Episode 348 - Cat Amongst the Magpies

Welcome

00:00:24Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 348 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. I am Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:36Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I am joining from Dharawal Country.

00:00:41Melissa Ellis: Have you recovered? Have you recovered from your World Cup fever, Ollie?

00:00:47Oliver Spake: Generally, yes. It has been a bit of a low week. I have to admit, Mel, I do miss the World Cup. I had such a fun time and it was lovely to get to share it with family and friends and yeah.

00:01:01Melissa Ellis: Yeah, thank you for sharing it with the whole community. I had a steep learning curve of women's soccer.

00:01:10Oliver Spake: soccer in general well yeah you grabbed it with both hands but uh it was just endless highlights for me and uh yeah tell you the truth I think I've been fighting a cold or something along those lines on and off uh last week thought I was better but something's come back today and I've actually had a had a thunderstorm in the background so you might hear some thunder and or some rain in the background audio here, but maybe it's just the weather changing. Not sure. But just as well, there's a thing called parkrun to boost me back up.

00:01:47Melissa Ellis: That's exactly it now, Ollie. I am putting my Matilda's beanie aside and I am getting my Collingwood beanie out of mothballs. So it's AFL fever time. AFL finals are approaching and my team, we're the minor premiers. Yes. So I'm jumping on that bandwagon.

00:02:08Oliver Spake: Understandably so. You must be particularly fond of September with your team right up there at the top. And, of course, the sky is filled with magpies. So how appropriate. How appropriate.

00:02:24Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:02:25Oliver Spake: Yeah. But well done to them. Congratulations, Mel. Thank you.

00:02:29Melissa Ellis: So you can support Collingwood after I was so supportive of the Matildas. There you go.

00:02:36Oliver Spake: Oh, gee. Well, do I need to check? Because, I mean, I know Swans fans. I know St Kilda fans. I don't know how far I go, but, yeah, I guess.

00:02:49Melissa Ellis: Are you saying you can't have an allegiance with Collingwood? No. You're supposed to just say yes to me.

00:02:56Oliver Spake: Yeah, go the pies. Yes, thank you. There we are, go the pies. Yes, it is nice to be back. It was lovely to hear Simon and yourself last week, Mel, but thank you for having me back. And, yeah, look, for quite a bit in this week's pod, we've got roving reports, we've got lots of emails, and, of course, as I just mentioned, with September imminent – in fact, it might even be September by the time you hear that word – Stay tuned for another update from Pippa because streaky September is, well, it's pretty much upon us. Yep. But I'm getting ahead of myself, Mel. There was a parkrun day, an August parkrun day, and I believe there may have been some parkrun tourism, some adventuring. How was your parkrun day?

00:03:48Melissa Ellis: Thank you. There was. And I've got a brief report today. So I was at Event 17 at Parkindula Reserve on the lands of the Peramonk people. There were 37 runners, which was down from the average of 70, which likely due to the cooler conditions. Parkindula is in the suburb of Mount Barker, appropriate for International Dog Day in the Adelaide Hills, which I can confirm forms part of the Mount Lofty Ranges. We heard from PK at Parkindula Reserve in episode 339, West Side Story, so I won't go into a huge detail about the course. Suffice to say, it's two laps of a wetland situated within a residential housing estate. And it's got a 300 metre offshoot that goes up a hill. That offshoot is a killer. Before the event, I chatted to another parkrun tourist who I also interviewed after the run. So we'll hear that a bit later on with the roving reports. It was just an overnight trip for me. So after saying my goodbyes, I headed for home with my parkrun cup refilled for another week. And as an aside, it was my 26th, event in South Australia.

00:05:00Oliver Spake: Well done, Mel. Well done.

00:05:02Melissa Ellis: So I'm making headway into South Australia, although it isn't my goal.

00:05:05Oliver Spake: I was going to say.

00:05:07Melissa Ellis: It isn't my goal to complete them. It's not? No, no. Are you sure? No, no, no, no. It's just they're just my NENDYs, Ollie.

00:05:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. Full credit, Mel. That's some trip.

00:05:20Dev: Mine wasn't quite that far, but

00:05:25Oliver Spake: But it is nice to be able to live vicariously through you and I believe we might hear a little bit more very shortly from your adventure.

00:05:32Melissa Ellis: Yes, but you had tourists at home.

00:05:35Oliver Spake: I did. I did. I welcomed tourists, which was a delight. We were joined at Shellharbour at Home where I was run directing by Val and Steve Warwick, who still haven't found their way back across Bass Strait to Tassie. Yeah, so they were kind enough to include us in their intrepid travels and to come along. And whilst Steve had put his name down to volunteer as Barcode Scanner, we hadn't realised he'd really just planned to scan. So I was very glad that I was able to have a quick chat with Steve and send him out on course to make the most of the chance to run around our course on what was an unexpectedly sunny morning. I thought it would be raining. So, yeah, it was a morning of surprises, not least because I'd spent the last two days, as I said, not feeling 100% and arguing with my seven-year-old daughter at every point in the day. Naturally, it was a little bit of a surprise, a very pleasant surprise when she told me very clearly she was in for parkrun. She wanted to come and barcode scan and she had the time of her life. She even came along to the cafe for most of the park faff afterwards. That's great. Yeah, we were joined as well by Sam and Luke and Bec and Michael and even Patrick made an appearance beforehand and naturally Brendan and Em and the list goes on, of course. But it was a lovely morning and I think... Yeah, just a lot of positive vibes, Mel. Yeah, seeing PBs across the field as well. We had someone in a regular who's under 10 achieve a PB. We had a regular who was over 80 achieve a PB. Oh, nice. So, yeah, yeah, just an all-round pleasant one.

00:07:35Melissa Ellis: Good to hear, Ollie. So thank you for bringing us that news from Shalaba.

00:07:41Oliver Spake: Yeah, something a bit different. But we do have some other news now. I believe it's some news that we shared last week, as I heard.

00:07:50Melissa Ellis: Yeah, we did. So the news came out after we had recorded, Simon and I, and I found a way to stick it in.

00:08:00Oliver Spake: The magic of editing, yes.

00:08:01Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but I tell you a story, and I'll get to this a bit more shortly. I had to remove a section of our recording that Simon and I did because we had a discussion earlier and when I did some fact checking after the fact I realised that I'd made a little error of judgment in something that I'd said so I thought right I'm gonna snip that out and of course that left our intro a bit sparse so I thought I know what I can pop in there the news of nordic day so everybody will probably know about this and have heard it last week but yes it's uh It's a bit of a, what would you say?

