Episode 331 - Quokka Quest

Welcome

00:00:01Melissa Ellis: I'd like to dedicate this episode to the click-clack of little paws that have been heard throughout episodes 216 to 329 of this podcast. Chico and Bambi have been my constant companions as I've recorded each week, and I am sad to announce that Chico crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday 6 April, just the day before I flew out to Perth and two months to the day from when we lost Bambi. They will be sadly missed.

00:00:29[26 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:00:55Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 331 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. I am Ollie Spake and I am joining once again from Dharawal Country.

00:01:06Melissa Ellis: And my name is Melissa Ellis and I am back home on Wurundjeri Country. I only landed yesterday afternoon and still operating on WA time.

00:01:15Oliver Spake: Oh, so it's dinner time for you.

00:01:17Melissa Ellis: This is not going to help me for tomorrow's Anzac Day dawn service. Okay.

00:01:22Oliver Spake: It will not. It will not. And look, obvious question there. Do you miss WA already, Mel?

00:01:27Melissa Ellis: Oh, I do. Absolutely. Take me back. I want to go back.

00:01:32Oliver Spake: It was a great time. We will get to a lot of that. Naturally, a lot of our listeners will have heard some of the excitement and some of the experience in our last episode, which was taken almost completely unedited from our Palm live recording. Glad to say the recording worked.

00:01:55Melissa Ellis: It did. It was really good, Ollie. Well done.

00:01:57Oliver Spake: Good job. Good job. I was a little paranoid there. You might have heard me check once or twice, but, hey, it worked. Have you listened? Did you listen back? I did listen, yeah. I was listening on the drive home from the airport on Tuesday night. Yeah, it was nice to relive some of the memories, which naturally we're going to do very shortly as well. But I think as we alluded in the live podcast, and again, I feel rusty because we've had a couple of weeks off. So getting back into the swing of everything, we did mention in the live podcast that we have had our inboxes gradually filling up so worth making a mention we're going to try a bit of catch up on the roving reports in this episode we're going to leave Dazza's on the the ways of the internet for now rather than the podcast at least for this episode but yeah we'll bring some of those roving reports a bit later on amongst the recaps but Mel I'm not sure where we start do we start with your last parkrun day do we start with my last parkrun day do we go I think

00:03:06Melissa Ellis: I think we need to hear about you because you went home. You went home earlier. You didn't have the luxury of as much time in WA. I didn't, yeah. But you were back home at Shlaba.

00:03:19Oliver Spake: I was back at Shellharbour. Yeah, well, it was funny being back to normal home parkrun but great to be home and, you know, nice to return to Shellharbour. Look, the team had everything under control so I had a run and realised I really don't feel like I'm in great shape at all. Everything hurts and it's a good hurt but it's a painful hurt. I need to get a bit more active. But on a more positive note was Ava, who when I mentioned I was planning to go to parkrun this week, she said she'd like to barcode scan because she had enjoyed doing it with Hannah recently. So I was very fortunate. Kathy brought her up just before start time and, yeah, Yeah, while I was out there, she was kicking off. She was very ably scanning, cheering and proudly showing everyone who'd listen just how many finishes she'd scanned in. I was pretty chuffed when I saw just how much she was encouraging people across the line. Yeah, proud dad moment.

00:04:22Melissa Ellis: Well done, Ava.

00:04:24Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:04:24Melissa Ellis: It's great.

00:04:25Oliver Spake: Yeah. So Hannah's claiming all the credit, naturally, because Hannah did train her. But I think it just goes to show with our barcode scanning, as you try it a few times, you get used to it. And, yeah, she's taken it like a, what is it? Is it fish to water, duck to water? What's the expression?

00:04:44Melissa Ellis: Duck, I think.

00:04:45Oliver Spake: Duck. Excellent. Fish would already have it down pat.

00:04:49Unidentified speaker: I think so.

00:04:51Oliver Spake: That was my parkrun day and great to have most of the event team there as well. We had one missing event team member who was off working after a bit of gallivanting around the country with an ankle harness. But that was my parkrun day, Mel. Back in sunny Shellharbour. Your turn.

00:05:11Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, I'm going to attempt a summary of my two weeks in WA. So I completed Freedom Runs at Heirisson Island, Garvey Park, Cottesloe, South Beach Recreation Reserve, Applecross, Lake Claremont, Mundy Regional and Bunbury. I scanned my barcode officially at Claisebrook Cove, UWA and Margaret River parkruns. I was generously hosted by the Channel 5 News crews, Sarah from the West Side, Sarah Jefferson, and fiancé Matt Stephens, who incidentally completed his 25th volley on the morning of Palm at UWA and hadn't realised. So congratulations. Yeah, congratulations, Matt, and thank you for volunteering. I enjoyed a cruise on the Swan River, climbed the Bell Tower at Elizabeth Quay, went to a rooftop bar in a Western costume, attended the opening ceremony of the Transplant Games at Optus Stadium, explored Kings Park, the largest park in the world, climbed up and down Jacob's Ladder, saw 360-degree views of Perth City from the 45th floor of the BHP building, took the ferry to Rottnest Island, got a selfie with a quokka, visited the Bunbury Markets, experienced the solar eclipse through a cardboard pinhole, walked the Busselton Jetty, toured the Jewel Cave, climbed the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, saw the black rays and dolphins at Hamelin Bay, an elephant seal on the beach at Augusta, checked out the Margaret River Pro, a chocolate factory and the canal rocks. I made new friends both at Palm and at parkrun and fell in love with a beautiful grey cat called Winston. I would like to thank David Messenger for jumping in and providing the Consolidated Club Report stats while I was away from home. Dave Allmark for the wonderful Welcome to Perth gift of Margaret River chocolates. And Johan for the South African socks and a copy of the book Winged Messenger, which was inscribed. To Mel, congratulations on your role as a parkrun adventurer. Best wishes, Bruce Fordyce, 2403. It's been arguably the best holiday of my life and I want to thank every single person who had a part in making it so special. Not in the least to the Office Lady, Sam Schroder, for her hard work in making sure all the social media continued during our podcast pause and for herding the masses for all the group photos. And to you, Ollie, for taking the lead in the preparation and live recording, including arranging the hiring of the equipment and ensuring the audio was captured for all to enjoy. Lastly, I can't express enough how grateful I am to Sarah and Matt, not only for their hospitality but for including me in their life for two weeks and just being really, really lovely humans. I now declare palm23 closed. Roll on, palm24.

00:08:02Oliver Spake: Well done, Mel. There's a lot in that recap and I can understand why that was such an incredible experience. Not just the palm weekend, obviously. You know how to stretch a palm. I did. That was a whole plantation.

00:08:18Melissa Ellis: I'm getting better at it, actually. In Tassie, it was just the week before. Now I've gone the week after as well, which I highly recommend.

00:08:27Oliver Spake: And look, I mean, a few of the things you mentioned there, I was present for, just a few. Yeah. I have great admiration. Unfortunately, the work commitments and obviously not having the family as well, all factors for me, but it was really such a pleasure to still be looking on and seeing people enjoying it just as it was beforehand, to see people enjoying it and to have so many of our adventurers community being able to make the most of getting over to WA. It is a stunning experience. And I say that having probably experienced a lot of its beauty simply through the photos of others, not just Johans, but others. But it's just an incredible location.

00:09:18Melissa Ellis: And if I can jump in, Ollie, one of the things that I was really struck by was all the people that came to Palm mingled and they didn't necessarily sit in their little groups of the people they already knew. If you were maybe the analogy of a teacher and teacher, you know, the kids in the classroom, not just, you know, you move the chairs around so they have to socialise and get to know different people. We didn't have to do that. Everybody was doing it themselves. Everybody was taking, really taking the opportunity to get to know the people that they knew their name, they felt like they knew them through hearing us talk about them, through reading their comments on Dazza's, but everybody was jumping at the chance to meet these people in person. And I think it's,

00:10:04Oliver Spake: it's certainly not the case that, you know, we, we would be unhappy, you know, facilitating a few of the introductions because as my very poor hand count from the live recording suggested, there were a number of people there for their first palm. And, and, you know, that, that can be a, you know, obviously being a new experience, you know, it can be a whole uncertainty as to, well, you know, will I meet people? Will I mingle? But yeah, Yeah, to your point, people welcomed that and I really want to thank everyone once again that was a part of that. It was just such a pleasure and it was the highlight for me to be able to spend a big chunk of that time with different people and to get to experience it and to get to actually have a conversation. Sorry to some that it was very, very brief, but to have a conversation with almost everyone that I wouldn't otherwise get to.

