— open the full-size coverEpisode 332 - Severn Swather
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Episode 332 - Severn Swather · 2023-05-04
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Source: https://log.5kadventures.net/transcripts/ep332.html · The Adventurers Log · An independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by parkrun.
[intro theme playing]
Welcome
Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 332 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.
Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I am joining once again from Dharawal Country.
Melissa Ellis: Did Dharawal Country get flooded on the weekend? Because I heard warnings.
Oliver Spake: There were warnings. There were plenty of warnings about come Friday of the incoming east coast low, I think it was. Plenty of rain expected, but in the end, Mel, very little, I think, compared to what was expected. In fact, I believe there was only one millimetre of rainfall before parkrun o'clock on parkrun day, well, at the location of our course anyway. So we escaped that one pretty lightly. By Sunday, it was sunny. It was, I don't know. What do you call a disappointment that's not disappointing?
Melissa Ellis: Anti-climax?
Oliver Spake: Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Well, not really because, yeah.
Oliver Spake: Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: I don't know.
Oliver Spake: Good fortune. Good fortune is absolutely right. But, yeah, look, I was most pleased that it wasn't as slippery as expected. Look, we did actually have someone slip over and it was a first-timer as well.
Melissa Ellis: Oh.
Oliver Spake: um someone who's training for UTA uh but um yeah I trust she was all right she was out in front of the pack and uh yeah enjoyed our slippery hills fortunately was okay though you didn't have your slip and slide marshal on the spot didn't have the slip and slide marshal no no the Marshals instead were positioned in key spots including around our new beach what the Also, we called it, I guess we're straight into parkrun recaps here, but... So, look, surprise, everyone. I was run directing at Shellharbour parkrun this parkrun Day just gone, and we had a bit of a course resurfacing. So, the National Parks and Wildlife Service have been out repairing our path, which is wonderful for those that prefer a slightly less cross-country-ish course. But what had happened was that they hadn't compacted all of the soft, loose areas, tiny little gravel pieces oh I love that description that's the uh that's the technical term you can order it by the by the cubic metre um but TOC calls it granitic sand doesn't he isn't that what it is well I suppose it's not quite that you're yeah maybe it is he's the builder isn't he
Melissa Ellis: Maybe he knows. I'll have to ask him.
Oliver Spake: But nonetheless, it was soft. We had a lovely compacted part. It was like a freeway. But another part, unfortunately, they hadn't compacted and it felt soft. So we had one Marshal who I'm sure was very popular out there asking people how their experience on the beach was because, of course, everyone who is familiar with Shellharbour parkrun has been there, does miss the beach. So it was nice to bring that back.
Melissa Ellis: Oh, right. I thought you were actually going to say you had puddles.
Oliver Spake: Ah, surprisingly. Well, no, I guess not, given we only had a millimetre. But, yeah, not much in the way of puddly course at all. It was a nice morning. Numbers were down as a result of the weather warnings that were out, but it was still a lovely morning to be had, and it's nice to see that course rectification going on. And we had Heather joining us from Rouse Hill parkrun, who I didn't actually get to talk with Heather, but some of the others did. She was at the Punish. Oh, okay. So hello, Heather, and sorry I didn't catch you. No. Yeah, pretty enjoyable and simply fun, Shellharbour parkrun, Mel.
Melissa Ellis: What about you? This week I took Zoe for an overnight trip to regional Victoria. We stayed in Wangaratta, Ollie, and uh yeah the wang and I was telling Zoe oh I'm going off my script now I was telling Zoe how she had done the Wangaratta parkrun that we basically stayed adjacent to uh and that wasn't the parkrun that I was going to and when she was there you were there but she didn't remember so sorry she didn't remember But in any case, yes, we stayed in Wangaratta so that I could make the short journey to Yackandandah Rail Trail parkrun on Saturday morning. I won't give you a course description, as that will be covered later in Mark's roving report. However, I will say that it is yet another stellar rail trail in the great state, right up there with the likes of Timboon and Grand Ridge Rail Trail, Murboo North. TOC, you are going to love it. I've already given top two mentions already. Gosh. Yes. The cool but not cold conditions on the morning were perfect for running and I ran very close to my time from last week at Margaret River, even after walking briefly on one of the last hills. To that point, the course does have undulation with an elevation gain of 55 metres. I was surprised to see the Strava map show a general downhill trend on the out, meaning the back was obviously undulating, up which may explain why I slowed for breath towards the end hashtag not ashamed to walk the hills there was 79 finishes for event two following on from 101 at last week's launch I was joined there by adventurers and palm attendees Martine Barrot and Andrew Johnston as well as Matthew Billow-Billington, who did The First Timers, and John Graham. Unfortunately, this week was not one when I had the luxury to stay and enjoy brunch, so my little green parkrun mobile turned around and hightailed it back to Wang. Yackandandah is on the land of the Dhudhuroa people and the name is said to mean one Boulder on top of the other at the junction of two creeks. The township is approximately 310 kilometres northeast of Melbourne and while originally known as a gold mining centre, now is a dairy farming and forestry area known for its bee and bees and... Almost energy self-sufficiency. So there's an eclectic mix of stats for you.
Oliver Spake: Nice work. Nice work. That's some solid adventuring. And look, I'm glad you had nicer weather up there.
Melissa Ellis: And it was mother-daughter time.
Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, that's always a highlight. So I'm told anyway.
Melissa Ellis: How far was that trip again? How far? 310 kilometres.
Oliver Spake: Yes. Very healthy adventuring. Yes. Yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Or am I supposed to say that in hours? I don't know.
Oliver Spake: What is the measurement? Yeah. What's the unit of measure?
Melissa Ellis: How long a 13 year old can happily sit in the car without complaining?
Oliver Spake: That's true. It's relative to the participants, yeah.
Melissa Ellis: I won't push it for much longer than the three-hour mark, but because we stayed in Wang, it was really sort of the two and a half hours from her school where I picked her up on Friday afternoon.
parkrun news bulletin
Melissa Ellis: Very nice.
