Episode 327 - Off Script

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:24Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 327 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Ollie Spake and I am joining this week from Dharawal Country.

00:00:34Melissa Ellis: And I am Melissa Ellis and I'm coming from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:37Oliver Spake: And Mel, everyone, I'd just like to put it out there straight away. You won't have any singing from me on this particular podcast. Unfortunately, no singing from John either. If you did happen to listen to last week's episode, you may, however, have some cicadas in the background. Because Mel, I even had cicadas living in my pantry overnight.

00:00:58Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:00:59Oliver Spake: The weather's just been a bit warm and wet and it just became a... Party indoors.

00:01:06Melissa Ellis: Okay. One thing that was a conversation topic where I was on the weekend, Ollie, was the actual tune to the song you sang, the Jerrabomberra run.

00:01:18Oliver Spake: Did I get the wrong one?

00:01:20Melissa Ellis: No, not necessarily, no. I don't think we've had feedback on what it actually is supposed to be, but what were you singing along to?

00:01:29Oliver Spake: There was no tune when I sang? Is that the feedback?

00:01:32Melissa Ellis: No, no, no, no. No, no, there was a suggestion that it could have been along the lines of I'd love to have a beer with Duncan. Oh.

00:01:43Oliver Spake: Yes, I can imagine that.

00:01:45Melissa Ellis: But, no, that's not what you were singing.

00:01:50Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, that one might have been a little more familiar for me, but, yeah, nonetheless, in my head it worked.

00:02:01Melissa Ellis: But what was it? Tell us.

00:02:03Oliver Spake: The song?

00:02:04Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Maybe we should be asking Bill.

00:02:08Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, yeah, let's go to the source.

00:02:10Melissa Ellis: Bill.

00:02:12Oliver Spake: And the brutally honest score out of 10, Bill. I won't be offended, even if it's one or a half. Yes.

00:02:21Melissa Ellis: It doesn't matter what it was, Ollie. I was still singing it as I went up Jerrabomberra Mountain.

00:02:25Oliver Spake: That's excellent to hear. I mean, it was well-timed. So thank you, Bill, and thank you, Mel. But, well, there's a bit of a giveaway in terms of your parkrun day just gone. I mean, for me it was a little familiar. I was at home and I think you know the general ingredients. So, Mel, how was your parkrun day? Yeah.

00:02:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, this week I headed north up the Hume towards the ACT to meet the Office Lady, Sam Schroder, and her Luke. It was a small tent weekend and I was happy to join them in a small caravan park in Queanbeyan, parkrun morning saw us at Djerimbombara. Gerabombra even. Gerabombra. Oh, man, it's a hard word to say.

00:03:12Oliver Spake: I feel your pain.

00:03:14Melissa Ellis: Jerrabomberra Mountain Reserve parkrun on the lands of the Ngambri, Ngaringu, Ngunnawal and Wulbungi Aboriginal people. It is an out-and-back course with a gradual uphill climb for the first 2.5 kilometres. We got a first-time briefing from a volley doing his first-timers for the first time. He took such care to explain how parkrun works. It was so sweet. We didn't have the heart to tell him we only needed a course description, which, as it turned out, was go up, up, up, up then come all the way back down the volley photographers a mum and her child were about halfway up the hill and there were marshals at the top that would be quite a climb if they'd gone up on course but we had a giggle when we saw them take a shortcut back down which cut about two kilometres out course is almost all fire access road with a small loop of single trail to turn around at the top the surface is quite loose and rocky so we needed to keep an eye on our footing and there were lots of dogs and some prams but there's no toilet on site so make a pit stop on the way at Queanbeyan shops about 650 metres away if you need to Don't believe your GPS either. Ours wanted to direct us to the top of the course, so we were very early.

00:04:36Oliver Spake: To the top of the mountain?

00:04:40Sarah: Afterwards, we went to Cepetto's Cafe for brunch.

00:04:43Melissa Ellis: Now, for those who have been following along, this weekend was all about the rodeo. Yes. After over a year of waiting, I finally attended Queanbeyan Rodeo. Have you ever been to a rodeo? Because, wow, what fun it was. Yes. Now, most of you won't be aware that behind the scenes I have been going through some hard personal times. But how would you know you wouldn't? Because every Monday night when I record with Ollie, I take a deep breath and I put on my happy pod voice. But without going into detail, let me say that at the moment I live for the weekends, specifically my Saturday adventures where everything is fun and happy and joyous and how lucky I am to have some wonderful friends to join me on my trips. Now, if you Google the definition of a rodeo, it says an exhibition or contest in which cowboys show their skills at riding broncos, roping calves and wrestling steers. Well, that is pretty spot on. But what it doesn't tell you is that this festival atmosphere is enjoyed by a whole spectrum of ages from very small to the very old. There are carnival-type activities, food stands and an array of cowboy merchandise to peruse. Throughout the day, the main arena is abuzz with activity as a prelude to the evening's main events. What we didn't expect was the skydivers, the parade or the children's dance contest, which is all aimed to engage the entire community and keep everybody entertained. While many of us are engaged with parkrun as a running event, I encourage you all to look beyond the free weekly timed event and experience other activities as a part of your parkrunning weekend.

00:06:33Oliver Spake: That's it. It does sound like a real adventure, Mel, with a side of parkrun.

00:06:38Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's exactly what it is. It is. Yes. So parkrun kind of took the back seat this weekend, but that's okay. I think that's all right.

00:06:47Oliver Spake: Well, that's right. It's, you know, it's got its place. It's a connection. It's a little... It is a physical activity when we need it. It is a great opportunity to find new places, to find new people and to connect with some special people as well. So it is lovely to hear that you had opportunities. Pretty awesome adventure there, Mel, not least for another healthy distanced road trip as well to make it worthwhile.

00:07:19Melissa Ellis: It was a very long drive, but that's okay. Lucky I don't mind long car trips on my own. But you know what, Ollie, there's this other thing I discovered. So rodeo merch are cattle tags. And they have this stand with all these cattle tags with all these little sayings on them. And I stood there looking at them all trying to find what one will I buy. And I found one. Well, actually, Sam found one that was perfect. And it is the one I bought. And it says, business at the front, party at the back.

00:07:50Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:07:52Melissa Ellis: And I've got to say, Ollie, mullets are very popular at rodeos.

00:07:57Oliver Spake: Everyone's got it covered. They don't need any more.

00:07:59Melissa Ellis: So, yeah, there you go. That's my weekend. Now I'm home. Now I'm home.

00:08:03Oliver Spake: Now I'm back home. Now you're home. Yeah. And it's been a long weekend down there.

00:08:07Melissa Ellis: Yes. Today, being Monday, the 13th of March, is Labor Day here in Victoria. So we had a public holiday. Lovely, lovely.

