Episode 325 - Wake up, Jodi!

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 325 of the parkrun Adventures podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

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

00:00:37Melissa Ellis: Sleepy Dharawal Country.

00:00:40Oliver Spake: It is for me. It is for me. Oh, I could do with a coffee, Mel. How are you?

00:00:46Melissa Ellis: Oh, I am as tired as you are. So tired. This is the sleepy podcast. We'll have to try and keep each other awake.

00:00:55Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. This is definitely a podcast for your slow tempo runs, walks, crawls, or to help you drift off to sleep.

00:01:05Melissa Ellis: Some people do listen when they go to bed and then they fall asleep. I used to do that. I used to do that when I used to listen to Scott and Mel. If it was a late release in the evening, I'd be so excited I wouldn't want to wait till morning. So I'd go to bed and pop the headphones on and then fall straight asleep and miss the whole thing.

00:01:20Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:01:22Oliver Spake: See, I have listened and fallen asleep, but it's usually when I'm on the train, when I'm stationary. And whenever I'm stationary, I fall asleep. So, yeah. But more often, it was always a case of listening whilst jogging.

00:01:35Melissa Ellis: Brendan Peel always says I send Jodie to sleep.

00:01:39Oliver Spake: Well, Jodie's already asleep. Wake up, Jodie.

00:01:46Melissa Ellis: Oh, goodness. Okay, let's get the tempo up a little bit. Why don't you tell us about your adventure? Well, yes, yes.

00:01:55Oliver Spake: It was a familiar adventure for me this parkrun day just gone as I was down the coast from my home. I was down in neighbouring Yuin country, in a sleepy little coastal town called Lake Conjola and staying with Kathy and the extended family for the annual Lake Conjola getaway that she and the family have been doing for a good three decades or so. And naturally, that left me in a bit of a midway point between parkruns and a little bit of travel because there aren't a lot of parkruns on the New South Wales south coast and I have... visited any of those within a good you know two hours driving range of Lake Conjola so didn't have a lot of time the holiday was the slightly more abridged version so I opted to go south to Batemans Bay parkrun which is the second nearest parkrun and about one hour south of where I was staying quite a civilized distance in your book I know Mel um going to the corner store but And, yeah, I enjoyed a nice, sunny, warm morning on the water's edge down in beautiful Batemans Bay and the parkrun that I've now been to four times, which as a course, for those that haven't been there, highly recommend it. It's a lovely flat course, real flat, just for those that might want to point out technicalities, actually flat. And I would describe it as a two-lap double out and back, which means starting somewhere about one quarter into the two extremities and going running along the coastal path, bit of grass, bit of concrete to town, returning, running back past the start area to the end of a pier or something like that, really a break wall, and then back past the start finish and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. You've done two laps, you finish on the grass. Wonderful team. Lots of junior volunteers, which was lovely to see. And a familiar face. ran up. So Karen from the Shellharbour team ran in off the road.

00:04:06Melissa Ellis: I was going to guess Darwin.

00:04:10Oliver Spake: Yeah, the beak gives it away. Yeah, you'd always recognise Darwin. She's, yeah, she's hard to disguise. But no, this was Karen. And I was a little surprised. I had no idea she was in the area, but it was nice to see a familiar face. And yeah.

00:04:25Melissa Ellis: A nice run. That's good. So it does prompt me to ask how big a town is Lake Conjola and what are the potentials there?

00:04:35Oliver Spake: Well, to answer your first question, you might hear some tapping in the background. Lake Conjola has a population, according to the 2016 census, a permanent population of 437 people. And that population balloons because the town includes two caravan parks, quite sizable ones. and a number of holiday accommodation places. So we stay in a lovely little house that's on the edge of the inlet, which joins the relatively large lake and the beach, which links it with the Pacific Ocean. There were times where the lake was completely closed off, but it has been open for some time. And it's a wonderful destination. In terms of potential parkrun venues, I would say that there would be a reasonable chance if people wanted to do it because it's one of those towns with the water's edge where the houses are set back. So aside from the fact that you'd be navigating kangaroo poo, the occasional tap, some... Some rocks and tree roots, great hazards for little kids. I think you could manage potentially a single lap. I haven't measured it. And alternatively, there are some wonderful beaches you could run on. We all love running on sand. There are some great tracks, but they are a little overgrown and some of them are, I believe, shared with vehicles. So plenty of opportunities. So for all you listeners in Lake Conjola... I would highly recommend it, but it would close a gap. It would absolutely close a gap. And what I didn't mention was Huskerson parkrun was paused for the week due to the Husky try, I think, was this particular event happening that prevented a few people from parkrunning down in the Huskerson area this last parkrun day.

00:06:30Melissa Ellis: It did, didn't it? That Office Lady was doing a nottie.

00:06:33Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. So I'm glad you asked, Mel. And look, it was relatively warm, so you would have loved it.

00:06:41Melissa Ellis: Ah, yes. Well, leading into my weekend, are we?

00:06:45Oliver Spake: We are. We are. Oh, well, I'll close mine out. Grabbed a bacon and egg roll and a coffee from JJ's Cafe. I remember the cafe. And what else did I notice? There was a jet boating tourist attraction right next to the finish line. So there's a couple of tourist tips. It's no Mel's report, but that's my best effort.

00:07:10Melissa Ellis: Oh, very good.

00:07:12Oliver Spake: Thank you.

00:07:12Melissa Ellis: All righty. Well. Shall we move on to me now?

00:07:16Oliver Spake: Yes, I'd love to hear about yours.

00:07:19Melissa Ellis: When I'm just not going with the flow. Okay, so on Friday I headed to Kingston South East in South Australia on the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri people. Kingston is located 297 kilometres south east of Adelaide and is a substantial port famous for its lobsters. As we have previously mentioned, it also happens to be the home of the big lobster named Larry, one of those wonderfully quirky bigs which Australians seem to love to build. According to Wikipedia, the main industries are fishing, winemaking, sheep and cattle farming and recreation, the district having a large influx of tourists during holiday periods throughout the year, not dissimilar to Lake Conjola. I made that bit up. On the shores of Lacepede Bay, Kingston Southeast is home to the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse, which was moved to its current location from its former location on Margaret Brock Reef, and now operates as a museum, and an amazing jetty which is now over 100 years old and is still being used. I took my small tent for the overnight trip and camped in the local caravan park, which is about a kilometre from the Maria Creek parkrun, which is located adjacent to the RV park and opposite the aforementioned jetty. Now, I didn't want to get the RV park confused with the caravan park. I don't have an RV, so I couldn't stay there. Oh. So I guess there's rules for RV parks. I don't know. Yeah. Anyway, the course is run on a relatively flat bitumen path and loops around the Maria Creek Reserve twice. I was one of 74 finishers for event number three, which was supported by 13 volunteers, and it was my 175th different event and 22nd in South Australia. I didn't actually chat to anyone on this visit, although the atmosphere was very friendly and I overheard other tourists catching up and posing for photos. After my run, which incidentally fell one second short of my last remaining bingo number, I headed back to pack up my wet tent. Did I mention it rained in the night? Oh, and I forgot to say last week that I just celebrated my ninth parkrun anniversary.

