Episode 340 - Homework

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 340 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:32Sarah Jefferson: And my name is Sarah Jefferson and I'm joining you from Whadjuk Country. Welcome back, Sarah. Thank you for joining me for another week. Thank you, Mel. Back for round two.

00:00:44Melissa Ellis: You're a brave lady. You're a brave lady. And how has your week been? Are you cold?

00:00:51Sarah Jefferson: I am cold. Yes, I currently have quite a few layers on and I have the neighbour's cat curled up beside me trying to stay warm as well.

00:00:59Melissa Ellis: Oh, is that Winston?

00:01:02Sarah Jefferson: It is Winston. So hopefully we don't hear any meows throughout. But if we do, it's just friendly Winston. He's a beautiful cat.

00:01:11Melissa Ellis: I enjoyed meeting Winston when I came to stay with you.

00:01:15Sarah Jefferson: He's a very luxurious boy. So pretty, yeah.

00:01:18Melissa Ellis: So for those listening at home, he's a grey. Looks like one of those Maine Coons, doesn't he?

00:01:25Sarah Jefferson: Yes, we don't think he's a Maine Coon, but you're right, he looks like a Maine Coon. So, yes, they all know where to go when they want food. You've stolen him from the neighbour, right? Well, he willingly came here this afternoon because he either wanted a bed or he wanted some John West tuna that we go and spoil him with. So I guess when we have our own cat, it won't be $2.40 a tin that we will purchase for him. But for now, he is pretty spoiled. What about you, Mel? Are you staying warm?

00:01:57Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah. It's just winter in Melbourne now and... I'm sitting here with my heat pack on my lap. Nice. keeping warm in my office while we record. So looking forward to our chat. So why don't you tell me all about your parkrun day, Sarah?

00:02:17Sarah Jefferson: So I was Run Director down at Cottesloe parkrun again this week. So I had the pleasure of setting up the course in the rain and then it rained for the briefing. But it was kind of nice that we were all huddled under a tiny shelter, getting to know each other. Just as we started, the clouds cleared and the blue sky came out. And I thought, surely this is it. The rain's gone. And then for the last 20 minutes, the heavens opened and we were drenched. So came home. The house has bits and pieces all through it, trying to dry all of the equipment before I hand that over, next week but um yeah that was my morning, Mel it all went really well we actually had 68 people which is pretty good down at the beach on a winter's day normally our numbers are quite small over winter and I believe you had a milestone is that correct oh I did and I actually had forgotten about it but my 50th volly um 50th volunteer congratulations thank you

00:03:26Melissa Ellis: And tell us what your favourite role has been out of all your volunteers. What do you like doing the most?

00:03:35Sarah Jefferson: So it's probably a role that I actually never thought that I would ever do or enjoy and I was really actually hesitant to be a Run Director but I would say RD. I think because I get to chat to lots of people, I've met so many people from around the world and I guess I really enjoy being able to facilitate such a positive event for people and hear about everyone's parkrun stories. So I think I'm going to have to go with Run Director, Mel, even though I never thought I would say that.

00:04:06Melissa Ellis: How long have you been doing it for?

00:04:08Sarah Jefferson: So I had a look. So I think I've Run Director 19 times now. That's probably around, you know, within a couple of years.

00:04:17Melissa Ellis: So two years probably. Okay. Yeah. Were they all at Cottesloe?

00:04:22Sarah Jefferson: All at Cottesloe, yes.

00:04:25Melissa Ellis: Yeah. I've got another question. They're coming thick and fast. Fire away. I'm going to try to find one that you're not prepared for. How did you choose your home parkrun when you moved over to the West Side?

00:04:37Sarah Jefferson: I think because every morning or a lot of the mornings, I would like to go down to the beach. And so when I knew that there was a parkrun by the beach, I was like, yeah, Cottesloe has got to be it. And in summer, it is just beautiful, unlike the experience that most people had at Palm where it was blowing a gale and absolutely horrendous.

00:04:59Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:05:00Sarah Jefferson: um it's stunning so I think the fact of being able to do a parkrun and go for a swim straight after yeah it was yeah amazing so and then I um yeah I think I've done about 65 runs or 64 runs there now so um I think just the coast very much a coastal girl yeah how did it stack up um coming from sydney's northern beaches um Very different coastline. So if it's windy here, the whole coast is blown out. On the northern beaches, you've got all your little pockets and little cliffs and, you know, the coast kind of weaves a little bit. Yeah, and even we've got limestone over here. It's totally different to the rock formations over there, so quite different. And over here I swim about five steps off the beach, I think. Sometimes we hear of those sharks and they're really scary sharks. Unlike when I was in Sydney, I used to do the beautiful swim from the corner of Manly Beach and it was beautiful and you'd see the grey nurses. And even though they would, to me, look like great whites, I would in my head just be telling myself that I know that they're grey nurses. So you knew that their, you know, their breeding zones were around there. So, yeah, quite different. And obviously my parkrun was Curl Curl on the northern beaches, so I didn't sort of have the luxury of – heading straight down into the ocean so it's definitely something special about these these runs even though they're quite tricky on the beach I think it's really positive that you know you can go straight into the ocean I love that now tell us report in please with your homework Oh, yes, just like a good student. I did complete my homework and, yeah, really thankful for the push, Mel. Thank you for that. So much easier. Yeah, really easy to see. The roster's really clear. Yeah, I'm definitely converted. So, yeah, EMS for now for me. Yeah, I agree with you. Much easier.

