to the podcast and Ollie was unsure if he'd be running or heading to an unknown location in the north At the start, I could not see Ollie. Maybe he was ahead of me as most were and I would see him at the turnaround. Unfortunately, no, the only thing that awaited was a massive hill climb. So I set my sights on the finish and with the great help from volunteer Brendan, who was calling out the countdown, To 30 minutes, I was able to get under 30. The course did a number on me and the only drink for me was water. And I located Ollie raising the flag in Sydney. And Bill shared a photo of himself Zooming. Ollie, what are the odds the one week that you're not there?

00:39:29Oliver Spake: One job. Yeah. Sorry, Bill. It would have been lovely to see you. You did look particularly fresh at what looked like was the 4.5k mark or the 4.8k mark almost. But, yeah, the countdowns from Brendan have helped many a parkrunner and they absolutely do make a difference. So glad you could enjoy that and well done on that result. But looks like I'll have to head up the escarpment at some point to say hello in return.

00:39:59Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, you can go to Goulburn. That's right.

00:40:01Oliver Spake: I do like Goulburn. And I've got an old friend who's starting his running journey, and I'm determined to encourage him to come and join me there. So that would be a nice way to spend it. But moving along, over in the UK, we heard from Karen Hurrell, who said, hi, Dazza, tea, please, in a cup and saucer, flying saucer emoji there, after looking for aliens at Rendlesham Forest parkrun. And Karen shared a couple of images, a selfie and a second pic, which included info of the UFO incident of 1980.

00:40:36Melissa Ellis: I don't know a lot about this one. It's very interesting. I have heard it profiled before. But, yeah, I need to do my research on Rendlesham Forest.

00:40:47Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:40:48Melissa Ellis: Feels like we need, oh, I think I've got a sound effect for Twilight Zone. What was that? Aliens.

00:40:56Oliver Spake: Oh, X-Files. Yeah, that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:40:59Melissa Ellis: Mulder and Scully. Anyway, I digress. We heard from Chris Gore, who was also coming to us from the UK. And Chris said, Hi, Dazza, make mine a long black and Karen will have a cappuccino. Today we took part in the Itchen Valley Country parkrun in the UK. This parkrun gave us a much needed I for our alphabet and I completed the namely challenge. Itchen Valley Country parkrun is a single loop, but if you look at the map, it looks more like a bowl of spaghetti. It is a muddy run all on trails through the woods, and despite what the map looks like, it is quite easy to follow. And the Marshals did a great job keeping everybody going in the right direction. We had a photo of Chris and Karen with the Itchen pop-up.

00:41:00[music]

00:41:48Oliver Spake: Wonderful, wonderful. Definitely around the neck of the woods I need to explore one day. Keeping in the UK, we heard from Helen Davis, who said, just scraping in after stuffing my case and barely getting it closed before my flight home to Australia tomorrow. It was awesome catching up with Christine Imbert this morning at Weymouth parkrun in Dorset, which, although was an hour from where I'm staying, was much further for her to travel. And I really appreciate that. We had a great walk and chat and a good long park faff, which included a hot cooked breakfast, two coffees and cake with the event team. We were so welcomed. I would thoroughly recommend this one for friendliness. And Helen shared a collage of the pictures with Christine. So that's a mega effort. Well done, well, Helen, of course, but Christine for making that trip.

00:42:40Melissa Ellis: Yes, pair of world tourists there, I believe, Ollie.

00:42:43Oliver Spake: Yes, they certainly are.

00:42:45Melissa Ellis: So that was it from Dazza's. And we should say there were so many we would have loved to have included many more posts that we received, but we had to unfortunately keep it. What would we say, Ollie? We had to keep it to a certain amount so that we didn't go too over time this week.

00:43:03Oliver Spake: That's right. But if you are on Facebook, feel free to jump on and keep the conversation going.

00:43:08Melissa Ellis: And you'll see all the photos in the Office Lady's Photo album, which will be going out on Monday night, of course. Yes.