00:09:41Oliver Spake: Happy birthday, Mel.

00:09:43Melissa Ellis: Thank you. Thank you. So, yes, enjoyable trip, nice little seaside town, lots of little interesting things to look at around the place. You can go for a little walk around town, lots of little signs on the buildings indicating the history and everything like that. So, yeah, much enjoyed.

00:10:04Oliver Spake: Oh, well done, well done. A bit further than the corner store.

00:10:08Melissa Ellis: Five and a half hours this week.

00:10:10Oliver Spake: Yeah. That's always closer than I imagine it, but I'm not going to actually call it close. That's quite a trip.

00:10:19Melissa Ellis: I think technically it's a six-hour drive, but I lose half an hour there. So it was five and a half hours to get there and six and a half on the way home.

00:10:26Oliver Spake: It's like flying. I'm really confused now.

00:10:28[crosstalk]

00:10:30Melissa Ellis: The actual drive time is six hours.

00:10:32Oliver Spake: Oh, right. I thought because the world was turning in that direction, you know. No, it's just that you, yeah. No, no, I'm being silly. You're joking. Yes, yeah. Oh, lady. But that's why we're tired. Yeah, and in my defence, did lots of other things whilst away. Managed to cut my toe, so I won't be running for a little while. Oh. Yeah, yeah.

00:10:59Melissa Ellis: Is it a serious injury? Oh, it hurts. Requiring stitches? Oh.

00:11:04Oliver Spake: No, no stitches. I'm just a sook. Yeah. Right.

00:11:08Melissa Ellis: It hurts.

00:11:09Val: Yeah. Okay. Well.

00:11:09[crosstalk]

00:11:12Melissa Ellis: Yes. We also could reference the fun we had last week with Rachel, Ollie, awarding that Obi to the Office Lady. It was a popular choice. She was a popular winner.

00:11:23Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. It seems we should do as we're told more often.

00:11:29Melissa Ellis: Don't say anything. Rachel might pop in again and take over.

00:11:32Oliver Spake: Goodness, what else was happening last week, Ollie?

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:11:36Oliver Spake: Well, we have one more launch. Welcome to the family. Welcome to the parkrun Australia and parkrun WA family, Toodyay, in the form of Newcastle Park parkrun. Excellent. Yeah.

00:11:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, it's all happening in WA, isn't it? I'm sure there was another reference that I saw. Oh, yes. Oh, no, we're going to talk about that later.

00:11:56Oliver Spake: No, that's right.

00:11:59Melissa Ellis: We're going to talk about it later or now?

00:12:01Oliver Spake: We don't have to wait. We don't have to wait. It's quite exciting. We have a theme song for Eurovision, Mel.

00:12:07Melissa Ellis: We do. I mean, for Palm.

00:12:09Oliver Spake: And it's a Eurovision song. Oh, where's that coffee? Yeah.

00:12:13Melissa Ellis: Yes. Yes. And it was announced on one day this last week.

00:12:19Oliver Spake: I think it was Thursday AM Australian time. Yes, that's right. So the band Voyager, which is Australia's representative in Eurovision 2023, go voyager with the song promise so very exciting and their video clip includes some beautiful scenic features but they hail from where else but wa yeah the place to be that's right I wonder if any of them parkrunners can you get me the names of them so I can stalk them on the 5k app you never know Well, you never know. You never know. They certainly could be.

00:13:03Melissa Ellis: I don't know if synth metal people would run parkrun. Wouldn't they stay up all night playing music and then sleep all day? I don't know. Is that a generalisation? I'm not meaning any offence. I'm talking rubbish because I'm very, very tired.

00:13:19Oliver Spake: We're going to have all our synth metal fans writing in. Yeah. No.

00:13:26Melissa Ellis: Oh, Ollie, that can be your costume.

00:13:28Oliver Spake: Well, it's a pretty easy costume.

00:13:30Melissa Ellis: Pack your mohawk.

00:13:33Oliver Spake: No, but they don't have a mohawk, but is he the lead singer? I don't know whether he's the lead singer. And I also don't know the band's individual names yet, but he has long hair with a bit of a side part. So, yeah, that would work.

00:13:50[crosstalk]

00:13:51Melissa Ellis: Even better. No, it's not a mullet.

00:13:53Oliver Spake: It's not a mullet.

00:14:00Melissa Ellis: I thought I was on a winner.

00:14:01Tracey Wood: Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear.

00:14:05Oliver Spake: But thank you for the suggestion, Mel.

Emails

00:14:07Oliver Spake: And moving right along, we did have some other feedback from last episode in relation to, well, a bit of the height discussion.

00:14:17Melissa Ellis: We did, and it's from Johan, so you get to read it.

00:14:21Oliver Spake: Awesome. I was hoping you'd say that. So Johan said, some feedback on elevations. Running Achievements has regionalised Dizzy Heights challenges for several countries. And, oh, right, I haven't actually checked the countries. They include Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Poland, UK, US and Zimbabwe. Is that right? Oh, South Africa. One job, Ollie.

00:14:44[crosstalk]

00:14:48Melissa Ellis: Hang on.

00:14:49Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:14:50Melissa Ellis: Z-A, that's South Africa?

00:14:52Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, sorry. Brain is not keeping up with mouth.

00:14:57Melissa Ellis: Because it's .za, isn't it, in there?

00:14:59Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, that's right. Sorry, Johan. One job. But, yeah, this is based on the estimated elevation via the Google Maps API of the official start of the parkrun on the map of the parkrun website. But many parkruns go quite a bit higher in elevation than at the start. In case of Clarens, it starts at 1,811.9 metres above sea level and then climbs to, as we mentioned last week, 1,912 metres above sea level. However, worldwide, the top 10 active parkruns in terms of elevation at the start are, number one, Aspen parkrun in the US. 2,453 metres. I don't have that in feet. Number two, Dullstroom parkrun in South Africa, 1,991 metres. Number three, Kralinbergh parkrun in South Africa, 1,813 metres. You're doing well. Thanks, Mel. Did you hear the change in my tone? Number four, Clarens parkrun in South Africa, 1,811 metres.

00:16:20Melissa Ellis: One of us is a Windhoek.

00:16:23Oliver Spake: Windhoek parkrun in Namibia. No. Is it?

00:16:28Melissa Ellis: Well, N-A. I can't think of another country. It must be.

00:16:29[crosstalk]

00:16:31Oliver Spake: Yeah. Netherlands? Yeah, that's right. No, that would be N-L. And that would be quite high for the Netherlands.

00:16:39Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.

