Episode 338 - Hitch ’em up

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 338 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:32Oliver Spake: My name is Ollie Spake and I am joining from Dharawal Country.

00:00:37Melissa Ellis: No interference tonight, Ollie.

00:00:39[laughter]

00:00:39Oliver Spake: LAUGHTER Look, I was going to compliment you, as always, on your wonderful editing because, listeners, it's Mel's effort and polished editing that is behind this podcast. That's you saying it's not your fault.

00:01:01Melissa Ellis: That's you telling the listeners it's all me and my mischief. Well, it is. It's true.

00:01:08Oliver Spake: Well, I think, yeah, we'll let the listeners decide as to what they make of last week's episode. But thank you, Mel. As always, it is appreciated. It's been another parkrun day already. I can't believe that's gone quickly and a long weekend in our neck of the woods as well as we have the King's birthday public holiday today on our recording day.

00:01:32Melissa Ellis: We absolutely have. It's been a day off. It's been nice. Thank you to the King.

00:01:37Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right. But, yeah, look, I understand you've had a bit of an adventure. Would you like to go first or would you like me to go first?

00:01:46Melissa Ellis: Oh, no, let's go with you. I always hold the limelight. Let's go with you. Tell me, Ollie, why you were dressed up in your wife's clothing.

00:01:55Oliver Spake: Well, I didn't run direct as I had firstly intended. I was very fortunate that one of the team, Karen, had put up her hand and kindly offered, with the help of young Kayleigh, to run direct for Shellharbour's ninth birthday. And... I think, you know, with a generous offer like that, you don't say no. And it was, yeah, it was really enjoyable morning. So huge thank you to Karen, Kaylee, and all the team behind it that made the morning so spectacular. And of course, make things happen week in, week out. But that gave me the opportunity to And shamefully, having been, let's face it, one of the key instigators for the theme, which was a cat theme for our ninth birthday, I was severely underprepared when it came to the costume. And when you come to the night before and you don't have a cat costume and your wife has a particular penchant for leopard print, there's just one way to turn. And look, first things first, I don't ever want to run in tights again. So... Let's be clear. These were running tights. They are intended for it. But I just wasn't sure how far down at the rear my leopard print. It was a top. It wasn't a dress. My leopard print top went. So as I went, making sure that my tail wasn't falling off, my leopard print tail was constantly pulling up my tights. Welcome to our world.

00:03:41Melissa Ellis: Oh, this is so funny.

00:03:43Oliver Spake: It all seemed to stay together.

00:03:44Melissa Ellis: Were they your wife's tights or did you own these running tights yourself?

00:03:50Oliver Spake: These are my running tights bought especially for my black swan costume two months ago. I hadn't run in them previously. And look, clearly I've had too many beers and they just don't fit how they should. So, yeah, plenty of adjustments out there on course and I was a little concerned as I was running up those hills, pulling up my dacks.

00:04:16Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:04:19Melissa Ellis: It's a magic photo of you coming down the, I don't know, what is it, Point Break Hill?

00:04:24Oliver Spake: The Point Break Hill, yeah, that's right, our second hill.

00:04:29Melissa Ellis: With your arms outstretched very much along the lines of Julie Andrews. Julie Andrews? The hills are alive.

00:04:38Oliver Spake: Yes, yep.

00:04:40Melissa Ellis: Oh, please can we use that for the published post photo this week? Please, please, please.

00:04:44Oliver Spake: Do we want to subject people to that? Yes, we do.

00:04:47Melissa Ellis: It's hilarious. Now that we know you couldn't keep your pants up.

00:04:51Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:04:54Oliver Spake: Yeah, so that expression on my face may not look like it, but that was relief. Everything was staying in position. But, yeah, suffice to say it was a great morning. There were several parkrunners dressed up. It wasn't a huge dress-up effort, but it was a lot of fun all the same. Ava has leopard print pyjamas, so she came along in her gumboots and pyjamas, as you do, and completed three k's of the course by which time I had finished and I intervened and um and uh gracefully um had her step out of the um out of the event but um and I came down with um with James and shared the news that fittingly they had a new cat so um Yeah, we welcomed Atlas to the extended family, a young kitten. So it was very much the cat-themed time. Mum was there. Kathy and Zali made an appearance as well. And, well, yeah, lots of the parkrun crew, including several of our originals. We always celebrate our OG parkrunners who were there at event number one, volunteering or participating. So it was great to get a photo of them and celebrate that.

00:06:06Melissa Ellis: Very good. And your stat man came up with the goods with all the stats as well I saw on the socials.

00:06:13Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. Just a tremendous effort. He doesn't let us down and it's always a pleasure to see. Some of those figures just evolve over time. There are some pretty amazing numbers, you know, like many of our parkruns that people have achieved. Yeah. Different things over time and to see them all in perspective there, a lot of fun. And we also have Statman to thank for that particular photo you mentioned before as well. So he was the delivery man for the weekend. Oh, thank you, Chris. But, look, it was a nice day and, fittingly, Mum's belated birthday present was a concert that evening. So I went with Mum and my auntie as well out to a concert at a winery nearby to watch none other than the Cat Empire.

00:07:04Melissa Ellis: Oh, cool.

00:07:06Oliver Spake: Yeah, what a day. Yeah.

00:07:08Melissa Ellis: Hello, hello.

00:07:10Oliver Spake: That's right. Hello, hello.

00:07:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that one. Well, I wasn't going to try and say it that way, but you did it well.

00:07:16Oliver Spake: Perhaps I shouldn't have, yeah. So, yes, no RDing, but I did get a parkrun in. Thanks, Mel. What about yourself?

00:07:26Daniel: Oh, no, sorry, before I go, before I go.

00:07:29Oliver Spake: very rudely of me to interrupt, but I did have the opportunity afterwards, as Patrick and Richard had organised as part of Richard's travels on the day, to meet up and do a Freedom Run of the original course. So I did have the opportunity to get out there an hour later and do a Frido with Patrick and Richard and just check out the original Shellharbour course, which was a bit of a highlight.

