Episode 350 - Black and White

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 350 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. My name is Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:36Oliver Spake: And my name is Olly Spake and I am back again joining from Dharawal Country. And Mel, 350, that's a big number.

00:00:44Melissa Ellis: It is. And I did get thrown because we had somewhere written in the show notes that still said 349 before a split second. I got very confused.

00:00:54Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. And we've got 351 somewhere else as well. So it keeps us on our toes. Yes. But that's right. I thought ahead. I put a post-it note in front of me and it's got all the prompts.

00:01:08Melissa Ellis: So how are we tracking Oliver? We took over about 216, didn't we?

00:01:15Oliver Spake: Um, sound like I'm in trouble there. Um, yes. Yes, I believe that's right. That's right. We were entrusted with the keys some time ago and, my goodness, that's coming up to three years.

00:01:31Melissa Ellis: It is, yes.

00:01:32Oliver Spake: It is, yes.

00:01:33Melissa Ellis: We're practically old hands now. We've rearranged the furniture.

00:01:38Oliver Spake: Several times, yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, it's always a pleasure. And once again, it was great to get to listen to yourself and to TOC in last week's episode. So thank you to you both and to everyone else who contributed, of course. It's fun being a listener sometimes.

00:01:57Melissa Ellis: And thanks for sneaking into the show notes and dropping little gems of information. And I ran out and I bought my big things coin set, Ollie.

00:02:08Oliver Spake: Yes, Australia Post put my check in the mail. So that's great to hear, Mel. And has it come?

00:02:16Melissa Ellis: It has. So it was, yeah, I actually went to my local Australia Post outlet and bought a set. And I very naively requested the set with the coloured giant Murray Cod and got told. No, no, only one in ten sets have the coloured coin and it's unknown what one you'll receive. So I said, well, please give me the lucky one. And off I toddled with my little secretly bound set of coins to the car park to do the big reveal and guess what? I got one. How lucky was I? You hooked it. I hooked it.

00:02:57Oliver Spake: You hooked it. Yahoo. Well done.

00:03:01Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so I was very proud of that. And, yeah, coming up in my recap, more big things. So, yeah, listen out for that.

00:03:10Oliver Spake: That's exciting. I'm glad to hear. And just as well you acted quickly. They were in high demand.

00:03:16Melissa Ellis: I wonder if anybody else has got them yet. You'll have to write in and let us know if you come across any in circulation or you do manage to purchase some. And what ones were the most popular, I wonder?

00:03:27Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah, I would have loved a Tassie Devil myself, but never mind. It looks cute.

00:03:35Melissa Ellis: If I find one, I'll save it for you, but you can't have mine.

00:03:38Oliver Spake: That's okay. That's okay. Takes me back to my old pet Tasmanian devil when I was little. Yes.

00:03:45Melissa Ellis: Is that a real thing or a stuffed toy?

00:03:47Oliver Spake: No, Denise. Denise was my devil. Yes.

00:03:52Melissa Ellis: A real one?

00:03:53Oliver Spake: Yeah, I had her for one night. She had a broken leg and we were trying to look after her, but she decided she didn't want to stay.

00:04:03Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:04:04Oliver Spake: Yes. But I digress. I digress.

00:04:07Melissa Ellis: That's an interesting story. And sadly the big poo didn't make it into the big giant things. Oh.

00:04:16Oliver Spake: I was going to respond with a word there but, yeah, that's a shame. Never mind. Never mind. Yeah, look. I'm sure we have many more big things to discover as well. So it's not going to end here. I look forward to it. And maybe we will be advising the next set of big things to come out on coins.

00:04:45Melissa Ellis: Yes, I could come up with lots of good ideas. But first, why don't you give us a recap of the last two weeks since we haven't heard from you?

00:04:56Oliver Spake: Yeah, I suppose we haven't. Well, look, it has been familiar surroundings for me, both in terms of location and... fellow parkrunners. I think last time we caught up, I had had a frond at Shellharbour and back that up with a follow-up frond at North Wollongong. So, speaking of big things, it was a big group. So, it was an absolute pleasure to be able to scoot up to North Wollongong parkrun after setting up the course at Shellharbour that morning. And I stumble around the course. That's probably exaggerating. I did get a decent run and get to catch up with the Warwick's before they headed south and many others. So, yeah, that was a real treat. And to be followed up on parkrun Day, just gone with another run back at home at Shellharbour while Karen had the RD reins. So, yeah, I've been having a few runs, Mel.

00:06:03Melissa Ellis: That's good.

00:06:04Oliver Spake: Yeah. But look, it's not very adventurous, I must admit. I'm just hanging there on my little old 49 events and looking at my next adventure, which will quite possibly be the weekend of The Punish. Yay. Yeah.

00:06:22Melissa Ellis: Well, that's something to look forward to.

00:06:24Oliver Spake: It is. It is. But... I'm not sure that there was much I can advertise aside from having a visit from Margaret, who is a former listener of the pod. And, Margaret, if you're listening, once again, I promise I won't sing. And...