00:16:40Oliver Spake: In 1,708 metres. And Sterkfontein parkrun in South Africa, once again, is number six, and that's 1,699 metres. Then we have Wits. Is it Wits or Wits? Oh, no. I'm sorry, Johan. One job. Yeah, parkrun in South Africa, which is 1,697 metres. And then we have Roodepoort parkrun in number eight, which was replaced with an emoji with a smiley face and sunglasses. But that was number eight, just the way the text reads that. Oh, wow. Just a side note, just to paint the picture for everyone, 1,696 metres. I hate it when it does that. Then we have in number nine, Bethlehem parkrun in South Africa, 1,691 metres, and Harrismith parkrun in South Africa, 1,686 metres. I think this is the only reason Johan sends messages to me. Yeah, I appreciate it. I'm really hoping for some feedback to my pronunciation efforts.

00:17:52Melissa Ellis: Send it direct to Ollie.

00:17:54Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:17:55Melissa Ellis: Would you like me to take over now? I can do this bit if you like. The top four in Australia currently. Australian Standing Stones parkrun at 1,138.8 metres. Walcha? No. Oh, Walker. Oh. What is it?

00:18:14Oliver Spake: It's Walker, isn't it?

00:18:15Melissa Ellis: Walker. Okay. In New South Wales, 1,049.4 metres. Armidale parkrun, New South Wales, 983.3 metres. And Jindabyne Sport and Recreation parkrun, New South Wales, 983 metres. And it was pointed out to me that they are all in New South Wales, which makes New South Wales...

00:18:39Oliver Spake: The hilliest state. The highest state. And guess what, Mel? What? It's Walsh. Yeah.

00:18:48Melissa Ellis: I think I've got that wrong before, so you know what? It is what it is.

00:18:51[crosstalk]

00:18:52Oliver Spake: Well, shall I do the New Zealand ones?

00:18:53Melissa Ellis: Yes, you do them.

00:18:55Oliver Spake: Oh, great. The top three in New Zealand currently include Taupo parkrun, Waikato at 360 metres, Queenstown parkrun in Otago, 313 metres, and Wanaka parkrun in Otago as well at 294.8 metres.

00:19:12Melissa Ellis: With all their mountains in New Zealand, they aren't very high, are they? They're considerably lower above sea level.

00:19:17Oliver Spake: I suppose so. I suppose so, yeah.

00:19:20Melissa Ellis: Interesting.

00:19:21Oliver Spake: Yeah. Thank you to our contributors.

00:19:25Melissa Ellis: Well, Johan.

00:19:26Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, thank you to Johan. And, yes, that was a lot of fun.

00:19:32Melissa Ellis: It was. It was interesting. For me at least, yeah. Yeah. Oh, reading them out. Yeah. We also had feedback from Jeff for last week's episode and he said, you called me out. We've got something big at Joe Creason. We'll post in Dazza's. So we've got that coming up.

00:19:50Oliver Spake: We do. We do.

00:19:52Melissa Ellis: And, well...

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:19:53Oliver Spake: I think after all that, we do have something else coming up, and that's some roving reports, Mel. We actually have a number of roving reports, so we'll listen to a few. We may even have to hold some over for next week. But for now, let's get on with it and hear from the people that can pronounce the parkruns that they are enjoying and all of their adventures from parkrun day.

00:20:05[background music]

Roving report Tracey Wood — Ecco Ripley

00:20:21Tracey Wood: Good morning, parkrunners. It's Tracey in a Tutu, and I'm actually wearing the tutu. And I'm at Ecco Ripley parkrun. I've been here once before. I'm pretty sure there's still that hill. Anyway, let's go see who we can talk to. Okay, I found the right place. Oh, I've seen a familiar face. Hi, Tracy. Hi, Tracy. How are you? I'm good. How are you? Good.

00:20:44Unidentified speaker: What's happening here today? Looks fun. We've got Run the World Day at parkrun. Oh, what does that mean? It means that everybody's wearing their Run the World merchandise and Trav donates a dollar for every shirt he sees.

00:20:58Tracey Wood: Travis, you were awesome. Good man. And I heard a vicious rumour, actually, that there was Zooper Doopers at the finish. Could you confirm or deny this? I can confirm. I like it. Now, parkrun, please note, I think Zooper Dooper hander-outer should be an official role at parkrun, not just under another. So, excellent. All right. Thanks, Tracy. Bye, Tracy. Okay, parkrunners, I'm at the start. I've seen a familiar face and this person's not a first-timer to parkrun, but she is touristing. I've got Sian. Hey, Sian, how are you? I'm well, thanks. How are you? Good. What brings you here today? And please don't say a car.

00:21:36Alison Fraser (King): A parkrun and a great opportunity to get out and about. Awesome.

00:21:40Tracey Wood: Okay, and where's your home parkrun? Logan River. And how far away is that for the Victorian South? So it's about 46 kilometres to get here this morning. Okay, good on you. And tell me, you were going to write a blog or a review? I do have a blog and I'm going to be writing a review about this Ecco Ripley parkrun so we can get it out there to everyone how great it is.

00:22:01Alison Fraser (King): Please tell everyone about how flat Ecco Ripley is.

00:22:04Tracey Wood: I'd love to see it. Anyway, we'd better get to the start. Thanks, Sian. Bye. Thank you. All right, parkrunners, I'm out on a course and I've got Kay Sherlock with me, who is the Area Event Ambassador. Now, Kay had her bossy boots on this morning and directed me over to the first-timers briefing as parkwalker because she actually has this great initiative. Kay, can you tell the listeners about this?

00:22:29Kay Sherlock: Hi, Tracey, thanks. When I went to Ipswich parkrun a couple of weeks ago, I had a brainwave afterwards. We had about 14 new people there because it was the birthday and at the end of it I thought I should have dragged the parkwalker into the briefing so that she could target the brand new people. So since I've been doing first-timers briefing at Ripley or whatever parkruns I go to,

00:22:58Tracey Wood: I tend to grab the parkwalker like I did with Tracy and introduce her to the newbies and that way people know who they can chat to you know being first timers um to parkrun they know who they can say hey what do I do about my barcode what do I do here what do I do that Now, listeners, I do have to say, sorry about all the huffing and puffing. If anyone asks about Ecco Ripley, it is not flat. Okay, I'm at the finish of Ecco Ripley parkrun and I've found Mark again, who is the Run Director today. Mark, how did it all go?

00:23:36Mark: It went brilliantly. It was my first time and we didn't lose anyone. There was no incidents. It was fantastic.

00:23:42Tracey Wood: Excellent. And is this your home parkrun?

00:23:45Mark: Yeah, Ecco Ripley. I just live up the road, so it's a wonderful parkrun.

00:23:48Tracey Wood: And how long have you been in the parkrun world?

00:23:50Mark: I reckon about a decade. Oh. Yeah, so a fair while.

00:23:54Tracey Wood: Oh, tell me your story. How did you get involved?

00:23:56Mark: Yeah, I was in a running group, and what we did, and we still do even today, we do our long run, and then we tag 5Ks on at the end.

00:24:03Tracey Wood: Yes.

00:24:04[crosstalk]

00:24:04Mark: So I used to run at Ipswich, and now I run at Ecco Ripley.