00:08:47Oliver Spake: A bit of a shift in the approach there, I suppose, across the Nordic nations. Correct. But I appreciate the reasoning, but we'll change some travel plans then, I suspect, Mel.

00:08:59Melissa Ellis: I mean, if it makes it manageable for all those event teams and spreads the numbers over multiple events, it's got to be a good thing, doesn't it?

00:09:07Oliver Spake: Absolutely, absolutely. And I can just imagine how positive it will feel with the festivities spread even further afield on those special days. So I do tend to agree, though. It is great to see the support for the event teams and the volunteers. So, yeah, a new special day for some to look forward to.

00:09:30Melissa Ellis: I'm not in a lot of parkrun discussion groups. Just, you know, the main, I guess, the... parkrun Australia unofficial tourism group and we've got a state-based one in Victoria. I really didn't get any feeling that there was negativities around this decision that's been made. I didn't hear a lot anyway. So maybe it's all going on in groups that I'm not in if in fact there was negativity. But by all accounts, everybody's been quite fine with it.

00:10:06Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, and I can appreciate that, yeah, as an organisation that is there to look out for the wellbeing of... not only the event teams, but the participants, the communities in which they operate, obviously respect the owners and other responsible parties for the lands in which we're able to hold these great events. They need to find the balance as they see fit. And yeah, I suppose we have had this experience over years you know removal of doubles and and these discussion topics we've had previously so um no I think I think I also whilst not an active member of many chat groups at all uh I do sense a level of understanding and respect that hey we've got parkrun we've got parkrun on a weekly basis it's free and uh we've got a bunch of wonderful people out there ready to volunteer for us and so um Yes, it's a change and maybe does reduce the overall number of days available to some. It's still a huge positive.

00:11:17Melissa Ellis: I think I was really lucky that those countries, those Nordic countries shared Ascension Day. Yes. Because that just made it a nice easy fix, didn't it?

00:11:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's great, something that they can share in that way. So, yeah, a bit of certainty there. Well, being a day of the week, a Thursday. So you get a rest day in between, everyone. That's great.

00:11:40Melissa Ellis: I want to get there one day. One day I want to go and do Nordic Day.

00:11:44Oliver Spake: Well, it'll have to happen, Mel.

00:11:46Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I said it. I said it out loud.

00:11:49Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:11:50Melissa Ellis: But let me tell you, Ollie, about what I had to remove from last week's. So I had this discussion with Simon about ultrabands because I need to order a new ultraband. And I was on the parkrun Australia shop and looking at all the different colours, deciding that I was going to choose a nice green and gold because I still had the fever, the World Cup fever. But what caught my eye was a stock photo of the parkwalker Ultraband. Because in the little section where your barcode number appears and with the actual barcode, in the stock photo after the athlete ID, there was a name printed. And I got a bit excited thinking that I could order myself an Ultraband and just maybe insert my name after my athlete ID.

00:12:50Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:12:51Melissa Ellis: The reason that that excites me is because that's more in line with your traditional printed barcode that had your name visible when you presented it to get scanned. But the actual ultra bands that we wear or the flat bands or whatever they are, in effect, they only have your athlete ID visible. You can't see your name visible. So the scanner can't address you by your name. And I thought, oh, this is exciting. Simon and I had a big discussion about it. I'm going to do this. I'm going to order myself one with my name on it. And then after we recorded, I actually sat down and tried to do it. And guess what? You actually can't. It doesn't let you. So the fields, when you're ordering... do not allow you to put your name after your athlete ID. So I don't know. It doesn't seem to be possible. And yet, yet it's in the photo. I am intrigued.

00:13:51Oliver Spake: And I have to admit, I've been slightly distracted. I've been trying to process an order, not submitting payments, but to do the same and to follow your lead there, Mel. And yeah. And it does not? I don't understand. Yeah. Why would you have it in the photo?

00:14:08Melissa Ellis: Yeah, why indeed? And why would you be using somebody's actual athlete ID to stop photos? I guess nobody is going to actually print a photo of a flatband and take it to parkrun to get scanned.

00:14:23Oliver Spake: Well, has it happened?

00:14:26Melissa Ellis: Has it happened?

00:14:29Oliver Spake: But, yeah, look, I'm intrigued. And for anyone out there that may have a bit more information or may be able to offer some clarity, I would certainly invite that. But particularly, is there a flat band that Mel can have her name on? Has anyone got one? Not with Mel's name, but yeah.

00:14:49Melissa Ellis: Maybe we can start a movement to have it changed.

00:14:55Oliver Spake: We would love that.

00:14:56Melissa Ellis: Because I think we should have our name visible so that our scanners can say hey and remember. And like you said yourself, Ollie, this is how you learn the names.

00:15:07Oliver Spake: I have absolutely said that on multiple occasions and it's true. It's a nice way to socialise and to check in with someone as they finish their parkrun. You can call them by their first name. Hopefully you don't offend them if you mispronounce it. And, yeah, by saying it over and over, I eventually remember half the names and sorry to the other half of people.

00:15:31Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I think it needs to be there. Okay.

00:15:34Oliver Spake: Well, I hope that one of those five people listening has a degree of influence and we can see that.

00:15:43Melissa Ellis: You know, I guess it could be possible when they create them that even though you can't populate it yourself when you order, they could potentially just pull your first name details and put it there themselves.

00:16:00Oliver Spake: Yes, yes.

00:16:02Melissa Ellis: But it doesn't say that they do that in any of the description, so I doubt that.

00:16:07Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, that's right. And, in fact, one of the stock photos appears to have an actual surname. So hopefully we'll receive some mail. But, Mel, as we said, we have quite a bit coming up in this episode, so this seems an appropriate point while we're waiting for that email to come in.

00:16:27[crosstalk]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:16:27Oliver Spake: to pause and to hand over to some of our wonderful roving reporters from the Channel 5 News crew, including... And me. ..yourself. Including yourself for a few roving reports. Let's have a listen.

Roving report Melissa Ellis — Parkindula Reserve parkrun

Talking to Megan — parkrun tourist, home parkrun West Beach (SA); creator of the All That Glitters and…

00:16:50Melissa Ellis: Alrighty, we finished Parkindula Reserve parkrun and I'm here at the finish line with Megan and Alex. Good morning, ladies. Morning. Now, firstly, I wanted to speak to Megan. I was having a chat to Megan prior to the event starting and discovered she's a tourist and I wanted her to tell you some of her story. So, firstly, Megan, can I ask you what brought you here today to Parkindula?