00:08:18Oliver Spake: And you didn't. And I didn't. No, no. It was normal working Monday for me. But the weekend, thankfully, doesn't feel that distant in the past, parkrun Day maybe but yeah thanks for sharing Mel and look thank you as always for jumping on and sharing your parkrun adventures on a Monday as we record always on a Monday you know with all of us it's a nice way to spend a Monday it's a nice way to spend a weekend and even when we do have that tough week yeah it's it's a nice balance. So I always appreciate the catch-up and I'm sure everyone does as well.

00:08:56Melissa Ellis: Thanks. But, Ollie, we have some news to discuss this week.

00:09:02Oliver Spake: Yes. Who's done 1,000 not parkruns? Not me. No.

00:09:08Melissa Ellis: No, but this is exciting because everybody cast your mind back to the pandemic when all the parkruns were paused all around the world.

00:09:17Oliver Spake: We're setting the visual scene.

00:09:19Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do.

00:09:21Oliver Spake: I think we need a bit more reminding. It's so distant in the past. We need a bit more of a scene. All the parkruns frozen. Many of us locked in our little boundaries.

00:09:33Melissa Ellis: Bubbles. Yeah, we couldn't do anything. We couldn't go to Saturday parkrun. And parkrun Global introduced the concept of the (not)parkrun, which colloquially we like to call the nottie. Yes. Now, there are some people that got right on board with the notties, Ollie. They were right from the start. Yes. Recording the notties every day.

00:09:56[crosstalk]

00:09:58Oliver Spake: And then they kept doing it every day.

00:10:00Melissa Ellis: They absolutely did, even after parkrun came back.

00:10:03Oliver Spake: Yeah. In fact, they never stepped off board.

00:10:06Melissa Ellis: No. And to not draw this out much longer than is necessary.

00:10:14Oliver Spake: Well, it's a lengthy, lengthy achievement. So, you know.

00:10:19Melissa Ellis: We're trying to build the anticipation, but in no uncertain terms, the first person has reached, just this last Saturday gone, 1,000 not parkruns, consecutive not parkruns.

00:10:35Oliver Spake: Which is pretty amazing. Now, that individual?

00:10:39Melissa Ellis: Yes. Would you like to say his name, Ollie?

00:10:42Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'll do my very best, but apologies in advance because we all know my pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired. But well done. Congratulations on 1,000 not parkruns to Cornelius Rath.

00:10:55Melissa Ellis: Oh, good work, Ollie. That was good.

00:10:57Oliver Spake: You almost rolled that R. Well, we'll take the feedback from not saying that your opinion doesn't count, Mel, but yeah, feedback welcome. South Africans. You know our email address. And there are more to come. There's a few more.

00:11:12Melissa Ellis: Yes, well, hot on the heels of Cornelius was Michael Webber. We're going to say Webber. It's no double B, but we'll say it anyway.

00:11:20[crosstalk]

00:11:20Oliver Spake: Is that how the barbecue's spelt, Webber?

00:11:22Melissa Ellis: Oh, it is. Yeah, true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So he was number two, but to come in on the podium in third place, well, not today, and assuming he doesn't break a leg before tomorrow.

00:11:38Unidentified speaker: Oh, dear. Oh, dear.

00:11:39Melissa Ellis: will be none other than our very own roving reporter, the one, the only, Tony O'Connell.

00:11:48Oliver Spake: Wow. TOC. It'll be TOC Tuesday.

00:11:50Melissa Ellis: It'll be TOC Tuesday. It will be. So we're very pleased for you, TOC. It's been amazing and I know the extremes you've been to through all that time. How many? That's more than two years, right? That's more than three. Is that more than? No, not quite more than three years. It's a long time.

00:12:09Oliver Spake: Not quite more than three. Yeah, yeah. It's getting close. Yeah, the (not)parkrun concept came in pretty early in our pandemic life, but getting close. And the fun continues through the week. We've got some more milestones. In fact, another roving reporter, if I'm not mistaken. Yes, yes.

00:12:27Melissa Ellis: So Lynn, I don't know Lynn, but she is up there too. I've got a good feeling she could be South African because those South Africans, they're way up there in the notties because she is also being joined on Thursday by Johan. And then Vilna on Friday. So that will round out the first lot of parkrunners hitting the 1,000 notties. So my question is, guys, are you going to stop now? Like is 1,000 enough?

00:12:56Oliver Spake: Well, that's a good question. I mean, I would be intrigued to know the (not)parkrun stats, you know, the whole stats. I didn't get too far.

00:13:05Melissa Ellis: I'm going to guess no. I'm going to guess they won't be stopping because they'll be hoping that Cornelius stops and then they can beat him.

00:13:15Oliver Spake: I have a question. So milestone shirts.

00:13:19Melissa Ellis: Mm-hmm.

00:13:20Oliver Spake: for achieving a number of events, participated and completed in terms of the events across your finish line, scan your barcode, and also milestone shirts for volunteers. Not parkrun was a fantastic concept. It was something that was introduced by parkrun Global and brought a lot to the parkrun community in a difficult time. We don't have a thousand milestone shirt unless I've missed the announcement, but wouldn't this be a nice opportunity? I mean, do you think... Maybe there could be a 1,000 milestone shirt, special release, going to our Not parkrunners.

00:13:49[crosstalk]

00:13:58Melissa Ellis: Somebody tag Russ Jefferys. This needs to happen.

00:14:02Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:14:03Oliver Spake: And quite okay if not because it's a fantastic achievement in itself. But, yeah.

00:14:08Melissa Ellis: Yeah, fair. They should have a badge, Ollie, because it's a legit parkrun thing. It's not arbitrary. It's not a, you know, unofficial app thing. It's legit parkrun. So, yeah, why not? Let's acknowledge them.

00:14:23Oliver Spake: Look, I'll acknowledge the obvious. We enter our (not)parkruns ourselves.

00:14:28Unidentified speaker: I get that.

00:14:29Oliver Spake: But, yeah, I think there are some individuals that have clearly stood the test of time with their efforts here. And, yeah, I still think, regardless of the risk, that someone out there, not one of these individuals, I don't know them personally, but I'm sure that that's not the case. Someone one day might be able to manually enter 1,000 not parkruns and not have completed a single one. But I think regardless... I wanted to ask the question.

00:14:58Melissa Ellis: Yeah, well, look, if Russ Jefferys doesn't want to create a special badge or shirt for them, we'll ask the Office Lady to make them a snazzy sticker. How about that?

00:15:08Oliver Spake: A sticker, yes, yeah, yeah. A (not)parkrun, not parkrun sticker, yes.

00:15:13Melissa Ellis: For their car.

00:15:14Oliver Spake: That's right. But... Yeah, I'm not sure what else has been going on in the parkrun world, to be honest, Mel. That's probably enough for one week. Yes.

00:15:22Melissa Ellis: Yes. Oh, yeah. Okay. Over to me.