00:07:02Melissa Ellis: Fantastic. So thank you for that.

00:07:04Sarah Jefferson: But enough about me, Mel. I feel like I've just spoken quite a bit. How was your parkrun day?

00:07:10Melissa Ellis: I ventured out to Maroondah Dam parkrun, which is on the lands of the Wurundjeri people and located in the small Victorian town of Healesville. It was the last event from the recent triple launch that I needed to regain statesmanship and it was event five. Healesville is about 50 kilometres northeast of Melbourne's CBD and falls within the Yarra Ranges Shire. It was named after Victorian Premier Richard Heales, and is most widely known for the Healesville Sanctuary Nature Park, home to hundreds of native Australian animals and especially its active platypus exhibit and birds of prey presentation. Healesville is only a 40-minute drive from where my mum lives, so I took the opportunity to travel over Friday night with Zoe to spend time with mum and the three of us set off at a relatively decent hour Saturday morning. The parkrun is set within the Maroondah Reservoir Park, and atop an impressive 41 metre high dam wall which offers a scenic lookout over formal gardens, forested slopes and the broad peaceful reservoir lake. Constructed from 1920 to 1927 you can still see the historic valve houses in the gardens built in a classical domed style. The gardens include a sundial and the stone paved rose stairway lined with rose bushes and golden pencil pines. They feature towering native eucalypts as well as many exotic deciduous trees with beautiful autumn colours. There are a number of easy and moderate walks around the park, either the Maroondah Forest Track or the Henderson's Hill Track, which can extend to Donnelly's Weir in Yarra Ranges National Park. Walk to the bottom of the dam wall to observe the grandeur of the wall from below and then climb the row steps or walk the circular track to avoid the stairs and walk across the top of the dam wall to view the expansive reservoir and parkland. When the dam overflows across the spillway once or twice a year, the falls lookout provides a spectacular view of the waterfall. Water can also cascade over the lower rock face when Melbourne Water intermittently release water from the dam via the lower outlet. Now Zoe and Mum opted to wait in the car whilst I ran and from the main car park, where the toilets are located, it was a heart-pumping ascent to the top of the dam wall and the start line. Amongst a strong contingent of Victorian tourists were fellow adventurers Sally Heppleston and Nathan Castle, plus Vincent Hing. However, unfortunately, I didn't realise or get to meet Vincent. I did, however, have the pleasure of meeting Jason Andrews and his son, Ollie, who introduced themselves as pod listeners from Aurora parkrun. So hello to Jason and Ollie, and thanks for saying hi. I hadn't seen Sally for what feels like forever, so it was lovely to enjoy a run chat on the hilly out-and-back course. The event starts at the Bell Road rotunda, and aside from the initial section across the wall, the track is predominantly a stable gravel surface. Despite the recent rain, it was not overly wet underfoot, but I would recommend trail shoes for the hills. Once across the wall, you are faced with a gradual climb until about 1.3km when there is a sharp decline. It's about a 50 metre drop over 450 metres. But you know what that means. On your way back, that sharp decline is reversed and ouch. Sally and I enjoyed a walk break. Once the hill was breached, the final K is a gentle downhill to the finish. There were 92 finishes and a quick look at the preceding week's attendances show some fluctuation between 70 to 150 participants, so I would take a guess that numbers will settle somewhere around the 100 mark eventually. After the event, Mum, Zoe and I headed to My Little Kitchen for coffee, chai latte and hot chocolate in front of an open fire before an enjoyable wander along the main street exploring the shops.

00:11:06Sarah Jefferson: Wow, Mel. Sounds very, very busy. Indeed. And what a detailed report.

00:11:13Melissa Ellis: Oh, thank you. Well, I'll just give you a little outline of Healesville and the reservoir park that we were in. So, yeah, no, it was really good. And, yeah, no, it was nice to meet more adventurers as well. I love that.

00:11:28Sarah Jefferson: Definitely. And I think they came up and said hello. Ollie came up and said hello. Is that right?

00:11:34Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:11:34Sarah Jefferson: I think I saw that picture in Dazza's. Yeah.

00:11:38Melissa Ellis: Jason shared it in Dazza's. Lovely. Selfie with them. And I omitted to invite Ollie out to juniors. So if you're listening, maybe you want to come out and visit us at Eynesbury. And as we are mentioning juniors, Sarah might also mention that adventurers often come and volunteer at Eynesbury. And we did have a few of our regular adventurers there on Sunday, but we also welcomed first-timers Martine Barrot and Andrew Johnston. And not only did they come to volunteer, they dressed up for the occasion.

00:12:15Sarah Jefferson: Oh, I did see their costumes. Well done to you both. How nice to head along and tick that off and collect that badge, I guess.