00:06:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear.

00:06:50Oliver Spake: I did tell her which episode to avoid, but let's just leave it at that. But Margaret joined us from Tamworth on an adventure of her own. So, yeah, yeah, a nice weekend. What about yourself, Mel? I suppose speaking of big things, did you happen to have a big adventure?

00:07:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, my goodness. Well, this is going to be a long recap, so get ready. So when I spoke to TOC last week, my plans to head to Broken Hill Racecourse parkrun were still in the concept stage. Throughout the week, the plan continued to progress, and by Friday morning, Martine Barrot was arriving at my house for the 820-kilometre, nine-hour journey north to Broken Hill in in West Central New South Wales on the lands of the Wilyakali people. Is that right?

00:07:41Oliver Spake: I believe so, yes.

00:07:43Melissa Ellis: Broken Hill is a mining city and namesake to Broken Hill Proprietary, BHP. Known as the Silver City, it is situated on one of the world's richest deposits of silver, lead and zinc ores and is Australia's longest running mining town. Located close to the South Australian border, the town observes Central Australian Standard Time. It was dubbed Broken Hill after explorer Charles Sturt noted the hills that appear to have a break in them. But what is the attraction to Broken Hill, Mel? I'm glad you asked, Ollie. Broken Hill has been the location for a few very well-known Aussie films. One of the best known is the 1994 film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. And Ollie, this was the most exciting part. Every year the Outback Town hosts a three-day festival called Broken Heel that celebrates the art of drag, glitter sequins and Australia's queer community. And it was this weekend. Oh. Wow. I know. The festival has comedy, cabaret, live music and social activities playing homage to the iconic cult movie and stage musical and is centred around the Palace Hotel, which was a feature of the original movie, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So let me take you back. We arrived in town around 6pm Friday evening, checked in and stretched our legs with a streak into town for dinner. The second exciting thing about the trip was that my friend Michelle Carlos, who has been travelling the Outback for 19 weeks and who I narrowly missed catching up with on my recent adventure to Baxter parkrun, was, coincidentally, in town too. Michelle is the same friend responsible for nagging me to attend my very first parkrun. And we go back many, many years, so being able to share the experience with her, as well as Martine, was really special. Broken Hill Racecourse is the second parkrun course in Broken Hill, beginning in July 2019 after Broken Hill parkrun closed in February of the same year, having only held 67 events. Broken Hill Racecourse is an out and back beginning adjacent to the Racecourse and running on a gravel trail through outback scrub. We were told by RD Simo that as long as we kept the green rocks on our left and didn't run through the white rocks we couldn't go wrong and to keep our eye out for the sturt desert peas in flower along the way. Despite the festival in town, the event numbers were fairly standard with 36 participants on the morning, which was chilly after an overnight low of one degree. I had a great run, despite the uneven sandy surface, recording my second fastest post-pandemic time, I think. I neglected to say that Martine and I also got up very early to head to the Line of Lode Miners Memorial to see the sunrise. The site overlooks the city and remembers more than 800 miners who have lost their lives over the years. Also at the site, we found another big thing, the big bench, which we've also referenced in our previous discussions about big things. The big bench was constructed in 2002 and is two and a half times bigger than a normal size park bench. After parkrun, we headed out to nearby Silverton, only a 30-minute drive up the road to visit the Mad Max 2 Museum. Filming of Mad Max 2 took part in this town and the museum houses a large collection of photographs, life-size characters in full costumes, original and replica vehicles, including two Interceptors, as well as other fascinating memorabilia from the set of the 1981 movie. After brunch at the cafe next door, we headed back to Broken Hill and the next stop was the Pro Hart Gallery. Kevin Pro Hart was an internationally renowned artist who worked across many forms, but born in Broken Hill, his nickname Professor in his younger years was how he gained the name Pro and he was considered the father of the Australian Outback Painting Movement. Sadly, Pro Hart died with motor neuron disease in 2006, but his work lives on in the gallery, including his famous Rolls Royce, painted with images from Australian history. The gallery was full of a wide selection of his signature paintings, plus a small gift shop where Martine was able to grab a postcard, and I treated myself with a jigsaw of the carpet dragonfly, made famous in the late 1980s by a Stainmaster carpet TV advert. Do you remember those, Ollie? Yeah.

00:08:43[crosstalk]

00:12:24Oliver Spake: I'm sorry, I don't.

00:12:25Melissa Ellis: No, you're too young. That's okay. They were very well known at the time. From there, we headed back to the Palace Hotel to drink in the festival atmosphere. I managed to grab a photo with some fabulous drag queens and we witnessed some amazing dancing as the crowd prepared for the street parade. Sadly, the clock was ticking and we had a long drive home, so reluctantly departed the street party to check out Bell's Milk Bar, a Broken Hill icon. The Milk Bar has original 1950s decor, old-style malted milks and soda spiders, as well as a milk bar museum and gift shop. It is one of the longest continuously running businesses in Broken Hill, starting out in 1892, as Fenton's confectioner and cordial maker. Martine treated herself to the, quote, best milkshake she's ever had, unquote, and grabbed some of their Bell's chocolate blocks to take home to Andrew while I scouted surrounding shops for a salad. And then it was a long trip home. Sad to have had such a short time in Broken Hill, but bursting with joy from all the experiences we'd crammed into a little over 19 hours we spent there.