00:15:25[background music]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:15:25Melissa Ellis: So seeing as not much else is going on in the world at the moment, Ollie, let's throw to this week's roving reports.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Sarah Jefferson — Jurien Bay

00:15:37Sarah Jefferson: G'day parkrun adventurers. It's Sarah here on the West Side checking in for the Channel 5 News crew. I've travelled 220 kilometres north of Perth. Come up here to check out event number 18 at Jurien Bay parkrun. I'm here with the Run Director, Carolyn Ashby. Yes. Yes. Congratulations on the start-up of a new course. How's it gone so far?

00:15:58Carolyn Ashby: Yeah, awesome. It's so good. We're sort of averaging about 43 people, I reckon, every week. And, yeah, it's just a really gorgeous, lovely course, like, you know, flat along the ocean and... It's just a beautiful place to run and then swim if you want to after. My goodness, that watercolour is like the Maldives.

00:16:16[crosstalk]

00:16:16Sarah Jefferson: I know. It's insane, isn't it?

00:16:18Carolyn Ashby: It is crystal clear. And then, like, yeah, if you're swimming it after with your goggles on, it's just like you do. You feel like you're in, like, another world. Wow. Yeah, I'm excited. My goodness, it was hot out on course this morning.

00:16:25[crosstalk]

00:16:29Sarah Jefferson: I am still recovering. I know, it was very humid, wasn't it? It's very humid. There was a little bit of shade, but I guess coming in the cooler months might be a bit of a recommendation. Yeah, I think. So can you tell the listeners a little bit about why Jurien Bay parkrun? Why it was started up? A bit of a history there.

00:16:37[crosstalk]

00:16:46Carolyn Ashby: Oh, a bit of a history there. Well, I live on a farm about an hour away. And my daughter was out here doing work experience on one of the sea-line tour boats. And I used to, you know, go along and run along the paths and stuff. And I was like, oh, my God, why is there not a parkrun here? Woo-hoo! Great finish. Keep going. There should definitely be, a parkrun on this park but there's people walking and riding bikes and stuff I was like perfect opportunity we need to get one started so I um sunk my teeth in it was like May last year and finally got it up and running in November so yeah wow um yeah really excited about it just somewhere for people to just like be fit healthy happy and have like a community where you can talk and chat and just somewhere for everyone can meet you know once a week it's just like a great thing to do that's what it's about yeah it is isn't it yeah definitely yeah And the funner it is, the more people, like, want to do it.

00:17:32[crosstalk]

00:17:37Sarah Jefferson: Especially in the small towns. Exactly. It's often nice as a tourist to visit small towns. Exactly.

00:17:41Carolyn Ashby: It's got a really good vibe. And you don't have to run. You can walk. And that's, like, the big thing that we had to promote here because everyone's sort of like, oh, a parkrun. And they think, oh, you have to run. No, you don't. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it took a while to, like, make people realise that, no, actually, you don't have to. Just to participate. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Just get out there and... Have a go. Yeah, exactly.

00:17:47[crosstalk]

00:18:00Sarah Jefferson: Yeah. And when I first did some research on this parkrun, the name was Dobbin Park, parkrun, is that correct? Yes, correct.

00:18:07Carolyn Ashby: Yes, can you... Yeah, so Dobbin Park, it was started at Dobbin Park and no one knew the hell where Dobbin Park was because it's not even the locals knew. Yeah, exactly, the locals. Yeah, right. And Dobbin Park's actually the park, one over from this park anyway. So, yeah, and so then we sort of like got onto parkrun and we were like, it's not even Dobbin Park anyway. And so then I did a Google search again and And so they allowed us to change the name to Jurien Bay Foreshore parkrun. So thank God. Yes. Because, yeah, it actually makes sense to call it something that people can actually find. Definitely. Yeah.

00:18:11[crosstalk]

00:18:35[crosstalk]

00:18:37Sarah Jefferson: And for those of us who are adventurers, it's nice for WA to have a parkrun starting with J. Oh, yeah. Yeah, because there's not too many around. There wasn't one in the state. So that's very exciting. Oh, that's very exciting. So that's handy that that change worked. That's good. And can you tell us about the lands of the Indigenous people? What is the name of the area?

00:18:54Carolyn Ashby: Oh, the land is Ude. It's the land of Ude. So... Yeah.

00:18:58[crosstalk]

00:18:58Sarah Jefferson: I'll have to look that up because I've actually never heard of it. Yeah, I know. That's some research for me. It was new to me as well.

00:19:02Carolyn Ashby: Yeah. So when you do the spill at the start, I was like, yeah. It's a big, long name, but I can't say it. Okay, good.

00:19:08[crosstalk]

00:19:09Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, I'll have to do some research on that. So thank you for all that you offer the community. It's really great. Beautiful course, really friendly. Can't wait for a coffee, but it will come after a dip in the Indian Ocean for sure. Thank you so much. No worries at all. See ya.

00:19:18[crosstalk]

00:19:23John Penzey: There's no rush.

00:19:24Sarah Jefferson: This morning I'm here with... John Penzey. And tell me why you came to Jurien Bay parkrun this morning.

00:19:30John Penzey: Well, I like ticking off all the Metropolitan Perth parkruns and Jurien Bay is a new one. So it's been on my list to do for the last, I think this was number 18 today. So I've been meaning to come here and tick it off. And also I had the, I want to go for the course record as well. So I've been eyeing that off. It was 17.58. Yep. So I ran here and I did 17.38, I think. Wow.

00:19:50[crosstalk]

00:19:51Sarah Jefferson: Congratulations.

00:19:52John Penzey: Thank you very much.

00:19:52Sarah Jefferson: Can you just tell the listeners, what does setting up for a PB morning look like in your household?

00:19:59John Penzey: Well, it's only... Actually, it's a long drive this morning, so a two-hour drive from Perth. But apart from that, I mean, I'll probably only do a two-kilometre warm-up, two or three K, just get the legs moving, a few strides, and then pretty much that first kilometre, you just want to go... I like to bank time, so I think the first kilometre, about 3.19. I did slow down a bit, but... um had to set myself up for a fast time so wow and it's really hot here this morning so far out well done it's absolutely stunning course as well the uh the ocean and the jetty and the cafe and the grass there is and the playground for the kids so yeah not perfect yeah it is beautiful can't wait to get in the water congratulations thank you very much thank you

00:20:38Sarah Jefferson: So checking in after I have got into the ocean, feeling much better now. I had a little bit of a chat to John afterwards, and John actually is completing his 80th official marathon next Sunday. He also is the current record holder for Newcastle Park parkrun, the new parkrun that David checked in from last weekend. So he was the first finisher at event number one and still does hold the record for that with 18.23. So well done, John. Really great to chat to you. A little bit more about Jurien Bay parkrun. If you were to head up to Jurien Bay, there are lots of sea lions just off the shore. So apparently it's about a 15 minute boat ride. Lots of tours heading out there. If I had time, I would definitely head out there. and check that out. So maybe I'll need to come back for that. Lots of skydives as well, or skydivers landing on the beach. So really popular place to come and go skydiving. The coffee's now calling and it's time for me to head out, check out some things on the way back to Perth. Less than five weeks to Palm. Can't wait to see you there. Over and out.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Sirromet

00:21:42Tracey Wood: Good morning parkrunners, it's Tracey in a Tutu and I've toured over Southside to go to Sirromet parkrun. Fun fact, why did they name it Sirromet? Hmm, maybe because the owner, Mr. T.E. Morris, came up with an idea. Now, spell T.E. Morris backwards and you'll find you'll get Sirromet. There you go, fun fact for you. Anyway, I've arrived here at Sirromet parkrun. I've had a look at the area, sussed it all out. There seems to be quite a few people here. I believe there's a birthday girl here. Oh, and I've got a story from the Run Director to share with you. Alright parkrunners, I'm out here on Sirromet parkrun course. We just started off and I'm walking with Sue today. Now Sue has achieved her 250 today which is a fantastic achievement. Sue, for our people listening in, can you describe the course to them please?