00:12:26Melissa Ellis: Yes, they were Puddle Marshals. They were in charge of Jemima. And for those listeners at home that haven't seen the social media that I've splashed all over our juniors' Facebook page, they were dressed as ducks. So quite fitting costumes to be Puddle Marshals. Perfect. And I also might take the opportunity to mention that next Sunday will be Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun's 100th event. So we are having a little celebration with cake and a fluoro theme. So a good week to come. Any listeners that are out there, if you've got kids, bundle them in the car and come and visit us. We want to boost our numbers on our 100th event. Definitely. And if there's cake, make sure you tell the kids there'll be cake. Yeah. Perfect.

parkrun news bulletin

00:13:11Melissa Ellis: But news and discussion, Sarah, what have we got up first?

00:13:16Sarah Jefferson: Okay, so this week we had the men's record at Edinburgh parkrun has been beaten. So we've got Andy Butchart. So the last record actually stood for 11 years. So congratulations, Andy. Scotland's Andy Butchart, 31 years old, finished in 13 minutes and 45 seconds. So he's beaten the previous time by 13, three seconds that was previously held by another Andy Baddeley at Bushy Park in London. So congratulations Andy knocking three seconds off the fastest parkrun time this week.

00:13:55Melissa Ellis: There were records falling all over the place Sarah so not only did the parkrun world record go last Saturday but there was another world record that we were very excited about in this last week. So as we were recording Last week, friend of the pod, shipwreck parkrun ED and ultra runner Phil Gore was in the midst of something very special. Phil was competing in the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra at Nanango, but as we knew the pod episode would be released after the race was completed, we thought we'd wait till this week to bring you the results. And what a spectacular result it was too, as Phil took the crown and the world record by completing 102 laps of the 6.7 kilometre loop, which equates to 684 kilometres. Made possible with the mighty effort of his assist, New Zealander Sam Harvey, who equalled the previous world record set last year by the Belgians. We send our huge congratulations to Phil and Gemma, Team Gore. And I will add that Phil's previous best was 76 Loops, which he did last October at Big Dogs Backyard Ultra Satellite Team Challenge. And do you know, Sarah, he was running for four and a half days before he was the last man standing out of 54 runners. I'm just shaking my head, Mel.

00:15:22Sarah Jefferson: Phenomenal, Phil. Well done. Can't believe it, but I know he is amazing.

00:15:28Melissa Ellis: 684 kilometres wow and no sleep I know and he actually could have gone he could have gone more laps he was looking in a mighty fine condition when they interviewed him at the finish yeah so uh yeah don't know how he manages the sleep deprivation but he obviously has a very good system to manage it because yeah look at him he's the world record holder phenomenal Phil I think that might stick phenomenal Phil yeah

00:15:58Sarah Jefferson: Well done, Phil. I know that I kept waking up, you know, I'd wake up the next day and I'd be on Instagram checking going, my goodness, he's still going. Crazy.

00:16:06Melissa Ellis: Yes. Well, we're very lucky that The Office Lady was keeping us all in the office updated with everything as she was getting the information to hand. So, yeah, we were all glued to our Instagram feeds and Facebook messages and everything. So, yeah, just amazing. What an inspiration.

00:16:26Sarah Jefferson: And he's a Westralian. He is. He is. Hopefully I'll get to catch up with him in person soon and have a chat because, my goodness, the stories he will have to share, I'm sure, Mel, will be quite special and quite amazing.

00:16:44Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Another thing, what were we going to talk about as well? We were going to get back about our VP indexes. So I had homework too. I went after last week's pod and looked up what my index was and it's four. So I have volunteered at least four times at four events and those four events are Berwick Springs and Toolern Creek in the 5k format and Westerfolds and Eynesbury in the 2k format. Not too bad Mel. What about yourself Sarah?

00:17:16Sarah Jefferson: Um, so my index, I have an index of two, Mel. Um, so I've got Curl Curl and I've got Cottesloe. So for me, plenty of work to do there.

00:17:25Melissa Ellis: You know what I like about that, Sarah? I like that, that Curl Curl was your previous home parkrun and Cottesloe is your current home parkrun. And if you look at mine, Berwick Springs was my previous home parkrun and Toolern Creek is my current home parkrun. And in the junior format, Westerfolds Well, it was the original one where I volunteered until I launched Eynesbury.

00:17:45Sarah Jefferson: So there you go. Yes. And it would make sense to do, if we're doing more parkruns at our home event, to do more volunteers there.

00:17:52Melissa Ellis: Correct. That would make sense.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:17:55Sarah Jefferson: All right. Well, on that note, Mel, we might throw to some roving reports.

Roving report Tony O'Connell — Bushy Park parkrun

00:18:08Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, it's TOC from Inverloch. I'm reporting in from the holy grail of parkrun. Yes, we made it to Bushy after our disaster last week in Ireland. The weather has put it on for us today.

Talking to Richard — Run Director on the day, Bushy Park parkrun (London)

00:18:21Tony O'Connell: I'm here with Richard, who is the Run Director today. Richard, it's an amazing day. I think I counted 67 volunteers on your roster. Is that pretty normal for Bushy?

00:18:32Richard: It is. We often have about 70 volunteers. And I do recall a few months ago when somebody came up to me, a visitor to us said, do you realise you have more volunteers than we have parkrunners at our parkrun? So we do have quite a lot. It's a big job to put it on each week. And we rely on the goodwill of a lot of people to volunteer each week to put it on.