00:24:07Tracey Wood: Do you want to give a shout-out to your running club?

00:24:09Mark: Oh, it's Galforce Running Club, so it's great. Oh, Galforce. Hi, Chris. Yeah, so we have a great time, so that's what we do.

00:24:15Tracey Wood: Good on you, good on you. So how many parkruns are you up to now? Tell me your stats.

00:24:19Mark: I think it's about, well, because of COVID, I think I'm nearly at the 200 mark, about 190, something like that, yeah.

00:24:25Tracey Wood: And vollies?

00:24:26Mark: Oh, I've only been volunteering for the last couple of years, so I think I'm about 25 or 30, something like that. Yeah, good on you. But I really thought, you know, it's local. Our whole family volunteers, the whole family. And then I thought, I just, I thought, oh, they were scarce of Run Directors, so I can do it.

00:24:34[crosstalk]

00:24:40[crosstalk]

00:24:42Tracey Wood: Oh, well, good for you. And thank you. And lovely to have met you today. Oh, good.

00:24:46Mark: I hope I did okay.

00:24:48Tracey Wood: Good job. And, yeah, we're really enjoying the Zooper Doopers. Nice treat on a day like today. Thank you. Cheers. See you next time. Thank you. All right, it's Tracey in a Tutu, finishing up at Ecco Ripley, heading off in search of coffee, breakfast, shower. Have a good weekend, folks. See you another time. Bye.

Roving report David — Wanneroo parkrun

00:25:06David Messenger: Hello, fellow parkrun adventurers. This is David in Western Australia, and today I am challenge chasing prime event number 227 at Wanneroo parkrun. This parkrun is held to the eastern side of Lake Joondalup, with its older sister parkrun, Lake Joondalup parkrun, being held on the western side of the lake. Wanneroo parkrun starts at a sports oval and is a simple out and back, starting on grass and then running on wide concrete paths which allow ample opportunity for overtaking. It is a PB friendly course as it is relatively flat, with some slow inclines and a minor hill at the turnaround point. making a total climb of 23 metres in the run. There is ample parking, toilets, barbecues, picnic areas and a playground for the kids. However, I don't think there is a nearby post-run coffee van or cafe option without a short drive. I have run here twice before. Today there are several people achieving milestones and I will talk to them after my run. I'm here today with Val and Dan and their kids Ethan and Jonas. So Ethan is four and a half and today he did his 10th parkrun. How do you feel today Ethan after doing your 10th parkrun?

00:26:23Ethan: Good.

00:26:24David Messenger: Good? You're looking forward to getting a 10 shirt?

00:26:28Ethan: Yeah.

00:26:28David Messenger: And what do you want to do? What's your next parkrun goal now that you've achieved 10?

00:26:32Ethan: 20.

00:26:34David Messenger: And how long do you think it will take you to get 20? That long, he says with his hands, so probably by Christmas I would guess. So why do you like parkrun, Ethan?

00:26:43Ethan: Because I like getting the green ticks.

00:26:47David Messenger: Green ticks on the map, on the 5K app? Yep. And how many green ticks do you have now?

00:26:52Ethan: Ten.

00:26:53David Messenger: Ten, so you've done ten different events for your ten runs. That's very good.

00:26:59Ethan: Because I like and get out with my mummy and daddy.

00:27:04David Messenger: Yes, and your little brother's being pushed around in the pram, so he might be joining you in a year or two as well.

00:27:11Ethan: When I'm six, he will be four.

00:27:14David Messenger: Okay, so he's got another year or two before he'll join you.

00:27:18Ethan: Because I like going to the park.

00:27:20David Messenger: So playgrounds at parkruns are very important on your list of priorities. This one has a very good park, so you have to have fun afterwards today. And which was your favourite parkrun?

00:27:33Ethan: Bibra Lake.

00:27:35David Messenger: And that's got another very big park at Bibra Lake, so that must be very fun too. They have giant turtles in the playground there.

00:27:43Ethan: Yeah.

00:27:44David Messenger: Do you like seeing all the different parkruns?

00:27:46Ethan: Yes.

00:27:47David Messenger: And have all your parkruns been in WA, I think?

00:27:50Ethan: Singapore, England.

00:27:52David Messenger: And England. Well, you're almost a world traveller.

00:27:56Ethan: And we're going to do one in Japan.

00:27:58David Messenger: So that will be four countries for a person who's under four. And how about you Val? We've talked to your son. What's your parkrun journey like?

00:28:10Val: We've had a really good part run journey literally around Australia. We came to WA about 18 months ago now and travelled rurally all around the outskirts trying to complete the ones on the outside of WA so going all the way up to Port Hedland and then round to Kalgoorlie and down to the south in Albany and round to Bunbury, and saw some amazing sights and we were travelling around and working as we went but the places we chose to work were pretty much based on where there was a parkrun to get in our priorities and and then finishing up in Perth and we've been here for a year now and We used to every week go into a different one, trying to find, you know, figuring out a new suburb in the city and what that has to offer. And it's really helped us to get to know Perth really well by going to different parkruns and seeing new places and new people. It's been a great adventure.

00:29:09David Messenger: Yes, that's how I've used my parkrun journey as well. I've seen so many different suburbs in Queensland and New South Wales and now WA, so it gets you out to places you'd never go any other way.

00:29:18Val: Yeah, definitely. I think it's one of the big positives that you can explore even within your own city and go to places you wouldn't have otherwise gone.

00:29:29David Messenger: And what's your next challenge, Val?

00:29:31Val: Well, we're currently trying to work up to 100 different parkruns, not far off now, and we're completing the alphabet. We've just got V, and I've found a conference that I actually really want to go to the conference, but it happens to be in Adelaide, which is perfect, because we booked flights to go there, and it means we can get the V parkrun done there, because there isn't any Vs in WA, and then we'll be done for the alphabet, so that'll be good.

00:29:57David Messenger: So I did Victor Harbor probably five years ago and that's a really nice parkrun along the river by the water's edge so it's very scenic and there's lots of potential things there for the kids to do as well.

00:30:08Val: Perfect yeah we're looking forward to it and just going to see it again just going to see a new place that'll be good and we've got a trip up to Japan coming

00:30:21David Messenger: if we can decipher the course description that's all in Japanese figure out how to get there but that'll be quite an adventure yes that's the wonderful thing about parkrun it's universal so across so many different countries with the same concept so best of luck with all your travels and congratulations on these attempts today thanks very much yeah he's very proud thank you and this is David signing off from Wanneroo parkrun And next week I hope to get to Toodyay, which has their inaugural event today, being the 50th parkrun to open in WA. So I hope to be there in a week's time and interview some of the event team.

Roving report Alison Fraser — Hamilton Lake parkrun

00:31:01Alison Fraser (King): Kia ora koutou, it's Alison here across the ditch and today I'm coming to you from Hamilton Lake parkrun which is in the city of Hamilton on the North Island and with me before we start is Simon Popleston who is doing a milestone today so Simon welcome to the podcast. [Te Reo Māori: "Hello / greetings to you all (addressed to three or more people)"]

00:31:17Simon Popleston: Morning.