00:43:14Rachel - Club Corner contributor: Monday past.

the Obi Award — Helen Davis and Christine Imbert

00:43:16Melissa Ellis: Okay. Now, for an Obi, would you like to open the envelope?

00:43:22Rachel: I would.

00:43:23Oliver Spake: I would. Okay. So. Got it here. And the Obi this week goes to Helen and Christine.

00:43:39Melissa Ellis: A joint Obi now. Hooray. How does it always work out that we call those ones out last and then the Obi comes straight after? I don't know how we always do that.

00:43:48Oliver Spake: There honestly is an envelope. I mean, this isn't rigged.

00:43:51Melissa Ellis: It absolutely is not. And it goes through a stringent process to establish the winner.

00:43:57Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:43:58Melissa Ellis: Anyway, congratulations to them both.

00:44:00Oliver Spake: And thank you again to everyone. But, Mel, I think it's time we pause. We have been catching up for a while and covering a lot, so it's time to hand it over to Rachel, who will take us to Club Corner.

Club Corner

00:44:23Rachel - Club Corner contributor: Welcome back, this is Rachel with Club Corner, where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs. Recently there was some social media chat about closed events, so I thought I'd talk about the one club we don't want to join, and can never plan for. The name of the club is, We Were Here. This club is open to people who have attended a parkrun event that has since closed. There are more than 430 non-custodial events active in Australia, and we have had 14 other events close their books. If you were fortunate enough to have attended one of these 14 events before they closed, then you have joined, we were here. I could list all 14 events which have closed, but there is little point, as you can't make plans around them . If an event closes in the future, then your past attendance qualifies you for membership to this club. The trigger for this club is when parkrun HQ changes the event page from active to closed. There is an intermediate stage for some events, which is when they are marked as, on hold. An event being on hold does not qualify you for membership in this club. Similarly, if an event reopens after a closure, you will lose your club qualification. But yay, the event has reopened. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

00:45:43Melissa Ellis: And it was good to hear from Rachel again, Ollie. And do you have an entry in the We Were Here Club?

00:45:50Oliver Spake: I have just one. Just one. Is it Bowral? It's Bowral. It is Bowral. I guessed. You did. That's right. So, yeah, I understand you have a few. I do.

00:46:03Melissa Ellis: I've got Ballarat. That was a recent retirement to pow! And I've got Merimbula, which is a relocation to Pambula, Pambula Wetlands, I believe. Lawn Beach, which was a closure. Fair Park Reserve, which has relocated to Lewis Park. And I've got Pucca, which is counted because it's not open to the public.

00:46:28Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, always a sad thing to see a parkrun go, but many of these have sprouted in other places.

00:46:34Melissa Ellis: Reborn. But... Yes.

Emails

00:46:38Melissa Ellis: Jinx. We've got mail.

00:46:41Oliver Spake: You've got mail. We've got lots of mail through different means. So we did get some mail from Brett Bailey, who now was on the theme of big things. And I think we're going to see a common thread, if I understand correctly, with some of the other correspondents. So Brett Bailey said, hi, team. Another addition for the parkruns with large things. Gore in the Lower South Island is the home of Hamilton Park parkrun and is the brown trout capital. I travel there regularly for work but have yet to do the parkrun. And there we have the big trout with Hamilton Park being two k's away.

00:47:21Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. And do you think like I think that Chris Gore, Chris and, what's Chris's wife's name? Karen. Chris and Karen Gore need to go and do Gore parkrun and Phil.

00:47:34Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right.

00:47:36Melissa Ellis: Phil should go and run the mountains while the others do the parkrun.