Oliver Spake: Well, we've got a few news updates, a couple of things going on, but I think particularly important, there's a question, Mel. Have you signed up for the City to Surf?
Melissa Ellis: I have not, but I've got my flights.
Oliver Spake: Ah, excellent. Yes. Yes. So you are coming.
Melissa Ellis: I am coming. Yes. Well, I've booked flights. So I plan to.
Oliver Spake: Wonderful. Well, look, for everyone joining, we had a great frond of adventurers at City to Surf and at the parkrun of the morning before, of course. And for anyone who is still to sign up for City to Surf, there is an adventurers team. And we've got a collective noun because it's adventurers pod.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, we do. Kindly created by Chris Fraser. So if you want to join us in our team. please feel free. I don't know if there's a password. Is there usually a password for teams at City to Surf, Ollie?
Oliver Spake: I'll find that out. But, yeah, if you do have any trouble, simply email us. We will tell you the email address at the end of this pod.
Melissa Ellis: Nice work. But I did spot today some news that I thought we would update everybody with, and it came to us from Jindabyne Sport and Rec parkrun. Now, they posted this announcement which says, We are sad to announce that due to being unable to use the Jindabyne Sport and Rec facility on an ongoing basis, the final event at the current course will be on Saturday 10 June 2023. The Jindabyne parkrun event team is hoping to recommence the original Jindabyne parkrun course by the lake with some modifications due to flood damage after winter with a start date and location to be confirmed after consultation with Council and parkrun HQ. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates. We will continue using this Facebook page for updates until further notice. We've had a great year at the sport and rec course. Many have come along and conquered the hill of death and we'll be sad to see it go, but we're very much looking forward to potentially recommencing at the lake. Thank you sincerely to all our volunteers who have helped us out this past year. Starting up a new parkrun is a huge task and everyone's assistance is what made it happen. Thank you to our locals who joined us and supported us and thank you to all visitors from near and far. We hope to see as many participants in our final weeks as possible to send off this great course in style. Watch this space and we look forward to seeing you at the revamped Jindabyne parkrun.
Oliver Spake: Wow. I am excited for the return of the lakeside course, but a little gutted that I'm going to miss that hill.
Melissa Ellis: You can't get there before the 10th of June, Ollie.
Oliver Spake: It is highly unlikely, but yeah, I certainly have to commend the team, the event team and the community at Jindabyne for all of their hard work to make parkrun possible there. That would not have been an easy task to continue that and in securing that location for the period that they did. Great work.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, and well done to them for their persistence. And we wish them all the luck in getting their course back up and running as fast as possible.
Oliver Spake: And I look forward to seeing you there, team.
Melissa Ellis: And me too, because I haven't done the original lake one. Well, there we go.
Oliver Spake: We'll have to have a frond sometime, Mel.
Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, on a happier note.
Oliver Spake: On a happier note, we have another special day. So South Africa had their special day on the 27th, which is Freedom Day. And I mean, my South African history is a little poor, but I do understand that, of course, Freedom Day commemorates the first post-apartheid elections that were held back in the early to mid-90s, I think it was. Yeah. which was the first time that everyone over the age of 18 from any race group was allowed to vote. So wonderful special day for South Africa. And we had adventurers out there, Mel. And I suppose I get to say where they were.
Melissa Ellis: Do you know, I was just looking at the show notes and I'm like, I didn't even set that up. He put his own name next to that. Nice work.
Oliver Spake: So... We had adventurers at Sunrise on Sea, Zandvlei, Bridgetown, Vaal Marina, Mountain Drive, parkrun, Graf Reinet, and Gruner Veda is my best attempt there. Johan, where are you when I need you?
Melissa Ellis: We were just talking about how he used to, I think, enjoy listening to our attempts at pronunciation and we don't do it anymore. But there you go, Johan, we've thrown some in for you.
Oliver Spake: That's right.
Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, there was another special day and it's today in Norway. They are celebrating, well, it just said Norway's special day. So I don't know what it's for. But Consolidated Club Report is not yet available because it's still today. Yeah. In Norway. But I have been sent a selfie of Helen Davis and Alison King. So I know they are somewhere today. They didn't say where they were, but the comment that accompanied the photo said it's snowing. However, due to my exceptional Strava stalking skills, I can confirm they were at Ekebergsletta. How's that?
Merapi Papadopoulos: Ekebergsletta parkrun, Oslo.
Melissa Ellis: And further stalking of the results page suggests Hendo Stu and Nicola Tarrant also in attendance. So a frond of five there with Stephen Davis there.
Oliver Spake: 3d does a printer extraordinaire uh-huh oh well done everyone and great to see people out there enjoying their extra doses of parkrun around the globe
Melissa Ellis: I know. One day, Ollie, one day, that'll be us. One day. Maybe.
[crosstalk]
Oliver Spake: That's right.
Melissa Ellis: Such a long way.
Oliver Spake: Ah, just a reason to travel internationally. That's all that's needed. Hey, Mel?
Melissa Ellis: I wonder if we can convince New Zealand to change their special day from Christmas Day.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, I'm not sure that's an easy task, but one can live in hope.
Melissa Ellis: Mm-hmm.
Oliver Spake: But, look, I think that's it for the updates from around the parkrun world.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew
Oliver Spake: But as we said last week, we've still got a bit of catch-up from our little break and another swather of… A swather. Swather? Swathe of roving reports. A swathe of roving reports from the weeks, indeed from the last month gone by. So we'll throw over now to our roving reporters to hear what's been going on.
[background music]
Roving report Mark Scarborough — Yackandandah Rail Trail parkrun
Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew and today we are about half an hour south of the New South Wales Victorian border, so we've travelled down the highway from Canberra and we're at Yackandandah parkrun, or it's an actual true name, it's Yackandandah.
Lisa: Yackandandah Rail Trail parkrun.
Mark Scarborough: Awesome, so I'm here with Lisa who is the Event Director and Run Director for today. Good morning Lisa and how has your parkrun day been?