00:22:40Sue: Sirromet is more of a trail run. There's beautiful grass hills, little bit of gravel, but it's a really beautiful place. Lovely scenery. You don't even really know that you're doing 5Ks. It's just beautiful out here.

00:22:58Tracey Wood: Lots of kangaroos. And I can see you've got the parkrun shirt that says Sirromet parkrun. So it is your home parkrun then? Yes, it is.

00:23:07Sue: We live at Cleveland, but this is our home one. This is where we started. And yeah, just beautiful.

00:23:13Tracey Wood: Fantastic. And so they were saying before you've done 250 parkruns. Do you remember your stats?

00:23:20Sue: I think I heard 160 at different locations. No? No.

00:23:24Sue: I've done about 45 at different locations. Like when we go away on holidays, like we went to Tasmania a couple of years ago and we've done four in Tasmania and we made sure we were somewhere to do a parkrun on the way down and somewhere to do a parkrun on the way back. Oh, good on you. Yeah.

00:23:39[crosstalk]

00:23:43Tracey Wood: Great. And what about volunteering stats? Do you volunteer occasionally as well?

00:23:47Sue: Yes, yes, we do. Oh, good on you. We have to volunteer a lot here because it's only a very small parkrun. And, yeah, we do our local ones too when Sirromet's not available, like next week. We just make sure that we are somewhere we can volunteer or we can walk. What's your favourite role then, Sue? I like marshalling because then you can cheer the people on and this hill's a bit bad on the way back. So it's really good to give people a bit of encouragement when they get to the top of the hill.

00:24:18Tracey Wood: All right, and how will you be celebrating your 250 today?

00:24:21Sue: Oh, hopefully I finish really well. There's no cake or you're just having a low-key affair today? No, we'll have coffee with friends. I've got a lot of friends from the walking club that I'm in, the Redland Plodders, and they've all come out to help today. Excellent.

00:24:36Tracey Wood: All right. Thanks for chatting with me, Sue. That's all right. Thank you. I came here at the finish line and I found a lady with a milestone, but not a parkrun milestone. I've got Cherie with me.

00:24:48Cherie: Happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you. It's kind of like an early birthday because I'm going to be in the UK for my 50th. So just celebrating early.

00:24:54[crosstalk]

00:25:01Tracey Wood: Go on. Make us all jealous.

00:25:03Cherie: What's your plans? Well, on the first week that we're there in the UK, of course, I'm kind of bushy. On my 50th birthday, so it'll be a big celebration. And then every week after that, there's a different parkrun all around the UK. Oh, my God. Cornwall and then up to Edinburgh and Inverness and over to Paris and stuff. So, yeah, we're going to have so much fun.

00:25:26Tracey Wood: Oh, that sounds awesome. Well, congratulations again on your 50th today. Thank you.

00:25:31Cherie: And I'm really looking forward to hitting that next age grade. I'm hoping my percentage goes up.

00:25:37Tracey Wood: Until you find out what other runners are in your age group and then you go, oh, my God, please call me back. Look out, 54-year-olds.

00:25:47Cherie: You have a lovely docery and all the best for your holiday. Thanks, Tracy. Thanks, team. Bye.

00:25:53Tracey Wood: Okay, the Tail Walkers come through and I'm here at the finish line with Sarah. She's starting to oversee the pack up of it all. How did it all go today, Sarah? It went really well. Had a great turnout.

00:26:03Sarah: Yeah, and this was your first time as RD, is that right? It is, yeah. First time by myself.

00:26:09Tracey Wood: Oh, well done you. Now, how many people have we lost? No, just kidding.

00:26:14Sarah: Yeah, we've done really well today. We didn't get anyone lost out on course. We often have a few that might go astray.

00:26:21Tracey Wood: Now, you weren't hardy last week, I believe, but there was a lovely occasion that you'd like to share with people. Can you tell us about that?

00:26:29Sarah: Sure. Yeah, we had a couple and their bridal party that were getting married at Sirromet. So they chose to start their day with parkrun. And they came down wearing white and tutus and they all had their... bridal party sashes on and they ran the course and at the end we gave them a guard of honour to the wedding March music. It was beautiful. We had music going and it was lovely.

00:26:47[crosstalk]

00:26:53Tracey Wood: And tell me about your parkrun story. How long have you been doing this? I've probably been doing parkrun about

00:27:00Sarah: Six years now, five or six years. Yeah, started off down in Victoria. Yes. Yeah, at Westerfolds with Scotty Trickett.

00:27:08Tracey Wood: Never heard of him, no.

00:27:10Sarah: No, most people haven't heard of Scott. No. No, I think he was a has-been. Yeah.

00:27:16Tracey Wood: I didn't say that. I didn't say that. That was Sarah.

00:27:20Sarah: No, so most of my runs, I think, are in Victoria. Ah.

00:27:24Tracey Wood: Yeah, and then we... What was your home parkrun? Westerfolds.

00:27:25[crosstalk]

00:27:28Sarah: Yeah, Westerfolds was our home parkrun. Wow. Yeah, I've done the most parkruns at Westerfolds. And then Cleveland second, and now making Sirromet my home. How lovely. Yeah.

00:27:40Tracey Wood: Yeah, well, it's been lovely this morning. Lots of hoppy things out there. Of course, not so wet as I thought it'd be after all this rain. But really nice morning, although a bit humid in Brisbane this morning. But thank you for having me, Sarah, and have a good day.

00:27:56Sarah: It's a pleasure to have you, Tracey.

00:27:59Tracey Wood: All right, team. Tracey in a Tutu heading off from Sirromet parkrun in search of coffee. Have a good day, folks.