00:18:56Tony O'Connell: As a parkrunner, I've been following Bushy, obviously, as a lot of people do, and I hear a lot about the funnel, and it was amazing to see the way it worked today. I was following a cupcake. Is there any story behind the symbols that are used for the finish funnel?

00:19:16Richard: uh no I mean I think when we had the coronation we had some regal ones we do change them around a little bit um they are the standard ones that you had with the cupcake yeah sure no that was pretty cool um the course today can you give us a little bit of a description I actually found it a beautiful course out there but can you give us a bit of a description of the bushy course Yeah, it's flat, which a lot of people like. It's almost in a butterfly shape. It's in a royal park that is full of deer. So it's a very beautiful location. And a lot of people come up to me at the end who are visiting saying how much they enjoyed the openness of the run.

00:19:55Tony O'Connell: Yeah, it was pretty incredible. We did see deer in a few places and at a couple of spots, all we could see was some antlers up above the grass. And I was thinking, my God, how big is that deer that's below those antlers?

00:20:08Richard: There's some big ones out there. There's some big stags here.

00:20:10Tony O'Connell: So you follow, a lot of it's under a bit of shade. You've got a lot of very big trees in the park. Some of it's up alongside some beautiful little wetlands like Leg of Mutton down there. It's just a gorgeous little wetland. Ducks and swans and cygnets at the moment everywhere.

00:20:26Richard: It's rich with wildlife and as a team of putting parkrun on every week, we are very respectful of what the Royal Parks want and respecting nature. So we're trying to be as good as possible to maintain the standards of the park.

00:20:42Tony O'Connell: Yeah, and I've got to say the start line, the actual start was just absolutely amazing. I was wondering how you were going to get 1,200 or 1,300 people into a narrow path and it just flowed. It really worked really well.

00:20:57Richard: It does get a little bit squashed as everybody comes together on the main straight. But I mean, before COVID, we used to have 1,400, 1,500 people weekly. I've been here on Christmas day a few years ago and there were two and a half thousand. So actually when there's 12, 1300, it's pretty good actually. There's a lot of room for everybody with those numbers.

00:21:17Tony O'Connell: I think a lot of Australian events would hear that and say with 1200, we'd be in a bit of a dilemma of how we're going to handle the numbers on some of our paths. But you do have some beautiful open space here. You obviously can handle the bigger numbers in the park.

00:21:32Richard: Absolutely. I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway.

00:21:34Tony O'Connell: And event 936, it's moving along quite nicely. Well done.

00:21:39Richard: Yes. We need to look in the future diaries when the 1000s is, isn't it?

00:21:43Tony O'Connell: Yes.

00:21:44Richard: I wonder how many we'll have for that one.

00:21:45Tony O'Connell: A couple of big events, the 999 and the 1000. Yes, but uh no look it's been a truly amazing experience as a Aussie parkrunner I walked into the park a little bit early this morning we were here probably before seven o'clock because we weren't gonna miss this um and I'd just really like to say thank you for putting the event on we have absolutely loved it uh the atmosphere at the finish line um you know everyone's packed up and gone and there's still so many people sitting around chatting and that it's just amazing

00:22:16Richard: It's very kind of you to say that. We get a lot of Australians here and some even get off the plane at Heathrow and come straight here and run it. So we're always welcoming Australians.

00:22:24Tony O'Connell: All right. Thank you very much. Thank you.

00:22:34Melissa Ellis: And how excited does TOC sound coming to us live? Well, not live, pre-recorded from Bushy parkrun. 67 volunteers helping them at that event, Sarah. It's crazy. Phenomenal. But I did reach out to TOC because I wanted to understand more about how they cope with such large numbers at the finish line and TOC sent back this audio.

00:23:01Tony O'Connell: Hey Mel, great question. The finish line at Bushy is just something amazing to observe. When they're doing their setup, they set up two separate finish funnels just after the finish line. They're set up with tape so that they're not much wider than one person wide. You sort of can't get your handle on it until you finish, and that's when it all makes sense. So as you come around into the finish line, the timers are right on the finish line as normal. They have two timers, so just a backup timer and a regular timer. As you cross the finish funnel... 100 runners are directed into one side, and when they get to 100, the 101 to 102 get directed into the second side. The first person in each 100 gets given an A4 laminated sign to hold up, and you follow through the funnel. And at times, these funnels might be 300 or 400 people long, so it makes a bit of sense when you go through. you don't actually get your token until you get to the end of the finish funnel. And that's where they use the hundred marker signs to make sure that people haven't ducked out of the line and that things are still in order. The A4 signs that you hold up, yesterday we had cupcakes on some of them. We had coffee cups on some of them. They're just random signs that they're made up. During the coronation, they had a lot of royal signs. So they're just really a place marker as you go through the funnel. But the way it works is 100 people in one side get their finished token at the end of the funnel and go off to be scanned. Then they stop that queue and then 100 from the other funnel come through. Really makes sense when you see it. Really works really well. They're just a really well-practised, well-oiled machine at Bushy and it works to perfection. So all in all, we had an awesome day. Just a little bit overwhelming being the Aussie at parkrun, but there were probably 20 Aussies there. We met up with a big pack of them. So we had a great day. In the funnel, you've got plenty of time to have a chat. You get your dolly and bevs floating out across the line. You get people chatting where you're from, all the usual park faff. And you get plenty of time in the funnel to have a chat. All in all, awesome day. TOC out.