Lisa: Fantastic, we've had a really nice turnout, we've had perfect weather, haven't been inundated but we've got a good number of people, mix of locals and visitors, it's been perfect.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah it's a beautiful day, the weather is certainly on point, nice cool temperatures for a run and yeah blue sky, it's a beautiful area here. So what can you tell us about your parkrun and how it came about?
Lisa: parkrun's something I've been involved with off and on for about 10 years. Not highly involved, but on the periphery all the time. And when I moved to Yackandandah about three years ago, I had moved away from my running community and wanted to recreate some community. And I thought parkrun's the perfect way to do that. So I started the ball rolling, asked some questions and decided it was something that we were able to bring to this area. So yeah, it's been great.
Mark Scarborough: So can you describe the course for us?
Lisa: It's a lovely course. So it's on the rail trail. It runs parallel to the creek. We go straight out and back for, well, out for two and a half and back, of course. Bit of undulation, so enough to challenge you and make it enjoyable without bringing on a heart attack. So it's a beautiful course.
Mark Scarborough: No, look, it is scenic 10 out of 10. The beautiful waterways through and, you know, with all the leaves starting to change colour for autumn, it's a beautiful setting. So I think you've done well with the location. What can you tell us about the town and what's the sights to see around here?
Lisa: So Yackandandah's beautiful, a lot of mining history, a lot of galleries. It's a very arts-focused area, lots of focus on sustainability in the area. So lots of really interesting people, nice little local cafes and restaurants. So we'd encourage people to visit the shops, cafes, restaurants if they're coming to the area to do parkrun. We've also recently had the Epic Mountain Bike Trail open up. So if you're into mountain biking, you can follow up your parkrun with some mountain biking. It's a beautiful area.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, I've already had one person comment on the mountain biking around here, so that's another good reason to do a parkrun adventure to the area. So, well done. Thank you for having us here today.
Lisa: Thank you very much.
Lisa: Thanks for coming.
Mark Scarborough: All right, we're here with Nadine as well. Good morning, Nadine.
Nadine: Good morning, Mr Scarborough.
Mark Scarborough: How's things?
Nadine: Pretty great.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah?
Nadine: How can you complain on a lovely Saturday morning in northeast Victoria?
Mark Scarborough: So you were involved early on with setting up this parkrun as well?
Nadine: Yeah, I worked with Lisa since about November, wasn't it? We've been working on this one. And Lisa's done all the groundwork, but she's just done an amazing job bringing this event to the Yackandandah community. It's going to be a really great community event here. It can be really hard in some of these small communities, so I think it's going to revolutionise Lisa's life, to be honest.
Mark Scarborough: What's the population here, Lisa?
Lisa: That's a good question. I think probably around the 2,000 mark. Okay. But, of course, lots of outlying areas as well. So, yeah, hard to know the exact numbers.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah. No, like I think, as you said, like, you know, these kind of outlets are fantastic for community, bringing people together in a different way.
Nadine: Mark, I have a question for you. Hang on, hang on. No, no.
Mark Scarborough: That's not the way it works.
Nadine: Interview E-teens, interviewer. Mark, I noticed that you said during your interview with Lisa that Yackandandah is 10 out of 10 for scenery. I'd like to pose the question, what else comes up 10 out of 10 on that list? What?
Mark Scarborough: For here?
Nadine: No, what other events come up 10 out of 10 on that list?
Mark Scarborough: So it's Mount Clarence for me in Albany. So we did that back in 21 and that would have to be one of my favourite parkruns. It was actually not a very nice day. That day was quite drizzly. But you could see that that would just be a stunning course. So have you done that one?
[crosstalk]
Nadine: I haven't. I haven't done any in Western Australia. I've got one coming up in a couple of weeks on a work trip.
Mark Scarborough: Oh, what are you doing in Western Australia?
Nadine: I don't know yet. It'll be whatever's closest to my hotel. But no, Yackandandah's really putting on a show this morning. It's autumn, the leaves are turning beautiful orange, the sun's dappling through the trees on the river. It's just an absolutely magnificent morning. So if you're coming up, just take a few weeks to stagger your visits if you can, just so that the locals get a chance to come and visit this parkrun. But when you do come, you will absolutely love it.
Mark Scarborough: Another one for me too, and this is a shout out for the ones closest to home, is Jerrabomberra parkrun.
Nadine: Okay.
Mark Scarborough: It's another really stunning course as well.
[crosstalk]
Nadine: I'll have to put that on my camera list.
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, do.
Nadine: Do you want to hear mine?
Mark Scarborough: Yeah, yeah.
Nadine: Queenstown in New Zealand. Okay. Yeah, absolutely stunning. And Ocean View in Brisbane, which is on a winery estate, and you actually run through the vines, like zigzag through the vines. It's very cool. So yeah, there's a couple from my list.
Mark Scarborough: Okay, all right. Well, there's some more to add to the list. All right. Thank you, parkrun adventurers. This is Mark reporting for the Channel 5 News crew.
Roving report Paul Kitching — Shiraz Trail parkrun
Paul Kitching: G'day, parkrun adventurers. This is PK checking in for another roving report. I have travelled 45 minutes south of Adelaide, of the CBD, and arrived at the Shiraz Trail parkrun, and it's magnificent.
Paul Kitching: And I'm just going to randomly chat to this excellent lady because she's got a...
Karen: parkrun 50 t-shirt on what a legend um I know Bridget how's Bridget going she's going well she walked around about one and a half k's today so she's getting better with her walking awesome because when she first started down at Christies she couldn't even walk 500 oh my gosh how old is Bridget she'll be 11 in April so this month
Paul Kitching: Awesome. We probably should point out that Bridget has four legs and is a pug. A pug?
Karen: Yes, she's a pug.
Paul Kitching: Yes, she's a pug. Could hear her before we saw her. I love her. She's fantastic. And sorry, what's your name?
Karen: Karen.
Paul Kitching: Hi, Karen. I'm PK. I'm one of the roving reporters for the parkrun podcast.
Karen: PK's an excellent guy. Ah, calm down.
Paul Kitching: But thank you. Yeah, so this is your regular parkrun?
Karen: This is my regular home parkrun, yes.