00:17:13Megan: I've come today because it's the event number 17, which I was looking for for my Wilson Index event. And I haven't done this one before. Next week I might be coming back to get event number 18 for the same reason. But, yeah, I like to travel around and do the different parkruns, see different places. Last weekend I was at Port Fairy. In the greatest state.

00:17:36[crosstalk]

00:17:36Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:17:37Megan: I don't know about that. You can't say that. I lived in Vic for three years, which is actually where I started doing parkrun. I lived in Colac and started parkrunning in Timboon because of Alex and another one of our friends, Marion, who lives in Mount Gambier. And I realised that if I wanted to spend time with them, I needed to learn to run. So, yeah, so that's how I got into parkrunning and touristing and the challenges keep me going. doing it and therefore keeping fit. Now tell us about your home parkrun. My home parkrun is West Beach at the moment, which they're currently running an alternate route. This year has been my year of alternate routes. So the council's doing some work on their normal route and they're running all the way across the beach instead of up the River Torrens. And I've done, I think, about at least five... alternate routes this year at different parkruns most recently Carisbrook and previously to that I did the Torrens alternate route that they call the Brew route.

00:18:44Melissa Ellis: The Brew run yes now you were telling me about this this sounds like a good challenge an alternate course challenge in my mind.

00:18:50Megan: I hadn't thought about that but it might be one that I will have to create. I have created a couple of different challenges on the 5k app. I like the fact that they've set it up so you can now do that for yourself. I've got one called All That Glitters which has got things like Copper Trail, Diamond Creek, Goldfields Reservoir and basically anyone that has anything to do with precious gems and stones and medals. And the other one that I created, I've called Drunken Sailor. I love this one. It's seven ports, three harbours and a shipwreck. I started thinking about it because there are at least... three Port parkruns in South Australia and then I decided how many are there in Australia and it turns out there are seven and we had one harbour here being Victor Harbor and I'm like okay how many harbours have we got? Turns out there's three and then I discovered there was shipwreck parkrun in Western Australia and I just went oh that has to be part of it because if you've got a drunken sailor there's likely to be a shipwreck. Are you going to save that one for the last one in your challenge? Because that feels like that would be the pinnacle. I think I might have to, yeah. It might be a case of touristing to Western Australia to get Port Hedland and then Shipwreck to finish off.

00:20:14Melissa Ellis: Yes. So, fun fact, one of our podcast families, the Gores, all hail from Shipwreck and we actually follow the...

Talking to Alex — parkrun tourist, home parkrun Reynella East (SA); owner of curly coated retrievers…

00:20:23Alex: uh ed there Phil Gore he's an ultra marathoner but that is beside the point now we've also got Alex here Alex is here today with her two dogs would you like to tell us what breed your dogs are Alex uh these two are curly coated retrievers and they are one of the oldest retriever breeds um but they are a vulnerable breed which means there aren't very many of them being born every year and I'm biased but You know, I think they're pretty awesome. Okay, so what are their names? This is Humphrey, who is currently behaving himself. And Megan's now got Asta, who is doing her level best to, I don't know, be a 15-month-old crazy retriever. And they're black. They are black. Now, they have this lovely curly coat. And what's the purpose of the coat? You were saying before it's waterproof? When they concocted them back in the 1800s, they were for gamekeepers. So the coats are meant to repel burrs and water. They actually don't get stuff stuck in them as much as you might think from looking at them. And how did you come to know about the breed? I had a, I admit I bought a dog years ago from a pet shop and I was looking for a Lab Cross and she was a Lab Curly Cross. She was lovely and when she died at the age of nearly 13, I thought I might investigate curlies, thought I'd missed the curls. And just by sheer luck, there was a breeder here in South Australia, Hi Anne and Tegan, who had a litter and Humphrey was one of them. So it went from there. And do you bring the dogs every week to parkrun? I bring Humphrey every week. I've been doing this, he's four and a half. I've been doing parkrun with him since he was six months. But obviously Astakhan only come when I've got someone who's crazy enough to wrangle her beakers. Yeah, two of them, A, not okay, and also they would be nuts. So you got a bit of dog assist up that hill. That was a bit of a killer of a hill. They are very handy up hills, although he likes to check that Asta's still behind us, so he then goes backwards, and I'm like, no, no, forwards. Fabulous. Are you a tourist as well? I am. I tourist when I can. Back in March, I visited my dad, who lives in Ballina, And despite the fact that there is a parkrun in Ballina, which I still want to do, he agreed to drive me four hours to Inverell so that I could do Inverell parkrun and get an eye. So thanks for that, Dad. I hope that was much appreciated. Very pretty spot, Inverell. Lovely parkrun. So I've now completed the alphabet, which was pretty cool and took me to some interesting places. Fabulous.

00:23:08Melissa Ellis: Fun fact, I'm going to Ballina next week.

00:23:11Megan: There you go.

00:23:13Melissa Ellis: And are you local? Is that why you're both? No, that's not why Megan's here.

00:23:18Alex: Did you just come to join Megan today? Pretty much. My local is Reynella East and this one's about 40 minutes away and it was my NENDY. So when Megan said she was coming here, I was like, would you mind taking a dog? And then I will drive the 40 minutes and come here and give them both a bit of a run because otherwise, yeah. Excellent. And Anne Fry wasn't here today, but I believe you know Anne. I do. I've known Anne for... like probably known her for about nine years, I think. We're both English teachers. We now work together. And we met at a conference in Darwin, actually. And sort of, you know, when you see someone you vaguely know at a conference, you go, oh, I will stand with you. So I've got someone to talk to.

00:24:05Melissa Ellis: Oh, I believe that happened this morning when I started chatting to Megan. You look like a friendly tourist. So, yeah.

00:24:11Alex: Yeah, and... Well, I mean, she's achieved touristing heights that I can only aspire to. But I can say I've done parkrun in two countries. Excellent. That is something.

00:24:25Melissa Ellis: Well, thank you for talking to me today, ladies. It was lovely to meet you. Good luck with all your adventuring. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Roving report Tony O'Connell — Tallangatta Station parkrun

00:24:33Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, TOC from Inverloch. Today Jack and I have ventured up the Hume Highway to the Victorian New South Wales border to a lovely little town called Tallangatta. It's inland from Albury Wodonga, about 40 kilometres, population of about 1,200. Fun fact about Tallangatta is in the 1950s, they decided to expand Lake Hume. So they actually picked up the entire town, schools, houses, the works, and moved it about eight kilometres up the valley. So we'll get out, we'll have a bit of a run. It's on a rail trail at the foothills of some mountains, follows the edge of Lake Hume. We'll get out, have a bit of a run, and we'll have a chat later. Howdy parkrunners. We're here at the finish line. We're all packed up. We're off to the Green Galah for coffee and I'm really looking forward to a warm cuppa. I'm with a couple of the founding team today. I've got Dev and Andrew with me. Guys, give us a quick course description.