00:31:18Alison Fraser (King): And tell us what milestone you're doing.

00:31:20Simon Popleston: I'm doing my 250 today.

00:31:21Alison Fraser (King): Congratulations.

00:31:23Simon Popleston: Yeah so it's been a long time coming I started parkrun in November 2015 A lot of changes over those periods, a lot of reasons to get into running, mainly for mental health at first, but then the encouragement, the people around me, and doing through parkruns, I've also tried, started triathlons.

00:31:44Alison Fraser (King): Oh wow, I did not know that, that's pretty awesome.

00:31:46Simon Popleston: Yeah, so I took triathlons and I met people and wanted to start doing them, and I met people through parkrun who did triathlons, some were Ironman level, who gave me information and encouragement, And I spent three years taking all the way to Ironman.

00:32:02Alison Fraser (King): Oh, well done.

00:32:03[crosstalk]

00:32:03Simon Popleston: So I've done an Ironman as well.

00:32:04Alison Fraser (King): Fellow Ironman here too.

00:32:05Simon Popleston: Yeah, so I was pretty excited to finish that line. And then lately I've been going to ultra running.

00:32:11Alison Fraser (King): Oh, that's something.

00:32:12[crosstalk]

00:32:12Simon Popleston: So I'm now a 50k ultra runner as well. But my passion is parkrun. Always has. People see how I'm dressed, I understand.

00:32:22Alison Fraser (King): Well, you've got a hula skirt. Is that the best way to describe it?

00:32:26Simon Popleston: Yeah, parkrun pink socks.

00:32:28Alison Fraser (King): A purple hula skirt and your 100 milestone shirt, which will soon be replaced by the green 250.

00:32:34Simon Popleston: Yes, yes, yes. Looking forward to that coming.

00:32:36Alison Fraser (King): Yeah.

00:32:37Simon Popleston: So it'll be quite good. It's just, to me, it's about encouraging that. So now at this level, I find myself more, these celebrations are more for the people coming up to see, what you can achieve, what we do, and who's around. It's just the people. The people are so good.

00:32:54Alison Fraser (King): Have you been around since the very early days then of Hamilton Lake?

00:32:57Simon Popleston: I wasn't at the start. I'm not 100% sure when it started. I think it was about a year or two before me.

00:33:03Alison Fraser (King): So what got you started here?

00:33:04Simon Popleston: So I was drinking one day, and my brother in Australia, he was sitting there having a few drinks and I was drunk, and he said, oh, I did this 8K run. And I said, oh, 8K. Bit of an insult to him. He goes, oh, come over and do it with me. And so I said, yeah, yeah, yeah. Be a man of my word. I went home and I couldn't even run. And so that was at the start of the year. And then what happened was I just got hooked and went back, did my 8K very badly. And just from there, just built... And then I found parkrun and just really encouraged me every week to be out there moving. And then through a running club and parkrun, I started helping people. And what really encourages me, and I love just seeing people grow and seeing their running get faster. And the problem is a lot of the young ones, they soon run faster than me, so I have to leave them because I can't keep up anymore.

00:33:58Alison Fraser (King): So you and Cindy, your wife, you are both adventurers yourselves. You're on the New Zealand Most Events table.

00:34:05Simon Popleston: Yes, yeah, I've been a long time trying to crack into the top 50 on the countryman's list. I am at the moment, last week still sitting at 47 that's hopefully going to increase over this year as we venture out and do the rest of the North Island so the goal this year is to get all the North Island ones so of the all the parkruns that you've done not including Hamilton Lake which would be your top three okay well I'm going to have to go over the ditch, starters, as a parkrun, Cobram parkrun in Australia. It's on the Murray River. It is a trail more, not a hard trail, but a light trail. But it goes over a little bridge onto a little island. There was the kookaburras, the cockies. It was just the wildlife and the koalas in the trees. And I'm Australian born, so I really loved it. And then I would have to come back over here and actually the one that stands out and I tell everyone about is Rotorua because the uniqueness of the sulphur flats it just stands out to me like anything yeah you'll be in my in my favourite parkrunners for some time I'm sorry but I think I don't like putting one for my own and then Hamilton Lake and Hamilton Lake's more for me is about the people it's the lake it's a beautiful run it's really nice here to run I've always enjoyed it but what's kept me coming back is the people and I believe Nine times out of ten, the parkruns you remember the most are the ones you react with people and, you know, it's the people that make it. So I believe that's what it's all about.

00:35:38Alison Fraser (King): 100%. I agree with you on that one too, Simon. So, well, let's go and catch up with everyone else. And well done today on 250 and have a great run.

00:35:48Simon Popleston: I will. Thank you very much.

00:35:50Alison Fraser (King): So I've done my parkrun and I'm now at the finish line with today's Run Director, Gary. Gary, how do you think your parkrun went today?

00:35:56Gary: Well, it's always a bit of a guess how many turn up and I'm surprised today with the weather we've had. But as usual, Hamilton Lake, always the skies turn blue just for parkrun. And it's happened again.

00:36:08Alison Fraser (King): I actually saw a beautiful rainbow on my way to parkrun this morning.

00:36:10Gary: Well, that's a good sign. It is.

00:36:13Alison Fraser (King): And how long have you been run directing here?

00:36:16Gary: I started... when Hamilton Lake was about six months old and in those days if you volunteered three times a year you never had an issue with volunteers I think so I became a regular pretty early and then they got me to be a director and yeah it's nerve-wracking but it's challenging and it's satisfying when it works I know a lot of Run Directors say that run directing is their favourite role because they just tell everyone what to do and then take all the kudos yeah but it's stressful like you see the tokens get dropped or suddenly says oh they're out of order that's not good but it's only happened a few times not for me fortunately but Fingers crossed, then it just goes well. And this new timing system is just so much easier than the manual way.

00:37:07Alison Fraser (King): It is, isn't it? And people can practice at home.

00:37:09Gary: Yes, yes. We actually use it in our club runs, the same app.

00:37:15Alison Fraser (King): I've heard a lot of people do that.

00:37:17Gary: It's brilliant, yeah. And we've just got to make sure we don't send it anyway.

00:37:22Alison Fraser (King): That is true. Now, I've seen you around a few different parkruns.

00:37:26Gary: Yeah.

00:37:26Alison Fraser (King): So you like to tour around?

00:37:27Gary: Yeah, I've done 24, four I think different ones of the New Zealand ones or no that includes a few in Australia okay so not counting Hamilton Lake what would be your top three okay I enjoy believe it or not um because of that horrible pool but it's a challenge um I have really enjoyed, there was one in Brisbane, or do you want overseas ones? Brisbane was really nice.

00:37:32[crosstalk]

00:37:57Alison Fraser (King): Do you remember which one it was?

00:37:59Gary: It was the one that ran out amongst the, it was a lake, across the river. Anyway, I can't remember.