Paul Kitching: Awesome. And how long have you been coming here? I couldn't believe that it's like up to 160 or something.
Karen: I did my 80th parkrun for Shiraz Trail last week.
Paul Kitching: Awesome.
Karen: And I've been parkrunning for five years now after I had my second spinal surgery.
Paul Kitching: Wow. And I'm sure you're going to say that parkrun has changed your life?
Karen: Oh, definitely. Even when I was due to have my third spinal surgery and couldn't actually walk, I was coming here and volunteering and it just made so much difference for my mental health, getting out and socialising and being around people instead of being stuck at home.
Paul Kitching: Yes, absolutely. And it's so good now that doctors are social prescribing parkrun for that very reason, which is awesome. So the more people hear this story, the more doctors hear this story, the better. So it's great that we do talk about it. We do love parkrun. What's your closest Nendy? So the one you haven't done yet.
Karen: The closest one that I haven't done yet is Reynella East.
Paul Kitching: Awesome.
Karen: The farthest one I've done is Paradise Point in Queensland.
Paul Kitching: Oh, wow. What was that like?
Karen: That's excellent. It's along a riverfront.
Paul Kitching: Excellent.
Karen: And very big parkrun. And every parkrun I've been to, they've been really friendly and And I'm a slow walker and I don't feel pressured at all. No, exactly.
Paul Kitching: Far out. And Bridget gets to rest on the way back. Yep. Let's just ask Bridget how she's going.
Karen: Bridget? Yeah, give us a lick.
Paul Kitching: She gave it a lick. I don't know if you could hear that lick. Here come some awesome doggos as well. G'day, doggos. Hi, puppies. Hey. They were the Tail Walkers with dogs also wagging their tails. Tail waggers and Tail Walkers. Yes. Well, thanks so much, guys. I'm going to run down to the end and chat to some other crew. Who's the RD today?
Karen: Maropi Papadopoulos.
Paul Kitching: Maropi Papadopoulos. I'm not going to spell that one. But I am going to go and chat to her. She's got great energy. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And thanks for everything you do for parkrun.
Karen: You're welcome. And thank you for coming.
Paul Kitching: Love it. I love it. Thank you so much. Good on you. See you. Bye, Bridget. See you.
Unidentified speaker: Okay.
Paul Kitching: Let's go and find... The RD. One moment, please.
Talking to Merapi Papadopoulos — Run Director and Co-Event Director, Shiraz Trail parkrun — Run Director on the day and Co-Event Director, Shiraz Trail parkrun
Paul Kitching: As promised, I'm now with Merapi, and it says we're at the drinking fountain, according to my phone, which we are. Yes. Look at that. What a great place. Did you choose to start parkrun at this very spot because of that drinking fountain?
[background music]
Merapi Papadopoulos: No, actually, I didn't. I joined parkrun ED with Shiraz Trail post-COVID.
Paul Kitching: Right. Okay.
Merapi Papadopoulos: And so what we call the mama and papa of... The Southern parkruns, Miriam and Frank.
Paul Kitching: Okay.
Merapi Papadopoulos: Oh, yes. They set up Shiraz Trail.
[crosstalk]
Paul Kitching: The legends, of course.
Merapi Papadopoulos: The legends. And, yes, I was invited to be co-ED with Miriam.
Paul Kitching: Fantastic.
[background music]
Merapi Papadopoulos: Which is when and since then I've been...
Paul Kitching: So when was that? So I think I heard 166 maybe today or something like that.
Merapi Papadopoulos: Somewhere there, I've lost count. Somewhere around there, it doesn't matter. We can check the app later on.
[crosstalk]
Paul Kitching: But yes, yeah, I've done quite a few vollie roles. Oh, here we go. We're getting a photo. We're having a photo taken whilst we're doing the chat, which is fantastic, with a beautiful new frame, which is great. Great to see parkrun merch out here. This is a beautiful course, first time I've done it, um welcome yeah thank you uh you got lots of uh regulars no doubt people using the path etc but it's a real it's a nice wide path it is is this um it was chosen um I mean obviously it was here before parkrun was well before parkrun um uh had was people doing regular runs here that's what was chosen and it was it happened because ronald was getting too busy or how why did this start
[background music]
Merapi Papadopoulos: It was basically Miriam told me originally she just thought that maybe the southern area could do with another parkrun. And she was literally just walking the course. Awesome. This path is part of the Coast to Vines Trail. Right. Which is a 30-odd kilometre, trail yeah right that you can do from the beach to the vines here and so she walked around and it does it takes you over to kangarilla road takes you also past the sports field she thought wow what a great area and uh between herself and frank they obviously again negotiated with parkrun hq the council and they've come up with this fabulous course I love it yeah what does parkrun mean to you Oh, getting out of the house and seeing humans. Yeah, for people such as myself where we work from home, it's getting out of the house and reconnecting with people and starting the weekend on such a great note. I love it. And encouraging everyone, all walks of life, all age groups, all abilities, and it's just fantastic. It's such a nice way to... To start the morning and having a bit of a banter, getting out there, participating, and then the post-parkrun coffee. It's the elixir of life. It is, isn't it? That's compulsory.
[crosstalk]
[crosstalk]
Oliver Spake: I love it.
Merapi Papadopoulos: So it's my Saturday. First half of Saturday is always parkrun. I love it. Every weekend. Really?
Paul Kitching: Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you so much. I'm going to go and find some of our crew that are here still. Thanks for everything you do for parkrun, Merapi.
[crosstalk]
Merapi Papadopoulos: Oh, our pleasure. My pleasure. See you next time.
Paul Kitching: Thank you. There you go. Lovely RD here at Shiraz Trail parkrun. So, yes, let us go and do exactly what Merapi said. Go and find somewhere to have breakfast. Talk about the elixir of life that is parkrun. I love that quote. See you later, parkrun adventurers. Keep doing awesome things. And, yeah, keep loving life. PK signing off.
Roving report Action Man — Altona Beach parkrun
Action Man: Hi guys, this is Action Man here for another parkrun adventurers guerrilla tourism. Action Man is visiting the fabulous, what's this parkrun called again?