Talking to Dev — Tallangatta Station parkrun founding team member

00:25:31Tony O'Connell: I'll start with you. Dev, if you want a course description and how did parkrun start in Tallangatta?

00:25:37Dev: Yeah, so our parkrun is an out and back on an old rail trail. So it's pretty simple. There's no offshoots to it. It's a pretty gentle downhill on the way out, which might lead to a gentle uphill on the way back. Yeah, we are actually council pushed from the start. So council approached the community to say, can we get a parkrun going? And we put our hands up and I suppose that's where we've come from, which is a bit different than other parkruns. But yeah.

00:26:08Tony O'Connell: There's an interesting history with councils doing that. As you said, it is unusual, but there are a couple around.

Talking to Andrew — Tallangatta Station parkrun founding team member; former Run Director at Ginninderra…

00:26:14Tony O'Connell: Andrew, what's your background with parkrun?

00:26:17Andrew: I've been involved in parkrun for many, many years. I was a parkrun Run Director at Ginninderra parkrun in Canberra. So when council were looking for people to help start this one, It was a no-brainer for me and my wife to put our hands up and come along.

00:26:41Tony O'Connell: And you've got a beautiful course down here. We sort of kick off at the old train station, which is basically a platform and a sign. Run, as you said, down a gentle incline, which leads to an upwards flat on the way back. But you get down to the lake, Lake Hume at the end, is it? Yeah. Do a bit of a turnaround down there and you've got the views out over the lake. Our views today are somewhat restricted with a bit of fog, but that's starting to clear. Yeah, anything else around the course that you'd like to tell us?

00:27:10Andrew: Well, one thing about rail trails is trains don't like hills, so the hills aren't steep. They may be long, but they're not steep. There are beautiful views over the lake when the sun's shining on the lake and on the green hills around, it's just a beautiful place to run.

00:27:31Dev: The other thing is we're in the middle pretty much of the rail trail. So the actual rail trail stretches 40km or 50km. So if you want to spend the day, it's an excellent place to come and do it. Take a bike and it's a downhill from Shelley all the way to here pretty much. So it's an excellent area to spend the day or spend the weekend.

00:27:51Tony O'Connell: I think it's probably a ripping spot to spend the weekend. As you said, you're in the middle. You can go both ways and, you know, cafes in town, bakery in town, sort of got it all. Yep. Speaking about that, we might head off and grab a coffee. Thanks guys. Thanks for a great day.

00:28:05Andrew: Thank you. Thank you.

Roving report Johan Duvenhage — Cape Agulhas parkrun

00:28:08Johan Duvenhage: Morning adventurers. It's Johan checking in from the southernmost part of Africa at Cape Agulhas.

Talking to Jeremy Mann — Run Director on the day, Cape Agulhas parkrun, South Africa

00:28:14Johan Duvenhage: I'm here with Jeremy Mann, the Run Director for today. Jeremy, how's parkrun been going in Agulhas?

00:28:21Jeremy Mann: It's gone really well. Unfortunately, the weather doesn't always play with our launch. We were not sure we would actually run and when the sun rose we had 98 people. Yeah, so of course we ran. It wasn't a pleasant run. But we had beautiful days after that and then a couple of weeks ago we had another vicious storm and today we have the wind back. But it's a really beautiful run and it's really taking off in the community. So initially it was mainly parkrun visitors who were here, but we've now got lots of people in the community. It's becoming a community project almost.

00:28:59Johan Duvenhage: It's an awful, and the course is well maintained it looks like to me. And then obviously the turnaround point. Can you describe that to our listeners?

00:29:07Jeremy Mann: So the turnaround point is in front of the southernmost house on the tip of Africa. It's a heritage site. So it's been there for almost from 1860, I think. And the owners were the ones that actually eventually got the lighthouse built. Because if you look up from our turning point, you see the iconic picture of the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse. And just across from them on the shore, we've got a number of historic fishing sites, tidal pools that were built by the Khoisan probably about 2,000 years ago to catch fish. And the rest of the route is also dotted with a lot of historical sites of interest. So it goes through the fynbos and so on a nice day you've got lots of birds. Now and again a bit of daycare or two so it's really a pleasant run.

00:30:05Johan Duvenhage: I had an awesome run. I'm still catching my breath, from the the headwind was really as what is that a southwesterly wind yeah it's been hectic awesome run and uh it is uh adventurers I can proudly proclaim that I now have my South Africa compass as well as my southern african compass having done the Agulhas which is uh unfortunately for poor Groeneweide now dethroned them

00:30:32Jeremy Mann: um today we have a few uh quite a lot of visitors here we do yeah so we've got Bruce Fordyce and he brought an entourage I haven't met all of them yet and unfortunately the run is mainly visitors the locals know what the weather's like and they decided to stay away which is a bit unfortunate but um Certainly the run was warm with Bruce's lovely speech before and we really enjoyed it and enjoy having him here.

00:31:00Johan Duvenhage: I still need to get hold of Bruce and just brag that I beat him today. Jeremy, thank you very much for you and the team of volunteers for having us here for parkrun. We so appreciate the efforts of everybody.

00:31:10Jeremy Mann: And thank you very much for visiting us and Ventures, please also pay us a visit.

00:31:15the birthday boy: Thanks.

00:31:17Johan Duvenhage: Not the tree.

Talking to Bruce Fordyce — visiting parkrunner at Cape Agulhas; nine-time Comrades Marathon winner

00:31:20Johan Duvenhage: Adventurous. I'm here with none other than Bruce again today. We've just finished Cape Agulhas parkrun and there's a few interesting things happening last night. Especially you were quite happy.

00:31:33Bruce Fordyce: I was very happy last night because my beloved Springboks beat the All Blacks with the biggest, to use the expression, club that the All Blacks have had in many years. So we were celebrating and then what a way to start today off with a beautiful parkrun here at Agulhas parkrun, the southernmost parkrun in South Africa.

00:31:52Johan Duvenhage: And in Africa. And in Africa, yeah.

00:31:54Bruce Fordyce: The southernmost park.

00:31:55Johan Duvenhage: So not just nine comrades marathon, you also have the badge for the South African and African compass.

00:32:01Bruce Fordyce: Yes, I've got, I think I've got the whole lot. Yeah. Yeah, that's fantastic.

00:32:06Johan Duvenhage: So what did you think of the route?