00:38:08[crosstalk]

00:38:09Alison Fraser (King): I'm sure some of the listeners can pick that one up, but I'll go through your results, Gary, so I can find it.

00:38:13Gary: Yeah, you'll find it. And the other nice one we found is the one actually in Brisbane. What's it called? West Bank? South Bank? South Bank. Yeah, enjoyed that one too.

00:38:22Alison Fraser (King): Yeah. What did you like about that one?

00:38:24Gary: Just the people. I couldn't believe the crowd. That was the first time it was so many people. I think there were 800 one day or something, and we happened to go.

00:38:31[crosstalk]

00:38:31Alison Fraser (King): That's way more than we've ever had in New Zealand.

00:38:34Gary: Yeah, but I'd still want to go and do Bushy Park, just to say I've done it.

00:38:38Alison Fraser (King): Well, thank you so much for another awesome parkrun day, Gary. And I look forward to getting my result and seeing what I get.

00:38:43Gary: Yeah, let's hope I don't stuff it up. Thanks for coming.

00:38:47Alison Fraser (King): Okay, listeners, I'm back at home and I've got Gary's parkrun stats in front of me. So maybe you can help work out which parkrun he was alluding to for his top three. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean Albert Melbourne or Cairns, but he's also run across the ditch with you guys. Main Beach, South Bank, Redcliffe, and Surfers Paradise. So any of those ones, send your answer to a postcard to the Office Lady. That's all from me and I'll see you the next time.

00:39:10[background music]

00:39:23Melissa Ellis: Thank you very much to Tracy, David and Alison. A follow-up report from David, Ollie, coming to us from Wanneroo.

00:39:31Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right. And look, as I said, a big week for roving reports. So everyone can look forward to Lyndell next week, who we've had to save over for listening next week. So sorry, Lyndell, but we do look forward to that one then.

Dazza's

00:39:48Melissa Ellis: We do. But now, Ollie, it's time that we turn our attention to Dazza's. And this week, Dazza has said, apparently, it's International Sword Swallowing Day. Dazza wants to know when it's going to be International Handsome Buddha Statue Day. Sword swallowing sounds very exciting. Come on in and tell us about your exciting parkrun morning. And first up, we had Jodie Maisie. Wake up, Jodie. And she was celebrating a milestone out at Kirkdale Reserve parkrun. She said, what an enjoyable morning. Volunteered at my 50th parkrun, which I'm excited about. Sharing the experience with some lovely friends, with Brendan Peel helping me celebrate. And we had a photo of Jodie and Brendan with Dawn, Chantelle and Lynn with the selfie frame at Kirkdale Reserve. Congratulations, Jodie. That's a mighty fine effort.

00:40:42Oliver Spake: And thank you for volunteering. And we also heard from Cam, Cameron Drake of the Channel 5 News crew, who said, just finished a cracking run at the beautiful Bibra Lake parkrun for my fastest time in ages. A super hot long black and a cheeky choc chip cookie and I'm happy as a pig in mud. No pick though from Caveman Cam, but well done, Cam.

00:41:07Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Andrew Turner and he said, I chased TOC around the Maribyrnong course. He was on the final lead bike. That was followed by a bit of barcode scanning as we had our second highest ever attendance, maybe due to being a Fibonacci event, 3-7-7. And Andrew shared an event team volley photo featuring himself and TOC and And, Ollie, we hadn't mentioned about said lead bike role being removed from the volunteer positions previously.

00:41:39Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right. That's right. So bye-bye to the bikes.

00:41:43Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. Yeah, I do. We've got a couple in Victoria that traditionally use a lead bike, but not a lot. What about you? Is there any that you have been to?

00:41:54Oliver Spake: I have not been to a parkrun with an actual real-life bike. I have been led through a parkrun by Steve's bike at one stage, but that's a different kind of bike. And, yeah, suffice to say we have not had a lead bike, to the best of my knowledge, at my home event. We've had bikes ride the course, though.

00:42:16Melissa Ellis: You know, Ollie, he might have been at an event with a lead bike because Albert Melbourne has a lead bike, I believe, or had.

00:42:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. So you think they had one there maybe, yeah.

00:42:30Melissa Ellis: Possibly. In any case, they are no more. I believe it is centred around the insurance reasons. And the fact that there aren't allowed to be bikes on course.

00:42:42Oliver Spake: I see the point. Yeah. Well, thank you to all of our lead bike volunteers everywhere. It has been a pleasure. Not for me, unfortunately, but for everyone else. Yes.

00:42:54Melissa Ellis: We also heard, oh no, that's you. That is me.

00:42:57Oliver Spake: We heard from Jacqui O'Connell, who was enjoying a bit of a frond and said, flying solo without my other half at Inverloch parkrun today as TOC completed lead bike at Maribyrnong. Where have we heard that? I did first time as duty and enjoyed welcoming Darren, Lucille, Erin and Emily Peed to the stump. And Jack shared a photo of her doing a zoomie. So, yeah, great to see.

00:43:23Melissa Ellis: You don't see them two split up very often.

00:43:25Oliver Spake: No.

00:43:25Melissa Ellis: See, that's what the bikes do. But we also heard from Janet Reid, who was touristing. She said, Hi, Dazza, how are you? I hope that you've had a chance to catch your breath after being inundated with so many adventurers. I left the mothership Lochiel Park for the second time this month. I know, shock and horror, and ventured to Moana parkrun, a beautiful out-and-back course with wonderful views and such a friendly volunteer team. Jeff was chauffeur for Alicia, myself, and golden retriever Charlie. Afterwards, we had breakfast at the Deep Blue Cafe where we experienced superb service and yummy food. All in all, a lovely morning. Could I have my usual order, please, Dazza? A skinny flat white, without a sword, though. And Janet did share with us a lovely photo of herself and Jeff in a Moana selfie frame. I've been to Moana.

00:44:18Oliver Spake: You have. You have. In your adopted state, yes. My adopted state. We also heard from Jo McLean, who was touristing and said, on a bit of an adventuring streak at the moment and found myself at Werrington Lakes Reserve parkrun. Ran into Rick from Shalaba, but didn't realise there were other adventurers there. Claire Corkill said, Those new Adventra shirts are going to be handy. Lovely shady run through some bushland and around the lake twice. Small numbers got me in the top ten and first female. Swallowed a double shot skinny cap but no sword. And Jo shared a photo of herself and some friends in the selfie frame. Yeah, with the lovely lake in the background.

00:45:06Melissa Ellis: And, Ollie, we heard from Tamsin Smith and she was volleying. She said, I was Run Director at Southampton with my daughter as my assistant. So it was lovely to welcome a couple of adventurers, Chris and Karen Gore all the way from Bibra Lake. They deserve large coffees after turning up on such a chilly morning. And we had a pic of Tamsin with her daughter RD-ing out there at Southampton. And I like the little link there, Ollie, to Bibra Lake. Yes.