00:47:39Oliver Spake: Yes.

parkrun adventure challengelistener challenge

00:47:40Melissa Ellis: But we also heard from Claire Corkill via Messenger, and she sent us a list of big things, Ollie. So I've been doing my homework again. You have. So this list that Claire sent firstly started with the Big Prawn, which is in proximity to Ballina parkrun, which is 4.7 kilometres away. Then we've got the big merino at Goulburn, 5.7 kilometres away. This is the one last week I actually meant when I think I might have referred to it as a big ram. In my defence, the merino is a ram. But I did incorrectly say it was in Bega. I don't know what came into my head, made me say Bega but there you go um Claire also said there is a big cow in proximity to Highfields parkrun 3.2 kilometres away then of course the big pineapple 10.8 kilometres from Nambour parkrun the big apple which was also on erica's list I can confirm is 12.6 kilometres from Stanthorpe parkrun a big melon also on Erica's list 1.1 kilometres from Charleys Creek parkrun now Big Sunflower Painting, close to Emerald parkrun. I was a bit dubious on this one, Ollie. I thought, oh, a painting. I don't know if that classes as a big thing because I was envisaging, envisaging, oh, I was seeing in my mind's eye that this was a painting on a side of a building type thing. So I Googled it. Absolutely not. It is 100% a big thing. It is a giant easel with the world's biggest painting of Monet's sunflowers.

00:49:23Oliver Spake: Wow.

00:49:23Melissa Ellis: Looks spectacular, and I actually want to go there. So that's going on my list to go and see that. So then we had the Big Banana, which is 3.9 kilometres from Coffs Harbour. The Big Orange, which is 1.4 kilometres from Gayndah River Walk. Now, this one's a bit controversial, Ollie, because there is also a Big Orange in Berri in South Australia and in Harvey in WA, although I ran out of time to see how close the unicorns are to them. Now, there's a big mango near Bowen parkrun, 11 kilometres away, and a big golden guitar, four kilometres from Tamworth parkrun.

00:50:01Oliver Spake: Wow. That's a lot. That's impressive. That's impressive. Now, Mel, point of order. I'm sorry. One thing I did learn when I came to Melbourne last year, the sunflower, Van Gogh. Oh, did I say Van Gogh? No, you said Monet.

00:50:19Melissa Ellis: Oh,

00:50:20Oliver Spake: Sorry, Mel.

00:50:20Melissa Ellis: That's okay. Thank you for pulling me up. I don't want to get hate mail, get my artists incorrect.

00:50:27Oliver Spake: I don't think, yeah, hate mail for, you know, slightly miscalibrated or misspoken art appreciation and big thing appreciation is necessarily, yeah, going to be the case. But, yeah.

00:50:39Melissa Ellis: And I even went to The Lume and saw the Van Gogh exhibition with the sunflower room. I even went there. Coincidentally, we've now got a Monet one. Maybe that's what I was thinking.

00:50:50Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, yeah, that does explain it.

00:50:52Melissa Ellis: But thank you, Claire.

00:50:53Oliver Spake: Wow.

00:50:54Melissa Ellis: uh should we keep going we should Ollie because Sue keen in the comments in the feedback to episode 322 had the Big Oyster two and a half k's from Taree and I've added some myself Ollie because I was aware that there was a big rocking horse in South Australia because I've visited it in the past turns out 13 kilometres from Charleston parkrun

00:51:16Oliver Spake: Yep.

00:51:16Melissa Ellis: It is also a big strawberry, 10 kilometres from Cobram. And I had pointed out to me as well, a big potato. Well, I think you might have... Did you comment about the big potato last week?

00:51:30Oliver Spake: I may have, yes.

00:51:31Melissa Ellis: So I did my homework. Of course.

00:51:34Unidentified speaker: And...

00:51:34Melissa Ellis: Coincidentally, the big potato does look like a big poo. I'm sorry to say. I don't think anybody would be offended by me saying that. But the big poo is actually 25 kilometres from Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens, making it closer than Shellharbour, which is 35 kilometres away. Yes, they can have it. Southern Highlands owns the big poo. Now, there is, I also discovered, a big bench seven kilometres from Broken Hill parkrun. Now, you found one yourself.

00:52:13Oliver Spake: That's right, the big sphinxie, the big sphinx in Geelong, which is about 5km away, 4.6 from Balyang Sanctuary and 5.2 from Eastern Gardens.