00:32:08Bruce Fordyce: I loved it. I mean, it's beautiful. Alongside the sea. A bit of a strong wind, but that's lovely. It pushed us back on the way home. And beautiful sort of fynbos and flowers and lovely birds. I saw an oyster catcher when I was running. And we've passed the building that is the southernmost building in South Africa. That's awesome. Yeah.

00:32:34Johan Duvenhage: All right. Thank you very much. Thank you.

00:32:36Bruce Fordyce: And see you later. Yeah. Thank you.

00:32:39Johan Duvenhage: Well, adventurers, that's some feedback from Cape Agulhas parkrun. This parkrun is in the town of L'Agulhas near the Cape of Agulhas, about 225 kilometres from Cape Town and about three hours by car from the mother city. The name originates from the Portuguese meaning Cape of Needles and is a rocky headland in the Western Cape of South Africa, it's the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the atlantic and indian oceans about 55 kilometres further south than the cape of good hope the name cape of needles stems from the early sailors noticing in around the year 1500 that the direction of magnetic north and therefore their compass needles coincided with true north in the region Previously, Groeneweide parkrun near Franskraal and Hermanus had the honour of being the most southerly parkrun in Africa. Historically, the Cape has been known to sailors as a major hazard on the traditional Clipper Sea route around the tip of Africa, as can be attested by many a shipwreck along the coastline. Although the weather can be unpredictable, temperatures and rainfall in the area is generally mild. However, stormy weather does happen, and especially strong winds as we had today. For today, we had 46 parkrunners, of which three were first-timers and a whopping 23 visitors. That's half the field. The first finishers were at the Timekeepers in 20 minutes and 46 seconds. As you heard Jeremy explain, the route follows the rugged coastline with minor undulations and fully on gravel and grass paths. It certainly is a parkrun to put on your bucket list when you're in South Africa. Until next time, happy adventuring.

00:34:28Melissa Ellis: And thank you to my fellow roving reporters, TOC and Johan, Tallangatta.

00:34:37Oliver Spake: Thank you for pronouncing that, Mel. And also nice to hear from Johan at Agulhas.

00:34:45Melissa Ellis: Yes. Getting all the badges, Agulhas.

00:34:49Oliver Spake: Yeah. Or Cape Agulhas, isn't it? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And some more familiar voices, of course.

00:34:58Melissa Ellis: He gets the big names. It's the second time he's interviewed Bruce. Yes.

00:35:02Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:35:03Melissa Ellis: So well done to them doing the most southern event in the south province plus in South Africa. Well, there was a couple of things that it was. Anyway, they got badges. So yay.

00:35:20Oliver Spake: And I'm sorry, Johan. Happy birthday, by the way. But I need to go and do my research on that location. Yes. But were you going to say what I was going to say, B1? No. I think I was B2.

Emails

00:35:34Oliver Spake: You've got mail. We have lots of mail, so let's jump straight into it because we've got some mail from Paddy. Paddy Oshimo, that is, who said, Hi, Mel, Ollie, et al. I enjoyed listening to last week's pod, as usual, and paid particular attention to Simon having an accident with sun cream and his eye. I hope Simon has recovered. This comment did remind me to get serious about applying sun cream. So thank you. Simon, as many of us make commitments to streak through September and the days get brighter in general, this is an excellent reminder for us all, Aussies especially, to slop on that sun cream before every outing. Happy streaking to all and may the sun cream keep those melanomas away. Regards, Patrick, Paddy, Shimo, et cetera.

00:36:31Melissa Ellis: Yes, that is a timely reminder. Slip, slop, slap.

00:36:36Oliver Spake: And wrap.

00:36:38Melissa Ellis: Now, we also heard from Geoff Glaab, Ollie, and he said, Hey, team, my suggestion for this year's card, meaning Bingoe card, is Window Kitty. If you spot a cat in a window on your run or walk, take a photo. Also, check out this event starting up in Canada on August the 26th. And he inserted window. the web link for the event. And he says it's in the Canadian Rockies outside of Banff National Park and will probably be one of the most beautiful locations in the world. Definitely one of the prettiest in North America. We had a launch in the US on Saturday, Lackawanna Rail Trail. That was sparsely attended. Hopefully some more folks hear about that one and they have a bigger turnout for week two. Thanks for the pod and all the work you put into it, Jeff. Now, firstly, Ollie, I did some homework and I looked up Lackawanna Rail Trail. They had eight finishes for week two, so they did increase on week one.

00:37:42Oliver Spake: Well done, team. Well done.

00:37:44Melissa Ellis: And the event that was starting, as Jeff said, in Canada on the 26th of August, it did start and we will mention it a bit later on. So I don't know, maybe we'll save our comments for later when we get down to the Consolidated Club Report, Ollie.

00:38:04Oliver Spake: Okay. I've written a post-it. We won't forget it. Next up, we did have a message from the Quizmaster, and this is also on the subject of some of the ideas and suggestions. Sign up a new adventurer and maybe we will hit 500 members by the end of September.

00:38:23Melissa Ellis: This is a good one. Mm. To boost our parkrun Adventurers Club, we're on about 450 roughly. So if we could hit the 500 shirt by the end of September, that would be a nice little goal, Ollie.

00:38:39Oliver Spake: Oh, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? Then we'll really earn our blue shirts, huh?

00:38:43Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Yeah. It's a good idea, Simon.

Streaky September

00:38:48Melissa Ellis: But maybe, Ollie, it's time that we have a listen to the audio that Pippa sent us.

00:39:01Pippa White: Hi parkrunners, it's Pippa and I'm really excited because September is here and it's time for us to get going on this big community exercise activity in September. You're joining with a whole group of other people who are out doing a minimum of two kilometres walk, run, jog, or a little bit more as a ride, a little bit less as a swim, or maybe some exercise. This is about community exercise just for 30 days in September. two tasks this week. The first one is just to do it. All that you have to do this week is show up each day and just two kilometres. Don't start off with, you know, I'm going to run 10 miles. Ignore that bit. It's just two kilometres. The second thing I really want you to think about today is that nice route, which is about two kilometres. It might be a little circle. It might be an out and back. This is about finding that little distance that you can use to on the bad days just to get out and do it. So community activity, isn't this fantastic? The joy of parkrun every single day here in September and post in the group and tell us what you're up to and stick some pictures in. Those of us in the Northern hemisphere are feeling the days getting cooler and we'd love to see spring. For those of you maybe who are feeling that spring's taking a while to happen, let's see if those of us up here in the Northern Hemisphere can send you some pictures of harvest, of fruits, of all the things that are happening now. Anyway, happy streaking, guys. Really looking forward to finding out who joins this year and seeing some pictures. Until next week. Bye.