Talking to guest — unnamed (Altona Beach parkrunner) — Local Altona Beach parkrunner and volunteer, originally from England
Action Man: Altona Beach parkrun. Altona Beach, that sounds south. How far south are we?
guest: You can almost see Tasmania.
Action Man: Almost see Tasmania. So we're in Australia, though. Well, I imagine we're still in Australia. You couldn't really see Tasmania from anywhere else. Could you? Anyway, so that's cool. Is this near, what do you call it? It's not the jetty. What would you, the dock that goes?
guest: Altona Pier. Altona Pier, all right, cool.
Action Man: And that's where we, that's where we catch the Spirit of Tasmania there. Not quite. No. It's a bit further. Further on. Okay. Well, anyway, moving on. I personally have just completed Altona Beach parkrun at run, is it 349 today? Or is that an old? 349. 349. So how long have you been excited about Altona Beach? I've lived in Altona for four years. All right. And have you been smashing it out?
guest: I've been trying to get better and better each week, yeah. Excellent.
Action Man: I hear an accent. Were you parkrunning back in the motherland?
guest: I was, yeah. Oh, where was the previous... Been running in England for, yeah, been doing parkrun for about 15 years. 15 years. That's a big number.
Action Man: So what parkrun are we up to? I think today is about 170. 170, that's a nice effort. Going well. Not unimpressive at all. But with that though, because I think I also saw you doing some volunteering today as well. How's your volunteer score? So volunteering, I think I've done around 20. So have you done much tourism? Have you been any other parkruns?
guest: Yeah, so far I think I've... In Melbourne, I've done around 20 different parkruns. All right, cool. Also been to different states. Different states? Okay. I've done Tasmania. No. Queensland. Oh, Queensland, yeah. And I've also done New South Wales. Oh.
Action Man: It's a poor man's Victoria, right? Well, Victoria's the best, yeah. Victoria is the premier state, right? No, I think that's on the number plate for New South Wales. All right, anyway, you should come visit me at Gungahlin in sunny Canberra. Great place. Anyway, tropical Canberra. It's a bit cold out here. I got a lot of wind off the headland, right kind of in the middle point. Is that regular or was it just Melbourne weather today? It's random.
guest: Well, it is probably the coldest day of the year so far. okay so that doesn't help but yeah once you hit the hill in the middle of this parkrun there's a wind every single week yeah okay no matter what every week every week so it's an out and back course for visitors oh where's our coffee do we have a coffee shop regular coffee shop
Action Man: There's plenty of coffee shops just on Pier Street where the pier is. Is there a specific one that parkrun goes to? I'm not sure which one they go to. Yeah, it's called Pier 71. On Pier Street. On Pier Street, Pier 71. All right, cool. Rock and roll. Okay, let's knock it down. What are the three best parkruns you've been to since you've been to many? I'm not including this one. Oh, not including this one. This is number one. You have to go number one.
[crosstalk]
guest: You're local, but yeah. Well, there's another local one, probably the closest one to here. It's called Newport Lakes. Okay. I thought...
Action Man: Because a little bit of me was going to go to Maribyrnong. Correct. And that's pretty close to here, isn't it? Yeah, it's around.
guest: But it's cancelled tonight. It's about 15 kilometres away, but they're doing path resurfacing. Oh, is that why it's cancelled? It's a very fast parkrun, that one, okay oh yeah because it was like I looked at it I was like why is this cancelled don't look back in yeah so it's just along the Maribyrnong River yeah yeah yeah yeah okay sorry I cut you in when you were telling your top three top three okay I'll go for nine clean home Newport Lakes is a good one okay uh it doesn't have to be in order it's not like three two one or one two three there's also another one further further around the coast in williamstown okay it's called Cyril curtain parkrun
[crosstalk]
Action Man: Okay. Yeah. Is that just the park? That's just the reserve. Oh, yeah, cool, cool. That you loop around.
guest: All right, cool. But, yeah, it's just further on down the bay, Hobson's Bay.
Action Man: And Hobson's Bay at number three? No, Hobson's Bay is the... Oh, that's where it is.
[crosstalk]
guest: So you'll find Newport Lakes, Altona Beach, and Cyril Curtain parkrun.
Action Man: No, you couldn't pick Altona Beach.
guest: Altona Beach is off the tables. That's another good one I've done. Okay, the... Probably a bit further afield inland called You Yangs. Oh, I've been in that one. Beautiful park.
Action Man: Yeah, it's beautiful, but it's a dirt track, though. It is, yeah. It's a track. Trees all the way. Yeah, yeah. No, I didn't see... Wallaby?
guest: Were there wallabies? I think I saw a wallaby. You'll get rock wallabies around here.
[crosstalk]
Action Man: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, cool. I was right. I'm like, I don't think the right place. Because there's another... I think I went to Wildflower in Sydney, which had wallabies as well. Cool. All right. Well, any words of wisdom to share with our parkrun listeners to how to best enjoy parkrun from your experience?
guest: The best way to enjoy parkrun is to enjoy yourself and just feel the community vibe.
Action Man: That's what parkrun's all about. I like the word vibe. That should be used more. All right. Well, cool. Thank you very much. All right. Well, thank you, parkrun adventurers. That's Action Man over and out. Catch you later.
Roving report Johan Duvenhage — Coober Pedy parkrun
Johan Duvenhage: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Johan, and today I have the pleasure of checking in from Coober Pedy parkrun in the north of South Australia, almost 850 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway and about halfway to Alice Springs. On the traditional lands of the Arowana people, the town is also known as the opal capital of the world, and these precious opals are still being mined here. It's also well known for its below ground dwellings or dugouts, which offers relief from the normal scorching daytime heat. The mining activities are also thought to be the origin of the town's name and you can read more about that on the town's website. It's certainly a bit of a trek to get here so I'm indeed very happy and fortunate to be able to attend event number 26 of this relatively recent addition to the Australian parkruns and very thankful that the volunteers made sure that today's event can take place despite the Easter weekend and many of the helpers unavailable. Coober Pedy has a small population of only around 2,500 people and having a parkrun available is an awesome addition to the town's attractions. The course starts at the Coober Pedy Oval and is an out-and-back course along the Coober Pedy walking track with gravel and the distinctive outback dirt surfaces and has some scenic views of the Coober Pedy terrain and its mining activities. It's a totally flat course with an elevation of around 220 metres above sea level and quite a bit of the courses run parallel to the Stuart Highway so you can open the throttle a bit and race a road train or two. Temperatures are currently very mild and it's a pleasant 12 degrees at the moment. Now it's time for the Vendee course check and I will see who's visiting or when I get back to the start.