00:52:25Melissa Ellis: So you can go to Geelong and get yourself a double and a sphinx.

00:52:28Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right.

00:52:30Melissa Ellis: Now the Office Lady has an entry for the Big Things Challenge and she says there's a big lobster. Now this is 1.6 kilometres from one of our last week's launches, Maria Creek Reserve. Also a big gold panner, which is 4.1 k's from Bathurst parkrun and Phillip Island, Victoria's Phillip Island, has the big koala 11.1 kilometres away.

00:52:57Oliver Spake: And the big sundial, just 750 metres from Singleton, courtesy of the Pohlmans reporting that one.

00:53:05Melissa Ellis: And doing my homework on some of the remaining big things that were on Erica's list last week, the big rig, which is adjacent to Roma parkrun. I tried to get a distance, Ollie, but I couldn't really because it's just right there, I believe. LAUGHTER Right at the start line.

00:53:21[laughter]

00:53:23Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:53:24Melissa Ellis: And also Erica referenced the big chair near Graham Andrews parkrun, and I haven't added that to my spreadsheet, Ollie. I had some trouble finding that on Google Maps, so I don't have a distance with how far away that one is, but I can confirm that there is a big chair near Graham Andrews parkrun. And the big bucket, Hannibal's Bucket, which is 900 metres from Ross Gregor Trail.

00:53:48Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Yes, and we were talking offline. Not the sort of bucket we expected. No. It's an old dragline bucket from the mining in the region. So, yes, it's bright red.

00:54:02Melissa Ellis: Yes, and you can back your car right up into it by the looks of the photos that we saw online. So quite fancy, my little car backed up into that bucket, but I'm not sure. That's in Queensland, isn't it? I don't know that I can drive that far.

00:54:15Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, not any time soon.

00:54:18Melissa Ellis: Not until I get my suspension done.

00:54:21Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:54:22Melissa Ellis: So we've got a very big list of big things, Ollie, and I think I counted about 21 of them. This is going to be a conversation point this week in our socials on Facebook, so we might get some more nominations and then I think I might go through and shortlist the best, the best of the best because, yeah, the big poo might get flushed.

00:54:45Oliver Spake: Oh. No love for the poo? No.

00:54:49Melissa Ellis: No love for the poo.

00:54:51Oliver Spake: No, I understand.

00:54:52Melissa Ellis: We could have a vote. We could even have a vote.

00:54:55Oliver Spake: Oh, we could have a World Cup of big things.

00:54:56Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes.

00:54:57Oliver Spake: Or a poll.

00:55:00Melissa Ellis: Polls are problematic. We know this.

00:55:03Oliver Spake: Yes, we do. We do, yeah. We've been down this path. But thank you, everyone, for the big things. If there are more big things, keep it coming. The list can't be big enough, of course, being about big things. And, yeah, we'll then get to shortlisting.

Consolidated Club Report

00:55:19Oliver Spake: But, Mel, speaking of big things, how's the Adventurers Club?

00:55:22Melissa Ellis: The Adventurers Club is getting bigger. The Consolidated Club report for Saturday, the 11th of February, 2023, had a total of 390 members. So we are approaching 400. And 318 took part. On that date, at 164 locations, there were adventurers at 20 locations in the UK, two in South Africa, and one each in the USA and Singapore. Locally, we had adventurers at 39 events in Victoria, 34 events in New South Wales, 32 in Queensland, 8 each in WA and SA, 6 in Tassie and the North Island, 5 in the ACT and 2 on the South Island. No bowling strike. Our Northern Territory streak is ended. Yes, yes, but it was good while it lasted.

00:56:23Oliver Spake: So, yeah, well done, everyone.

the Frond — San Remo parkrun - the eight adventurers (Gustav and Louise Garbers, Michelle Fyfe, Frederick Dexter, Susan Roddick, Susan Mitchell, Sally Gutierrez)

00:56:25Oliver Spake: And another big frond.