00:10:55Melissa Ellis: And I think that was the benefit for me for just staying on that bit longer and being there a little bit early was I got the opportunity to have a little bit more one-on-one time with different people. So, yeah, that was in my favour, having the extra time up my sleeve. But what about, Ollie?

00:11:12Unidentified speaker: Yep.

00:11:13Melissa Ellis: You know, what about some of the highlights, some of the favourite things? I mean, we did a few Freedom Runs. We did. So did you have a favourite out of those? Yeah.

00:11:22Oliver Spake: Okay, well, I suppose in the Freedom Run equation for me, whilst I did visit Bundy on the Friday morning with Chris, which was a great experience, the Freedom Runs, I'm counting in this piece as, you know, the freezing Friday Freedo at Cottesloe. Yeah, with the strong wind um the afternoon Applecross Freedo and of course um sunday's south beach post long run world of hurt um that's a beautiful spot and uh I think for me, despite it being a world of pain, I think that tunnel of trees at South Beach was pretty special. So I have to say that was probably a favourite. But, yeah, very hard to pick. There are three beautiful parkrun locations and three, I'm sure, of many that could have been great locations to spend Saturday morning at actual real-life parkrun as well. But, yeah, I'd say South Beach Recreation Reserve. What about you?

00:12:31Melissa Ellis: Oh, which was the one that had the sort of boardwalk that was sort of right out over the water? Was that Applecross?

00:12:37Oliver Spake: That was Applecross, yes, on the edge of the river.

00:12:40Melissa Ellis: I really liked that. And while it wasn't a Freedo, I really do have to return to UWA and inspect a certain koi pond that I may have overlooked.

00:12:52Oliver Spake: It didn't go past after the recording, I noticed. It didn't?

00:12:55Melissa Ellis: I forgot. Yeah. I forgot. I got whisked off in another direction.

00:12:59Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. Look, it was a beautiful koi pond. I only had fleeting glances myself. But again, thanks to Rodney for making sure I didn't miss a lot of those highlights. UWA, just a beautiful surrounds. I'm not sure we really did the course description justice in the live recording and, I mean, for a two-lap course and a course that is I think on face value sounded quite confusing and probably looked quite confusing. The team have done a great job in laying that out and guiding us through and particularly when you add people Very healthy parkrun crowd. It's difficult to get lost.

00:13:43Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but we didn't and everything went smoothly. And what was Rodney's surname? Because there's that green where we did the briefing at the start.

00:13:53Oliver Spake: Glossop Green, yes. Glossop Green. Yeah, yes.

00:13:56Melissa Ellis: Which is a lovely space that's central to the university. Now, you may think if you're conjuring up images in your head of a university campus that it would be all concrete, but it absolutely isn't. We had the group shot out the front of Winthrop.

00:14:10Oliver Spake: Winthrop Hall, that's right.

00:14:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah, which was a beautiful building. Sandstone, would that be correct?

00:14:17Oliver Spake: I believe so, yes.

00:14:19Melissa Ellis: And more of a period-style building, not a modern university campus.

00:14:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right.

00:14:28Melissa Ellis: So, yeah, it really was very picturesque. So, yeah.

00:14:32Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, 90 years old or thereabouts, I believe it is, and just the clock tower and the lawn in front of it. Yeah, amazing.

00:14:42Melissa Ellis: Lovely that Cameron's story requested that we had a group shot out the front of Winthrop Hall at the conclusion of the parkrun. So I'm really glad. Thanks, Cam. Thanks for that because that photo's magic.

00:14:56Oliver Spake: I agree. And now, Mel, Saturday night, the costume party, which has been a palm tradition since day dot, it was really well embraced by everyone. So, you know, huge, huge... What's the word? I'm lost for words. Kudos. Kudos. That'll do, yes, to everyone. I was very tempted to suggest we start grouping because I think last year in Hobart we did peel off and take photos in different themes. We had a great Western theme. And the half six-pack of West Coast coolers would have been fantastic.

00:15:42Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah. So there were some great costumes. What was your favourite?

00:15:45Oliver Spake: I was very impressed with our costume winners.

00:15:49Melissa Ellis: Uh-huh.

00:15:49Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Our Pet Shop Boys.

00:15:53Melissa Ellis: Pet Shop Boys, yep.

00:15:54Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:15:55Melissa Ellis: Based on the Go West song, yes, and that was very well judged by our guest judge, which was Aaron.

00:16:05Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. And, yeah, it looked – I'm not sure where else to go with some of those. Even those that kept it relatively simple did a fantastic job there.

00:16:19Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. We had the Baileys, two of the Baileys shot who came in T-shirts indicating Australia as the West Island team.

00:16:29Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right.

00:16:30Melissa Ellis: A little bit cheeky, but very impressive. And Bec Bailey, who was the Greater Western Sydney Zoo.

00:16:38Oliver Spake: Western Sydney Zoo. That's right. Managed to attach a zoo's worth of animals, of figurines to herself.

00:16:44Melissa Ellis: And if anybody didn't realise and had seen the photos, Bec had completely made that T-shirt by herself. A lot of work put into it and it looked very professional.

00:16:53Oliver Spake: I'm looking forward to going up to that zoo and just seeing whether Bec can establish a line of merchandise up there.

00:17:02Melissa Ellis: I thought you were going to say if you could follow the map to find the odds. Oh, yeah, that's true.

00:17:06Oliver Spake: That's true. Yes.

00:17:08Melissa Ellis: And then we had the Gores who were the Western advertiser. That was pretty clever.

00:17:15Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. And we had our West End representation from Tasmania. Yeah, the Warwick's.

00:17:21Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, that had me stumped for a while trying to figure that was a little bit cryptic.

00:17:26Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, yes. A few written clues.

00:17:29Melissa Ellis: But my favourite, Ollie, my favourite I think is The Two Black Swans.

00:17:34[laughter]

00:17:34Oliver Spake: LAUGHTER

00:17:38Melissa Ellis: You're going to turn up in the same costume as somebody else. Well, you know, you want to be a black swan. I mean.

00:17:43Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right.

00:17:45Melissa Ellis: That was great. And kudos to you for going to the rooftop bar dressed as a black swan.

00:17:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, I don't know whether I was popular or unpopular in the rooftop bar in the black swan costume. But, yeah, it was, you know. On a dress-up party night, you dress up. So, yeah, it was good fun.

00:18:06Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. And I think it's now a tradition that you go out to a bar in your costume.

00:18:15Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. Yes, as you did as well in your shirt.

00:18:20Melissa Ellis: I did.

00:18:21Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:18:21Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but I probably could just get away with it a little bit better and just look like I might have just stepped out of I'm a Celebrity. I think I was getting a few looks in the aeroplane on the ride home actually.

00:18:33Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah?

00:18:34Melissa Ellis: In my puffer vest and my hat.

00:18:38[crosstalk]

00:18:38Oliver Spake: how true yes yeah but all your favourite thing about the whole weekend oh I really should have thought about that um you should have because you wrote the note I did one job oh dear um Without trying to generalise too much, I think Saturday morning was just such a great experience, seeing so many people together enjoying parkrun in such a beautiful location. That was a highlight for me.

00:19:09Melissa Ellis: It really did go smoothly too, I have to say.

00:19:13Oliver Spake: Oh, and I should thank also the Baileys and Chris Fraser for their help with some of the equipment logistics and also Em and Angus for their help with my logistics as well.