Roving report Johan Duvenhage — Grey Goose

00:28:07Johan Duvenhage: Good morning, goeiemorgen, saubona parkrun adventurers. It's Johan checking in from the Grey Goose parkrun outside the city of Newcastle. Newcastle is the main commercial and industrial centre in northern KwaZulu-Natal and has a thriving agriculture, coal, steel and textile industry. It's the province's third largest city and the gateway to the Zulu Kingdom from Gauteng, the Free State and Mpumalanga. It's located approximately 1,200 metres above sea level in the northwest corner of the province and nestled in the foothills of the northern Drakensberg Mountains. The area normally has a relatively temperate climate but recently it has been both very cold and extremely hot here and today it's already a bit of a scorcher even before the event is starting and it looks like we'll be working up quite a sweat today. Let me go check what's happening at the start. Adventurers, I'm standing here with today's two special people. It's Pat and Janet. Pat will be the parkwalker and Janet will be the Tail Walker. Now, as you know, today or this week, parkruns all around the world is celebrating International Women's Day. So I just wanted to find out from Pat and Janet how parkrun has changed their lives and how they as females feel parkrun contributes to their lives. Let's start with Pat. Pat, how long have you been parkrunning? [Afrikaans: "good morning"]

00:29:28Pat: Well, Since May, I've done, today's my 38th. It's made quite an impact because I've made lots of friends. I lost my husband two years ago and I've made so many friends and wow, it's amazing. I love all the friends. I love the breakfast afterwards. Wow.

00:29:48Johan Duvenhage: Breakfast is always important.

00:29:50Pat: I'm telling you.

00:29:52Johan Duvenhage: So as a female, do you feel that parkrun is an inviting and a safe place for you?

00:29:58Pat: Yes.

00:29:59Janet: especially here and now we have to make another choice because it's closing down next week yeah we've heard about that and I'll speak to the Event Director about that a bit later right so to Janet Janet how long have you been parkrunning um I've done 190 last week parkruns and I've also volunteered like about 50 odd times and what is your favourite volunteer role Look, I always end up being the Tail Walker, basically because I don't walk that fast. And it doesn't matter if I'm Tail Walker or not. It hardly makes any difference to my time or anything.

00:30:40Johan Duvenhage: That's fantastic. Tail Walker is a very popular choice for people in South Africa because, of course, you get a run credit and a volunteer credit. So as a female, what has parkrun meant to you?

00:30:53Janet: Well, you just get out in the fresh air. You meet a whole lot of different people who you've never met before. And it's a lovely area here to walk in. And I just enjoy it.

00:31:10Johan Duvenhage: That's fantastic. And if you have to give advice to anybody else there that hasn't come to parkrun yet, especially females, what would you say to them? Pat?

00:31:19Pat: I'm always nagging people. Have you heard about parkrun? Meet our Gwyneth. These people from Penurne came yesterday, so we met them. We came for the Fridays, Saturday morning cake and tea.

00:31:38Johan Duvenhage: Cake and tea sounds awesome. But last word from you?

00:31:41Janet: I'm sorry, Janet. No, it just gives you something to do on a Saturday morning and you can go shopping. I live out of town that way on the way to Ladysmith. And I think we were about 20 odd kilometres from here. But it just gets you into town up early. And my husband does photographs. So he comes, come rain or shine.

00:32:11Johan Duvenhage: That's fantastic. Ladies, have a very nice parkrun. Enjoy park walking and park tail walking. And I'll see you after the break.

00:32:19Janet: Yes.

00:32:20Johan Duvenhage: Alrighty Adventurers, I'm here with Athel and Gwyneth, the Event Directors for Grey Goose, and I'm quickly going to have a chat about them, about the impending changes to Grey Goose parkrun.

00:32:31Oliver Spake: Good morning. Good morning, Johan.

00:32:34Johan Duvenhage: All right. It's sad that I'm getting to Grey Goose only at event 299, and sadly that is your almost penultimate edition. Indeed, yes. So what's the story? Tell us what's happened.

00:32:49Gwyneth: Well, Grey Goose have spent a lot of money upgrading the property and the conditions and they are planning on having more functions, a lot of people here. And unfortunately, there's no space for parkrun also to be here. So we've been asked to a family decision who owns the property to move on and start up a new venue by the end of March. So we have been scampering around looking for suitable ground and we think we actually found a suitable venue. Of course, it'll be a one lapper instead of a two lapper, which is what we've got here. It's not as well laid out. It's a farm and we get to run on the farm amongst the cattle and the horses and the mielie fields. [Afrikaans (in South African English): "maize fields — "mielie" is the South African word for maize/corn; the ED is describing running through the farm's maize crop."]

00:33:50Johan Duvenhage: That sounds awesome. So Athel, were you happy today with the turnout?

00:33:55Athel: Yes, I was very happy with the turnout and so great to have so many visitors with us because parkrun is actually all about family. It's not about your time, it's about your family, it's about the social time, the time we spend together. It's a very special time, especially for Gwyneth and I. That's why we're going to carry on, we're going to pursue this new venue which we have. And we will have it set up soon. All is grateful and thankful for all the visitors that come to see us and spend time with us.

00:34:24Johan Duvenhage: I was very impressed that Gwyneth actually managed to call out virtually every single visitor today. That was quite a mean feat. Do you do that every day?

00:34:34Gwyneth: Indeed, yes. When we've got visitors, I like to know who they are, where they've come from. They're important. People are important. Family members are important. So I name them so that we can give them a hearty, hearty welcome, a Grey Goose special welcome.

00:34:53Johan Duvenhage: So unfortunately, one of the things then with moving the venue would be that the name would be gone, I assume.

00:35:01Gwyneth: We have to drop this name and we'll pick up a new name, which I believe Global will choose. We've got to give three names that we suggest and they will choose the one that suits them best.

00:35:14Johan Duvenhage: Well, we hope it's a colour and an animal so that it fits into the challenges.

00:35:20Gwyneth: Well, we'll see what we can do. Yeah, we'll see.

00:35:26Johan Duvenhage: I noticed that you had quite a lot of volunteers on the roster today. You have a special system with your volunteers here. How does that work?

00:35:36Gwyneth: We are truly blessed. We've got up to 70 volunteers and they work in six teams under leaders. So nobody works every, except Athelina, just about every weekend, but they take it in turns. And I'm very confident in my leaders. I can leave town if necessary, because we do go overseas occasionally to visit the children. And I know things are happening as I would expect them to. And if there is a drama, they sort it out. It's not a problem.

00:36:12Johan Duvenhage: So where are the children?

00:36:14Gwyneth: One child in England, down in Cornwall, and the other child in Australia, in Melbourne.

00:36:20Johan Duvenhage: In Melbourne, and I believe you are going that way soon.

00:36:24Gwyneth: Indeed we are, via Thailand, and there's a parkrun just down the road from where they live. We can actually walk to it.

00:36:32Johan Duvenhage: So that's now in Melbourne?

00:36:33Gwyneth: In Melbourne.

00:36:34Johan Duvenhage: Do you know the name there?

00:36:37Gwyneth: I haven't a clue what it's called.