00:45:35Oliver Spake: Yes, and nice to see some pictures from Southampton too on a personal note. So definitely one near the top of the list. Thank you for volunteering, Tamsin. We heard over in the States and on the volleying front also from Geoff Glaab who said, Good morning, Dazza. Our course at Joe Creason is a double figure eight and the top of the hill are three large – we'd call them – Adirondack chairs, perfect for taking a break. That's our big thing. My daughter Charlotte also achieved her 50th volunteer this morning. She was just the seventh person we've had achieve that milestone and by far the youngest. I'm a very proud dad. And Jeff shared a pic of the three deck chairs in orange, yellow and lavender and a second picture, of course, with he and Charlotte. So thank you for volunteering. Congratulations, Charlotte.

00:46:28Melissa Ellis: And the pup, is it Pepper?

00:46:30Oliver Spake: Oh, yes, of course. Sorry, Pepper. Sorry, Peppa.

00:46:33Melissa Ellis: And we learned a little bit about those Adirondack chairs too, Ollie.

00:46:38Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. Named after the Adirondack mountain range. I had no idea. I thought that they were called Aranback. So thank you for educating us, Jeff. Indirectly, but all the same.

00:46:49Melissa Ellis: Lastly, we've got a last minute entry from Michael Blain who rushed in the door and he said, Dazza, a late Sunday post, but what a spectacular weekend of parkrun I have had. Ran and paced Mitchelton parkrun in Brisbane on Saturday. Firstly, I ran with a very good friend who kept me company the whole way and double checked my maths as a pacer. Then had a great bunch of around a dozen runners come in a little ahead of the target time of 32.30 or on time. Great work, everyone, and what a thrill I could contribute. A few PBs were achieved by this group and some great conversations afterwards. Then to back up such a lovely experience today, I was RD, second outing at Des Connor Junior parkrun. It was a spectacular late summer morning on the Ashgrove Flats and a great turnout of 25 volunteers who remained calm under the pressure of seeing a massive 278 young runners and walkers around the course through the finish line and scanned, smashing our attendance record by some 30%. I am certainly on a parkrun high from this weekend's events, and Michael shared a collage photo from both Mitchie and Des Connor Junior parkrun.

00:48:09Oliver Spake: That's huge. That's huge, and thank you so much, Michael, for sharing and for volunteering. Well done to everyone there in the team.

00:48:16Melissa Ellis: Yeah, gee, Des Connor is doing so well, and they're just getting bigger and bigger all the time.

00:48:22Oliver Spake: They are.

00:48:23Melissa Ellis: It's good to see the junior format is really taking off up there in Brisbane.

00:48:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's very exciting. But, look, thank you, everyone, for joining us in Dazza's.

the Obi Award — Geoff Glaab

00:48:33Oliver Spake: I'd love to have a go at pronouncing a few more words, but I think it's time instead, Mel, to award an Obi.

00:48:40Melissa Ellis: It is, Ollie, and I trust the envelope is back where it belongs.

00:48:44Oliver Spake: I have it right here. Yes, yes. Thank you. Okay. So this week the Obi goes to Geoff Glaab, that is. Geoff Glaab.

00:48:50[background music]

00:49:02Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Well, it's partly for Jeff and partly for Charlotte.

00:49:07Oliver Spake: That's right. So, yeah, very exciting to see the volunteers. It's reaching some special milestones and, yeah, always nice to be proud of the youngsters.

00:49:16Melissa Ellis: It is. And, oh, can I add an aside? We had a 50th volunteer junior at Eynesbury on Sunday, Ollie.

00:49:26Tracey Wood: Oh, wonderful.

00:49:27Melissa Ellis: So our Run Director, Andrew, his son, James, who is also, oh, he's got another claim to fame, James. I think he's done junior parkrun in every country around the world, which is three countries. But anyway. He's still the only kid that's done it as far as we know. Yes. And he also achieved 50 volunteers on Sunday at Juniors by doing the course check.

00:49:50Oliver Spake: Thank you for volunteering, James, and well done. Well done.

00:49:53Melissa Ellis: And there was another one, Ollie. Yes. While we're on milestones, shout out to Abby's mum who also did her 100th volunteer at Juniors on Sunday.

00:50:03Oliver Spake: Wow. It's been a big week. And, again, thank you for volunteering, Abby's mum, and congratulations. I think it's certainly been one for milestones, one for anniversaries. You could say that would be a nice segue to our go-to for milestones and anniversaries to The Birthday Boy. So shall we?

00:50:15[background music]

Birthday Boy

00:50:30the Birthday Boy: Howdy, it's the Birthday Boy here with some of the goings on for March 2023. As was mentioned last time, the Birthday Boy segment is planned to be a regular monthly affair where we look ahead for some of the highlights in the next month. March 2023 has four parkrun days, with week 1 on the 4th of March, week 2 on the 11th, week 3 the 18th and week 4 the 25th of March. The first weekend of April comes very close on the heels of March, but we'll save that for another instalment. As we all love a possible party, let's check out the first anniversaries first. Reminder here of the standard parkrun caveat, events may celebrate what they like when they like, so please check all details with the local source, i.e. their webpage and or their Facebook page. This is especially true for dress-ups, cakes, etc. The official first anniversaries in March are... None in the first two weeks. Then we've got Pambula Wetlands, New South Wales in week three. And then there are two in the last week of the month. Warrandyte River Reserve in Victoria and Jarrahdale Heritage in WA. Although they're both turning one, they have different event counts with 47 and 53 respectively. If you fancy some fifth birthday fun in week four of March, you can have your choice of four events. Chipping Norton in New South Wales and then Kelvin Grove, Mount Isa and St Lucia all in Queensland. Chipping Norton is a lovely spot and has a great little farmer style market that Ollie mentioned in his run report. There is a fabulous cherry pie at a stall there. But back to parkrun. Chipping Norton had 176 participants at their launch but have never exceeded 120 since then. Kelvin Grove had 265 at their launch then dropped off a little but in recent times are above that mark now. Mount Isa had 102 at their first event, then broke that record immediately with week two with 124. They then peaked in weeks four and five, but since then they've averaged just under 50. St. Lucia was the home of an infamous launch with 800 official finishes. Their next highest is a New Year's Day with 450 plus, but then they only have four other dates across their 200 plus event history with more than 250 finishes. This St Lucia launch was officially the nail in the coffin for large aka publicised launches. For more on this topic, check out the parkrun adventurers on Facebook and read Conversation Corner, dated from the 31st of January 2023. This isn't the birthday boy throwing bricks at St Lucia. Whichever event was next to open in South East Queensland would have suffered this fate. And now our parkrun independence events, those with their 11th anniversaries. Hmm, crickets. Okay, how about 12ths? Nope, maybe 10ths. Yes, Parramatta in New South Wales is due in week two, and Riverway in Queensland is due in week four. As with all parkrun adventures, the parkrun cancellation page is a valuable tool. See parkrun.com.au forward slash cancellations. This official page contains event cancellations for the coming parkrun weekend, plus two further weekends. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to plan for the whole month now, but it's enough to get us started. So see you next month with some more birthday boy banter, and be sure to let Mel and Ollie know if you have any requests.