00:19:25Melissa Ellis: We should especially call out Angus who took a lot of the group photos for us. He did a brilliant job.

00:19:31Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, yeah. And look more broadly, the junior contingent at Palm was, I think, a healthy representation. And if I understand correctly, I think they'd come again.

00:19:45Melissa Ellis: I do believe they have requested school holidays again next year so they can attend. Well, at least one did.

00:19:53Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:19:54Melissa Ellis: And it was our first Palm with international attendees. So, you know, Alison over from New Zealand and Johan from South Africa, that was great.

00:20:05Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. Just a fantastic effort from the both of them and from Axel with Alison as well, of course. Of course, yes. In making the trip out. So thank you.

00:20:18Melissa Ellis: Aforementioned juniors.

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

00:20:21Melissa Ellis: That's right. And Johan putting us to shame touring in our own country with his managing to get to Coober Pedy.

00:20:30Oliver Spake: Which we'll have a bit more on, I think, next week. We'll catch up with Johan at Coober Pedy or hear from his experience there. Mel, what about you? Your favourite thing?

00:20:41Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, it's hard because there were so many and each day something else came along. But I think the group trip to Rottnest Island. Yes. Seeing the little quokkas, that would have to be my highlight. Yeah. They're just so cute. They're just so cute and unique. They are scattered elsewhere on the mainland, but it's quite a haven for the quokka on Rottnest Island.

00:21:14Oliver Spake: That's right. And we do have a note here to give a bit of context for our international listeners on quokkas. I mean, hopefully for your own wellbeing, you've heard of quokkas, you've seen quokkas before, but just in case, and this will point you in the right direction, I hope, um uh quokkas are a small macropod about the size of a cat a domestic cat um but in the last sort of 10-15 years they've earned the reputation of being the world's happiest animals and symbols of positivity as the um the photos from the front of their faces make them look like they're smiling just due to their natural facial structures and um It was interesting to learn about the island and obviously great opportunities to read as you travel around or to hear from some of the local guides. And I think even our West Australian locals were very informative. And I know this note around the name Rottnest says, being attributed to the Dutch explorer, which I should have checked the pronunciation.

00:22:21Melissa Ellis: I was going to say, I'm sitting here waiting for you to say his name. I'll give you, it's Willem.

00:22:29Oliver Spake: Willem, thank you. That's really helpful. You want to help me with the surname?

00:22:33Unidentified speaker: No.

00:22:34Melissa Ellis: de Vlamingh. How about that?

00:22:36Oliver Spake: Yeah, what she said. But in about 1696, I believe, the island was dubbed Rotter Nest, i.e. Rat's Nest. That's a bit rude. Mistaking those, well, those beautiful little animals, the small macropods themselves as, yeah, giant rats really. But, of course, the traditional owners of Rottnest Island, the Whadjuk Noongar people, knew of the island long before any of the European connection, and they called the island Wadjemup, which means place across the water where the spirits are. And, yeah, I think over 10,000 quokkas out there on the island today. I actually thought I'd heard that there was four times that number. Wow. I'm glad the facts weren't just up to me.

00:23:31Melissa Ellis: Maybe Wikipedia needs updating.

00:23:33Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:23:35Melissa Ellis: Yeah. And, of course, they have flourished, my understanding, is because they don't have predators. And I think the only threat to them may be snakes on the island. Tiger snakes. But it was dingoes that introduced dingoes that had wiped out most of the population on the mainland, I am led to believe.

00:23:55Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And look, a bit more context, just while we're recapping, Palm, the World Transplant Games, Mel, they wrapped up. Were you following the results? Because I did check the final medal tally.

00:24:10Melissa Ellis: Okay. Okay. Yes. Let us know. Did we win?

00:24:14Oliver Spake: Because we did attend that opening ceremony, as you pointed out, and the World Transplant Games were ongoing for the week. Australia, which was well represented, came second.

00:24:27Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:24:28Oliver Spake: Was it South Africa? Came second. No, South Africa did come in in ninth, though, so congratulations to our South African friends. New Zealand in 20. Who won? Australia with 59 gold, 40 silver, 41 bronze. No confirmation whether our four-year-old medalled yet. I haven't checked that. There was, believe it or not, a four-year-old competing.

00:24:51Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:24:52Oliver Spake: I think obviously to spread the positivity and to be involved in the positivity of the games themselves, which was just a tremendous achievement.

00:25:02Melissa Ellis: Did we find out what event the four-year-old was taking part in?

00:25:07Oliver Spake: No, not yet. Not yet, I'm afraid, yeah. That's cute though. Yeah, very cute. But congratulations to Great Britain and Northern Ireland who scored one more gold medal than the Australians.

00:25:20Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Well done. Well done to the motherland. That's right. And I don't know, anything.

00:25:27Oliver Spake: And you.

00:25:28Melissa Ellis: No, no, no, no, no. I am looking at the show notes and I'm seeing Mel throw two roving reports.

00:25:34Oliver Spake: Before you do, before you do, I just wanted to extend the congratulations also to, and Mel, you kept me honest on this one beforehand. We didn't want to let it slip. Congratulations to Ralph from Melbourne, my very own Shellharbour parkrun event team, for his efforts in the Boston Marathon. That very same weekend, Ralph managed a very impressive two hours, 57, and was it 24? Sorry, Ralph.

00:26:05Melissa Ellis: I think so. Well, I wrote that down when I questioned it earlier, whatever day it was, if we had a result for Ralph, and that was what I got told. So if it's out by a few seconds, not my fault.

00:26:19Oliver Spake: Net time, 2.57.24. Ah, there you go.

00:26:22Melissa Ellis: My intel was good.

00:26:24Oliver Spake: And so, yeah, huge congratulations to Ralph. It sounded like a pretty horrendous weather day, but a great effort. And Karen Hamilton was over there with Ralph, and she ran the cheap marathon for

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:26:37Melissa Ellis: uh the uh on the Sunday and congratulations to her um finishing that in 4 43 32 nice work yeah very good well okay so now after that very long intro we are gonna throw to the roving reports that we're bringing you this week so let's have a listen

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Western Springs

00:27:05Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and I am heading to the start line of Western Springs parkrun. It's April Fool's Day and the Run Directors here at Western Springs have offered everybody who comes dressed as a clown a free parkrun. How cool is that? The Run Director did a great job of welcoming everybody, set a really festive mood by asking us to give him a round of applause after everything he said, and welcoming some visitors from far and wide, particularly ones from Wyre Forest parkrun in the UK. Alrighty, I'd better go. It's about to start. I'll talk to you after the run. Alrighty, I have found a few intrepid international parkrun adventurers. What are your names?

00:27:49James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: I'm James.

00:27:50Lyndell Murray: I'm Vivian.

00:27:51James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: William.

00:27:52Lyndell Murray: Now, William, you are becoming a local here in Auckland, is that correct?

00:27:56William ("Will") - UK parkrunner living in Auckland: That is. I'm trying to get down in more, yeah.

00:28:00Lyndell Murray: But you've settled in New Zealand for a bit?

00:28:02James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Yeah, for the last five years or so.

00:28:06Lyndell Murray: And visitors from the UK today?

00:28:07James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Yes, that's me, James. I'm visiting from Shropshire in England.

00:28:11Vivienne - UK visitor at Western Springs parkrun: And me, Vivienne, we're visiting from the UK too. And this is Chloe. And I live here.

00:28:18Lyndell Murray: All right. Now, Western Springs, I had a great time today. Did you enjoy the course today?

00:28:23James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Beautiful course. I was just saying to Will, last week in England, the course, it was all bare trees in the forest. We turn up here and it's like a rainforest. It's so green and lush and beautiful. So, yeah, I really enjoyed it.

00:28:37Lyndell Murray: Indeed. And your first international parkrun today.

00:28:39James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Correct. First one abroad, yes.

00:28:41Lyndell Murray: All right, but you've done plenty at home, so I'm going to ask you for a top three parkruns that isn't your home parkrun.