00:07:56Melissa Ellis: This did cause a lot of confusion for me on the day when I opened my Strava and saw your 5K run at 8 o'clock and was like, wait, what? Ollie ran? I was like, didn't Ollie say he was RDing? And then Eman looks later and he says, no, he ran later. Yeah. And I look at the map and I go, no, that's not the Shellharbour course. That doesn't look right. Of course, now I'm familiar with the new course with the odd-shaped S. Yeah, you threw us all completely, Ollie. But I'm glad you got a run with your running mates. That's nice.

00:08:41Oliver Spake: It was. It was. So, yeah, thank you to them both for the company. And now, Mel, I'll stop interrupting. Could you please tell us about your parkrun day?

00:08:49Melissa Ellis: Well, this week I had house guests, as I have alluded to, Eman, Christine and Juno, and we headed out together on Saturday morning to Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track parkrun on the lands of the Tarungarung people of the Kulin Nation. Kilmore is located approximately 65 kilometres north of Melbourne and north lays claim to being the oldest inland town in Victoria. The area is well known to the Tarongarung as Malimina, and was discovered for European use by explorer Charles Bonney in 1837, at which time he also blazed the track of Sydney Road to Melbourne. Kilmore was a stronghold of early Celtic settlers from Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall and remains a strong Celtic area to this day. The town hosts a market on the last day of each month and a Celtic festival each June. Now in its 22nd year, the Mitchell Shire Council website says describes it as an annual weekend of Irish and Celtic music, dance and entertainment, and lists it as being the 25th to the 26th of June. So it's coming up, adventurers, if you want to quickly pencil it in your calendar. For those who choose to travel by public transport, Kilmore is serviced by the V-Line rail system and is on the Seymour line. Now, the parkrun. It was event three for Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track parkrun, which begins and ends at the Arbor, 60 to 70 metres from the Trackside Car Park. We found a small toilet block there also, which was open when we arrived. The course is a double out and back bush trail with a footbridge, wildlife, keep an eye out for kangaroos crossing, and the potential for snakes in the warmer weather. There were 114 finishers, with local Declan McKenzie claiming line honours and our own Eman Vergara following him in second place. It was lovely to see a large contingent of enthusiastic locals, first-timers and a mix of tourists representing the Westerfoldians, mountain city runners amongst others, as well as our own frond of parkrun adventurers and visiting Victorian statesmen. By my count, 25 people completed their first parkrun, 16 returning for their second event and nine having completed their third parkrun, showing that the event is being well received by the local community and growing as word spreads through the township. The walking track also features sculptures by hashtag Artie Chris Australia, who says... Estelle the eagle is made from Corten steel and is perched on a red gum tree stump for an iconic Australian pose as she prepares to take flight. Flutterby is a conceptual piece that I made after seeing my wife sitting in the garden surrounded by butterflies. Here the butterflies have swarmed together to create the female form that extends into wings as they flutter away. Additionally there is the upside down turtle by Bernie O'Gorman entitled A Delicate Balance. which depicts human domination over the world and the animals that occupy it. And adding to the sculpture trail are wooden carvings from Monterey cypress, removed from Kilmore Racecourse and sculpted into art representing the area. Created by woodcarvers Rob Blast and Mick Harding, they depict local Aboriginal life, a horse and jockey, and a crowd in period dress cheering on the jockey. Now, after the event, we join co-EDs Ben and Nick, plus Declan, at a cafe in the main street.

00:12:26Rachel: Ah, Raphael, that's what it's called.

00:12:29Melissa Ellis: for brunch and conversation, which included marathons, trail runs, and bringing parkrun to Kilmore. Ben and Nick were wonderfully welcoming and keen to tell us all about their fledgling parkrun community and the history of their town. Their enthusiasm and pride was well apparent, and we wish them all the very best for Kilmore. Racecourse Walking Track parkrun, which I've abbreviated as RWT, and thank them for being such wonderful hosts.

00:12:58Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm particularly impressed at your recap on the highlights of the area and the art there. Thank you, Mel. Thank you. You've certainly done the research, but it sounds like a lovely spot. And, yeah, it is really nice to hear that people are returning and building that community. So, yeah, great work, team.

00:13:20Melissa Ellis: It was something that struck me, Ollie, just how – exuberant the Event Directors are about their new event and how well it is being embraced by the community because let's face it it's not about us tourists that go out there to see it it's about what it brings to that community and by all accounts it is being well received and embraced and that is what we want to see no well it sounds like you certainly made the most of uh yeah a new event and an adventure I did yes and I trust your guests enjoyed the weekend They did. And I also dropped the hint about the longest run on Sunday morning to my said guests. And I did entice Eman out after juniors because he was down to volunteer at Eynesbury Junior parkrun, as was Craig Ryan. And they were both special guests at Eynesbury on Sunday morning. And I enticed them both out to join up with Melbourne West's longest run at Point Cook. I actually managed Ollie to complete five of the seven events once I joined out there at event three. So I had a wonderful day.

00:14:34Oliver Spake: Nice work, Mel. And did you have a favourite of those five?

00:14:39Melissa Ellis: Oh, you're asking me favourites again. Didn't you do this last week? Didn't I say I can't choose between my children? No, Ollie, look, they're all very good events out in the west and events I've done previously multiple times. So probably a special shout-out to Coburg. It was the last event we did of the day. We met up with the longest-run Melbourne North as opposed to Billo's North East event. We also had a discussion about that, me and Billo, because he was also at Kilmore. He's a little bit reluctant to change the name. He doesn't think he needs to.

00:15:17Oliver Spake: That's fair enough. That's his prerogative, absolutely.

00:15:21Melissa Ellis: Yes, and in any case, we all joined up at Coburg. Coburg is underrated. It is a lovely course, a little bit more undulation than you would wish for a seventh event of a day, but especially in the autumn time out there with the change of – okay, so we're in winter, so that's technically not correct. Yep.