00:54:15[background music]

00:54:26Melissa Ellis: And thank you to the birthday boy this week bringing us all the dates that we need to know for March, Ollie, the first anniversaries and the 10th anniversaries.

00:54:36Oliver Spake: Lots of celebrations.

Emails

00:54:38Melissa Ellis: But, Mel, we've got mail.

00:54:40Oliver Spake: You've got mail. And our mail this week comes from Lynn from Cobram who said, Hi, Mel and Ollie and adventurers. Glorious weekend for me travelling a few hours to Kirkdale Reserve parkrun for Jodie Maisie's 50th volunteer. Top effort, Jodie. We formed an adventurer's frond with TOC, Peely, Dawn, Chantelle, Gregory and others all sharing breakfast after a beautiful morning of parkrun. Checking off challenges on the Office Lady's Challenge chart. Mind you, had to make room for this on the fridge by moving aside some grandchildren's artwork. Created great interest. Finally, my own sticker chart. Go, Nanny. Happy adventuring all. Lynn from Cobram parkrun. Stay tuned for date of event restart very soon. So, yeah, thank you, Lynn. And that is exciting.

00:55:37Melissa Ellis: It is. And that little frond was made up of adventurers coming from different parkruns. So they weren't all at Kirkdale because TOC had been out at Maribyrnong, but they are located obviously close enough for them to all meet at the one cafe. So that's great.

00:55:54Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Consolidated Club Report

00:55:58Oliver Spake: And, Mel, I think now it's time for the Consolidated Club Report.

00:56:02Melissa Ellis: It is. The adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, the 25th of February, 2023. A total of 393 members. Now, Ollie, this is the first time we haven't gone up since the previous week, since we started the Adventurers Club. So we didn't get any new people. So we must be hitting a plateau or something. What is it called when you're at your maximum saturation? Is there a term? Oh, anyway, never mind.

00:56:31Unidentified speaker: With paint. Yes.

00:56:36Oliver Spake: Which is a plus because we thought we had five listeners, which is an absolute plus.

00:56:40Melissa Ellis: Yeah. We do, all those unknown ones that we didn't know about. Yeah. 322 people took part on Saturday at 168 different locations. There were 22 locations in the UK, one in South Africa, one in the USA, and one in Sweden. Now, locally, there were adventures at 41 events in Victoria and 31 in Queensland, 36 in New South Wales. I said those back the front. Never mind.

00:57:10Oliver Spake: You've got the numbers right.

00:57:11Melissa Ellis: The numbers are right, yeah. They're just not in descending order. That's on me. I mucked up with my pod notes. There was eight events in WA, nine in South Australia. Oh, that one too. Six in the ACT, six in the North Island, four in Tassie, and two on the South Island. Now, a very cheeky New South Wales adventurer suggested to me that if you add 36 events in New South Wales to six in the act you get a total of 42 events within the New South Wales borders which beats Victoria yeah because they can't escape us that's right you know here in Victoria we don't have to cheat to win that's all I'm gonna say uh-huh now the largest run this week was a three-way tie with Maribyrnong Point Hut Pond and The Ponds all having seven adventurers in attendance uh I'm not going to read out all the names you know who you are but great to see and well done for everyone getting out there and adventuring uh we're ever so close to lining up

00:58:20Oliver Spake: the number of adventurers taking part in the consolidated club report so that that is those completing their parkrun course one way or another and recording their results to the episode title I was just checking back and we've cheated around that level we've gone a little bit a little above a little below so okay so I'd like to see 326 of you this coming parkrun day Taking part.

00:58:45Melissa Ellis: So everybody sign up your kids, sign up your husbands, your reluctant husbands or wives.

00:58:53Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. But time to look forward, I think, Mel.

00:58:57Melissa Ellis: It is, yes. And me, me, I am going on an adventure.

00:59:04Oliver Spake: Where are you off to this time?

00:59:06Melissa Ellis: I'm going to catch a plane and head north to this sunny coast.

00:59:11Oliver Spake: Oh, very nice.

00:59:12Melissa Ellis: This is actually going to be my first time flying into the sunny coast.

00:59:16Oliver Spake: Ah, right, yes.

00:59:17Melissa Ellis: I'm going to go to Kawana.

00:59:20Oliver Spake: Oh, lovely. The weather has been a lot of fun, yes.

00:59:23Melissa Ellis: Yeah, a long-held dream to run the Kawana course. Of course, we did it, Ollie, as a Freedo when we were up for Palm, whatever year that was, 2021.

00:59:34Oliver Spake: Palm 2021. That's correct. The fluffy palm.

00:59:37Melissa Ellis: The fluffy palm. So, yeah, we did a Freedom Run, so I'm very excited to go back there and do it for real with our friend Mel Erbacher, who is going to be there with me. And I also hope to catch up with John, John from the parkrun Party Song.

00:59:57Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Oh, well, that sounds like a wonderful parkrun adventure, Mel.

01:00:02Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And what about yourself, Ollie?

01:00:05Oliver Spake: I will be adventuring at home. It's a certain weekend that I have... the last few years been uh at times adventuring on uh I will this time not be away for kathy's birthday good man good man yes yes so yeah I will be uh yet to see if I can run I'll have a quick run because then we're off to Sydney for the weekend but uh if I can't I'll be volunteering yeah or if they need me you're gonna do anything exciting in Sydney I'm Yes, yes. Once again, with the extended family, we are off to see Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, the matinee session up in Sydney on Saturday afternoon, out for dinner on Saturday night, staying up there. And we'll get out to the aquarium in the morning. And then kids and I are catching the train back, which we're looking forward to. because we love our forms of transport. And Kathy and her sister are staying up for the Rainbow Pride concert, which closes the World Pride celebrations and festivities in Sydney. So, yeah, we're all having a bit of an adventure for the weekend.

01:01:14Melissa Ellis: Sounds fun. Hey, do you get free public transport because you work for them?

01:01:18Oliver Spake: No, no. I work for love.

01:01:21Melissa Ellis: Oh.

01:01:23Oliver Spake: I don't mean to laugh after that, but no, I don't get free public transport. Yeah.

01:01:28Melissa Ellis: I do on Anzac Day.

01:01:29Oliver Spake: Oh, that's good. Yeah. That's good.

01:01:32Melissa Ellis: Oh, anyway, that's beside the point.

Sign-off

01:01:35Oliver Spake: Yes, but that's the looking ahead. I don't think we've got anything else we're spying on the horizon apart, of course, for Palm, which is rapidly approaching. It's within the two-month mark, so check it out if you haven't already, the parkrun adventurer Listener Meetup. But for now, thank you, Mel. As always, everyone, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. I think it's time for us to have a rest. That is it for the week and we'll see you all next week with coffee for more adventures.

01:02:00[outro theme playing]

01:03:03Unidentified speaker: Bye.