00:13:40Oliver Spake: Absolutely packed it. And look, well run, Mel, but yeah, you certainly know how to pick the weekends. That sounds like an experience you could mark it.

00:13:55Melissa Ellis: I really, it was just my cup was full and overflowing with joy from the whole experience. Yeah, how lucky. Like we just randomly said, let's go to Broken Hill, not knowing that there was a festival in town, not knowing that my very good friend who's been travelling Western Australia is going to happen to pop up. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty good. Yeah. Get yourself down a broken hill.

00:14:27Oliver Spake: Yep, yep. And I've also had to Google the Pro Hart works and there are some very familiar-looking works there. So, yeah, I hadn't appreciated, you know, the relationship to Broken Hill, obviously. I can see it now. But, yeah, yeah.

00:14:46[crosstalk]

00:14:47Melissa Ellis: So the dragonfly carpet picture in the commercial back in the late 80s, there was a stain master carpet that launched and Pro Hart created this commercial where he used all sorts of materials to create a picture on a floor, a carpet floor.

00:15:09Oliver Spake: Mm-hmm. Yes.

00:15:11Melissa Ellis: And in the advert, the cleaner comes in and scolds him for the mess he's made and cleans it all off. And, of course, it comes beautifully clean because it's stain master carpet.

00:15:23Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Yep. Having just Googled, you'll hear the tapping in the background. Yeah. But, yeah, I do recognise the dragonfly there.

00:15:35[crosstalk]

00:15:35Melissa Ellis: Yeah, okay, so there you go, subliminal.

00:15:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right.

00:15:38Melissa Ellis: Because it would have been on TV in Tassie 10 years after it was made.

00:15:42Oliver Spake: About two stations, yeah, that's right. Oh, gee. Well, quite the adventure, Mel. I hope you've had the opportunity for a rest.

00:15:53Melissa Ellis: I did after juniors. So that was the reason we were under the pump to get home because Martine was joining me on the roster of juniors on Sunday morning. So we got in back at my place about 11 p.m. and, yeah, up in the morning to volunteer for another successful morning at Junior parkrun.

00:16:13Oliver Spake: Wonderful, wonderful. Yeah. Well, it's certainly a good season for it. Spring has sprung, and although there has been a little bit of rain here and there, we're seeing some warmer conditions. So, yeah, I'm seeing the numbers creep up in parts as well. So hopefully that will continue, and hopefully you get some more juniors coming along and making the most of the end of sporting season, Mel.

00:16:40Melissa Ellis: Should do. Oh, speaking of sport, our team won, Ollie. Collingwood won.

00:16:44Oliver Spake: They did. They did. Go the Pies. That's right.

00:16:47Melissa Ellis: So that just added to my positive weekend experience.

Streaky September

00:16:53Oliver Spake: But we must segue there to firstly acknowledge that I had one job. I was a little late, so I do apologise for some delays in getting the level up Bingoe card out. Rest assured, Mel, this one will be ready and primed because we've got some more level ups. And whilst we do anticipate to have... Some audio from Pippa later in the pod in this week's episode. I think it's time we announced some more bingo squares. What do you think, Mel?

00:17:29Melissa Ellis: Yes, please do announce them, Ollie. What do you think we should bring? Are we bringing back some old favourites?

00:17:36Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, we are. So I was listening last week and, yeah, it was casting the mind back to some of my favourites. And I'm not going to say these were entirely my suggestion, but perhaps they were, Mel. Yes.

00:17:54Melissa Ellis: Because I might have gone a little bit off script last week. See, you can't leave me alone, Ollie. I don't follow rules.

00:17:57[crosstalk]

00:18:01Oliver Spake: That's right. So, everyone, it's time to bring street sign spelling back. Now, I haven't picked a theme, so... Let's be creative. I don't know. You could spell a big thing. You could spell your next adventure, as in the next parkrun you plan on visiting. Open slather.

00:18:24Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:18:25Oliver Spake: Open slather.

00:18:26Melissa Ellis: Did you say open swether?

00:18:30Oliver Spake: But, no, I didn't say open swather, but we do have a swather of bingo level ups this week. We have two, in fact, which I think, well, according to this dictionary, that's the meaning of swather. Multiple. Oh, dear. parkrun with a friend. Now... This has been on the Bingoe card previously, and it seems fitting that we have at least a couple of parkrun-related bingo options and possibly fair to announce them before the final week just to allow the opportunity to tick off a Bingoe card or a bingo square, I should say, on a parkrun day, but parkrun with a friend. So... You might have a fellow parkrunner that you want to join. You might have a furry friend, usually a dog that wants to parkrun with you. You might make a friend at parkrun. You might have a troll that's a friend that comes to parkrun with you. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we all have our own kinds of friends. And, yeah, again, I always enjoy the creativity from everyone. So if you parkrun with a friend, please share it. And happy streaking, everyone.