Talking to Siobhan Hode — Run Director, Coober Pedy parkrun — Run Director on the day, Coober Pedy parkrun; Coober Pedy local
Johan Duvenhage: Adventurers, we've just finished the Coober Pedy parkrun and I'm here with the Run Director for the day, Siobhan Hode. I think I've got that right.
Siobhan Hode: Yes, that's right.
Johan Duvenhage: Okay, cool. I'm struggling a bit with the names. Siobhan, tell me how many people did we have today?
Siobhan Hode: So we had 17 people in the event today and we had four volunteers at the finish line, plus our Tail Walker was included in that 17.
Johan Duvenhage: So thank you very much for the team of volunteers setting up the event today. We really appreciate giving up your Easter weekend. Strangely enough, only one local today.
Siobhan Hode: Yes, only one local. The number of locals that come varies every week. So we have a few that are here regularly and a number of our volunteers would normally walk or run as well.
Johan Duvenhage: It was interesting and we had people from all over Australia and then of course me from the African continent. Tell me, this is event number 26. How is the parkrun going ahead in Coober Pedy?
Siobhan Hode: Yeah, I think it's going very well. It's a good boost for Coober Pedy from a tourism perspective. We get some parkrun tourists coming through and doing the event, which is fantastic. And that opportunity to do an event with the locals as well and have a chat about Coober Pedy is really good. And for us locals, it's a great chance to catch up and have a chat with people that you might not see all the time.
Johan Duvenhage: So I've already in my intro that I've recorded this a bit earlier talked about the court. So tell us a bit more about what makes Coober Pedy special. You've been living here for a very long time.
Siobhan Hode: Yes, so I think the people make Coober Pedy special. It's a fantastic community, a very supportive environment and opal mining as an industry gives an opportunity for individuals and small partnerships to have a chance at finding some opal and making some money.
Johan Duvenhage: Fantastic. And apart from the opal mining, are there things that people can look forward to when they visit Coober Pedy?
Siobhan Hode: Yeah, so we've got the local conservation park, the Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park. People can visit that. We've got a number of underground mines and museums for people to go to. We've got the drive-in that's on each Saturday night. This particular weekend, we have our Gem Trade Show, which is one of our annual events. Throughout the year, we have a number of different annual events. We have the Great Kanku-Breakaways Marathon Fun Run Bike Ride. We have our Gymkhana Horse Racing Weekend. and we have our golf open. We have our Opal Festival, which is coming up in June as well. So, yeah, there's a number of different events that happen throughout the year here in Coober Pedy. So, time your visit and you might be able to attend one of those as well.
Johan Duvenhage: Yeah, so now, adventurers, it looks like you can come anytime and you'll have something to do at Coober Pedy except for parkrun. But, of course, we like parkrun most. Siobhan, thank you very much for setting up the event and all of the best with the future of Coober Pedy parkrun.
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Siobhan Hode: Thank you and, yeah, we welcome everyone. So come along. Thanks.
Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much to our swather of roving reports. I think you've invented a new word, Ollie, that can be the collective term for our roving reports. Can you write that down somewhere? Put it on that page where we keep all those notes we need to remember. Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Well, let's say I've just misappropriated an existing word. But, yeah, it's an interesting adjective or collective noun. Sorry, collective noun.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah, a swather.
Oliver Spake: A swather. But included in that swather.
Unidentified speaker: Yeah.
Oliver Spake: Was, of course, Mark at Yackandandah, so giving us more of an overview of your recent visit, the location of it at least, PK at Shiraz Trail, Alistair at Altona Beach, and Johan in his travels across Australia at Coober Pedy.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, he was very adventuresome, Johan. He was indeed. We mentioned the other week. about how we all envied him getting out there. It's no mean feat, so it's about to put it in perspective for the listeners that might not be aware, especially our international listeners. Coober Pedy is a nine-hour drive from Adelaide, and Johan flew into Adelaide, hired a car, and drove himself up to Coober Pedy, and there's not much else up there. But Coober Pedy, what's it well known for, Ollie? Oh, it's probably in Johan's report, isn't it? Yeah. He's taken care of that. Well, there you go. Don't need to recap that.
Oliver Spake: Yeah. I believe in that neck of the woods. It's minerals. It's opals. I haven't been there myself. So, yeah, Johan, as you say, has certainly shown us up. But, Mel.
Dazza's
Oliver Spake: Ollie. Once again, we're going to skip over Dazza's. We are. Sorry, Dazza. And thank you again to everyone that did join us at Dazza's. There were a couple of highlights. I think there were a few goings on and not unnoticed were the – The 500 finishes at Pakapakanthi parkrun that made the telly. Yes, so Medibank on part of their travels around Australia was in South Australia at Pakapakanthi with their lounge event. And you know all about that lounge event, don't you, Mel?
Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they put on a good party, Medibank.
Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. And some very recognisable volunteers from the mothership. And I did recognise another name or two, some Mount Barker friends there as well. And, yeah, look, I'm pretty sure they made not just breakfast television but the nightly news as well. So these South Australians know how to do a parkrun day.
Melissa Ellis: Excellent. I hope they're all enjoying their nice red Medibank t-shirts.
Oliver Spake: Yes.