00:15:43Oliver Spake: Yeah, our seasons are a little sluggish.

00:15:48Melissa Ellis: You're correct, yes. So there's leaves yet to fall, so there's a lot of autumn colours around in Coburg at the moment, and it's very pretty.

00:15:57Oliver Spake: I'd call them on the pulse. I have two deciduous trees in the front of my property. Come about September, they'll realise that it's been winter and quickly drop their leaves.

00:16:06Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:16:07Oliver Spake: Yeah. Some areas just don't get seasons, but I digress. You mentioned the longest run, Mel. I had hoped to go and join in the Sydney longest run, and it has been a highlight to see many of the longest run photos coming through and people smashing some efforts on the day across the Sydney and further afield longest runs, including Perth. Sorry, Perth. I didn't mention you in the summary of the longest runs coming up. But yeah, it wasn't to be for me. I wasn't up to the early morning and the travelling on the day and needed a bit of time at home with the family. So apologies to the Sydney crew. But hopefully in years to come, there'll be another opportunity.

00:16:56Melissa Ellis: There's always next year, Ollie.

00:16:58Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:16:59Melissa Ellis: But Mel...

00:17:00Oliver Spake: While we have been recapping, it would be remiss not to recap some of the feedback we've had from last week's episode, which I was a bit curious about the name Rogaine. I have to admit, after recording, the name, when I thought about it, was familiar, but on the spot, couldn't remember it at all. It seems some others hadn't heard of it before.

00:17:23Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's right. We did have a little bit of feedback on the published post from some members in the UK. I think his name was Matt, and I haven't got it in front of me. Is that correct, Matt Miller, possibly? Did I get that right? So shout out to Matt for reaching out and commenting. He wasn't familiar with the term of rogaining, perhaps because it's been a relative Australian thing.

00:17:48Oliver Spake: Mm, that's right. So we did get some further information from Andrew Johnston. So thank you very much, Andrew. And what he shared with us, Mel, is orienteering is the term you were looking for. It's a broad term for any navigation sports. Rogaining is a specific type of orienteering. It's team-based bush orienteering and events are usually between four and 24 hours long. The event, Mel, that you did at Woodlands was likely Mel Busho, Melbourne Bush Orienteering, a one-hour solo or teams event. Unless I'm sure that someone knows what Rogaining is, I usually refer to it as Bush Orienteering. There's a chance they'll understand it. Incidentally, the name was coined by Victorians Rod, Gail and Neil Phillips Rogaine in 1976 to give the sport of 24-hour bush orienteering an identifiable name.

00:18:47Melissa Ellis: Oh, see, I knew Andrew would know.

00:18:50Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. That's right.

00:18:52Melissa Ellis: I kind of was in the ballpark. And funnily enough, Ollie, when I did a bit of a search on my own Facebook account because I had the feeling that I may have done a Rogaine in the Woodlands Historic Park, it turns out that I did. Almost exactly 10 years to the week that we were there. It was the 26th of May 2013 that I did the event in the Woodlands Historic Park. How weird's that?

00:19:22Oliver Spake: Very fitting.

00:19:23Melissa Ellis: I didn't even know about parkrun back then. But thank you, Andrew, for bringing us that clarification. Yes. And I'm definitely going to keep my eye out on orienteering events with the hope of perhaps joining you in the future on an event if it fits in nicely with my parkrun tourism because I can't miss a parkrun.

Dazza's

00:19:44Oliver Spake: But, Mel, there was plenty more going on on parkrun day just gone.

00:19:48Melissa Ellis: There was, Ollie. And, look, I got some good feedback on my Dazza's recap last week, so I've prepared another one for you. So buckle yourself in. Here we go again.

00:19:58Unidentified speaker: Excellent.

00:19:59Melissa Ellis: Saturday was International Yarn Bombing Day, and this was a stretch for listener engagement. However, Lee Cabarita, that's her porn name, she was at Parramatta warming things up at Cafe 47. Simon Mackley was feeling the chill at Casula Parklands while the Peds found some sunshine and Heather Hunter at Wentworth Common. Martine Barrot headed to a chilly Coombs with Andrew. Claire Corkill found the Roos at Westerfolds and Erica Leo. Lotta and Gemma Kajasky were ticking off another Queensland event at Airlie Beach. Val, Steve and the Troll found some yarn-bombed trees in 2J. The Bravos family was reunited at Edinburgh Oval and Roberta Winters was in a tutu at BVRT. Sue Keane joined the Pussycats at Shellharbour's ninth birthday. Cherie Cottle ran the markets at Mudgee and Sue Smith was feeling the love at Marriott Waters. Ingrid ran Dolls Point and Samantha Roberts brought family to Picnic Point Parklands and Cara Voss enjoyed the beauty of Woy Woy. Janet Reid enjoyed a flat course in Cairns. Karina Campbell watched the sunrise at Redcliffe and Patricia Smith ventured to Yarrabilba. Fiona Hinchliffe had fun at Penrith Lakes. Buzz Dighton had a chilly start working on her Rayfarer at Campbelltown and Jonathan Morgan regained South Australian slash volunteer statesperson at Narooma Wetlands. Richard ran at Picton. The bike popped up at TC and Julie Doolan park walked at Mildura Weir with Charlie. Jo McLean PB'd at Forster. Jan Yates visited Wagga. Sonja Pohlman joined some 5.30 runners for a beach party. Bernadette Bennett was celebrating at Newy's Independence birthday. Sarah Dee was out at Woodlands Historic Park and Helen Reeves walked and talked at Churchill. Andrew Blanda found serenity at Henry Kendall Reserve. Billo had a last-minute change of plans for Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track while Vicky Smith completed her compass at Southern Highlands Botanic Garden.

00:22:00[other]

00:22:00Unidentified speaker: Gasp!