00:19:58Melissa Ellis: Olly, I've got a question.

00:19:59Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:20:00Melissa Ellis: Can they be retrospective? Because I parkran with two friends last week.

00:20:04Oliver Spake: Well, I think, I guess, kudos to you for pre-empting the Bingoe card. Yep, absolutely.

00:20:13Melissa Ellis: Brilliant.

00:20:14Oliver Spake: Make your own rules. No, yeah. It's what we always do. That's right. That's right.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:20:19Oliver Spake: But... Look, before I go any further off script, Mel, I think it's time we hand over to some of our roving reporters who are a little better at staying on script than me. And we have a plethora of roving reports.

00:20:37Melissa Ellis: Plethora? I don't think that's a word. Do you mean plethora?

00:20:42Oliver Spake: That's right. We have an absolute plethora of roving reports this week. So yeah, strap in and have a listen to our four roving reports this week.

00:20:50[background music]

00:21:03David: Hello, David from, or Palmerston parkrun in the Northern Territory, and I'm with Christy. And Christy, what's your role with parkrun here?

00:21:12Christy: So I'm the Event Director of Palmerston parkrun here in Darwin, Northern Territory.

00:21:18David: Yep. And were you here when it started?

00:21:20Christy: No, I was not. But my husband, David, he was one of the first fellas to start it. So Mark, our event ambassador, started it with David and a couple of other fellas back in September 2016. Before that, we had Darwin parkrun, and they'd been going for a couple of years, and then a few of them thought, why are we driving all the way out to Darwin, you know, 20 minutes, to run 5k, let's start one up in Palmerston, so they did, yep.

00:21:51David: Okay, and could you describe the location here, because it's a bit unusual.

00:21:54Christy: It is, it is. We have what I think is a great location for parkrun. We start at the Palmerston Waterpark. We have some great facilities. We have toilets, we have water. We run out into the car park along a couple of main roads and then back into the waterpark. What makes it so unique is our paths aren't usually run by other people. So unlike Nightcliff where you have to contend with People who are running, you know, just walk in that aren't doing parkrun, everyone that's running is a parkrunner here or a walker.

00:22:28David: And you're right, Nightcliff gets rather crowded.

00:22:30[crosstalk]

00:22:30Christy: Yeah, Nightcliff can get over 200 people. It's really crowded and the paths are narrow and you do have to, keeping left is really hard. Another unique thing about Palmerston is we keep right. So that's a bit, people find that a bit tricky when they get to Palmerston when we say keep right. But if you don't, you will collide with someone.

00:22:48David: And the other thing about Palmerston, there are three around Darwin. This is the one with hills.

00:22:53Christy: Yes, yes. We have hills, we have inclines, unlike Darwin and Nightcliff, and people love it. Oh, do they?

00:23:02David: Well, okay.

00:23:04Christy: Yeah, look, the hills are fine. You just got to get used to it. Really, really do. Yeah.

00:23:11David: Okay. And the other one is you've got an anniversary coming up.

00:23:13Christy: We do. We are turning seven next week on the 17th of September.

00:23:18David: And since we were just looking through the event history, notice you did very well through the COVID shutdowns.

00:23:24Christy: We did. So here in the Northern Territory, when we had COVID, we were able to lock our borders. So we didn't have a lot of interstate people coming in, and we had very low cases of COVID. So we were able to run a lot through COVID, which was great. I think we only had about three or four months of lockdown. And that was not because of NT, that was because parkrun Australia said that they couldn't run, but then we had no cases and everything else in NT was running smoothly.

00:23:54David: I think we remember feeling a little bit envious about that at the time, looking up here and thinking, do you spend two weeks quarantined just to do parkrun up in Darwin?

00:23:56[crosstalk]

00:24:01[crosstalk]

00:24:03Christy: I can only imagine. I know Victoria had months of lockdown and I think, what, a year of no parkrun? So that would have been hard for people. But no, here in the Territory, we did really well. It was really good.

00:24:18David: Okay, and we're also starting to come into the hot and humid weather.

00:24:20[background music]

00:24:22Christy: Yes.

00:24:22David: How does that affect people?

00:24:24Christy: It affects them as in some people run a bit slower. I know I do. It is getting warm. We're coming into September and October, the warm season. When we get some rain, it can help, but the buildup and the humidity, it's not pleasant. But we still get good numbers. So a lot of people are happy to run in that weather.

00:24:46David: Yeah, it's amazing what people do, isn't it? Yeah. I think I ran here about six weeks ago and it's probably a little bit more humid today and I still think I was about two minutes slower.

00:24:55Christy: Yes, I can.

00:24:56[crosstalk]

00:24:57David: Some people do really well in it.

00:24:58Christy: Yeah, yeah. Some people, there's a fella, he always comes number one. He will do anything between 18, 30 and 20 and the humidity does not bother him at all. Well, it looks like it, but his time doesn't reflect it at all.