00:28:49James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Okay, the Fell Foot parkrun in the Lake District is one of my favourites. Pool Harbour parkrun, because I think I did quite a good time there. And my first ever parkrun was Ashton Court in Bristol.

00:29:06Lyndell Murray: So a bit of a mixture there, some because of the course, some because of a time and some because it was your first. You always remember your first, don't you?

00:29:13James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: That's right, yes. I remember my first, yeah, 2012.

00:29:17Lyndell Murray: Fantastic, me too. And since then you've done a bit of adventuring around the traps? Yes.

00:29:25William ("Will") - UK parkrunner living in Auckland: Yeah, well, we've got a lot planned. Mum and Dad have just arrived, so we're going to do a mini tour of New Zealand. There's so much to see. We won't catch it all, but yeah, that's the plan.

00:29:35Lyndell Murray: So what's next on your list?

00:29:36William ("Will") - UK parkrunner living in Auckland: So next weekend is going to be Taupo and Tongariro, and then we're going to get up to, well, hopefully sunny Paihia and do a bit of island hopping after that.

00:29:45Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. All right. And now your parkrun journey, 10 years in the making, is that the same for all of you?

00:29:52William ("Will") - UK parkrunner living in Auckland: Well, we started, where did we start my parkrun? Little Stoke. So Little Stoke, which is actually one of the only parkruns to be cancelled by the council.

00:30:00Lyndell Murray: Oh, yes.

00:30:01William ("Will") - UK parkrunner living in Auckland: So it no longer exists anymore. But we used to love that parkrun. And that was where I did my PB as well. But this is probably only my second or third course. So there's many more to come, hopefully.

00:30:13Lyndell Murray: Now, the Run Director put down a challenge to beat your home parkruns top time. Yeah. Did you achieve that today Will?

00:30:23William ("Will") - UK parkrunner living in Auckland: Not even close.

00:30:27Lyndell Murray: And so that was really nice, wasn't it? The Run Director had done a bit of...

00:30:31James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Homework.

00:30:31Lyndell Murray: Homework on your home parkrun. How lovely was that?

00:30:35Vivienne - UK visitor at Western Springs parkrun: What was it? What did that feel like? That felt special. It felt like we were really invited and that, yeah, we were welcomed in. We liked that. Yeah, yeah, he did well. Bless him. I thought he did a great run briefing. Yes, me too.

00:30:48Lyndell Murray: And you didn't get to mum about the clowns either. No, didn't.

00:30:51Vivienne - UK visitor at Western Springs parkrun: We would have come as clowns. I love dressing up.

00:30:56Lyndell Murray: No, well, I wouldn't have had anything to wear, so... All right. Now, what would you like the parkrun adventurers to know about your home parkrun? Who would like to take that question?

00:31:08James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: It's quite a hilly course. It's forest trails, so really nice terrain. Lots of ups and downs. Yeah, so, yeah, lovely course. People often find it quite challenging and they're... Their time is often a bit slower at our parkrun, but that doesn't matter.

00:31:30Lyndell Murray: And the name of that parkrun?

00:31:31James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: It's Wyre Forest, which is part of a huge forest in the West Midlands in the UK.

00:31:38Vivienne - UK visitor at Western Springs parkrun: and we've got we have marshals all over so when you turn a corner there's a Marshal standing there with a bell or a football thing and saying well done good running and that helps that helps just when you're flagging yeah that's amazing it sounds like my home parkrun is the same it's a trail in a forest and it's quite hilly so it sounds like it sounds like I should put that one on my list if I'm ever in the UK yeah we do a lot of volunteering now don't we yeah you were

00:32:04James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: So I've done some run directing lately, which is good fun. You get to know all the volunteers and it's just an amazing community.

00:32:13Lyndell Murray: Wonderful. All right. Well, I'll leave it there. Thank you so much for having a chat to me. Happy adventuring for the next few weeks and safe travels home. Thank you, parkrun. Yes, thanks, parkrun. It's an amazing part of our lives, isn't it?

00:32:29Vivienne - UK visitor at Western Springs parkrun: I love every minute of it.

00:32:31Lyndell Murray: All righty, parkrun adventurers. I've found Adam. He's the Run Director today. How did your day go today? A bit of improvisation today, Adam?

00:32:39Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Lots of improvisation because I forgot the tokens. But it always works out. So, yeah, all good.

00:32:45Lyndell Murray: Yes, indeed. Now, Western Springs parkrun, how long have you been going here?

00:32:50Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: How long have I been? Western Springs has been going for about five or six years, possibly longer. I'd need to check. But I've been doing it now for a few years.

00:32:59Lyndell Murray: And how did you get into parkrun?

00:33:01Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: I started exercising with a friend, started parkrunning at Western Springs for a few weeks and then liked it so much that I just love the spirit of parkrun and I love the routine and listening to a Run Director do their chat in the morning, I kind of wanted to be part of that so then I volunteered and became a Run Director.

00:33:22Lyndell Murray: Excellent, that's fantastic. And how many, what's the community like here at Western Springs? It sounds like it's a pretty tight community.

00:33:29Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, there's a tight community of Run Directors and then there's a really nice group of volunteers that are pretty consistent. So there's never any problems filling the roles and we just try and make it as fun as possible and inclusive as possible.

00:33:41Lyndell Murray: So you did have a bit of fun with your briefing this morning?

00:33:44Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: I always have fun with my briefings in the morning because I think it just lightens up everyone's day. Yeah.

00:33:51Lyndell Murray: Indeed. Now, Western Springs parkrun, would you like to describe the course for me?

00:33:56Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, it's three laps of our lake and it's about 1.6 kilometres per lap. There's one little hill that everybody hates that you have to do three times. Apart from that, it's normally lions roaring first thing in the morning and just a lovely, lovely morning.

00:34:13Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Now, you set down a challenge this morning for a course record. Did we get a course record today?

00:34:19Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: I don't think so. No, no. The course record here for the men is 15.53. And someone almost beat that last week. But no, we haven't got a course record today.

00:34:30Lyndell Murray: So, pretty fast.

00:34:31Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Pretty fast, yeah.

00:34:34Lyndell Murray: And so, that English parkrun one-upped us today.

00:34:40Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yes, they definitely have, statistically. Yeah.

00:34:43Lyndell Murray: All right. Now, is there anything else that you would like the parkrun adventuring community to know about Western Springs parkrun?

00:34:51Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Oh, hey, no, just parkrun in general is just a magical thing because people love the routine. I've seen people come through here in the last few years that started off, you know, some people quite overweight and they've literally just lost all that weight by just being consistent each week and turning up. And lovely George, who's behind you, has got cerebral palsy and we just make sure he has the best time when he comes here. And so for me, that's the only part that makes it worthwhile.

00:35:20Lyndell Murray: parkrun's for everyone.

00:35:21Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

00:35:23Lyndell Murray: All right. Well, thank you, Adam, for talking to me today. Thank you for everything that you've done for parkrun. And just one moment. I'm just going to put my phone here for one moment.

00:35:32Adam - Run Director, Western Springs parkrun: Thank you very much. Thank you.

00:35:38Lyndell Murray: Okay, I've tracked down Michael. Michael is the Event Director for Western Springs parkrun. And now I've got one question for you, Michael. Were you in on the joke or did you get got today on April Fool's Day?

00:35:51Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: No, I was in on the joke. I thought any excuse to dress up, I'm going to dress up.

00:35:56Lyndell Murray: Yes, indeed. Well, you look great and you were park walking. So when I arrived, I saw... two people in tutus but nobody else and I thought are they just really excited to be park walking or is there something going on there were some others yes there were there were indeed not too many no yeah no but what a great April fools um event and it might become a regular here yeah I hope it does I always love dress up events yeah we promote them you know especially the tutus the tutu days yeah excellent now Event Director here at Western Springs can you tell me a

00:36:32Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: okay um we started about seven years ago a guy called Mike Wilkinson set up the parkrun um and and I was a little bit involved um helping him out um and then about three months later he decided to go overseas so um so I took over um as Event Director And we love our event here. It's three laps around the lake and it's right next to the zoo. So we get a lot of people that come do the event and they go to the zoo afterwards. By the changing rooms just down there, they used to have male lions. And so when the run starts early morning, we'd get all the lions roaring, which was just so cool. But they don't have the male lions anymore, unfortunately.