00:56:27Melissa Ellis: It was, yes. Eight adventurers out at San Remo. We had Gustav and Louise Garbers, Michelle Fyfe, Frederick Dexter and Susan Roddick, and Susan Mitchell and Sally Gutierrez. Gutierrez.

00:56:42Oliver Spake: I've messed up Sally's surname, but, yeah, well done, everyone.

00:56:46Melissa Ellis: My turn. So there you go. Yep, the biggest frond. Although I don't know that they're adventuring, Ollie, and we should say congratulations to Sally on her 25th volunteer.

Sign-off

00:56:57Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah, thank you for volunteering. But, Mel, a lot of looking back, a fair bit of looking forward to, but there's still a bit more of that. What is coming up this parkrun Day?

00:57:09Melissa Ellis: Well, Kawana parkrun is celebrating a big milestone this coming Saturday, Ollie. It's their 500th event. And if that isn't enough to celebrate, if you are going to be in the vicinity of the Kawana parkrun, you might want to congratulate Mel Erbacher, our very own original Mel, the OG Mel, on her 200th volunteer stint at Kawana when she is in charge. She is RD on the mornings. Now, not only is it her 200th volunteer, but I am reliably informed it's the 10th anniversary of her volunteering at Kawana parkrun.

00:57:48Oliver Spake: Wow. OMG, OGM.

00:57:51Melissa Ellis: So congratulations, Mel. We hope you have a brilliant day. And I think it's also going to be followed by a launch party of the parkrun Party song that we played for you a few episodes back.

00:58:06Oliver Spake: That's right. So that sounds like a very festive day and a huge congratulation and thank you to Mel for all of her support. I hope everyone has a fantastic parkrun Day out there at Kawana. But we have another update. Our Office Lady's been hard at work and has very helpfully, after orders have continued for a little while, has sweet-talked Ventu into keeping the orders open until midnight Sunday. That's midnight this Sunday, and I neglected to check what date that is, but I believe that is the 19th of February 2023, just for clarity. 48 hour extension. Um, let's say midnight, uh, Eastern Australian daylight saving time, just to be that little bit more specific, uh, since we've had a bit of time zone confusion tonight, um, or today, uh, last chance to order everyone so if you are interested in an adventurer's top singlet shirt no more orders can be taken after then this is your opportunity and please be aware that anyone can buy a shirt yeah we of course hope to celebrate with the palm attendees wearing our shirts at uwa parkrun on the 5th of April 15th 15th of April wow um but But needless to say, it's there for everyone to enjoy, to celebrate the wonderful adventurer community. So jump on if you do need those details. If you are after them, get in touch with us by Facebook or email. But that is shared as a featured post in our parkrun adventurers Facebook page. So this Sunday.

00:59:49Melissa Ellis: Yes. Yes. Hopefully we will see lots of them. They are selling really well. We've been pleasantly surprised with how they have been embraced. So thank you to everybody that's already ordered.

01:00:00Oliver Spake: That's right. It must be the colour.

01:00:02Melissa Ellis: Wow. Ollie, next parkrun day.

01:00:06Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:00:07Melissa Ellis: Things at Shellharbour.

01:00:08Oliver Spake: That's right. Speaking of colour, I'm hoping for it to be a wonderful and colourful one for our Pride Week parkrun at Shellharbour parkrun where I will be run directing. So I hope to balance my black and white vest with a bit more colour than that. And, yeah, hopefully bring the girls along too. Looking forward to that very much so. And, you know, obviously we should, every parkrun event having a celebration and having a pride week event all the best to enjoy the wonderful parkrun celebration and that anyone joining parkrun for the first time gets to enjoy a wonderful inclusive environment but Mel that's been a big pod dare I say it's been a lot to um a lot to get excited about big I just got the reference well done Ollie I'd like to say that was on purpose. But anyway, I suppose it's time. So everyone, as always, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers@gmail.com. That is it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

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