00:22:01Melissa Ellis: Chris Gore joined Karen for a new event at Dawesville. Andrew Turner ventured to Dixon Field and Melissa Joy was amongst the action at Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track. Catherine Pirotta zoomed around East Richmond. Marg Prowse represented MND at Sunbury. Paul Whelan visited Stockton and Carolyn McRae was at Nightcliff. Fronting it up, Carmel Roll met Pauline and Russell Taylor at Surfers Paradise while Sarah and Matt Jefferson found Helen, Steve and Heather Morgan at a Humid Bishan. Over in New Zealand, Bec Bailey was home at Pegasus tail walking with Brunner. Tanya was happy to have a full set of Baileys together again and Alison and Axel were home at Puarenga. Further afield, Chantelle stopped in at East Coast. Monty Slade joined from Durban Point and Helen Rudder jeffed Durham while meeting up with Claire Winyerzyk. Karen Hurrell ran Hafan Pwllheli, Calum Burrell ran in the heat at Burnage and Tim Robbins popped up at Zandvlei. Renata Koch ran her 49th location at Świnoujście. Johan was testing elevation at Thousand Hills. TOC zoomed around Ekebergsletta while Christine Imbert park walked Grove Island, fields our weekly volunteers were Sam and luca Picton and fry at Anstey hill Kathy Crispin at Panania Sherry Brandtman at Stockton Sherry Martin at Minnippi and Lydia Knox at Cooks River ah that's it that's my recap

00:23:26Oliver Spake: And a great recap. Thank you, Mel. And well done, everyone. And you did mention Sue Keane in there. And I have to say, congratulations, Sue, on 100 volunteers. She volunteered as a Barcode Scanner on Saturday, as you said, as part of the Pussycat team. And yeah, it was the 100th anniversary or 100th milestone, I should say.

00:23:47Unidentified speaker: Hooray.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:23:48Oliver Spake: But look, you've mentioned some of the fun and festivities or some of the adventuring that was going on that we're going to hear a bit more about next. So whilst we have done a lot of recapping ourselves, it's time to give you and I a bit of a break, Mel, and hand over to our roving reporters.

Roving report Sarah Jefferson — Bishan parkrun

00:24:13Sarah Jefferson: Good morning, parkrun adventurers.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:24:15Sarah Jefferson: It's Sarah here from the West Side checking in for the Channel 5 News crew. I'm not on the West Side. I have come five hours north of Western Australia and just into the northern hemisphere in Singapore. That's right. I've escaped the winter weather, one week of winter weather in Western Australia, and we are over it. So coming here to check out Bishan parkrun, event number 158.

Interview Jessica Saul — Run Director on the day, Bishan parkrun (Singapore)

00:24:39Sarah Jefferson: This morning I'm here with Jessica Saul who is today's RD at Bishan parkrun. Hello everyone. Thank you, thanks for having us. Can I just get you to describe the course for the listeners please?

00:24:50Jessica Saul: Yes, so this is Bishan parkrun. It's a two-lap course and Bishan Park is a very local community park. We've got people doing Tai Chi, doing exercise here. Yeah, so we run here. Each lap is around 2.5 kilometres, so we run two laps. And, yeah, that's it. It's in the perimeter of the park.

00:25:11Sarah Jefferson: Beautiful green park. Yes. And there's only – there's three parkruns in Singapore – Yeah. I've noticed that lots of people are using this as a stop-off on the way back from Europe, back to Australia. Oh, yeah. Is there any reason why you would sell to come to Bishan rather than going to the other two? Why should people come here?

00:25:27Jessica Saul: Yeah, well, if you would like to see the local scene, I would say, then, yeah, come to Bishan Park because we have got a lot of neighbourhoods, a lot of, like... fielding so what we call HDB here the housing development block so a lot of local people live around here that's why you see a lot of community activities in this park and it's a beautiful park with by the river you'll see otters there are chicken so yeah come to Bishan Park yeah thank you so much I think you've you've sold it thanks for having us thank you

Interview Daniel — Visiting parkrunner; works on a ship with about 35 nationalities aboard, parkrunning…

00:25:59Sarah Jefferson: This morning I'm here with Daniel. Daniel, I've noticed a South African accent and we're in Singapore. Can you tell me how you've got to Singapore?

00:26:07Daniel: Well, we work on a ship and there's about 35 different nationalities working together and we basically go from port to port and yeah, that's how I'm in Singapore. We're in Singapore port at the moment.

00:26:24Sarah Jefferson: So you've come across from South Africa, going around Asia on a ship and you're in Singapore doing parkrun?

00:26:31Daniel: Well, I flew into KL where the ship was then and then all the other people would fly into where the ship is and then we will travel from there onward. Awesome.

00:26:43Sarah Jefferson: Well, good luck doing more parkruns around the world via boat.

00:26:47Daniel: Thank you. It makes me a world traveller in parkrun.

00:26:51Sarah Jefferson: Oh, is it? Is that your – well, yeah. Yeah, that's the idea. Ah, awesome. Love that. Thanks for sharing today.

00:26:56Daniel: Okay, bye.

Interview Heather Morgan — parkrun adventurer / tourist, met unexpectedly at Bishan on her way home from Europe

00:26:58Sarah Jefferson: This morning, I have run into... Heather Morgan. Get out of town. You're in Europe. What are you doing here? I'm not in Europe. I'm in Singapore. But you were in Europe. I was in Europe, yeah. Tell us it was horrible and you had the worst time and we didn't miss out on anything during the extra park ride. Absolutely not. Wouldn't go ever again. No kidding. It was great. Thanks. Just rub that in. Now we're sweating here in the... humidity of Singapore Singapore is worse than Cairns oh great yeah it's it's pretty warm but well done another country another country 12 countries now oh amazing yeah well done you yeah we're not jealous at all no keep on living your best life yeah my bank account needs to recover now yeah you better do that all right everyone out cheers

Interview Brenton Pullman — parkrunner taken on a surprise mystery flight to Singapore by friends

00:27:38Sarah Jefferson: This morning I'm here with Brenton Pullman. Brenton, I hear that you were given some cryptic clues to get to Singapore this weekend, is that correct?