00:37:16Lyndell Murray: that is a bit of a shame but the lake here is beautiful absolutely lovely I really enjoyed I don't like lap de courses but this one was pretty nice I have to say yeah and now a little sharp hill at the end oh look I'm on my home parkrun has a massive hill I still walk up every hill I come to so I've walked up yours as well it's a nice little hill I know it is everyone complains about it but it's so tiny Yeah, well, you get to do it three times. Yeah, exactly, yeah.

00:37:43Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: All right. Just sprint up the hill and you're right.

00:37:47Lyndell Murray: Now, this podcast is a parkrun for people who adventure to different parkruns. So have you done much of that in your time?

00:37:54Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, I'm up to about 18 different parkruns, yes. I've done Burnaby parkrun in Canada. So they're an inaugural event, in fact, which is really cool.

00:38:07Lyndell Murray: Oh, fantastic.

00:38:09Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: And I've done a few in Melbourne and, yeah, but that's all overseas that I've done and a lot around New Zealand, yeah. Planning to do one in Wellington shortly. Excellent. Just drive down overnight and drive down on the Friday, do the parkrun and drive back. So you are an adventurer at heart. Yeah, yeah. I want to try and get all of them.

00:38:33Lyndell Murray: In New Zealand? Yeah. And how many are there?

00:38:35Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Oh, I think there's 36 now.

00:38:37Lyndell Murray: So you've got a little way to go.

00:38:40Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, a little way to go. They're all in the lower South Island or lower North Island.

00:38:44Lyndell Murray: Okay, so a few more adventures to plan. Do you have, I'm going to put you on the spot here, can you give me a top three parkruns, not including Western Springs?

00:38:53Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Top three parkruns, not including Western Springs.

00:38:56Unidentified speaker: I like Rotorua.

00:38:58Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, Rotorua is a really good one. It's not called Rotorua though, is it? Sorry, I wrote it wrong. And Hobsonville, I quite like. And Wanaka is really nice.

00:39:13Unidentified speaker: Wanaka's really nice.

00:39:14Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah. A bit of trail, you know, and you've got that famous tree that everyone takes a photo in the lake, the run past. So that was really nice.

00:39:23Unidentified speaker: Yeah, I do like the Hobsonville.

00:39:25Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: And the Hobsonville one is really good, yeah. Is that here in Auckland? Yeah, it's in Auckland. It's in West Auckland. It's an out-and-back course. Yeah. Yeah, around the bay. Get one. Yeah, it's really nice.

00:39:36Lyndell Murray: All right. Now, is there anything else that you would like the parkrun adventurers to know about Western Springs parkrun?

00:39:46Pollyanna - Perth parkrunner visiting Margaret River parkrun: Did you say about all the beautiful wildlife?

00:39:48Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: I did. Well, I said about the zoo and all the lake. You usually run past the elephant. You can see it most mornings. And the lake with all the birds is beautiful. Also, it's one of the easiest parkruns to get to in Auckland. So if you're staying in town, there's a bus directly to here and back again. So it's really easy. So we get a lot of parkrun tourists, usually up to 20 different people per week.

00:40:17Lyndell Murray: There were plenty today from England, Germany, a couple of Queenslanders. I'm not sure where else.

00:40:23Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: I'm not sure either.

00:40:24Lyndell Murray: I think that was it, yeah. So there was a few. I've got to admit, that's why I came here. It was easy. I was very disorganised during the week and just found the easiest one to get to. And I thought, if it's at the zoo, it must be easy to get to.

00:40:35Michael - Event Director, Western Springs parkrun: Yeah, it is easy to get to. It's really good.

00:40:37Lyndell Murray: All right, well, thank you for talking to me today. I'm going to go and hunt for an elephant. Yeah, it's just down there on the left.

00:40:44Unidentified speaker: You'll find it.

00:40:47Lyndell Murray: Okay, I have got regular Western Springs parkrunner Katina with me. How are you today?

00:40:53Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: I'm good, thank you.

00:40:54Lyndell Murray: And how was your run today?

00:40:56Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: It was good. I came late, but as usual, you can come late, but you still run to finish.

00:41:01Lyndell Murray: Yes.

00:41:02Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: I actually loved it, and I found my friend's daughter running along, and then I just started pacing her. That became even more fun.

00:41:08Lyndell Murray: Oh, fantastic. So you helped someone else with their parkrun today. That's right. Now, how did you get involved with parkrun?

00:41:14Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: So parkrun, I was just looking for something to do with my kids, something that didn't cost anything and something social that we could get involved with. I had a child who had like a lot of health issues. So I just wanted something to do that didn't require a lot of effort. And somebody pointed out parkrun and I was like, what is that? And then looked around to see which one was the closest. Western Springs was closer, so we came the first time we didn't know anything about like barcodes and stuff like that because I just wanted to run and that's how we got involved got our barcodes started coming regularly but they wanted the paper which we've always forgot but we loved it we did it because we loved it not to become number one or to compete with anybody and that's how even my kids it was also to get my kids to get used to getting up and looking forward to something, so more like a motivational strategy and building upon their sort of like self-determination and, you know, perseverance, like you've got to do this, you know, if you start something, you finish it, even if you're last.

00:42:19Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. What a wonderful story.

00:42:21Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: Thank you. Thank you. And I think it is that parkrun that actually helped me to start looking at training more regularly because it's five kilometres. But if you look at my training, whether it's through Strava or anything, five kilometres has become my baseline where I'm like, I'm just going for a little jog. Little jog means 5Ks. And if you can run five kilometres continuously without puffing out, you can run any distance. And I say that because I'm able to just get up and do a 165. That's 100 miles from training 5Ks every day, remarkable so 165 how many times have you done that distance I've done that twice so far but I've done 100ks so I do ultras as well yes and my training I'll be honest it's usually these little 5ks 5ks and a few races on weekends like I could do a 15 or a 21 or 42 on a Sunday but that's just about it

00:43:21Lyndell Murray: It sounds like you're a little bit more gifted than I am because my ultra training is not that easy.

00:43:28Pollyanna - Perth parkrunner visiting Margaret River parkrun: Well, they say it's mental, right? Yeah.

00:43:31Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: Yeah. It is a mental thing because you have to push your mind to say, I can do this. Yes. Yeah.

00:43:40Lyndell Murray: Indeed. Now, so you talked about your sons. Your sons, are they here today?

00:43:45Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: So he's not here today. Yeah, no, not today. But I've got a daughter who is 17. She's turning 18 soon. And my son is 14. And they ran with me. So everyone was asking. So we've got this team of parents where we discuss why we come to parkrun. And you would hear some of the parents saying, my two kids are my why. Because I want them to just get up because, you know, young people get up to no good. But if they get up every Saturday knowing that I'm going with mom for a run and then I get a whatever for chocolate, that's something to look forward to the only time you get ice cream is Saturday my kids is the same so they we kind of like know each other it's a group of like four parents four four families hey where's tanaka today because he usually comes here and competes with everybody trying to beat everyone's uh PB trying to beat his mom so no he's not here today but uh that's one of the things that we use as well as a way to try and push our kids to do something yeah And that's really worked, clearly. It has worked, I'll be honest. And personally, people sometimes ask to say how I managed to even get gold trophies from races. It's because of parkrun. It's the parkrun. And I wouldn't have... said it any better because the parkrun is always the day before my race and I'll tell you I'm running tomorrow but I'm here and no excuse no excuses no excuse at all

00:45:14Lyndell Murray: Wonderful. Now, what is next then? Just one more question. What is next? What's your next run?

00:45:19Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: Next run is Waterfront half marathon tomorrow. Tomorrow. Yes. So we are excited. It's the last race in the five half marathon series, which is amazing. And it's with the running events. They are great. I would say the best race organisers ever because we do all their series. We just finished one series two weeks ago. This is the last one for this year and then we move on to the next.