00:40:57Melissa Ellis: And thanks, Pippa, again. Yes, we're all ready to start streaking. And I might just say, Ollie, I am going to make a little pledge for Streaky September. I'm going to do it a little bit different.

00:41:09Oliver Spake: Oh, do tell.

00:41:10Melissa Ellis: So I've been trying to maintain a two-kilometre activity every day, and I've been doing that all year. And so my pledge for September is I'm going to increase it to 3K. I'm going to do 3K a day.

00:41:24Oliver Spake: Excellent. Hmm.

00:41:27Melissa Ellis: Now, we also had some suggestions from Peter Pohlman. He sent in some ideas for the Bingoe card. Banana for scale. So I think the idea with that is perhaps you, I don't know, you have to hold a banana next to things to give the scale of the item.

00:41:52Oliver Spake: That's right. It's all about perspective.

00:41:55Melissa Ellis: Yes, okay, and wild fruit. So on your run you may spot some wild fruit, get a photo, a selfie for scale. Self for scale. Now Peter's renowned for this one, isn't he? Well, maybe Sonja is renowned for taking photos and using Peter for scale, I should say.

00:42:16Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, I think that's right.

00:42:17Melissa Ellis: And he does say that you do need a buddy or a good timer for this particular idea. And now he also says a cat. So this, I think a cat has to go on the Bingoe card, Ollie, because Jeff has mentioned it and Peter's mentioned it. So I think it's the year of the cat.

00:42:34Oliver Spake: I'll run it past Sally, see if she agrees. I'm pretty sure we'll get a third adventurer supporting us there.

00:42:41Melissa Ellis: And now this one might be a bit harder, a rainbow. Seeing as we're going into drought...

00:42:48Oliver Spake: But you can always be creative. Oh, that's true. You can always be creative. There is always a way. That's right. Yes.

00:42:57Melissa Ellis: Now the next one, a puddle that also is self-explanatory and graffiti. So there is some nice ideas.

00:43:07Oliver Spake: Yeah, thank you very much. And look, they keep coming, Mel. So Ingrid has also been in touch and she's added a photo of a cool garden.

00:43:16Melissa Ellis: That's rather along the lines. Remember the year that we all went around looking for gnomes?

00:43:20Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:43:22Melissa Ellis: Now, I had my own idea. I'm full of them today, aren't I? So create a challenge in the 5K app. Yes. Just like our friend Chris Gore and his Norwester challenge. I thought that might be an idea. I've got a couple that I've created, the Pooper Scooper challenge. Well, I stole that idea from Helen, but I created it in the 5K app. Okay. Speaking of Chris Gore, we also got an email from Chris and he said, hi, Mel and Simon. Sorry, Ollie, he's referring to last week.

00:44:01Oliver Spake: Oh, credit where credit's due, yes.

00:44:03Melissa Ellis: I just finished listening to the podcast this morning while out on my run and here are the answers you are after. There are six parkruns in the Norwester Challenge, those being Baxter Park, Carnarvon, Hampton Oval, Dampier, Bayview Road, Karratha, Port Hedland, Town Beach in Broome and Kununurra. They are well spread out with the distance between Baxter Park in Carnarvon and Kununurra being 2,433 kilometres. The new parkrun at Kalbarri does not lie north of the 26th parallel and is only 600 kilometres from home, so it sounds like another weekend trip. Cheers, Chris Gore. Our listeners are so good getting back to us with all the answers. Thank you, Chris.

00:44:48Oliver Spake: Absolutely. Yes. And thank you, everyone, for those ideas.

00:44:54Melissa Ellis: One Bingoe card, we think? We're going to have to cull. We'll have to cull.

00:45:01Oliver Spake: All right. Stay tuned, everyone. Well, no, I hope you've stayed tuned. It should be out by the time you're listening to this, but...

Dazza's

00:45:09Oliver Spake: Nonetheless, let's move on because we have a bit of Dazza's to catch up on as well, Mel. And very fitting that Ava joined me at parkrun because she is my human incarnation of a golden retriever puppy. And so I should have had her reading this out. But nonetheless, at Dazza's, he said, it's International Dog Day. See, that's what I was getting to. Welcome to Dazza's. We have treats for all the good doggos today. How was your parkrun morning? And I'll kick us off. Well, in fact, Tracy Leiper will kick us off, who said, a little frond today at Dubbo before the Dubbo Stampede tomorrow. As teased yesterday, I revealed my cow cape. See comments below and... Included was a photo in front, sorry, of the frond, I should say, with the frame and the parkrun flag. But as promised in the comments, the wonderful black cow cape containing all of the events.

00:46:08Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's very impressive. Very good. And, yeah, congratulations, Tracy. Tracy, toot-toot, Tracy.

00:46:17Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, well done.

00:46:19Melissa Ellis: Now, we heard from Ingrid Botha. Paris was Run Director at Dolls Point today while Jazz barcode scanned and I run directed. And there was a photo of Paris with coffee. Not Paris's coffee. I don't think it would be Ingrid's coffee. Anyway, good work, Paris.

00:46:39Oliver Spake: Well done. Now, we also heard from Kathy Crispin, and there's a bit of a theme here, a lovely crew for breakfast after Dubbo parkrun with Jan Yates and Sherry Brandtman. Got to meet Tutu Tracy, Kim and Dennis, as well as parkrun photographer Paul Rainbow. Fantastic morning, brilliant parkrun, delightful people and delicious food. Plenty of dogs on course, including Ziggy, who we met several times, but no photo. But Cathy did also add in some subsequent posts it was also super exciting to be with Jan Yates as she completed her big lap of Australia doing Rundown Under and did double... And this is Cathy again, did dubbo with Cathy Ray too. What a big morning. I think we need a nap now. And amongst Cathy's updates there, we got the Park Faf photo in the cafe with the gang plus other shots on location, including those run down under singlets. So, yes, congratulations, Jen.

00:47:40Melissa Ellis: Is that run, the Dubbo, there was a running event up there, wasn't there, Ollie? Is that why everybody was up there?

00:47:48Oliver Spake: The Dubbo Stampede, yes.

00:47:50Melissa Ellis: Does it go around the zoo or has it got something to do with the zoo?

00:47:54Oliver Spake: You're absolutely right. So what is it? They've got some wonderfully named events there, the Dingo Dash, the Rhino Ramble, and I've forgotten the others. It has been on the bucket list for some time because, yes, at least the marathon and potentially the half, I can't recall, do go through the zoo and you get entry to the zoo with your ticket. It does sound like a bucket list one.