00:25:17Melissa Ellis: So that was great, Sarah, getting a little bit of insight as to how they manage the funnel with that many people.

00:25:24Sarah Jefferson: I want to go, Mel. I want to go and experience it for myself. Take me too. Sounds incredible.

00:25:32Melissa Ellis: Amazing, yeah. It really is hard to fathom. I've had a little bit of an experience with the Nitro parkrun that we had in Victoria a few years back. And so I have seen how those corralling funnels, Work. But it's, yeah, you have to be super organised, obviously.

00:25:53Sarah Jefferson: And I get the sense, Mel, it would be like, you know, the hype of City to Surf, but it would be like every week because there's so many people there, there's so much energy, so many people have made this trip from across the world to get to Bushy and I just feel the excitement would just be next level.

00:26:12Melissa Ellis: I know. I feel like the Australians were also... making an effort to find each other at the event. So I could imagine, you know, you'd be standing there with a little flag or something to signify what country you were from and your countrymen would be rushing up like you were their long-lost brother.

00:26:36Sarah Jefferson: so excited hello I'm from Australia too definitely definitely and even deers I was like deer in the park yeah yeah that would be a novelty for me I don't think I've completed a parkrun where there are deer no maybe there'll be some parkruns in in Japan where they would get deer as well but um Yeah, haven't had that experience yet. Something to look forward to, Sarah. Definitely. But, TOC, we're still living vicariously through you and your experiences. So thank you for sharing.

00:27:11Melissa Ellis: Yeah, thank you. But you can come home now.

00:27:14Sarah Jefferson: It's not long, Mel, and he'll be home. Nice to be missed, I guess, TOC.

Emails

00:27:19Sarah Jefferson: But now we've got some mail.

00:27:23Melissa Ellis: You've got mail.

00:27:24Sarah Jefferson: Mel, we do have some mail and this week it comes to us from Johan. It says, Hi Mel, Ollie, Office Lady and adventurers. As I was doing this transcript of this week's episode and read the section about Calum's email about Lindsay's VP index, I thought about another volunteerist club that some of us track but doesn't get much attention. And it is a bit easier to do for hardcore adventurers, especially if you are not close to multiple parkrun events. I'm referring to the number of different locations that one has volunteered, volunteered. Though it is difficult to track on the website, one is able to get that data from the 5K app for now. So I propose the AV club or index for that measure, the Adventeering Club. Have a great week. Johan, AV 50.

00:28:19Melissa Ellis: Wow. So Johan has volunteered at 50. individual events. Wow, Johan, certainly setting the bar high. That's pretty impressive.

00:28:30Sarah Jefferson: Yeah. What about you, Mel?

00:28:32Melissa Ellis: Oh, my, so 24, I had a look on the 5k app. I volunteered at 24 different events and But if it's going to be a club, I think there needs to be a number set to join the club, doesn't there? Like, you know, 20 different events to become a tourist, allegedly. Yeah, so shouldn't you need a certain amount? Oh, I see what you're saying.

00:28:57Sarah Jefferson: Should we throw that back to Johan?

00:28:58Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:29:01Sarah Jefferson: What about you, Sarah? How many different events for you? So for me, I'm sitting on 10 different events. So again, plenty of room to move on that for me. Lots of these ideas are things that I can keep ticking off, Mel.

00:29:17Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I do like the AV club though. That's very good. Thank you, Johan, for highlighting that challenge. And you are right, a lot of people do track these things. Now, Sarah, we also heard from Bec Bailey. She sent us a message and she said, Hey, team. Great pod once again. Loved hearing Sarah from the West covering for Ollie. Thanks for the cover photo this week. I'm missing all my parkrun friends, but really enjoying my time adventuring and travelling South America, making sure to get some high altitude notties in here and there. although they are definitely a lot slower. I met some Australians on the Inca Trail and because of my buff, we got parkrun talking. I met some from Parramatta, Noosa and Cairns parkruns. Got a few more days left in Peru, then I'm headed into Bolivia and more. Bec. My goodness, there's another adventurer out there living the life.

00:30:12Sarah Jefferson: Wow, Bec. Sounds amazing. And that's something else that I love about parkrun. You can find people that are parkrunners anywhere and you can make instant friends, I guess, even if you're on the Inca Trail.

00:30:27Melissa Ellis: I know. We did use Bec's photo for our published post and put a little parkrun flag sneakily on

00:30:37Sarah Jefferson: I didn't see that. I'll have to go back and have a look. No.

00:30:39Melissa Ellis: Goodness me. Yes. But, yeah, she had her parkrun buff.

00:30:45Sarah Jefferson: She did. I did notice that part. Yeah.