00:25:15David: That's an amazing sort of thing. Do you get a lot of visitors here, or is it mainly locals in the area? Sometimes.

00:25:20Christy: Yeah, look, we do sometimes get visitors, and those visitors usually start, you know, they go to Darwin or Nightcliff or they come here. Yeah. Yeah, so we do, yeah.

00:25:31David: Okay. And that'll probably do it. Yep, no worries. And Leslie, can you think of anything else, or tell me anything about Palmerston?

00:25:40Christy: No, look, if you're travelling to the Territory, come check us out at Palmerston parkrun. We are a small parkrun in, we get about 70 to 80 people every week. We are told that we're the friendliest parkrun in the Territory, so come visit us. Okay, excellent.

00:25:55David: Thank you very much.

00:25:56Christy: You're welcome. Thanks, David. Bye.

00:25:59David Messenger: Hello, fellow parkrun adventurers. This is David from WA. Today I am touristing to WA's newest and 52nd parkrun, Wilson Inlet Heritage Trail at Denmark for their second event. Denmark is about four and a half hours drive south of Perth or 40 kilometres west of Albany. The course starts east of the Denmark River mouth footbridge. Well I've just finished my run and it must be one of if not the most beautiful course in WA. Running through a rail trail with bush either side of you, lots of frogs chirping and a view of the ocean.

00:26:41David Messenger: So very nice course and I've got the pleasure of being here with Bek, the Co-Event Director who's going to tell me the story of this run and how it came to be. Bek.

00:26:54Bek: Yeah, good morning. Look, I moved from Kalgoorlie to Denmark about three years ago and parkrun was huge in Kalgoorlie and I was really surprised when I got here in this beautiful environment that we didn't have a parkrun. So fast forward two and a half years, in January this year I put in an application for a parkrun At the same time, a friend of mine put in an application for parkrun. We were advised by parkrun that we both had put in an application. We joined forces and the rest is history.

00:27:25David Messenger: So both at Denmark?

00:27:26Bek: Yes, yes, yes. And we're in the running club as well. We're both in the running club. And we both put in individual applications at the end of January.

00:27:35David Messenger: And so January till now, so that's about eight months. That sounds like a long time, but generally fairly short by the time it takes to get parkrun set up.

00:27:44Bek: Yeah, that's right. I'm not sure what the average time is to launch a parkrun, but there is a fair bit of work to go into a parkrun. So to start with, you have to pick a course and parkrun have to agree with the course. There are a lot of restrictions around where the course can be. It can't be near a main road, it can't cross a road, it can't be too steep or too narrow. It has to be an even surface. There's a lot of different requirements for courses so we went through a few different trials to get a course up and running and this is the one that we ended up with.

00:28:18David Messenger: So what were the other ones that you considered? What was the disadvantages of those?

00:28:22Bek: Well, we're standing on part of the course now, so I really wanted the course to run around the river. But if we look on the opposite side of the river, it actually floods. So it floods for about a month a year and we wouldn't be able to run it, so they said no. I wanted to start at the park in town. I thought that would be more central and would get more of the community together. But part of the course runs over a river access point and there might be a vehicle there at some point, so they said no. So we went with a simple out and back.

00:28:50David Messenger: Yes, what you've got here is really, really nice. The trails are nice and wide so there's plenty of scope for overtaking and if there's anyone else on the course that's fine and certainly no chance of traffic. I also understand the flooding one. I've done quite a few parkruns that have been flooded. I lived in Gladstone for a while and that would get flooded every now and again. So yes, that's very important in selection. And how about the journey in terms of the support from the community or gathering funds to start the parkrun?

00:29:16Bek: Yeah, so we didn't know that it cost a lot of money to start a parkrun. We just really wanted to start a parkrun, build the community, get people running and active and create that happy place for the community. Once we got into the paperwork, we very quickly realised we had to raise $7,500. Yes, it's quite expensive, yes. Huge, huge amounts of money. So we approached a few local groups. Apologies. We started with the government organisations. We started with our shire and our local member. And both of those groups said they were unable to help us because parkrun is not based in Australia. It's a UK based company. And in order to meet their grant requirements, we couldn't access funds. We only got small amounts of funds from them.

00:29:57David Messenger: It seems to be highly unusual because some councils actually go and actively chase people to get one set up in their community and also through Medibank, Medibank tries to get I think 20 a year or some number like that so it's very unusual the differences people get in terms of their response to trying to start a new one.

00:30:12Bek: Yeah absolutely and when you talk to people who have started up parkrun some people say oh yes the shire gave me the complete seven and a half thousand dollars and other people say no the shire couldn't help at all. I need to put a caveat on that though that the shire were very supportive in terms of creating a parkrun. they just couldn't support financially. So in terms of the approvals to get the parkrun course approved, other conversations and liaisons that we've had, they've been very, very quick to reply, very supportive, but just couldn't commit that all-important money.