00:36:39Johan Duvenhage: Well, I'm sure the adventurers down under will be quickly letting us know which ones are closest to your children. Thank you very much for having us at Grey Goose today. It was an awesome run. It was one of my fastest times this year because it was paved all the way. And we hope that you'll be paving the way to the new event very soon.

00:37:01Gwyneth: Very definitely. Next week is our 300th run. And we are going to have a rainbow theme. And I've asked everybody, visitors included, to come dressed up as bright and brilliantly as they can. And we're going to have a good celebration of colour. And then, of course, there's always that... idea in the back of the mind that there's always a pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow well that pot of gold is going to be our new venture our new um track so that um we can all go and dig in that pot of gold together after the 25th of March thank you all the best thank you

00:37:40[background music]

00:37:54Oliver Spake: And thank you to our roving reporters for this week, including Sarah at Jurien Bay, Tracy at Sirromet and Johan from Grey Goose. Another trip around, well, the countryside around the globe.

00:38:07Melissa Ellis: Yeah, all the way on the other side of the planet at WA.

00:38:11Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. So, yeah, nice to have a few vicarious adventures from you all.

Dazza's

00:38:17Oliver Spake: But let's continue that, Mel, because it's time for Dazza's. It's back after a week's break. We're sorry, Dazza. But this week at Dazza's, he said Wednesday, was International Women's Day. This year's theme is hashtag cracking the code. We have definitely seen that the innovation of parkrun has created a very equitable space for our community. Did your parkrun acknowledge International Women's Day? Come on in and tell us all about your morning. And before you Google it, International Men's Day is the 19th of November. That's my dad's birthday, oddly enough. Yes. But I digress. Joining us at Dazza's, but not at parkrun, unfortunately, doing a nottie, was Holly Pleasance, who said, on the way to parkrun for International Women's Day, and we hit a snag on the way, so no parkrun for us today. SOS, send a spanner. Who run the world?

00:39:16Melissa Ellis: Oh.

00:39:17Oliver Spake: And Holly shared a selfie of herself and, well, a friend, yes, with a.

00:39:24Melissa Ellis: Broken down.

00:39:25Oliver Spake: Yeah, a not driving car.

00:39:29Melissa Ellis: Well, sorry to hear about that, Holly. We hope you got back on the road promptly. But, Holly, coming to us also, we had Greg Garner. He said, I've been wanting to be able to do this parkrun for ages as it starts and finishes at Lake Batobi Adventure Playground, which I have great memories of venturing to as a child when down from Queensland visiting relatives at Christmas time. And we had a photo from Greg of him and his mum in the selfie frame.

00:40:09Oliver Spake: Lovely. And happy Thursday, Mum. Over in New Zealand, we heard from Alison King, who said, I'd like to acknowledge all the amazing women in my parkrun world, especially those who have been so supportive of me as an EDRD and walker runner. At Pururanga parkrun today, I ran. It's the first time I've run any of this course since August 2021. I've only walked it four times since then. A little slower than my last parkrun two weeks ago, but it is a much slower course than Hamilton Lake. And well done, Alison.

00:40:44Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. Well done to one of our roving reporters across the ditch. Now, we also heard from Jodie Maisie, who was touristing. She said, Dazza, good morning. No mention of International Women's Day at Darwin parkrun, but it was a stunning morning to finish off my final leg and become an olive volley. Next stop, Peel Club. She's in a good position to knock that Peel Club off. She's touristing with one of Australia's most prolific tourists. And there was a photo of Jodie and said tourist Brendan in the selfie frame up there at Darwin.

00:41:19Oliver Spake: Nice work. And next up on the fronding front, we heard from Val Warwick who said, Hi Dazza, what an adventure we've had today. Our little frond formed at 8.15am and stopped at about 3pm, when we safely returned the two visitors to Tasmania to their ship. We've walked Queen's Domain and walked some of Hobart, eaten, had a number of drinks, talked, talked, hugged and talked some more. Steve and I have thoroughly enjoyed our day with Richard and Sally. And Val's photos included Steve, Richard, Sally and Val with a selfie frame, plus... cafe faff plus fairy bread macaron and coffee also Sally did reply with a man serving scallop skewers plus a pic of Val and Sally plus a pic of Richard and Steve plus posted lower all for doing zoomies and Val did add I should add that my fairy bread macaron was my tribute to my good friend The Office Lady Sam Schroder next time you come to Tassie I have to get you one of these

00:42:26Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's nice. It looks like they had a great time, Richard and Sally, down there. That's right. Sally Gutierrez. I can say that.

00:42:37[crosstalk]

00:42:37Oliver Spake: Richard Falshon. Yes.

00:42:39Melissa Ellis: Yes. We're getting good at that, Ollie. But we also heard from Gary Holland. He was volunteering and he said, Volley today at Brightwater, tunnel of love for the 98 ladies with the men creating the tunnel and cheering on the path to the start line. Now, we heard about this tunnel of love last week in Lyndell's roving report. So it was good that Gary shared a bit of video to show us the tunnel of love in action. Thank you, Gary.

00:43:09Oliver Spake: And a great tribute. So well done, Team Brightwater. Now, another nottie. Mel, Dave Allmark joined us and said, no parkrun for me, unfortunately, as I'm over at Rottnest Island. However, I have had a word to the quokkas and let them know to look out for the palm23 crew. Photo shared, Dave with the quokka.

00:43:31Melissa Ellis: Oh, this is good. So, obviously, Dave is a West Australian that we're going to meet when we go over there. We're counting down the weeks, Ollie. It's getting closer.

00:43:42Oliver Spake: That's right. And with quokkas like that, how good is Perth going to be, huh?

00:43:46Melissa Ellis: I can't wait to see the quokkas and the West Australians. Yeah, yeah, of course. Now, we also heard from Linda Brown. Bossick? Bosskick. I don't know how to say it. Anyway, she had an achievement. She said completed Inverloch and the Alphabet Challenge, met a parkrun world tourist, Sue Davies, and no mention of International Women's Day, but there was a photo of Linda and Sue in the selfie frame. Now, Inverloch... I happen to know that our friend and adventurer, Belinda Taylor, was also visiting the stump this last weekend. I wonder if they knew. I wonder if they met. I don't think they did.

00:44:29Oliver Spake: No, no. But hi, Sue. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Inverloch. Sue is from Shellharbour parkrun.

00:44:36Melissa Ellis: Ah, okay. Yes.

00:44:37Oliver Spake: There you go. And we also heard from Carolyn McRae, who was joining us from Norway, Mel. And Carolyn was joining us and said Lofstein Park, what is it? Lofstein parkrun Bergen, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know. Folliers parkwalker. It was very hilly, snow to shin deep, as heavy snow for last night and pre-parkrun. Sun came out and snowing again for finish. This was tough, but the most beautiful scenery. And Carolyn did share a photo with the selfie frame and an amazing snow scene behind her.