00:48:18Melissa Ellis: Yeah, what a deal. We need to take the frond there.

00:48:22Oliver Spake: Yeah. Well, apparently we missed the memo, yes.

00:48:25Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah. Oh, true. They didn't invite us. But it explains why there was a cheater.

00:48:31Oliver Spake: Yes. Ah, see what I did? Ah, yes, yes, yes.

00:48:36Melissa Ellis: Now, we also heard from Pauline Taylor. Russell and I did Kununurra parkrun today. Thanks to Linda for picking us up and taking us to and from parkrun. And there was a photo of Pauline and Russell there in the selfie frame.

00:48:49Oliver Spake: We heard from Cathy Mudge, who said, this morning at The Entrance parkrun with my mate Harley. He is little, but has a lot of stamina. And the photo was a picture of Harley taking Cathy for a parkrun.

00:49:03Melissa Ellis: We heard from David Bravos. Lucy may be too young for a barcode, but she was gunning for a packed down volunteer credit. And there was a photo of little Lucy being very cute and packing up some cones, I think. The cutest volley.

00:49:17Oliver Spake: Yep, definitely. Sorry, Ava. Now, over in the USA, it was someone's birthday. Joyce Adams reported in and said, it was my home parkrun's seventh birthday. And thanks to a visiting cross-country team, we smashed our old pre-shutdown attendance record. I was a timer today, so it was only a little bit stressful, but we did okay at Roosevelt Island, D.C. And what a great picture of, well, so many people in front of the bronze statue of Roosevelt, which I am reliably told by my Googling is 17 foot high.

00:49:57Melissa Ellis: Wow. That's Teddy. Yes.

00:50:01Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:50:02Melissa Ellis: Excellent. All right. Now, we also heard from Christine Imbert coming to us from the UK, and she said, at Rushmere parkrun yesterday, no dogs allowed for my 400th parkrun and park walked for my 250th volunteer. Slightly uncomfortable being in the limelight when called out to the front with the other milestone achievers, but I'm well-deserved in any case.

the Obi Award — Joyce Adams

00:50:25Oliver Spake: Christine because 250 of the volunteer is definitely a thing and Christine um shared a photo of herself uh in the limelight that's right that's right thank you for volunteering ah but Mel of all of those uh Dazza's attendees that were volunteered I suppose we do need to hand out an Obi um we do and someone's cleaned up my desk

00:50:55Melissa Ellis: So it should be easy to find the envelope then.

00:50:58Oliver Spake: That's right. It's right here. It's actually really quite thoughtful. Hadn't occurred to me. So shall I open the envelope? Please. And the Obi goes to... Joyce!

00:51:17Melissa Ellis: Well done, Joyce, Obi award recipient for this week. So, yeah, congratulations and thank you for volunteering.

00:51:25Oliver Spake: That's absolutely right. And once again, a happy birthday to Roosevelt Island, D.C., and all the crew behind it.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:51:33Oliver Spake: But, Mel, speaking of birthdays, it gives me an idea. I think it's time we need to listen to the birthday boy and find out where else is cake. Should we have a listen?

00:51:51the birthday boy: Howdy, it's the birthday boy here with some of the goings on for September 2023. This month has five, yes, five parkrun days and my apologies if you're already in week one when you hear this. Week one is very early in the month. It's on the second day. Week two is on the ninth. Week three, the 16th. Week four, the 23rd. And week five, which has a very select group of events, is on the 30th. In September, we have one special day. It's Malaysia's turn. Malaysia Day is a holiday that is celebrated on September 16 each year, oriented around the founding of the Malaysian Federation. You will have noted that the 16th is already a parkrun day, so no bonus event, but probably a party. A reminder first with the standard anniversary caveat, events may celebrate what they like, when they like. So please check all details with the local source, i.e. their webpage and or their Facebook page. This is especially true for dress ups, cakes, et cetera. Is there anyone joining Main Beach on 12? Yes, woohoo! New Farm in Queensland, Australia's number two, Queensland's number two, but by no means a second-rate parkrun. Celebrating at 11 this month is Wynnum, Australia's 11th event. Hmm. the 11th event in their 11th year. This is not a thing, as you would have had to have done Balyang the 10th last year on their 10th and Claisebrook Cove in the August the year before for 9th and the 9th to have the event launch and event anniversary numbers be matchy-matchy. Maybe the informant could look that up. Lord knows I cannot be bothered. Moving on. Celebrating 10 this month are two events in the Southern Cross Circuit, which is in Southern Queensland. And the two events are Warwick, week one, and Toowoomba, week four. Why the Southern Cross Circuit has a name for this region of events? Those two, when combined with Highfields, Pittsworth, Gatton and Stanthorpe, form the shape of the Southern Cross constellation when you look at the parkrun map. Zooming the map out, South Toowoomba and Picnic Point Parklands also join clustered in on Toowoomba as central stars of the constellation. Now let's check out the first anniversaries. In week one, we have Jerrabomberra Mountain Reserve in New South Wales and Robelle Domain in Queensland. In week two, we have Tynwald Park in Tasmania. And finally in week four, we have Memorial Park from South Australia. Plenty of options spread about the country for those looking for a party. There are no junior parkrun anniversaries until January 2024. As with all parkrun adventures, the parkrun cancellations page is a valuable tool. See parkrun.com.au forward slash cancellations. The official cancellation page contains information for the coming weekend plus two further weeks. So be sure to check it again mid-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.

00:55:19Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much to our birthday boy bringing us all the news for the month. And New Farm turning 12, Ollie. That's right.

00:55:30Oliver Spake: That's right. Another.

00:55:32Melissa Ellis: Another year, and those numbers are getting up there.

Consolidated Club Report

00:55:35Oliver Spake: But, Mel, I am curious about other numbers getting up there, particularly in light of what we mentioned before in this challenge of 500 that we may or may not see as part of the Bingoe card. How's the adventurers Consolidated Club report?

00:55:50Melissa Ellis: Well, the Consolidated Club report for Saturday, the 26th of August, 2023, saw out of a total of 451 members, 360 took part on this date in 10 countries across 191 locations. Look at us taking over the world. In the UK, there were adventurers at 30 events, three in South Africa, two in Canada, and one each in Denmark, Finland, Poland, Singapore, and the U.S., Locally, we had adventures at 44 events in Victoria, 34 in New South Wales and Queensland, 14 in South Australia, nine in West Australia, five on the North Island. What have I done? So five on the North Island and five in the ACT. Yes, I just typed that wrong. Four in Tassie and the South Island and Northern Territory had one each. So there's another bowling strike.

the Frond — The Ponds parkrun (largest local frond, 10 adventurers); Southampton parkrun, UK (largest international frond)

00:56:57Melissa Ellis: Internationally, the largest frond was at Southampton in the UK with Tamsin, Stewart and Morglin-Smith. Now, the largest frond locally was a frond of 10. At the ponds, there was Dennis Peden, Gustav Garbers, Manish Bindroo, Joe McLean, Natalie Wilson, Alison Sutton, Kim Mahoney, Marnie? How do you say that, Ollie?