00:30:43David Messenger: Yeah, well it also brings people to the community. Like we came down purely for this today. I was talking to some other runners that have come down purely for this as well. So it does bring people to the community that otherwise wouldn't have come or people stop in the town for that reason. So it certainly does bring in tourist dollars and people to the community.

00:30:59Bek: Yeah, absolutely, and that's why it wasn't too hard to get money from local organisations in town. They absolutely saw the advantage of having a parkrun. The local coffee shop gave us a good amount of money, as you would imagine, and we give them a plug every week. We had the local mechanics and the IGA and the co-op and Ocean Beach Physiotherapy and People Without Running this morning, Dave. So some great commitments from the local community.

00:31:28David Messenger: I saw that you had, I think, 119 that you launched last week.

00:31:31Bek: 117 we had. 117.

00:31:33David Messenger: So did you advertise that at all, or was that just through the Denmark Running Club?

00:31:39Bek: Well, we're not really supposed to advertise. People found out about it. People were calling the local shire and asking when it was that they could book accommodation. We did a little bit of advertising. I was interviewed on the radio the night before, and I know that went statewide. Okay. But it was the night before.

00:31:58David Messenger: It was one of the few ones that I didn't actually hear about in advance. I've heard about the last sort of four or five in advance. I didn't attend them, but I've heard about them.

00:32:04Bek: Well, we're a long way south, you know. People will say that it's a lot further to drive from Perth to Denmark than it is Denmark to Perth.

00:32:14David Messenger: You mentioned Kalgoorlie, that's the next one that I've got to do. So I thought that's six hours for me, but they've also opened a new one in Kalbarri, so I've got to get that one as well.

00:32:22Bek: It's a great course, Kalgoorlie, because it's a loop. So it's just a full loop and it's got a couple of sneaky hills in the middle of it. But look, parkrun creates that wonderful sense of community. We moved to Kalgoorlie knowing no one and left knowing massive community and... Running communities bring lots of different people together. It's just so lovely to start the day by going for a quick five-page jog out and back on the trail and hanging out with like-minded people.

00:32:47David Messenger: Yes, it is. Okay, Bec, thank you very much for your time and I hope your events are a success and continues to thrive in this community.

00:32:55Bek: Yeah, thanks.

00:32:56David Messenger: Thanks. So that's David signing out. Happy adventuring.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Harmony Boulevard parkrun

00:33:04Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell here and today I'm adventuring again. I've come to event number six at Harmony Boulevard parkrun, a new one.

00:33:15Lyndell Murray: And I'm joined today by Jo and Alexandra, the Event Directors. Hello, how are you going today?

00:33:20Alexandra: We're great, thanks. How are you? Hello. Well, thank you.

00:33:24Lyndell Murray: Now, Harmony Boulevard, that's a name in itself, isn't it? Can you tell me a little bit about how Harmony Boulevard came to be? And yeah, just the history of what we're doing here.

00:33:37Jo: Well, we're located in a suburb called Palmview, but we're a fairly new estate here at Harmony. I think it's been up and running for about six years now. About halfway through the development, but lots of families moving in. Really good community spirit. So about a year ago, I put it out there to the community on our local Facebook page. Do we want our own local parkrun? Had lots of support behind it. So that's given me the driving force to... You know, gradually set it up over the last year and then launch recently up to event number six. So we're brand new. The name of the estate, as I said, is Harmony and we're located in Harmony Boulevard Park, hence the name Harmony Boulevard parkrun. It's a lovely name, isn't it?

00:34:20Lyndell Murray: Harmony. It seems very harmonious here.

00:34:22[crosstalk]

00:34:23Alexandra: It is very peaceful and we do have a lovely community spirit and everybody is helping us to set it up with a lot of volunteers. We couldn't ask for a nicer crowd. They're a lovely community spirit, really.

00:34:35Lyndell Murray: Now, Jo, you're the Run Director today, and in your briefing, you actually mentioned you wanted a show of hands of locals and visitors. Are you getting a mix of both?

00:34:45Jo: We are getting a mix of both. At the very beginning, it was much more visitors, a couple of locals, but the word is starting to get out there now through, you know, word of mouth and advertising within our Facebook community pages so it's been great just to see each week the numbers, the scales tipping essentially. It's always great to see that people are still visiting us from near and far but yeah great to see more locals than there have been in recent weeks.

00:35:15Lyndell Murray: Yeah terrific and you've got a lot of volunteers around the course they all seem like they're really happy to be here so that's brilliant as well.

00:35:21Alexandra: Yeah, we've got a great team and everyone's very forthcoming in helping us. So I think everybody wants it to succeed and everybody loves it. So it's nice to be able to do it for them and they're helping us. So it's a great community spirit. That is brilliant.

00:35:35Lyndell Murray: Now, this course here is a very inventive course is how I'll describe it. Does that sound like a good description? It is. We do need breadcrumbs.