Melissa Ellis: But Ollie, another item that caught my eye in Dazza's this week came to us from Dan Baldwin. He is a West Australian and he completed the Baywatch Challenge. Now, I thought to myself, I what's this Baywatch challenge that I am not familiar with? So I went looking for it. Now, it's actually on the Running Achievements app. It does not appear in the 5K app. So it consists of running nine events in Australia that have the word bay in their title, and they are Batemans Bay, Cormorant Bay, Fingal Bay, Geographe Bay, Hervey Bay, Horseshoe Bay, Jurien Bay Foreshore, Largs Bay, and Redland Bay. Now they are spread all around the country, some out your way.
Oliver Spake: Would that be right? That's right.
Melissa Ellis: Fingal Bay, is that out your way, Ollie? Yes.
Oliver Spake: Fingal Bay is up the coast from me. That's right. I've been to the Fingal Bay course. I have run the Fingal Bay course. It was, I think, two or three weeks before it resumed from the COVID times, though. So yet to do the official real-life Fingal Bay parkrun.
Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, I haven't done any of those nine events. None? None. Zero. Big fat zero. Wow. What about you? Have you done any of them officially?
Oliver Spake: I have. I have done one.
[crosstalk]
Melissa Ellis: Oh, can I guess? Can I guess? Yes. Can I guess? Is it Batemans Bay?
Oliver Spake: It is indeed, yes. Batemans Bay, which is just down the coast from me, it's about an hour's drive from the family holiday spot at Lake Conjola. So nice flat two-lap course. Great for a fast run if you know how to turn quickly.
Melissa Ellis: Now, we didn't actually get a photo of Dan in Dazza's. He posted a photo of somebody else who was doing a milestone. And I should say that Dan was at Jurien Bay as well. Wouldn't it be appropriate to wear Baywatch attire if you were going to be doing that challenge? So, Dan, where's your photo of yourself in your Speedos?
Oliver Spake: Or the swimsuit.
Melissa Ellis: Well, yeah, either either.
Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. It's just got to be red. Yes. Yeah, correct. Yeah. All right. Well, Dan, you've got your homework. But thank you for sharing it with us. And Mel, it sounds like you've got a challenge.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah.
Oliver Spake: And one I'm leading you in.
Melissa Ellis: There you go, see? Yeah. Well done. You'll have to get up to Fingal Bay now and do that officially.
Oliver Spake: Well, funnily enough, funny you say that. The planning is happening. Fingal Bay is on the agenda for next year.
Melissa Ellis: And do you know what I'm seeing in that list? I'm seeing two more trips to WA.
Oliver Spake: Yes. It would be nice, yes. Well, look, let's keep the conversation about clubs going. There's someone else who can weigh in with plenty of club-related and achievement-related facts.
Club Corner
Oliver Spake: It's time to go to Rachel.
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Rachel: 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. Um, let me see, how do I pronounce this week's club slash achievement? Bingo, bingos, bingos, bingo, bingo, bingo. Turns out that I have no idea how to say it, but I do know what it is. A bingo is where you try to collect each of the possible second combinations in a minute from 00 through to 59. Whether you finish in 1423 or 5423, that's a 23 for your collection. If you would love to look at the maths, then head to the page of our friend, the informant. There you can download a summary of Australia and New Zealand stats, which includes a tab on, bingo. The TLDR version, is that by the time you get to having only one number remaining, you only have a 1.67% chance of getting it that week. The average amount of events to get your bingo is about 280, but there are some people still going after 300 or more. I got my bingo in only 60 events, because that's just how I do things winky face. Now, you can also play this game, but with finish position tokens, where you look at the last two digits of your finish place and collect them all from 01 to 00. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.
Melissa Ellis: And it was good to hear from Rachel again, Ollie. I feel like we haven't heard from her for ages. And she was telling us all about the Bingo Challenge. Sore point.
Oliver Spake: I was going to say.
Melissa Ellis: I still don't have bingo. 379 events and counting.
Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah. What do you need?
Melissa Ellis: Double zero.
Unidentified speaker: Oh, wow.
Oliver Spake: I can't believe that. Yeah. You are ever so close. I have three numbers to go, so yeah.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Oh, well. I always get a little bit of anticipation every week when I open my parkrun email because I think, oh, maybe this will be the week.
Oliver Spake: One day it will, maybe.
Melissa Ellis: One day? Yeah. One day I'm going to try and get to 500.
Oliver Spake: I don't know what the world record is.
Melissa Ellis: Anyway, that's beside the point.
Emails
Melissa Ellis: Ollie, we've got more mail.
Oliver Spake: We've got mail. You've got mail.
Melissa Ellis: We have some more installments for you from the Jackson's World Tour. So this one is installment four and five, which reads, Hello, Mel, Ollie and Sam. Week four found us at Medina IOW parkrun on the Isle of Wight, which is off the south coast of England. My daughter lives there, so we visited her and her hubby and the three grandchildren. Random fact, my daughter is Jenny, her husband is Steve. Confusing for the kids. Two Steves and two Jens. Anyway, as ever, it was a lovely parkrun with nearly 300 participants. It was cold, damp, and muddy. The courses gravel out and back along the river with a challenging, soggy, muddy uphill field crossing to make the last bit interesting. The bonus was that they had a junior parkrun the next day, so Jen and I volunteered while my daughter, Jenny, and eldest grandson, Thomas, ran for Thomas' very first parkrun. He loved it and will be back for more. We were cold and wet, but enjoyed time with friendly groups on both days. It looks like the Perth Palm went well. Congratulations. FOMO has touched us. We hope to join you next year.
Oliver Spake: And in the following week, week five, we heard for week five, we ventured to Wales to complete the Severn Bridge parkrun, a very simple out and straight back on the old Severn Bridge. Now, we were assured of spectacular views and the attached photos show just how the Welsh view the English. For the listeners, the photos show the Severn Bridge completely hidden by a piece of fog. This was arguably country number five for us. Well, parkrun Global lumps Wales into the UK. So it depends if you ask an English person or a Welsh person. We had 223 finishes with all but the last few hundred metres on the bridge. So basically out, up. and back down. As ever, a friendly crew, a great finish chute in a tunnel under the bridge, and even flags where we crossed over from Wales to England about 1km in and about 3.5km on the way back. It was a quick one with the Tail Walker finishing in about 42 minutes. Wow. A lovely breakfast followed, but the sights continued in the same vein as the run. So five weeks, five countries, a tourist streak of seven, and next week, yet another one. Perth, palm23, looked and sounded superb. We will make it to wherever the parkrun Hive Mind decides. Cheers, Stephen and Jen. So there you go, Mel.