00:45:22Melissa Ellis: Oh, that looks lovely. I'm a little bit jealous. It does, doesn't it?

00:45:26Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:45:27Melissa Ellis: We also heard from our friend over in the UK, Helen Rotter. She said a happy group of people at Stockley Country parkrun. It was a Hoffman Club meetup. Hubby is a member. And a chance for me to meet these London friends again. Think there was a bit of a frond with Phil Olson and Christine Imbert too. Had never met Christine until today and I believe our paths may have crossed before. Anyway, I am buzzing with the friendship and the 62% age grade. There was a group shot of the tourists with the pop-up sign. So thank you for bringing that to us, Helen.

00:46:04Oliver Spake: Yes. And... Carrying on the overseas action down in South Africa, we heard from you before, Johan, who said, I was off to visit Grey Goose parkrun near Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal for event number 299, which was to be their last, but the team managed to negotiate a further two weeks. It was a bit hot and humid, but the vibe was amazing as dozens of visitors turned up to add the event and before it moves and has an inevitable name change. Johan's pictures, wonderful as always. Three grey geese, plus Johan running, plus some scenery pictures and a picture of an ostrich and another picture of Johan, Karen and Tanya. So thank you, Johan. And Mel, I'm going off script because everything I've said to this point was scripted, of course.

00:46:52Melissa Ellis: It's ostrich related?

00:46:54Oliver Spake: It's not ostrich related. But I just wanted to shout out and say happy 10th birthday to Parramatta parkrun.

00:47:03Unidentified speaker: Oh, okay.

00:47:03Unidentified speaker: Because we did hear from Parramatta parkrun in there. And I'm just quickly rushing back to where Parramatta parkrun was. Where was it? Where was it? Where was it? Oh, here we are. Lee Cabarita, her porn name at paramata parkrun's 10th birthday Sally Bianca and I bow down to the world famous super awesome magical Kathy ray the first woman person to run all the parkruns in the greater Sydney area it was a beautiful morning to host a record number of 436 we had a bit of a frond going on six I think I was photographer and have a photo of us adventurers somewhere amongst the 400 or so photos And Lee's photos included all of the aforementioned parkrunners, and you will have seen it in the Consolidated Club report. But Parramatta parkrun is a lovely parkrun to visit, so a very happy 10th birthday to them.

00:47:55Melissa Ellis: Yes, happy birthday. I thought you were going to go down the ostrich theme there, Ollie, because Johan posted a photo of an ostrich and said, So did Tony. That's right. So TOC was at Meningie and Meningie is known to have an ostrich. It's not really a statue. It's like a, well, it is kind of a statue, but it's one you can sort of hop on and he hopped on the ostrich and had a selfie, which was in the theme of being maybe a Bronco rider in a rodeo with his, holding his hat out. So that was kind of really cool. But anyway, I digress. Very topical talk. Yeah, it was topical. I love those little things, the little adventurers interacting. That's right.

00:48:00[crosstalk]

00:48:19[crosstalk]

00:48:27[crosstalk]

00:48:40Oliver Spake: Yeah, no, it's a lot of the fun.

the Obi Award — Carolyn McRae

00:48:42Oliver Spake: And I have to say, with all of the ostrich action, I've got the envelope here. So I think it's time to go straight to the Obi.

00:48:50[background music]

00:48:52Melissa Ellis: Oh, I can hear the envelope, Ollie.

00:48:58Oliver Spake: The Obi this week does not go to an ostrich. It goes to Carolyn. Carolyn in the cold snow joining us from Norway. So congratulations, Carolyn McRae.

00:49:15Melissa Ellis: Hooray. Now, Ollie, we are going to throw to Rachel. Rachel is bringing us this week's, what do we call it? I've forgotten. Club Corner. Club Corner. Thank you, Ollie. And we are referring once again to the Pioneers Club. So let's see what Rachel's got to add this week.

00:49:40[background music]

Club Corner

00:49:50Rachel - Club Corner contributor: This is Rachel with Club Corner, where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs, and I am coming to you from Arrernte Country. This week I'd like to continue with the pioneers, but with a twist. Instead of being the first in each region, this time it's about the first events to start in Australia overall. Here are the first 10 events in Oz. Main Beach Queensland, New Farm Queensland, Albert Melbourne Victoria, St Peters New South Wales, Kirra Queensland, Geez was there something in the water in QLD, Ginninderra , Newy New South Wales, Coomera Queensland, Claisebrook Cove WA, and Balyang Sanctuary Victoria. It took less than six months between event numbers 1 and 2, and then less than a year to get up to event number 10. For comparison, it took the UK over two years between events 1 and 2, and about another 18 months to get to 10 events. Now as we love our cricket team analogies, we have the dirty dozen, which are the first 12 events in Oz. Just pretend that I read the first 10 event names again, then add Wynnum Queensland and Kingscliff New South Wales. But, there is a quirk, because another event launched on the same day as Kingscliff, so we can add North Lakes Queensland to make a third club slash achievement called the, Baker's Dozen. If you are keen to make clubs, then this top 10 thing is replicable in each jurisdiction except the ACT which is almost a 10 events and the NT which only has 3 events. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

00:51:25Oliver Spake: And thank you very much once again to Rachel. But Mel, you know what? Rachel's got some more. So before we carry on with this podcast, I think it's time to once again have a listen to Rachel.

00:51:38Rachel - Club Corner contributor: I have something exciting and different to talk about, reviews. Maybe we should create a club slash achievement for listeners who have left a review of the pod. Ooh, maybe we could do a show of hands at Palm. But back to the script now. As we all know, one of the best ways to get casual browsers to pick parkrun adventurers from the list is reviews. Give the parkrun adventurers a five-star review, and it will move up the algorithmically-based recommendations for those browsing the options. In your podcasting app, head to the show's page and then scroll down and look for ratings and reviews. The two-second approach is to tap on five stars and move on. The five-second approach is to use the first two seconds to tap on five stars, then spend three seconds writing, it's great, and hit submit. If you are feeling eloquent, then why not take a full 10 to 15 seconds to write something that means something to you, and then hit submit, but don't forget to tap the five stars also. Here are some of the existing superlatives provided by loyal listeners. Love listening to it, love the midweek fix from my fave parkrun adventurers. Especially love the banter. And who could forget this classic? Scotty and Mel are entertaining and informative. And I love the general banter. So, how about you give Mel and Ollie some love, and poke the button to applaud the parkrun adventurers podcast now. Go on, hit pause, scroll down and sort it out. We'll be here waiting. Rachel out.

00:53:04Melissa Ellis: Thank you, Rachel, for that announcement to our listeners. So we would really appreciate that. So we thank you for that.

Emails

00:53:12Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, it's time for some mail.

00:53:15Oliver Spake: That's right. You've got mail.