00:45:46Lyndell Murray: Well, that is wonderful. I wish you all the best with your run tomorrow. Is there anything else that you would like the listeners of the podcast to know about your home parkrun here or anything else in general?

00:45:58Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: Yes. So this is my home parkrun. I did try to run away and go to Owairaka. Yes. And I ran there for a few weeks, competed, and then I came back with a PB. And now I've come here, and great social group and we know each other even when we book races we kind of like have a group where we chat in there to say hey are you doing this one yes so come and join us free and it's just beautiful even if I sleep late When I know that it's Saturday, I'll be honest with you. I would rather be late than not turn up as long as I'm in Auckland. Like today, I'm doing police training. And in the morning, as soon as we were like about to finish, I was like, guys, I have to go. So please bring your family something to look forward to. It will build their confidence. Great people as well. Amazing. And you can train for your races in the parkrun. Try some food, nutritional stuff during parkrun. Your hydration during parkrun. They bring some shoe people here sometimes to try shoes on at parkrun.

00:47:01Lyndell Murray: Try them out. Try them out. Well, that is incredible. Thank you so much for talking to me today. Thank you for being part of this parkrun. It's a brilliant parkrun. Lovely people here.

00:47:13Katina - regular Western Springs parkrunner: Great organ, what you call them as well, race directors as well. Beautiful.

00:47:19Lyndell Murray: Well, thank you. All the best with your run tomorrow. And hopefully I'll see you another time at a parkrun. Thank you so much. Alrighty, parkrun adventurers. Well, that is a wrap from me from Western Springs parkrun in Auckland, New Zealand. I did go hunting for elephants. I didn't see one. I did hear her. I heard her a couple of times. Unfortunately, could not get any audio. I stood there for a little while. But anyway, that is the only disappointment here. This is an awesome parkrun in a beautiful spot close to Auckland City. Check it out if you're here.

Roving report Sarah Jefferson — Margaret River

00:47:56Sarah Jefferson: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Sarah here on the West Side checking in for the Channel 5 News crew. Checking out Margaret River parkrun this morning. What a stunning morning. And we are here with... Pollyanna. Hi, Pollyanna. How did you find Margaret River parkrun this morning?

00:48:13Pollyanna - Perth parkrunner visiting Margaret River parkrun: Well, I do parkrun in Perth and I've just spent here the weekend. So I said, where's the parkrun around here? And I googled and found very easily. And what a beautiful place. Oh my God. Amazing. What were some of the highlights on the course? The view, all in the middle of the forest with a lake, a river and a lot of trees.

00:48:39Sarah Jefferson: It's insane. So beautiful. It is beautiful. There's lots of people in the adventurers community who say that Margaret River is one of their top three parkruns. So I'll be interested to hear if Mel thinks the same, but what do you rate? Do you reckon it's one of your top three parkruns? Definitely. For me, it would be the top one so far. Awesome.

00:48:58Pollyanna - Perth parkrunner visiting Margaret River parkrun: Yeah. Awesome. I will be back here for that. Definitely. Definitely. And is it the Margaret River Pro that brings you down to Margaret River? Yeah, that's it. There's a surfing comp here, so we are here to watch it. Awesome. And do some parkruns in between. Yeah, definitely. Never going to lose it. Well, it was nice to meet you, and I hope to see you on some adventures soon.

00:49:16Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, definitely. Nice to meet you too. Thank you. Bye, guys. So I'm here at parkrun and coffee with Sam at the Hairy Marron. Sam, what have you noticed about the coffee shop?

00:49:26Unidentified speaker: Well, there was a long queue of people looking forward to their coffee, and what a treat. We got to the front to realise it's happy hour from 8 to 9 a.m., $3 coffees. What a delight. So calling in to the Hairy Marron after Margaret River parkrun. Love it. Crazy.

00:49:39Sarah Jefferson: Never known happy hour in the peak time of coffee, hey? I know. How good. And a beautiful view. What a place.

00:49:45Unidentified speaker: And there are bikes here if you want to rent a bike, I guess, and go for an adventure through the trails. Exactly. Don't run too fast. You'll need to save those legs for a bike ride. Thanks for that top tip, Sam.

Roving report Cameron Drake — Claisebrook Cove

00:49:55Cameron Drake: G'day everyone, Caveman Cam here checking in from Claisebrook Cove. Oh, after last night's chilling with some cocktails and some champagne, I think I might just quietly hide behind, no, I think I'll just go have a chat somewhere. Let's see who's around.

00:50:16Padraic - Irish parkrun tourist from County Cork: I want you to say hello, Padraic. Hello, Cameron. How are you? I'm well, thanks. How are you? Great, all together, yeah. Just finished Claisebrook 5K here, parkrun, beautiful parkrun. Oh, it is. It's lovely. Right on the banks of the river, a couple of bridges. I always forget which river we're at. So where are you from? I'm from Southern Ireland, Cork County. Oh, okay. So what would be your local around that way? My local parkrun is Glengarriff, beautiful nature reserve parkrun in Ireland, one of the most beautiful parkruns in the whole country. Are you a bit biased? Very biased, yeah, yeah. Being Irish, we're always biased. We always go for our own. So, yeah, I have about 150 parkruns done and about nearly 50 volunteers.

00:50:56Cameron Drake: Oh, well done. That's a good ratio.

00:50:57Padraic - Irish parkrun tourist from County Cork: Certainly, yes. I'm happy. Lovely team there. Lovely team who help out in parkrun every Saturday.

00:51:03Cameron Drake: So what brings you to bright, sunny Australia on today?

00:51:05Padraic - Irish parkrun tourist from County Cork: Family. I have family in Sydney, family in Melbourne, and they're all coming in to Perth this weekend. So we're first here, so we said we'd do the parkrun and get ready for the weekend. That's the best way to start the weekend, isn't it? Put up a bit of edge, as they say. So you're going to drag the rest of the fam into the parkrun next week? I doubt it. Dang. Exactly, yeah. We're going to be probably in Margaret River next Saturday.

00:51:29Cameron Drake: I can thoroughly recommend doing Margaret River parkrun. It is beautiful. Is it? Oh, great. Absolutely lovely.

00:51:33Padraic - Irish parkrun tourist from County Cork: Super. We'll give that a go when we get down there, hopefully. Fantastic. Well, it's been lovely talking to you, Padraic. Nice to bump into you another day. Yeah, thank you very much.

00:51:42Cameron Drake: Well, that was a bit of a challenge. But now I'm going to go check out and have a chomp. I'll catch you later. Bye.

00:51:57Oliver Spake: And thank you very much to our roving reporters from, well, parkrun Day just gone, but also our earlier April parkrun Days. So, Cam there, obviously feeling great around Claisebrook Cove. And Lyndell at Western Springs in New Zealand. Yeah, and Sarah there at Margs, which I love the nickname. But, Mel, I believe we've received a bit more audio, so I think maybe we should pause and just listen to this late bit of audio.

00:52:31James - UK parkrun tourist from Shropshire: Question for you. Caveman Cam. I'm just listening to your palm pod. Caveman Cam. Is he quick? You said that he gets around quite a bit. Dash Cam, perhaps?

00:52:44Oliver Spake: Was Dash Cam ever considered a name? So thank you very much to Mr Danny Norman of the With Me Now podcast. And, yeah, what do you think about that? We didn't have that in the poll at our live recording. Caveman Cam or Dash Cam from Danny's suggestion. So I believe, Mel, you have confirmed Cam does run at a tidy pace. Yeah. And he did the recording for us. So that's very appropriate. Or dashing to hug the porcelain, huh?

00:53:20Melissa Ellis: Well, after four cocktails, two pints and five hours sleep.

00:53:23Oliver Spake: Yeah, justified, justified maybe. But, yeah, no, some good suggestions. I love the idea of dash cam, so very apt. And, Cam, I believe you need to send us the footage to throw on our YouTube channel from the morning. So thank you in advance for that and thank you once again for, well, for being dash cam.