00:30:48Melissa Ellis: So some amazing photos. And I saw Johan's also been to see or done the Inca Trail, and he was commenting on what nice weather Bec had because there was lovely clear photos that she had of the area. What would it be? It's the Inca Trail, but what's that little place that's in the photograph down in the valley? I don't know, Mel. Oh, okay. Maybe cut that bit out. I don't know. No, I'm going to leave that in. I love things like that.

00:31:22Sarah Jefferson: Also learning we need to do some geography studies this week for homework. LAUGHTER

00:31:26[laughter]

00:31:29Melissa Ellis: a little bit harder than the ems but um it's all right the listeners will know they'll comment on the post and they'll tell us what the little ruins their ruins the ruins yes um but high high altitude notties yeah wow she's going to be smashing some PBs when she gets home definitely that's what all the athletes do yeah altitude training it's impressive Good job, Bec. She should come back and go run Monday. Oh, base camp. She's probably been discussing all the next adventures with all those crazy people that she's met.

00:32:07Sarah Jefferson: I'm sure.

00:32:08Melissa Ellis: I'm sure.

Dazza's

00:32:10Melissa Ellis: But now we have got a recap from the Office Lady on Dazza's. So let's have a little listen to that.

00:32:25Sam Schroder: Hello, adventurers. This week, I'm going to start with the achievements you shared with us in Dazza's. Congratulations to Thomas Martin, who ran a new course record at Mernda, Tracey Leeper, who went to her NENDY, Gayndah River Walk, and completed Position Bingo, and Sue Smith, who completed her 100th parkrun at Chipping Norton with cupcakes. Well done to Chris Fraser, who ran a PB on the new course at Shellharbour, and Patrick Shymitzek, who scored a quicker-than-average fifth-last stopwatch bingo number. Is that a thing, Patrick? Nice work, Lee Cabarita. That's her born name. Who, thanks to a last-minute change of plans, completed her 100th Parramatta parkrun from a total of 174 parkruns and clap, clap, clap to Heather Morgan, who completed the Compass Challenge at Westerfolds. Shout out to Alison King for completing the final parkrun on the North Island at Waitangi, Tony Everingham, who ran a PB at Redland Bay, and high five to Heather Hunter for collecting a 333 at Port Macquarie. Way to go, Carmel Roll, for your 250th parkrun. And big congrats... to Chris Gore for completing his 350th parkrun and collecting the number one token at Shipwreck. Karen Gore also had a great morning there collecting a position bingo number while their son Phil took the lazy option and just volunteered. I can't imagine why. Speaking of volunteering, thanks to our lovely guest co-host this week, Sarah Jefferson, who was RD at a soggy Cottesloe, Roberta Winters, who volunteered at Main Beach, Ingrid Botha at Dolls Point, David Bravos and Chloe's two sisters at Aveley, Renata Koch at Rooty Hill, Claire Vaynerchuk at Denton Dene and Sue Keane, who was Tail Walker at Shellharbour. And to everyone else who visited Dazza's, thanks for sharing your adventures. Tim Robbins ran and volunteered at Hagley Park. Chloe Bravos ran at Aveley and Val and Steve Warwick were at Edinburgh Oval. Ollie and his family joined Luke and me at Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens and apparently some Warwick in-laws were there as well. Catherine Greenstreet and Hubby were at Tannum Sands and Billo was at Benalla Botanic Gardens with Sarah, Brendan, Jodie, Jamie and Caroline. Martine Barrot, Andrew Johnston and Yvette Turner were all at Wagi Bridge while Greg Garner was at Wondai. Erica Liotta went adventuring at Mount Isa and Georgina Devine was at home at the Beaches. Jack and Claire Corkill were at Rhodes, Bernadette Bennett was at home at Newy and Lyndell Murray had fabulous fun with Fluffy at Nambour. Sonja Pohlman happily admitted she only participated in the Park Faf part of parkrun this week, while Cherie and Jason Cottell adventured out to Leeton Sport and Recreation Precinct. Among others staying at home, there were Paul Whelan and Sherry Brandtman at Panania, Brett and Tanya Bailey at Pegasus, Heather Patsall at Mount Gambier and Jo McLean at the Ponds. Darren Pead and his family travelled to Ipswich, Queensland. Karina Campbell and Sam Ilsley and family were at Central Lakes, and Catherine Pirotta was at Penrith Lakes. Ian and Lydia Knox went to Coombs, Jonathan Morgan was at Anstey Hill Recreation, and Joanne Blackbird hopped on a bus to Huskisson. Adrian Hillyer was at Peppertree, Cherie Martin was at Main Beach, and Mark Prowse was at Wallaby Track. Internationally, we heard from Natalie Soper, who went to Frédéric Back in Montreal, Johan Duvenhage at Heidedal, Anne Fry at Holyrood on Saturday and the Meadows Juniors on Sunday, Helen Rudder at the Pastures, Monty Slade at Tewkesbury, Phil Olson at Woolacombe and the O'Connells living the dream at Bushy Park. And the final shout out for this week is a warm welcome to Jason Andrews, who visited Dazza's for the first time. Thanks for sharing your pic with your son and Mel. You made Mel's day. Trust me, listeners, our hosts love it when you come and say hello if you spot them. Okay, fine. Truth be told, I do too. But a word of warning, I highly recommend you do not approach the informants if you spot them. They are grumpy buggers. See you next time.