Melissa Ellis: Hive Mind.
Oliver Spake: Mmm.
Melissa Ellis: Hmm. Okay. My mind is hiving. Ah, very good. What an adventure they're having. And we've got another installment to come next week. I think it could be the last one. That's right. But that reminds me, Ollie, we need to create a team for The Punish.
Oliver Spake: We do, and, well, we did because I just did it. Good job. So, everyone, remember, City to Surf, Adventurers Pod. You're signing up for the Punish, for which entries are open in October up at Bathurst once again. The adventurers is the team to look out for, and we hope to have many of you with us as the adventurers.
Melissa Ellis: We do. But now let's move on to more adventures.
Consolidated Club Report
Oliver Spake: Well, the Consolidated Club Report, yeah.
Melissa Ellis: So the Consolidated Club Report for Saturday the 30th of April 2023 had a total of 418 members. 325 took part on that date at 185 locations. There were 21 locations in the U.K., four in South Africa and Norway, two in the USA, Ireland, Singapore, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, and Canada each had one. So many countries all the adventurers are out adventuring. Locally, we had adventurers at 41 events in Victoria, 36 in New South Wales, 34 in Queensland, 10 in WA, South Australia and the North Island had seven, ACT had six, Tassie had four, and there were three on the South Island.
the Frond — The Ponds parkrun — Charles Burns, Dennis Peden, Manish Bindroo, Jeff Robinson, Rio Lambino, Mary DeLuna and Lisa Spencer
Melissa Ellis: The largest frond was at the ponds with seven, Charles Burns, Dennis Peden, Manish Bindroo, Jeff Robinson, Rio Lambino, Mary DeLuna and Lisa Spencer.
Oliver Spake: Excellent work at the ponds.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, I think they maybe were all at home too, Ollie. Passionistas at the ponds.
Oliver Spake: Special kind of adventure. That's right. Passionistas.
Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"
Melissa Ellis: Now, there was another launch in Victoria on Saturday with Tallangatta Station joining the parkrun Australia family. 99 participants celebrated even the birth of this event in the small town of Tallangatta, not that far from Yackandandah, Australia, and on the banks of the Mitta Arm of Lake Hume. A quick check of the course page finds that this event is another rail trail out and back, which I look forward to visiting in the coming months.
Oliver Spake: These trails sound like the way to go. I feel like I am missing out in this state.
Melissa Ellis: Well, we have had a lot of launches in Victoria, haven't we?
Oliver Spake: Yes.
Melissa Ellis: We're doing well this year. I think we might be leading. I'd better do some stats. I'll check that up and I'll come back to you for next week.
Oliver Spake: I am biting my tongue, but it is impressive, yes.
Melissa Ellis: Gosh, we have a short pod this week, Oliver.
Sign-off
Oliver Spake: I believe so, yes. I feel like I'm in trouble now. We do, we do. Which I guess means it's time to look forward and look at what's happening this parkrun day.
Melissa Ellis: So for me, I am jumping on another aeroplane and I'm heading north and I'm going to come to your territory, Ollie. Well, kind of. I'm flying to Sydney and then I'm getting a train to Wollongong.
Oliver Spake: Still part of Dharawal Country, but yeah, a little further north. And sadly, I won't see you.
Melissa Ellis: That's okay. We know where you'll be.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. It's birthday weekend here in the Spake household, so it might be a bit of a parkrun and dash for me this weekend, which means I will be sticking close to home. Responsibilities to be determined, but I will do my very best to be quick because I have a half marathon the next day.
Melissa Ellis: What?
Oliver Spake: Not a marathon.
Melissa Ellis: Whew.
Oliver Spake: But Run Shellharbour is on once again in the area. Oh, you didn't know. You could have stuck around for Sunday, Mel.
Melissa Ellis: Actually, I've got a vague recollection that I discovered that after I'd already booked my flight. Yeah. But I'm RD at Juniors, so that might have worked.
Oliver Spake: No, that's quite okay. Yeah, and look, it is a lovely local event, and I've already seen a few names confirmed as volunteers for that day. So, yeah, go Team Shellharbour.
Melissa Ellis: Did you have an adventurer's team?
Oliver Spake: We did not, no. We did not.
Melissa Ellis: That's okay. Are Karen and Ralph running?
Oliver Spake: I don't know if Ralph is. I believe Karen is volunteering, as is Bec, as is Mum. And, yeah, plenty of local parkrunners are excited about getting out there on course.
Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. Well, good luck with that, Ollie. I hope you have a good run.
Oliver Spake: Thank you very much, Mel. And I hope that you enjoy your visit to the area.
Melissa Ellis: Yes, Sandon Point, I didn't mention before, but that's where I am going to be. So, and I missed Ingrid, Karen and Ralph by a week. Yes. I think they're avoiding me.
Oliver Spake: I'm sure they aren't. Well, not intentionally anyway, but by circumstance they are.
Melissa Ellis: But what about you? You're avoiding me next week.
Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. That's right. Not intentionally.
Melissa Ellis: Are we announcing that?
Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah, on the pod. That's right. I won't be around because, of course, next week is a rather busy one in this household. So I'm going to skip a week and we'll have to listen in for all of the adventures.
Melissa Ellis: Yeah, shall we keep him hanging as to who my co-host will be, who I've already asked and they've already said yes. They can wait.
Oliver Spake: That's right. It's not the informant.
Melissa Ellis: No. I haven't heard from them for a while.
Oliver Spake: No. Must have gone international.
Melissa Ellis: Maybe they're in Oslo.
Oliver Spake: But thank you, Mel, and thank you, everyone. As always, you can contact us via Facebook or any of the socials or on our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That is it for another week. Mel and another host, we'll see you all next week for more adventures.
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