00:53:44Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, more to Sarah's point, audio from margs I thought I'd give you a bit more detail from the morning so Margaret River firstly can I just say referring back to Mel Erbacher's visit in February of 2018 episode 101 I did not locate the undie tree oh Nor did I find anybody who knew anything about it. But then again, I didn't survey the whole crowd, so that might be on me. But I can concur that Margaret River parkrun is indeed a stellar trail course, as described by my lovely predecessor. And to recap, is an out-and-back course that starts conveniently by the toilets and finishes conveniently by the Hairy Marron Cafe, as you heard in the audio. What is a hairy marron, Mel? I'm glad you asked, Ollie. This is the most threatened freshwater animal in the southwest with only a small number of mature animals left in the wild from only a few locations in a small section of Margaret River. Sarah and I were amongst the field of 109 and I was pleased but also somewhat surprised to discover I'd finished with my fastest time in 11 months which I can only assume is thanks to the increase in exercise over the last two weeks in WA plus all the stairs I've been climbing. It was a very friendly and welcoming event team. But just a note for tourists that they don't seem to use their future roster and aren't overly active on social media. So do drop the event team a short message to confirm that they're running. Margaret River is a very well-known wine region and a popular tourist destination. So if you come for a visit, make sure to head to the tourist information so you don't miss anything. After parkrun and a quick swim in the motel pool, we wandered the main street and the Margaret River Farmers Market, which is open every Saturday from 7.30am. The main street is full of gift shops and local retailers showcasing their wares and was a very enjoyable way to spend the morning.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:55:51Melissa Ellis: So, Ollie, this was a much quicker middle section than our very long introduction, but it is now time for us to hear from the birthday boy.

00:56:09the birthday boy: Howdy. It's the birthday boy here with some of the goings on for May 2023. This month has eight, yes, eight parkrun days. There are four regular parkrun days plus four special days. The special days are country-specific and are as follows. Norway on the 1st for Labor Day, Japan on the 4th for Greenery Day, then we've got Finland on the 18th for Ascension Day, and Netherlands on the 29th for Whit Monday. Labor Day, we should all know about, hopefully. It's the eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and eight hours of play each day. And the movement began back in 1889. Greenery Day in Japan is celebrated as a day to appreciate nature and be grateful for its blessings. Greenery Day was originally established in 1989. Ascension Day is a Christian religious holiday and has been celebrated since the fourth century of the Common Era. Whit Monday is another Christian religious day known locally as Pinsei. Please excuse my horrible accent. For us non-travelling folk, we have the four regular parkrun days. Week 1 on the 6th, Week 2 on the 13th, Week 3 on the 20th, and Week 4 on the 27th. A reminder first with the standard anniversary 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. Now, are there any events joining Main Beach with their 12th anniversary? No. The next to join them on 12th will be New Farm Queensland in September. And there are no 11s in May either. Sad face. There are some 10s if you are so minded. Cleveland, Curl Curl, Varsity Lakes and Highlands. Check the parkrun map to learn more about them. Now for the exciting dates, the first anniversaries. Across Australia in May, we have Elliott Heads Beach in week one. They are in Queensland. Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens, New South Wales are in week two. And that's it. Now, I have received a request to also include anniversaries for Junior parkruns. And no, this request didn't come from Mel. May includes Westerfolds Junior parkrun on the 28th, turning 5. June will see Thorndon Junior parkrun turning 3. January includes the mouthful that is Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun, who will also turn 3. Next February, we've got Bellevue Park Junior parkrun turning three. What a popular age for junior events. And finally, next April, we will see Des Connor Park Junior parkrun also turning three. As with all parkrun adventures, the parkrun cancellations page is a valuable tool. See parkrun.com.au forward slash cancellations. The official cancellation page contains information for the coming weekend, plus two further outer weeks. If you are adventuring later in May, be sure to check it again later when it is refreshed. Well, see you next month for some more birthday boy banter, and be sure to let Mel and Ollie know if you have any requests.

00:59:50Oliver Spake: Thank you very much to the birthday boy for, well, all the special days to talk about. But we've got some other people having special days and sharing their news of their travels.

Emails

01:00:03Oliver Spake: Mel, we have some mail.

01:00:05Melissa Ellis: We do, and we've had ample mail. So, again, we need to drip feed these.

01:00:10Oliver Spake: Yes. That's right. That's right. So the Jacksons are on a world tour, not the musical. Well, I don't know, actually. They might be musical, but let's call them the Bathurst Jacksons. Stephen and Jen are on the world tour, and we're going to bring you the first two installments we have here from their world tour, and then we'll catch up on the subsequent weeks in our next pod. But whilst I don't think I... I have a record of a week one email. This comes from Stephen and Jen on week two who said, hello, Ollie and Mel and the Office Lady. So week two of our trip and due to parkrun being suspended in France, we had to find one nearby. Therefore, a three-hour train trip to Amsterdam saw Jen and I at Amsterdamse Bos parkrun this morning. Six degrees Celsius and wet, very muddy, but as ever, about 100 friendly parkrun addicts from around the globe, including a couple that spotted Jen in her Punish shirt, exclaiming they had done the Punish. Hello to Colleen and Michael Anderson. A great natter both during and after at the coffee shop, sorting tokens and helping out. As ever, a great way to meet and chat with other obsessives. On the train back to Paris now with a bit of a run planned for both of us tomorrow. The Paris marathon. Next week, another country, another parkrun.

01:01:39Melissa Ellis: And following on from that was week three, which they said, we survived our Dutch parkrun Paris Marathon double last weekend with six hours of train travel and have now moved on. We are up to our third foreign parkrun with Løvstien in Norway this morning. A small friendly parkrun, double out and back, all on a wide trail and definitely hilly. One hill done twice is 13%. Cool. I ran then barcoded. Jen tail walked with a friend, Hilda. We recruited for her first parkrun and we finished with a coffee and a great faff at a nearby cafe. A tight, friendly 23 finishes. Lovely weather, bright and sunny and two degrees. Interestingly, we met Hilda cycling online in Zwift, three years ago, and this is the first time we have met in real life, hence the reason for a Norwegian parkrun. Jen and I were definitely feeling last Saturday's parathon. I just made up a new term. Paris Marathon, where we had another hey, Jacko moment, where a runner we hadn't seen for three or four years who now lives in the USA bounced up on the banks of the Seine and got a selfie and a chat at about the 33-kilometre mark. So some more volley credits, another parkrun, another country, and, as ever, a delightful community. We trust your Perth palm is going well as we slum it over here. Only a faint case of FOMO. Take care. High fives to all. Cheers, Stephen and Jen. P.S. Thanks for the Punish mention. Entries are going well as we plan to head back into the pits this year.

01:03:21Oliver Spake: And thank you very much, Stephen and Jen. So we'll catch more from their adventures next week. But we have another email and this one from, well, a familiar name for you, Mel. Sarah from the West Side. Now, would you like me to read Sarah's? Oh, do so, please. Okay. Sarah says, hi there. I saw this on the Hampton Oval parkrun page for their 100th event. I thought a few of the recaps were interesting. It's up near Karratha, Sarah. And, well, Yes, there were some interesting items here.

01:03:55Melissa Ellis: The stats from Hampton Oval. They obviously ran their 100th parkrun, Ollie. That's right. And how about I'll read the first sort of half-ish and then you can read the other half.

01:04:09Oliver Spake: It's a deal, yes.

01:04:10Melissa Ellis: Okay, so... At Hampton Ovals, I think this is the stats on the day. No, this is the stats over the 100 parkruns that have gone before.

01:04:23Oliver Spake: Otherwise, it's a pretty eventful day. Yeah.

01:04:26Melissa Ellis: Okay, so there have been one crocodile, two weddings, three course changes, four pram attempts, crazy, five official wheelbarrow parkruns. We need a FYI on that. Seven different dogs, nine unofficial wheelbarrow parkruns. 10 within the top 10 preferred by visitors. Okay, 10 times within the top 10 preferred by visitors, I guess. 35 different clubs represented and 49 kilos of horse poop on the trail avoided.