00:35:46Jo: Breadcrumbs are handy. Because the areas only halfway through the development, we do have some fantastic parks here already, but being limited to not being able to cross the roads and making sure it is a safe environment for everyone. So it is a multi-loop course. We have four laps in total, two large laps that are both two kilometres in length and then two small laps, which are both 500 metres in length. So there's, yeah, a little bit of description at the beginning so people can understand the multi-laps. But I've heard that people actually love the last two laps being only 500 metres in length because it's like, you know, you've got past the hard slog of that four kilometres and you're like, right, just two small laps, I can do this. And it's that last little motivator to really push yourself at the end.

00:36:23[crosstalk]

00:36:34Lyndell Murray: Yep. And it goes quickly. Everyone said to me, oh, it's four laps, Lyndell. Do you know it's four laps? It went really fast. I didn't think the laps were arduous at all. It's a lovely spot here.

00:36:46Alexandra: Once you smash the first two kilometre laps and you've only got the two 500s and there's not too much orienteering involved. No.

00:36:53Lyndell Murray: Joe puts the arrow so it makes it much easier yeah it's really simple to follow there is a bit of marking that needs to be done but it's only a 2k course so that's pretty simple to just smash out early on on parkrun day all right now is there anything else that you would like the listeners of this this is a podcast for adventurers um h I guess there's not that many h's in Queensland so that might be a selling point for you is there anything else that you would like the adventurers to know

00:37:20Jo: I think just like probably every parkrun, we think we have a lovely location. It is a beautiful park here, lots of room to bring the kids, and of course, yeah, we invite all families to come and visit, and we have a lovely local cafe that makes amazing food, so beautiful breakfast afterwards as well at Cafe Harmony.

00:37:40Alexandra: Yep. And you, Alexandra? Oh, I just think the Sunshine Coast is beautiful regardless. So they come and do Harmony. There are lots of other parkruns that they can enjoy as well, but this one is pretty special.

00:37:51Lyndell Murray: I agree. Thank you so much. Thank you for talking to me today. This is not our first rodeo, Jo, is it? No, it's not.

00:38:00Jo: We met last year when I was Run Director in training when I was at Mudjimba Beach and the lovely Run Directors up there were teaching me the ropes. So now I'm flying solo with my team here and having a wonderful time at Harmony Boulevard.

00:38:15Lyndell Murray: You're doing a brilliant job. I must be okay. I mustn't be too scary if Jo's willing to talk to me more than once. And thank you both for everything that you've done for this parkrun and this community, guys.

00:38:27[crosstalk]

00:38:27Alexandra: Oh, thank you. Hopefully we'll see you again soon. Thanks for visiting us.

00:38:30Heather: Third now for the last one. Yeah, well done. See you soon.

00:38:37Lyndell Murray: Nice work, Heather. Now, I'm here with Heather, who is marshalling today at parkrun. Yes. Being a fall-upper, you've got to try and keep track of the runners and make sure that they do enough but not too many laps. Is that what the main brief is for this position? Yes.

00:38:52Heather: It's probably a bit of a confusing corner, this third and fourth, because I've got to make sure they're not actually, yeah, trying to sneak into the finish before they've done their fourth lap. But, yeah, it's a great little spot here. I'm in the sun. It's a beautiful day. Well done. One more. Cheer them on as they go around the corner. Yeah. You're doing great. Thank you. You're doing great. Now, this is your home parkrun? Yes, it is. Quite a new parkrun, though, so only home for a little while. But, yeah, it's been good so far. Excellent. And you're a bit of an adventurer. When I have the time, I try and adventure. Yeah, and rope the family in, or at least rope the husband in when I can.

00:39:30Lyndell Murray: Yep, yep, yep. Yeah. Okay, now I've done a bit of a recce on the course here with Jo and Alexandra, so instead of talking about Harmony Boulevard, I'm going to put you on the spot.

00:39:39Heather: Okay.

00:39:40Lyndell Murray: And since you have been a bit of an adventurer, what is your top three parkruns?

00:39:45Heather: Well, look, I have to say that this Harmony Boulevard is now in my top three because it is a great little course. Is it your home? Yes, it is my home. So I can't include that one. Oh no, I didn't know the rules. Now I do. Okay. So my top, my top parkrun adventure would have been to Bushy Park, yes and I did that pre-covid with my daughter and I met up with my brother and my sister-in-law and had my niece with me and that used to be their home parkrun oh brilliant until they moved away so they they um got me there and that was just fantastic just the experience so many runners and the all the funnels and meeting Elizabeth in you know at the corner and yeah The deer in the park and just, yeah, such a great all-round experience. Brilliant. So Bushy Park was definitely top three. Really loved Albert Park in Melbourne. We were down there at around Easter time for the... with kids for the holidays. That was just a great, once again, great course, great atmosphere, great volleys, beautiful, beautiful, you know, location and run. It is awesome, isn't it? Just one big lap around the lake. Yes. Yeah, perfect. And Nambour's a pretty special one as well. It's a tough course. It's a tough course. Definitely no PBs for me there. No. And I think my favourite one that I've done there was one of their birthdays and we dressed up. It was a superhero theme. Brilliant. So, yeah, that was lots of fun as well. Lots of hills and gravel and... Tough one. And a bird. Yeah. Fluffy wasn't there that day. Lots of superheroes, but no Fluffy. So I have to keep trying for Fluffy. Yes. Well done, guys. Well done, Tail Walkers.