00:27:47Brenton Pullman: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:27:48Sarah Jefferson: Okay, tell me about it.

00:27:49Brenton Pullman: Well, I got picked up by some friends and we were catching the train to the airport and at each station they gave me a clue to try to figure out where I was headed. And so at each station, so the first one I opened was a photo of my friend and I called her Noodle. And I was like, okay, noodle, interesting. But it was wearing a Palm Beach shirt. And I was like, okay, maybe Palm Beach or up there. And the second one was three people singing. And I was like, okay, second clue, someone singing or people singing, interesting. Third one was just milk being poured into a glass. And I was like, I'm not really sure where I'm off to. The fourth one was parkrun. I knew I was doing parkrun. That was all right. I was just trying to think of countries that you could do parkrun in. I'm not overly versed in that.

00:28:32Sarah Jefferson: So you were told that you had to take a passport, is that right?

00:28:35Brenton Pullman: Yeah, so the friends made sure, oh, they gave me a packing list. So I had passport included. It could have been a red herring. I wasn't really sure. The fifth one was a picture of a cat and the cat had a tin of tuna next to it. So I wasn't really sure what was going on. It wasn't a tuna, a tumour, that's for sure. Sixth photo. So we're getting close. So the sixth photo was a picture of someone in a sling and also in a swing, it looked like. The second last one was just two pieces of paper, one with red on it, one with white on it. But the red was like a red pen just sort of scribbled across the page. So it still wasn't ringing any bells. I was not very good at this cryptic sort of one. The last one is a picture of Wrigley's gum. And we got the gum. And, yeah, so then we got to the airport tonight. I had no idea where I was going. How did you go? I did really poorly. I guessed places like Bali, and I thought maybe like Broome, because of Palm Beach, and I'm sure there's a Palm Beach there. Palm Beach in Sydney. Yeah, something like that. And anyway, so lots of different options. And anyway, go there, yeah so um the people singing so sing and the milk was being poured into a glass so sing I thought sing milk I was like Singapore and we got Singapore and then yeah we went off to Singapore it's amazing yeah and tell me about the the cat what was the clue with the cat so the cat so the cat with tuna so I didn't know this but there's an animal over here it's like a merlion I believe that was the clue for that one um

00:30:11Sarah Jefferson: To the head of a lion? Yeah. To the tail of a fish?

00:30:15Brenton Pullman: That's the animal, I believe. And then also, yeah, so the red and white paper, that was actually just the colours of the flag of Singapore. So, yeah, it was amazing. Yeah, it was so cool. What a fun weekend for you. It was brilliant. Thanks so much.

00:30:28Sarah Jefferson: Thanks for sharing. All right, parkrun's done. Need to recover. Refuel. Headed to the Canopy Cafe with Heather Morgan, Helen and Steve Davis. And there you have it. Why not drop some cryptic clues to a friend and lead them on a parkrun adventure? I love it. Over and out, guys.

Roving report Johan Duvenhage — Mundy Regional, Sterkfontein and Thousand Hills

00:30:48Johan Duvenhage: Howdy, parkrun adventurers. It's Johan checking in from South Africa, where the winter chills have certainly gotten hold of us. Over the past few weeks, I've been out and about, to explore a swather of South African parkruns that have a reputation for requiring a bit more effort than most. Ha, so why would I do that, you ask? Well, in the week after palm23, a few of the attendees remaining behind ventured out to the hills east of Perth for a freedom run of Mundy Regional parkrun. It was certainly very beautiful, but we soon learned that there is good reason for it to have a slight reputation as one of the most challenging parkruns in Australia, or maybe even worldwide, soon the question was also posed how does this compare to South Africa is there anything more difficult well at that point I could honestly say that I've not been to a parkrun that I considered more challenging of course labels like challenging and difficult are somewhat subjective but parkrun adventures do have some experience of different events and maybe we could make a proclamation or two now let me immediately say that my experiences are far from complete and my somewhat biased investigation of the past months, hardly scientific. We've heard that Woolacombe Dunes in the UK can literally take your breath away. Sometimes you need fluffy to coax you through Nambo, with the ups at Anstey Hill leaving you heaving. On the other hand, altitude can make things very difficult. For instance, Aspen, Colorado in the US at 2400m, Makes you breathing very difficult. And even locally at Dullstroom and Kralinbergh and Clarens in the Free State, all at around 2,000 metres above sea level, things are not very easy. With altitude, I do have some experience, having done eight of the top ten highest parkruns in the world. And now, having completed the last two of these South African parkruns with a reputation for being very tough, I think I'm able to make some kind of decision. Well, just maybe. Is Mundy Regional the most difficult parkrun in the world? Or is there a South African parkrun that takes the crown? There are certainly a local team or two that seems to think so. Just this week, the Facebook page of Thousand Hills parkrun in KwaZulu-Natal invited the thousands of comrades runners to come visit the most difficult parkrun in the world as a warm-up for the big race. And well done to all of our parkrunners and parkrun adventurers that finished the race. Up north in Gauteng, the team at Sterkfontein advises some of the runners to wear knee and arm guards if they're not accustomed to the trail running conditions. So my comparison for now will be limited to only those where the elevation gain on my Garmin watch was 150 metres or more. So who are the contenders then? Let the games begin. Welcome to Mundy Regional, Sterkfontein and Thousand Hills parkruns. I don't have time to give you a complete rundown of each of these courses, but they all three have some things in common. They are trail runs, they have hills and valleys, They're largely one lappers and are without fail breathtakingly beautiful. If I had to choose a favourite based on that, I'd really be hard pressed to make up my mind. So which one is the most challenging? That's not an easy or a cut and dry answer. And I've had to design some sort of a scoring sheet to guide my final decision, taking into account the altitude, total ascent, total descent and the root and surface. I know it's totally arbitrary, My scoring sheet will rate these three on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is a walk in the park and 10 is goeie genade that is flippen going to kill me. So let's get to it. Altitude wise, there's only one clear winner. Sterkfontein takes place at 1620 to 1710 metres above sea level and earns an 8 on my scale, followed by Thousand Hills with a 4 for an altitude between 530 and 670 metres, and Mundy Regional a 2 for an altitude ranging just about between 110 and 235 metres above sea level. Moving on to total ascent, things are much more evenly matched. Sterkfontein comes in at 153 metres, Thousand Hills at 218 metres, and Mundy at 219 metres. That's quite steep and I think it's a draw for Mundy Regional and Thousand Hills with Sterkfontein coming in as a respectable third. Ten points for the winners and six for Sterkfontein. What goes up must come down and when it comes to running downhill can be even worse. Mundy Regional's descent is 230 metres followed by Thousand Hills with 217 metres and Sterkfontein at 157 metres. That's no draw. 10 points to Mundy, 9 to Thousand Hills and 6 to Sterkfontein. Now that leaves us with the route and its surface. Although all three are trail runs and quite technical, they are really also quite different. Mundy Regional has relatively wide paths, whilst both Sterkfontein and Thousand Hills have narrow single tracks for the largest part. The surface at Thousand Hills is quite firm and relatively easy underfoot, but large parts of Sterkfontein has some pretty menacing loose and sharp rocks, and Mundy Regional has lots of loose gravel and those honky nuts to trip you up the whole way. Sterkfontein's elevation is largely down, down, down and up, with Mundy Regional and Thousand Hills much, much more undulating, and the latter doing justice to its name. All three parkruns are certainly not for the faint-hearted. Sterkfontein clearly made Tanni Mulderit-Labaskagny question her life choices, whilst both Mundy Regional and Thousand Hills made me wonder if the course designers took a bit of sadistic pleasure in torturing innocent parkrunners. I'm scoring Thousand Hills an 8 on this one, Sterkfontein a 9, and Mundy takes the honour with 10 points. So my maths needs a bit of checking at this point, but it seems to be quite a close call. Let me recap the scores. So Sterkfontein is an 8, 6, 6, 9, giving it a 29. Thousand Hills, a 4, a 10, a 9, an 8, giving it a 31. And Mundy Regional, a 2, a 10, a 10, and a 10, bringing it to 32. Well, there you have it. Mundy Regional takes the honours by the narrowest of margins. I'm glad to have survived all three without incident. Much thanks to the teams at these parkruns for providing courses that provides a bit of a challenge to our trail runners. And of course, walkers and joggers can still enjoy these courses, but remember to take a bit of extra care if you're not used to trail running conditions. And especially listen to the pre-run briefings for the important safety advice. Until next time, have fun and happy parkrunning. [Afrikaans: "good grief, that is flipping going to kill me"]