01:05:02Oliver Spake: This was almost sounding like a very interesting 12 Days of Christmas. LAUGHTER 68 times the most volunteer, Finlay Milliner, 76.99%, second highest age graded. So that's Eloise there. 86 times the most HO parkruns.

01:05:06[laughter]

01:05:25Melissa Ellis: Hampton Oval. Oh, that makes sense. I love it when you get surprised. As a former...

01:05:31Oliver Spake: Hobart resident that listened to HOFM. My mind just went straight back. But, yeah, that would have been obvious. Dion Alcorn, 91 times breakfasts at Soak, 100 times parkruns, 245 PBs, 350 finishes, 819 icy poles consumed, and 1,566 finishes.

01:06:00Melissa Ellis: Okay, so 350, that's unique people. And 1,566 would be individual times.

01:06:11Oliver Spake: Crossing the line. Crossing the line.

01:06:12Melissa Ellis: How did they get the icy pole figure?

01:06:15Oliver Spake: Counted them.

01:06:16Melissa Ellis: What?

01:06:17Oliver Spake: Counted them.

01:06:18Melissa Ellis: They counted the icy poles.

01:06:19Oliver Spake: Well, I mean, I can't say for sure, but that's what I would do.

01:06:24Melissa Ellis: They keep a running tally.

01:06:26Oliver Spake: Okay. That's right. But congratulations, Team HO. Yeah.

01:06:30Melissa Ellis: All right. So somebody from Hampton Oval, can you please get in touch and give us some information on unofficial and official wheelbarrow parkruns?

01:06:40Oliver Spake: That's right.

01:06:41Melissa Ellis: I think there's a story there, Ollie.

01:06:43Oliver Spake: Well, I think there's also a story in how many other kilos of horse poop were not avoided on the trail. Ooh.

01:06:50Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

01:06:53Oliver Spake: Interesting.

Consolidated Club Report

01:06:55Melissa Ellis: But do you want to hear about the Consolidated Club Report?

01:06:57Oliver Spake: I do. I do. I knew you would.

01:07:00Melissa Ellis: Well, the adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday the 22nd of April 2023. Of a total of 415 members, 336 took part on this date at 181 locations. In the UK, there were 25. There were three in South Africa, two in the USA and one each in Ireland, Japan and Thank you so much.

01:07:23[20 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

01:07:43Melissa Ellis: five in Tassie four in the ACT we've got the North Island with three and the Northern Territory and the South Island each had one so that gives us another bowling strike thank you Mel I mean you were doing that whilst on holiday in a spectacular location so uh thank you no problem do you want to know the largest frond I think you read my mind

the Frond — Shellharbour parkrun

01:08:12Oliver Spake: Once again.

01:08:13Melissa Ellis: We're giving it to Schlaba. They had 10 adventurers with housemate Lance, Oliver Spake, Karen Hamilton, Chris Fraser, Gordon and Julie Turner, Louise Aitkin, Kristen and Devleen McKenzie and Gaillyn Cooper. Yes. How about that? How about that? But I've got a question for you, Ollie.

01:08:31Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:08:32Melissa Ellis: Were any of those people actually adventuring or were they all at home? They were indeed at home. That's right. Oh, well. Still good, what would you say, good passionistas, representation.

01:08:50Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. I mean, there are few better places to adventure than right here in Shellharbour, I have to say.

01:08:57Melissa Ellis: Make sure you let us know when you get some adventurers.

01:09:00Oliver Spake: I certainly will. So what else is news?

01:09:05Melissa Ellis: Well, we had another launch in Victoria on Saturday, Yackandandah Rail Trail launched, and I will most likely preview it next week. Okay, excellent. But I do want to say, Ollie, thank you again. I mentioned it briefly in my recap. David Messenger, he was great stepping in while I was away from my desktop and was giving the very brief introduction what was I calling them self-serve consolidated club reports David took it upon himself to jump in and give all the stats so we really appreciate that David and he has included some extra stats um as well for your enjoyment wonderful

Sign-off

01:09:48Melissa Ellis: So check those out if you haven't already.

01:09:49Oliver Spake: Yeah, what a gesture. Thank you so much, David. We appreciate it immensely. And, well, I mean, that's bringing most of our recaps to an end. I know that, you know, coming up in our episodes, we still have at least a handful of roving reports we'll get to in Episode 332 and potentially beyond, Mel. But what else is coming up on the horizon for you?

01:10:12Melissa Ellis: Um...

01:10:13Oliver Spake: I think you've just mentioned, really, haven't you?

01:10:14Melissa Ellis: I did, yes. I plan to head out to country Victoria, to Yackandandah, and go and see what's been happening while I've had my back turned, Ollie.

01:10:27Oliver Spake: Yep.

01:10:27Melissa Ellis: Gosh, you were away for two weeks and they launch new events.

01:10:32Oliver Spake: They do. They do. Bless them.

01:10:34Melissa Ellis: But it's all fun, so I look forward to wandering out there and seeing what adventures I bump into.

01:10:39Oliver Spake: Yeah. Oh, well, I wish you happy travels. I will be travelling a much shorter distance. I'll be staying home. I'm on the run directorship this Saturday, so I look forward to spending a parkrun day at home where it's meant to be pouring rain. So that will be good fun.

01:10:55Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear.

01:10:58Oliver Spake: Slippery, slidy, muddy hills.

01:10:59Melissa Ellis: It should be either in Victoria or WA because we're having some lovely weather. You know what? I expected to be rugging up when I got back to Victoria and sitting in at my gate at the airport, they had the weather up for Melbourne and it was actually, I was quite impressed because it was scrolling through saying Melbourne and then it was changing to Wurundjeri Country, so that was good so well done Perth airport but yes it had the forecast for the next three days and I looked at it and I saw 24 27 27 I went well hang on is that Perth is that the Perth have they got the Perth weather up there no shouldn't it be the Melbourne weather I had to Google the bomb and yeah fair enough I've come home to 24 degrees in Melbourne how good's that

01:11:47Oliver Spake: That's pretty good. That's pretty good. And for our international listeners, that's the Bureau of Meteorology. The bomb. Yes, the bomb. The bomb.

01:11:55Melissa Ellis: So yeah, so it's... Oh, and we had an aurora last night.

01:12:00Oliver Spake: Wasn't that spectacular? Yeah, for anyone that hasn't seen the images of that stretching so far north, just gorgeous.

01:12:10Melissa Ellis: And just, you know, thanks very much, universe, because I had two weeks off where I could have potentially sat myself on a hill and stayed up for the Aurora. And the one day that I got to go back to work and get up early and I have two hours less sleep to do it, it puts on a show.

01:12:25Oliver Spake: Totally worth it. Totally worth it.

01:12:30Melissa Ellis: Couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning. And if I'd actually woken up a little bit earlier and gone outside, I probably would have seen it out my front door.

01:12:36Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:12:37Melissa Ellis: Never mind.

01:12:37Oliver Spake: That's true.

01:12:38Melissa Ellis: But Tony and Jacqui O'Connell did have some absolutely fabulous photos of the Aurora.

01:12:45Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah. And the colours are gorgeous. I'm glad to have seen it, at least in images.

01:12:53Melissa Ellis: Hmm. Yes, but, Ollie, we've come to the end of Episode 331. Yeah, a bit of a longer one.

01:13:02Oliver Spake: Thank you very much, Mel, for sharing more of your adventures during your time on the West Side. Thank you once again, everyone. I think you thanked some of our gift givers, but I did not, so I really want to pass on my appreciation also for the kindness of, yeah, some wonderful people. But thanks for helping me relive it, Mel.

01:13:24Melissa Ellis: That's okay. We can return to normal programming next week. But as always, you can contact us via Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week. We'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:14:34[music]

01:14:34Unidentified speaker: Oh,