00:36:17Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much again, Sam, for putting that together for us. You are definitely getting faster.

00:36:23Sarah Jefferson: So good work, good job, good job.

00:36:26Melissa Ellis: And good to hear where all the adventurers have been on the weekend, Sarah.

00:36:31Sarah Jefferson: Definitely.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:36:32Sarah Jefferson: On that note, Mel, we might keep the celebrations coming and we might throw to the birthday boy.

00:36:43the Birthday Boy: Howdy, it's the birthday boy here with some of the goings on for July 2023. July 23 has five regular parkrun days for everyone to enjoy with week one on the first of the month, week two on the 8th, week three the 15th, week four the 22nd and week five on the 29th. Phew! A regular reminder first of the standard anniversary caveat. Events may celebrate what they like, when they like, so please check all details with the local source, i.e. their webpage and or their Facebook page. This is especially true for dress-ups, cakes, etc. In the absence of anyone joining Main Beach on 12, let's check out the first anniversaries. Across the five parkrun days this month, we have five official first anniversaries, but they are not evenly spread throughout, which would have maximised the cake opportunities. Week one has nothing. Week two, we have nothing. Week three, we have Umbagong District parkrun in the ACT. Then week four, more nothing, which leaves four anniversaries in the fifth week of July. Namely, Frank Keenan Reserve in Victoria, Nantu Wama in South Australia, University of WA in WA and Westbury Town Common in Tasmania. There is not even a chance you could get between those events to score extra cake. Bummer! And now for the parkrun independence events, their 11th anniversaries. This month it is Coomera in Queensland. They are part of the Gold Coast region if you're chasing challenges. Congrats to Coomera! On the anniversaries for junior parkruns front, there are none this month, and none through until January, but you can still go along to volunteer. As with all parkrun adventures, the parkrun cancellations page is a valuable tool. See parkrun.com.au forward slash cancellations. This official cancellation page contains information for the coming weekend plus two future weeks. So be sure to check it again mid-month to pick up the final few weeks of this long month. Well, see you next month for some more birthday boy banter. And be sure to let Mel and Ollie know if you have any requests.

00:39:04Melissa Ellis: And thank you to the birthday boy bringing us all the upcoming anniversaries. Well, not all of them, just the special ones. What about you, though, Sarah?

00:39:13Sarah Jefferson: Do you plan to go to any anniversaries in the near future? I don't think so, Mel. My adventuring calendar is pretty jam-packed over the next month and a bit, so I'm not sure.

Consolidated Club Report

00:39:25Sarah Jefferson: It would be nice to get back to UWA and, I guess, celebrate

00:39:29Melissa Ellis: anniversary with them but um I will not be around for that okay well next up we have the adventurers consolidated club report for Saturday the 24th of june 2023 of a total of 434 members 341 took part on this date at 175 locations in the UK there were adventurers at 24 events two events in South Africa and USA, and one event each in Canada, Germany, Ireland, and Italy. So some adventurers still in Europe. Locally, we had adventurers at 39 events in Victoria, 38 events in Queensland, 34 events in New South Wales, 12 events in South Australia, eight in WA, four on the North Island, three in ACT and Tassie, two on the South Island and none in the Northern Territory.

the Frond

00:40:30Melissa Ellis: Boo.

00:40:31Sarah Jefferson: And we had the three events with nine people each, the largest fronds this week. We had Main Beach. So we had Gary Bowen, Ian and Rhonda Garvin. Sherry Martin, Nicole Sandé, Michaelia Hannett, Ray Taylor, Jessica William and Belinda Land. We had Wagi Bridge, Bill and Yvette Turner, Andrew Johnston and Martine Barrot. We had Kristy Hill, Mia Horrigan, Liz and Peter Corey and Georgina Oven and the Ponds, Dennis Peden, Jeff Robinson, Manish Bindroo, Jo McLean, Louise Garbers, Penny Prosser, Lisa Spencer and Mary DeLuna.

00:41:20Melissa Ellis: Well done. Our fronds are growing, Sarah. Nine people at three separate events.

00:41:26Sarah Jefferson: It's getting bigger. It is. It is getting bigger, which is great to see.

00:41:30Melissa Ellis: And I used a picture from Wagi Bridge of Yvette Turner's for the Consolidated Club Report post on Sunday. Well, actually, I should probably mention that it wasn't me, that posted the Consolidated Club Report on Sunday. We've got another helper. So thank you very much to Craig, Craig Ryan, who is stepping in to help me out on a Sunday with that post.

00:41:51Sarah Jefferson: Many hands make light work, Mel. Yes. And I will say congratulations where congratulations is due. Well done to Victoria, 39. And TOC and Jacqui aren't even back yet, Mel.

00:42:03Melissa Ellis: I know. Just you wait till they get back. So congratulations.

Statesmen update

00:42:09Sarah Jefferson: And I can see statesmen this week. So we have Victoria, five statesmen. So we've got four new. Well done, Mel, there, getting the stats back up for Victoria. You and three others.

00:42:21Melissa Ellis: Yes. We should have some more this week as they're The Victorian tourists slowly catch up all their events and boost our numbers, but we're sitting on the bottom of the table out of the statesmen. I'm quite surprised and concerned.