00:37:58Melissa Ellis: What a top stellar pair of roving reports they were. Ollie, top stellar. That's terrible English. The Office Lady is going to be quivering about that. But anyway, Sarah out there at Bishan, fancy going all the way to Singapore and like bumping into other adventurers. How cool is that?

00:38:18Oliver Spake: Yeah, nice spot to do it.

00:38:20Melissa Ellis: And I loved that Brenton had a mystery flight. He didn't know where he was going. Somebody take me on one of those, please. I've got a passport. And, of course, Johan giving us the lowdown on the world's most difficult parkrun. He's in a pretty good position to make a judgment.

00:38:38Oliver Spake: That's right. But, yeah, we'll see what the listeners have to say. I'm very curious.

00:38:44Melissa Ellis: We need some listeners that have experienced Woolacombe Dunes, but also Mundy and the Thousand Hills. Is that what it's called? I forget. Yeah.

00:38:56Oliver Spake: Yeah, but we'd love to hear more. But, yeah, thank you very much to our roving reporters.

Emails

00:39:01Oliver Spake: And they're not the only ones we've heard from this week, Mel, because we've got mail. You've got mail.

00:39:09Melissa Ellis: We have. We heard from the quiz master who sent me a little snippet that referred to the Sweden National Day last week. Now, footnote, this was not relating to our Johan because when I see Johan written, I assume it's our Johan because we take possession of Johan Duvenhage from South Africa, but this is not him. But in any case, it said huge praise for Johan and the team at, oh, I've forgotten how you told me to say it already, Växjösjön, Ollie?

00:39:42Oliver Spake: That was my belief, yes, Växjösjön.

00:39:45Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, anyway, that parkrun for putting on a fabulous event. Attendance jumped from the previous record of 56 to, to 727 but they had prepared for it and it ran like clockwork fantastic effort by a great team can you imagine numbers jumping that much Ollie oh my goodness that is uh well in your words top stellar um I'm going to go flak for that.

00:40:17Oliver Spake: But quite incredible to manage that and to do it smoothly.

00:40:22Melissa Ellis: Hey, we could have said it was a sweater.

00:40:24Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah, we could have. We could have.

00:40:27Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but we didn't.

00:40:28Oliver Spake: That's right. Not directly anyway. But we have also heard from Rolf. So thank you, Rolf, for your email. Now, for those of you who might be curious, we did actually hear from Rolf in last week's episode when PK visited Oaklands Estate Reserve. And I've just spoiled part of Rolf's email now, but... Let me read. He said, hi, Mel and Ollie. I have been recently made aware of your podcast and have now listened to it twice. I have enjoyed both podcasts and intend being a loyal listener. I guess it is best to let you know how I became aware of your podcast. It was through meeting PK, at Oaklands Estate Reserve parkrun, where he interviewed me. Yes, I am Rolf, the vision-impaired person who was co-Run Director. Thank you for your podcast, which is informative and entertaining. Keep the good work up, and I know I will be kept up to date with parkrun around the globe and Australia. Kindest regards, Rolf. And thank you so much, and welcome on board, Rolf. It was wonderful to hear from you on the pod and now in the mailbox and we hope to have you for a long time to come.

00:41:43Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. And now what you need to do, Rolf, is you need to go to your parkrun profile and join the Adventurers Club so we can capture you when you go on all your adventures.