00:53:17Melissa Ellis: Now, this week, first up, we heard from Steve Warwick, and he said, on our way to Hobart to meet fellow parkrun adventurers Richard and Sally at Queens Domain parkrun, we paused at Deloraine to get this distant photo of the Big Coffee Pot, which is somewhere in the vicinity of Westbury Town Common parkrun. Steve sent us a photo of said coffee pot and the Office Lady will be including that in tonight's album. Now, for reference, I've got a feeling the big coffee pot might actually be a silo that has had a spout and a handle attached.

00:53:55Oliver Spake: There's a song about that.

00:53:58Melissa Ellis: Oh, maybe we could get TOC to do that too. I'm pretty sure TOC's done that before. I'm a little teapot.

00:54:04Oliver Spake: Good. It's time we had someone else singing. Yes, yes. So thank you, Steve. And nice spotting there. Now, Mel, we also heard from John Clements who said, howdy, folks. I've listened to a few of your podcasts, especially regularly over the last few. It helps when you are retired. I've cottoned on to the big thing thing as we did similar with a Rotary e-club I was in a few years ago. I lived in Normanville, midway between Victor Harbor and Aldinga parkruns, both half an hour away from me. As a result, we started Myponga Reservoir parkrun nearly exactly a year ago, which has been well received by the local community. We have the big cherries, see attached, not far from us on the way to McLaren Vale and Mount Compass for your records or information only. Keep up the good work and see you at Myponga Reservoir parkrun in due course. Thanks, John. A4663914. Thank you, John Clements.

00:55:05Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Myponga Reservoir. Okay. Looks like I've got to put that on my list, Ollie.

00:55:12Oliver Spake: It'll go on mine, but we know my time to appearances. I know you don't get around to your list very often. Aw. But we've got more mail. Yeah.

00:55:14[crosstalk]

00:55:25Melissa Ellis: We've got Simon Mackley, our quiz master, and he said, Hey, Mel and Ollie, hope that you had a great parkrun day just gone. I thought that an eager listener would have answered Alison's question from her interview a few weeks ago. The event that he would have been at was Surfers Paradise. When it was explained by him, I was racking my brain. And then she said, Surfers, which I've not done but am familiar with. By the way, questions are underway for Palm. If attendees are planning to participate, brush up on WA parkrun knowledge or listen back to previous Palm episodes for the common types of questions. Kind regards, Simon, A226. 803.

00:56:10Oliver Spake: Oh, the fountain of knowledge.

00:56:13Melissa Ellis: He is. He is. He's the reason he's the quiz master.

00:56:17Oliver Spake: That's right. And what a clue there. So get studying, everyone. And what a great reason to listen to the back catalogue too.

00:56:24Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. And while I think of it, Toc, we haven't actually asked yet, but hey, let's make it public. No pressure, huh? Can you step in this year and be the quiz master in Lyndell's absence? Let us know. No.

00:56:40Oliver Spake: So thank you, everyone, for your mail. Now, Mel, over to you.

Consolidated Club Report

00:56:46Oliver Spake: It's Club Report time.

00:56:47Melissa Ellis: It is the adventurers' Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, the 11th of March, 2023. Now, I was a little bit late getting it out this week because I was away. I usually only go away for the Friday night, Ollie, but this week... I stayed two nights. And as a result, the Consolidated Club report was a little bit tardy being posted. But of a total of 399 members, ooh, we are one off now, the 400 members. 314 took part on this date at 171 locations. In the UK, there were adventures at 21 events. In South Africa, three. The USA, two. And Germany and Norway, one each. Locally, we had adventurers at Victoria and New South Wales were tied on 40. Queensland had 27, WA 10. Sorry for omitting you in my report. That was a cut and paste error. South Australia had nine. The North Island had six. ACT and Tassie had four. Northern Territory, the Northern Territory, popped up this week with two. And the South Island had one. That gives us, yes, a bowling strike.

00:58:08Oliver Spake: Well done, well done, and what a spread too.

the Frond — Shellharbour parkrun (six adventurers)

00:58:10Oliver Spake: Yeah. And, yeah, I suppose given that, there was quite a spread of the adventurers, meaning the frond numbers were a little lower, Mel.

00:58:21Melissa Ellis: The frond numbers were spread far and wide. We had a few parkruns with five in attendance, but the winner this week was... was none other than Shellharbour with six adventurers. We had housemate Lance, Patty Oshimo, Julie and Gordon Turner, Gaillyn Cooper and Michael Gentle. That is, of course, not to mention the adventurers that were volunteering there, which was yourself, Ollie, and Bec Bailey.

00:58:47Oliver Spake: That's right, that's right, with a special brief appearance from Chris Fraser as well. But, Mel, I mean, just to go off script even further, probably now's the right time to say at Shellharbour parkrun at the weekend. It was actually quite a nice one. We had visitors from Gungahlin parkrun and one of the event team from Wagi Bridge who, due to a mishap, not event-related, immediately beforehand opted to become our photographer. rather than take on the course. And it was wonderful in stepping in. But yes, there's some great volunteering support across the wonderful team and our Run Director-to-be coming up this weekend. As well as a milestone, Mel, 50 parkruns for housemate Lance. So congrats to Lance.

Sign-off

00:59:35Melissa Ellis: Excellent. But. But. Yes, where are we next week, Ollie? That is the question.

00:59:41Oliver Spake: So I'll be in the same place, different colour vest.

00:59:45Melissa Ellis: Your RD again?

00:59:46Oliver Spake: No, I will be the shadow and we'll have a new member in the vest.

00:59:47[crosstalk]

00:59:50Melissa Ellis: Okay, so it's reversed this week. I get it. That's right. You did tell me that and I messed it up. But where will I be, Ollie? Well, I'm glad you asked. Where will we be? Yeah. I am going to catch a flight. To North Sydney. I believe it is Medibank's special, I don't know, Medibank event at North Sydney. So I thought, you know, no show without punch. I might go up and hang out with all the celebrities up there. You never know who I might meet. Maybe some cheaters. I'm kind of hoping.

01:00:10[crosstalk]

01:00:28Oliver Spake: Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. I don't know if David Crook has showed up recently at North Sydney parkrun, but keep an eye out.

01:00:35Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's his home parkrun.

01:00:38Oliver Spake: I missed him when I was there, but not always good with the one job, but yes.

01:00:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, good to know, Ollie. I'll look out for him. I'll ask around. I haven't even planned any accommodation yet. That's a tomorrow problem.

01:00:51Oliver Spake: Yeah, simples. Simples.

01:00:54Melissa Ellis: Oh, but I think we're done. Are we done? I think we're done. That was quick, Ollie.

01:00:59Oliver Spake: It felt quick for us.

01:01:01Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I know, but then it always seems to still work out to be an hour or so, doesn't it, no matter what we do. But anyway. That's right.

01:01:09[crosstalk]

01:01:10Oliver Spake: We like the company.

01:01:11Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it just kind of comes together. All by itself. But anyway, as always, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. We are also on the Gram and Twitter, so look for us there. That's it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.