00:57:21Oliver Spake: I would say Marnie. And apologies, Kim, if I didn't get it right.

00:57:24Melissa Ellis: Yeah, Penny Prosser, Tarina Giran and Louise Garbers. Now, we also had a frond of eight at Shellharbour. And I do want to say to the Shellharbour people that I'm just teasing. I'm just teasing that about it not really being a frond. Of course, fronds don't have to be at a tourist spot. Location. You can have a frond at home.

00:57:48Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:57:49Melissa Ellis: Just like you did, Ollie. So we had Bec Bailey, Stephen Valwarik, David Foster, Kirsten and Delvene McKenzie, Michael Gentle and Scott Matthews. And there was a frond, I thought, a special mention to Shepparton. Shepparton also had a running event on this last Sunday, Ollie. So that was what drew the crowd of adventurers, I would imagine. I don't have evidence, but I'm just drawing my own conclusion there. There was Damon Young, Leanne Kirshner, Jianting Wang, Matt and Erica Hopcraft, Carolyn McRae and Sarah Langley. Of course, Sarah Langley, that's her home parkrun, I think.

00:58:29Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. But no, wow, some great turnouts there, Mel, and well done to everyone on their parkrun day, fronding, touristing and achievements. But look, we alluded to a new parkrun. Well, we didn't. Geoff did, if I'm not mistaken, alluded to a new parkrun that we said we would come back to, and I've got a very helpful post-it on my nice clean desk that I could notice very easily. Millennium parkrun is here, Mel, and wow, aren't we glad that it is?

00:59:02Melissa Ellis: It is in Canmore. I hope that's how you say it, in Canada. Ollie, I was sent the link to have a look at this location, and my goodness, it is absolutely stunning. It is along the Bow River. It starts at Millennium Park, hence its name. It goes over a very impressive bridge, the Engine Bridge. And just go to their Facebook page, people. Go to their Facebook page. Do it right now. Stop what you're doing and go and have a look at these photos.

00:59:36Oliver Spake: Do yourself a favour, huh?

00:59:38Melissa Ellis: Do yourself a favour. Oh, my goodness. Geoff said the mountain range is in the background, didn't he? I'm scrolling back to his email. Yeah. The Rockies, the Canadian Rockies.

00:59:48Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:59:49Melissa Ellis: How would you like to have your Canadian Rockies in the background of your parkrun photo?

00:59:54Oliver Spake: Quite a lot.

00:59:56Melissa Ellis: Yes, so would I. It's just gone almost to the top of my wish list.

01:00:00Oliver Spake: Almost as good as them being in the foreground of the parkrun photo, really. Yeah. It'll get better perspective this way, I suppose. Yeah. Rockies for perspective. Yeah. Rockies for scale, I should say. Yes. Yeah.

01:00:13Melissa Ellis: So they had 44 finishes for their event one, and it is a one loop along the

Sign-off

01:00:20Oliver Spake: bow river bow river and over the bridge and um check it out so we look forward to hearing from someone touristing to millennium parkrun at some stage Mel you can get there first you can get line honours adventurer of line honours I'm tipping Jeff yeah we'll see we'll see I mean next parkrun day is it time to turn our attention to that are you off to Canada to Mel

01:00:45Melissa Ellis: I wish I was. I can just close my eyes and, yeah. No, Ollie, I'm going to Ballina.

01:00:51Oliver Spake: Oh, well, that's quite nice.

01:00:53Melissa Ellis: Yes. I have no idea what I am expecting. I don't know anything about Ballina, really. Is it? It's not a compass point. It's the event that challenges Kingscliff but came off second best, wasn't it, for the eastern compass point?

01:01:13Oliver Spake: A good endeavour, a good effort, yes.

01:01:16Melissa Ellis: Runner up. Yes. Yeah, and I'm travelling up there with Martine Barrot, so I'm very much looking forward to that little overnighter for me. But, Ollie, what about you?

01:01:26Oliver Spake: What about me? Rather than continue those lyrics, no, look, I will be... I have all the gear, so I'll be setting up the course at home at Shellharbour. And I haven't worked out the plan beyond that because after a bit of constructive feedback, there was a suggestion that to have an acceptable frond, we'd have to go to a different parkrun. So... There may be a frond at North Wollongong parkrun. So if I can get across, I might be able to go to a real-life frond, as some might put it. Sorry, I jest. So we will see. We will see. All depends on logistics.

01:02:07Melissa Ellis: Is this taking the same Shellharbour people and just asking everybody just to go to it?

01:02:12Oliver Spake: Everyone just move bits to the left.

01:02:13Melissa Ellis: Is this the strategy?

01:02:15Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

01:02:16Oliver Spake: That was just the dress rehearsal. Yes, yes. But the Warwick's are still in town, as are plenty of the other locals. So we will see. We will see. Both great options. But I will be staying fairly close to home for now.

01:02:31Melissa Ellis: Excellent. I haven't done North Wollongong, but hopefully I might get there one day in the near future.

01:02:39Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's a beautiful course. I'm sure we've heard about it, but I haven't gone back and double-checked the references, uh two past pods but I highly recommend it it's a lovely run on the track through pucky's estate lagoon and the mangroves there and uh it's just down the road from my dad's place that he's trying to sell so if you're very lucky you can get out and he'll be one of those members of the public walking past begrudging the fact that parkrunners have stolen his personal space my dad loves parkrun um

01:03:19Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear.

01:03:20Oliver Spake: But, yeah, so it will be a good opportunity to go and catch up with Dad and, hey, maybe I'll get him out to a parkrun one day.

01:03:28Melissa Ellis: One of us.

01:03:30Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. But, Mel, does that mean it's time?

01:03:36Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

01:03:37Oliver Spake: Okay. Well, thank you again. And thank you everyone for getting in touch. As always, you can continue to get in touch with us. Going off script again, by our parkrun adventurers on Facebook um and that is of course uh not Mel or Ollie or Simon or hox or the Office Lady's personal accounts but uh you can find us at the parkrun adventurers page on Facebook and we do love to hear from you there or our email which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com that is it for another week let's get streaking and we'll see you all next week and out there for streaking and more adventures