00:41:55Oliver Spake: That's right. Yeah, so plenty going on and lots of updates from everyone. So thank you very much, everyone.

Club Corner

00:42:03Oliver Spake: Thank you. And, Mel, there's even someone else who we haven't actually heard from in a little while, but we've got an update. Rachel's back with Club Corner. So I might pause there and we can have a listen to Rachel.

00:42:15[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:42:29Rachel: 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. Today I'm going to talk about some non-Wilson indexes, P-Index and V-Index. P index. The number of parkruns that satisfy the equation. P parkruns run at least P times. E.g. if you have run 4 different parkruns at least 4 times each, your P index is 4. If you have never run at an event twice, then your P index will only be 1. This index is a nice mixture of adventuring and being a homebody. As you need to get out and experience new events, but you also need to repeat them. It may sound easy, but to get a P index of 5 means visiting 5 events 5 times. So imagine the dedication from the top P-indexes in the world who currently have a P-index of 15. Yes, 15 events each attended 15 times, plus any miscellaneous other events and volunteering. Quite a flex to my mind. Next up is the V-index. This is similar to the P-index, but this time instead of repeating event courses you repeat volunteer roles. So, it is the number of volunteer roles which have been performed at least V times. e.g. if you have volunteered in 4 different roles at least 4 times, your V-index is 4. This index was created by the other MEL in episode number 158. Insert applause emoji here. This index has a cap owing to the number of volunteer roles available, as opposed to the unlimited number of parkrun courses out there, but it would be a massive commitment to volunteering to get a large V-index. As we know from Tracy on the V-side, the current volunteer roles are, take a deep breath here, Barcode Scanner Car Park Marshal Equipment Storage and Delivery Event Day Course Check Finish Token Support Finish Tokens First Timers Welcome Funnel Manager Marshall Number Checker Pacer parkwalker Photographer Post Event Close Down Pre-Event Setup Report Writer Results Processor Run Director Sign Language Support Tail Walker Timekeeper Tokens Sorting VI Guide Volunteer Coordinator and the Very Special Warm-up Leader I hope that you counted them as I went through. If you didn't, I suggest that you wind back and listen again. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

00:44:40Melissa Ellis: And thank you to Rachel learning all about the P index and the V index, Ollie. So my P index is sitting on seven and my V index is nine. I'm doing a bit better in the V index stakes. What about you?

00:44:55Oliver Spake: Yeah, a bit better in the V index stakes for sure. P index three and V index of 10. So...

00:45:05Melissa Ellis: We do chalk them up a bit when we're Event Directors, don't we?

00:45:09Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. You do tend to sort of spread around where the opportunities exist to jump into roles and, yeah, they tick over time there. But, yeah, I've still got a few more events to revisit to start building that P-index.

00:45:27Melissa Ellis: I'm going to have a crack at figuring out your three events for your P index. I'm going to, well, obviously Shellharbour would be one.

00:45:37Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

00:45:39Melissa Ellis: I'm going to say Huskisson might be one.

00:45:43Oliver Spake: Huskisson, I believe, would be one, yes.

00:45:46Melissa Ellis: Ooh, and what about Batemans Bay?

00:45:48Oliver Spake: Yeah, and I do believe, I should know this off the top of my head, North Wollongong should be close as well. Hmm, hmm. But, yes, those three, absolutely right.

00:46:02Melissa Ellis: Excellent.

00:46:03Oliver Spake: And there are a couple I've done too of just, yeah, slim pickings. But I'm not sure I'm brave enough to attempt your seven, Mel.

00:46:13Melissa Ellis: No, no, I can't even remember. They're all over in the southeast. I haven't worked on my P index for a long time. I don't go back to the same event anymore. I'm on a streak. I'm on a tourism streak. I think I'm up to 30-odd events since I've repeated. I don't think I've repeated an event this year. Yeah.

00:46:34Oliver Spake: No.

00:46:34Melissa Ellis: Would that be right? Yeah, that'd be right. I think so.

00:46:36Oliver Spake: Maths suggests that is the case, yeah.

00:46:40Melissa Ellis: Yeah. So that streak can't last forever. I'm well aware of that. I know for a fact that when my daughter gets married in October on the Mornington Peninsula, I am not going to be able to get to a new event that particular week. So I will be most likely doing Rosebud parkrun on that day and that won't be a new event for me. But... I'm going to milk it as long as I can because that's just what brings me joy at the moment.

00:47:10Oliver Spake: You've got plenty of time to enjoy that before then and then a good reason to break the streak. So, yeah, keep it up, Mel.

Consolidated Club Report

00:47:17Oliver Spake: But speaking of maths, I think there are a few numbers that we're very interested to hear, Mel. It's time for the Consolidated Club Report, I think.

00:47:26Melissa Ellis: Is there interference? I'm sure I can hear interference. The adventurers Consolidated Club report for Saturday, the 10th of June, 2023. Of a total of 433 members, 350 took part on this date at 177 locations. In the UK, there were 25 events. South Africa had four, Italy and Singapore two, and the USA, Finland, Norway and Poland each one. Locally, we had adventurers at 37 events in Victoria, 39 events in New South Wales, 29 events in Queensland, 11 events in WA, six in South Australia, the ACT, Tasmania and North Island had five, South Island had six, and one... in the Northern Territory and I think you meant to say sorry South Island had two oh what did I say did I say one you said six oh god what am I thinking six adventurers maybe I'm not sure yeah thank you for correcting me oh you're paying attention good work Ollie I've got one job and I'll do this one right yeah

00:48:18[crosstalk]

the Frond — Shellharbour parkrun (largest frond, 12 adventurers at its ninth birthday)

00:48:43Melissa Ellis: Okay, so largest frond this week was at Shellharbour. Would you like to tell us the 12 passionistas that were in attendance?