00:42:35Sarah Jefferson: We've got Queensland 7, New South Wales 7, Tassie 9, the new... new statesman there and Western Australia 15 so we're still holding strong for now you are doing well over there in wa hopefully I can contribute to that soon how many do you have to you do you just have to catch back up one I've just got one yes and same with Matt uh matt's got two he's got Newcastle Park it's only about an hour and a half away But we're tracking for event 36 there. Otherwise, the other one is probably 10 or 11-hour drive.

00:43:12Melissa Ellis: So just around the corner.

00:43:16Sarah Jefferson: So, yes, when we're in town and we have a few days to spare to, I guess, drive up and drive back. Otherwise, flights are quite expensive in Western Australia, cheaper to go international, to be honest.

00:43:32Melissa Ellis: Hmm.

00:43:33Sarah Jefferson: I'm sensing a road trip. Road trip. Yes. Not sure when, but hopefully not too far away.

00:43:40Melissa Ellis: Brilliant. Well, I have got, I've got a shout out to our listeners, Sarah. I've left this till the end of the pod because I need help. This is a team effort and this podcast is very much about the community. And I have realised that when we introduce ourselves at the start of the pod, We never actually describe what our podcast is about. We just say, hi, welcome to the parkrun adventurers. I'm Mel and this is whoever and start talking. So it's not very professional, not really. So what I would like to appeal to our listeners for is suggestions on a short description that we could use in the intro to outline the pod. A summary of what we are about.

00:44:29Sarah Jefferson: You know, just one line, one or two lines, that's all I need.

00:44:34Melissa Ellis: So get your thinking caps on, people. I'm sure between us all we can come up with something that is descriptive of what the pod stands for or stands to do. A charter. Well, it's not really a charter. I did try to think of what the official word was for such things.

00:44:52Sarah Jefferson: And I'm sure there is an official word as well for it. I think there is, yeah.

00:44:57Melissa Ellis: It's like an abstract. Hmm. Not.

00:45:01Sarah Jefferson: Yes.

00:45:05Melissa Ellis: Good grief. Well, anyway, if you would like to send your suggestions, please feel free. You can send them to our email. or our messenger.

00:45:15Sarah Jefferson: I have to put my thinking cap on. There's no ideas off the top of my head, but I know exactly what line you're talking about. When I listen to podcasts, they will say what it is the podcast will be about or their purpose, I guess, behind the podcast.

00:45:29Melissa Ellis: Yeah, exactly. Yes, we need to lift our game.

00:45:34Sarah Jefferson: Very creative community we have. So I'm sure they will come in thick and fast.

Sign-off

00:45:40Melissa Ellis: But it's that time of the week again that it's time to say where we're going to be next week. Have you got something a bit more exciting than last week, Sarah? I do.

00:45:52Sarah Jefferson: I'm finally adventuring. I'm jumping back on a plane, Mel, and I'm actually headed off to Malaysia.

00:46:00Melissa Ellis: Oh, goodness me.

00:46:02Sarah Jefferson: Back across the equator to tick off the one parkrun that is currently in Malaysia. And the adventurers that I met in Singapore, Helen and Stephen Davis, they are actually going to be there. So we were chatting over breakfast and they said, oh, we're going to Malaysia on the 1st of July. And I said, we're going to be there as well. So that will be really nice. We'll have a frond. And I believe I get to meet your friend, Harry, Mel. Oh, wow. Say hi from me. I will. I'm very excited about that. That's awesome. And some warm weather, of course. Yeah, you little jet setter. Yeah, but what about you, Mel?

00:46:41Melissa Ellis: I'm jet setting too, but not over to a different country for a different flag, but over to an island. Nonetheless, me and the Office Lady are heading to South Australia and Kangaroo Island. That would be great. It's high on my list. So it's the start of my birthday month.

00:47:03Sarah Jefferson: uh weekend adventures that I've got planned for myself so very excited awesome I feel like you always have weekend adventures planned for yourself you know I guess we can milk it for your birthday month my birthday year Mel I love that the year of Mel

00:47:25Melissa Ellis: Starting now. Actually, now that you mention that, we had a Festival of Mel at Toolern Creek last year.

00:47:32Sarah Jefferson: I wonder if it's passed by or they haven't repeated it. I better go back and check my calendar.

00:47:36Melissa Ellis: Anyway, I can't go because I can't repeat.

00:47:39Sarah Jefferson: That's right. You'll be busy doing your own festival. It'll ruin my streak.

00:47:43Melissa Ellis: Yeah. I'll take it on the road. Sounds good. It'll be the Festival of Mel on Tour.

00:47:49Sarah Jefferson: That's right. They can bring it to you, right? Wherever Mel's going to be, that's where the party's at. Okay. Can't go to Ireland. We're having a festival.

00:47:58Melissa Ellis: sounds great oh good well thank you for joining me again Sarah it's been fun really appreciate you stepping in for Ollie these last two weeks been a pleasure thank you for having me back you are welcome now as always everybody you can contact us via Facebook or our email which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com that's it for another week we'll see you all next week for more adventures

00:49:17Unidentified speaker: Bye.