00:48:52Oliver Spake: That's right. Our adventurers at the largest frond at Shellharbour's ninth birthday included Hannah Newton, James Thomas, Julie and Gordon Turner, Delvene McKenzie, Gaillyn Cooper, Jason Green, Louise Aitkin, Kristen McKenzie, David Foster, Julie Wells and moi.

00:49:10Melissa Ellis: Moi.

00:49:11Oliver Spake: Yeah, and a bunch of volleys too, but unfortunately we don't receive those stats.

00:49:17Melissa Ellis: No. Well, congratulations to Shellharbour and happy birthday again. We also had a frond of seven at two events. One of them was the event I was in attendance at Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track parkrun where there was Eman and Kristine Vergara, myself, Lisa Cuso, Amanda O'Reilly, Matthew Billington and Mel Fletcher. We also had seven adventurers slash passionistas out at the ponds. And they were Charles Burns, Louise and Gustav Garbers, Jorina Giron, Penny Prosser, Manish Bindroo and Lisa Spencer.

00:50:01Oliver Spake: A lot of adventuring going on, including at home. But yeah, those numbers continue to grow. So congratulations, everyone. I hope you had a lovely parkrun day. But... Thankfully, there's another one coming up, Mel.

00:50:15Melissa Ellis: There is. But weren't we going to look forward first? Weren't we going to look forward to an event that is coming in that island off the east coast of Australia?

00:50:26Oliver Spake: That's right, that's right. It's National Volunteer Week in New Zealand. So starting on the 18th of June and going through to the 24th of June, we understand National Volunteer Week. Badged this year as the big shout-out is a new campaign for June, encouraging everyone to give a shout-out to volunteers. So it is time to recognise and thank our volunteers and we love every opportunity to give them a shout-out. So a huge thank you to all of our volleys over there, in New Zealand and, yeah, happy volunteer week in advance.

Sign-off

00:51:01Melissa Ellis: Now we can say about next parkrun day, Ollie, because we haven't got a lot else to discuss this week in our outro section. So why don't you tell us where you're going to be on Saturday?

00:51:13Oliver Spake: I promise for real this time I'll be run directing at home. No, I'll be on the road the week after. So, yeah, run directing at home and, yeah, having a relatively quiet one, I believe, but with a couple of guests, I also believe. So looking forward to that.

00:51:30Melissa Ellis: Ooh, I think I know, I think I know. Are we allowed to say?

00:51:34Oliver Spake: Sure.

00:51:35Melissa Ellis: Is it a secret?

00:51:36Oliver Spake: I don't believe it's a secret. One of them's confirmed as a volunteer.

00:51:39Melissa Ellis: Have you got some Peels?

00:51:41Oliver Spake: I do.

00:51:42Melissa Ellis: You've got incoming peals. Woo-hoo.

00:51:44Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. And we're welcoming home some of our home Shellharbour parkrunners who have been out adventuring and one of whom who I haven't seen since that bloody amazing run up there in the edge of the desert. So, yeah, looking forward to a nice parkrun day at home.

00:52:03Melissa Ellis: Excellent.

00:52:04Oliver Spake: What about you, Mel?

00:52:05Melissa Ellis: That will be fun. Me? Me, I'm overdue for a really long car trip. My little car's had a trip through the car wash and it is all shiny and ready to head west to South Australia. So Narooma Wetlands, I've got you in my sights.

00:52:33Oliver Spake: Ah, excellent, excellent. Well, safe travels, Mel, and I hope that that car trip is full of good music and a new parkrun memory to bring back. Thank you. Another thing coming up on the horizon, we were just talking, you know, between recordings.

00:52:50Melissa Ellis: Oh, you're ad-libbing.

00:52:51Oliver Spake: That's right. City to Surf isn't far away. And you mentioned you've signed up, Mel.

00:52:56Melissa Ellis: I have, yes. I signed up last week. They had a promotion if you signed up during Global Running Day. They had 40 hours where you could get a special price. So I bit the bullet, Ollie, and I bought my entry to City to Surf. So now I've got flights and I've got an entry. I still don't know where I'm staying, but that's okay. Baby steps.

00:53:20Unidentified speaker: Yep.

00:53:20Melissa Ellis: I'm entered now. I can sleep on the beach. That's all right. I've done worse. And we're also eyeing off an event as a catch-up that weekend, which, yeah, looks like being somewhere central, shall we just say.

00:53:36Oliver Spake: Yeah, nice and handy for those that are staying around the city there for that weekend. But, yeah, more on that later. But good to have you on the team, Mel, and that's going to be with us very soon.

00:53:49Melissa Ellis: It might be also a good time to remind people, Ollie, that if they want to join the adventurers team at City to Surf, their adventurers, well, the name is adventurers Pod. If you're looking for us on the City to Surf website, when you do sign up, look for adventurers Pod.

00:54:07Oliver Spake: Yeah, hopefully we can have a great representation out there. It was a lovely, lovely event and weekend last year and, yeah, never disappoints.

00:54:17Melissa Ellis: I haven't thought of a costume yet, Ollie. Usually every year I have come up with some different idea. Now I'm feeling a little bit inspired by your pussycat thing. Can I entice you to run again in your...

00:54:33Oliver Spake: I'm not wearing tights. Nope.

00:54:34Melissa Ellis: Are you sure? Do you want to think about that?

00:54:40Oliver Spake: I've thought about it. Thank you.

00:54:41Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:54:44Melissa Ellis: We could have really done a good cheetahs representation, but anyway.

00:54:48Oliver Spake: That's true. Sorry, cheetahs. Be my guest, Mel, but...

00:54:53Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, if you think of anything else, let me know.

00:54:55Oliver Spake: I will. I will. But a bit to look forward to. But for now, I think it's time to say goodbye. So as always, everyone, you can contact us via Facebook or our other socials, Instagram. And are we still on Twitter, Mel?

00:55:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah. So I've been a bit slack on Twitter the last couple of weeks.

00:55:17Oliver Spake: But you can reach us there and you can, of course, email us at parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That is it for another week and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.