00:41:00[crosstalk]

00:41:34Lyndell Murray: Thanks for volunteering. See you soon. That's a brilliant top three. Thank you. You'll have to go back to Nambour. I hear he's more active in the wintertime. Okay, yeah.

00:41:45Heather: I'll have to give him another crack and hopefully run into him somewhere.

00:41:47[crosstalk]

00:41:49Lyndell Murray: It's interesting to have a superhero theme when they've got a superhero most weeks in Fluffy. Yeah, that's exactly right.

00:41:55[crosstalk]

00:41:56Heather: Maybe that's why he didn't turn up that week because he didn't want to be outdone. Maybe. Yeah. All right.

00:42:02Lyndell Murray: Well, thank you. Thanks so much for talking to me. And thank you for being such a great volunteer here today, keeping everyone on task.

00:42:07[crosstalk]

00:42:08Heather: Love it. I love it. It's great. Well, enjoy your weekend. It's been perfect so far, so hopefully it continues to be that way. Thank you. Pleasure.

00:42:18Lynne: Hi, this is Lynne and I am at the Cobram parkrun today and I'm speaking with a couple of visitors to the Cobram parkrun today and this is Andrew and Mel. How are you going?

00:42:25[background music]

00:42:31Unidentified speaker: Yeah, good, thank you.

00:42:32Unidentified speaker: Good, thank you. Lovely morning for a run.

00:42:34Lynne: Yeah, it is. We've got a nice sunny day today. And Andrew, Mel, where have you come from today? Where's your home parkrun?

00:42:41Unidentified speaker: Home parkrun, which was Campaspe down at Woodend. But one of our favourites now, we hail from Gisborne in the Macedon Ranges. And Gisborne are probably into about their second or third month, of parkruns, and we were lucky enough to be one of the first for the first parkruns, so we've ticked that one off our list.

00:42:50[background music]

00:43:02Lynne: Fantastic, and you've been doing some of the challenges on the 5K app?

00:43:06Unidentified speaker: Yeah, where we can. It's been a little bit limiting. During Western Australia last year, there was a lot of gaps with our parkruns. Yep. But we did get up to Port Hedland and the Torath and the Dampier and did a few round

00:43:18Lynne: So you do a fair bit of travelling. You've got a camper van or? Yeah, caravan. Caravan? Yep. Nice, nice. And in your travels, what has been your top three favourite events? I know they're all very unique and they're all our favourites, but what's your top three recommendations? Oh, here you go.

00:43:35[background music]

00:43:37Unidentified speaker: Definitely Cod Forum. That was great with the undulations and very beautiful view.

00:43:42Alexandra: Yeah, very picturesque.

00:43:43Unidentified speaker: Put your mind off when you're going through the paint. Yes. Another one. Definitely love Campaspe. One of our home ones.

00:43:45[crosstalk]

00:43:52Unidentified speaker: Yeah, Campaspe's nice. One that does stick out is a golf course over in South... Jamestown.

00:43:58[crosstalk]

00:43:59Lynne: Jamestown. Jamestown. Nice. Tell us about Jamestown.

00:44:03Unidentified speaker: Yeah, it's a little town. I think it's the town where RM Williams was born and brought up. And their parkrun, it was a very chilly morning, but it was about the first nine holes of a golf course.

00:44:14[crosstalk]

00:44:15[background music]

00:44:15Lyndell Murray: Nice. A lot of hills.

00:44:17Unidentified speaker: A lot of hills, and finally a big hill coming up to finish, which was really great. Nice.

00:44:22Lynne: A bit of a challenge, a bit of a challenge. It was a bit of a challenge. And how many parkruns have you done?

00:44:28Unidentified speaker: Oh, I'm about in the 130 now.

00:44:30Unidentified speaker: Wow, yep. I did my 100 up at St George in Queensland a couple of weeks ago. So I'll probably be about 103 now.

00:44:41Lynne: Right, very good, very good. And parkrun adventurers, we promote volunteering. Have you been able to do any volunteering on your way around? Yes, yes.

00:44:50[background music]

00:44:50Unidentified speaker: Yeah, I was about 27 volunteering. Fantastic. I try and keep it sort of... you know 25 I suppose yeah there has been the ones good goals a small amount of people and you ask what your speed is so that um sometimes we become the Tail Walker yeah yep fair enough lake al lake Albert over in South Australia there's about five people wow fantastic I was Tail Walker and I still ran so everyone was faster than me but

00:45:22Lynne: Yeah, yeah. And parkrun, yeah, it's not a race. It's just about getting out and having a good time and meeting people. Yeah. A big aspect of parkrun, isn't it? Yeah. And where are you off to next week?

00:45:29[crosstalk]

00:45:36Unidentified speaker: We've got some babysitting duties for the grandkids down back at our on-site van at Cohuna on the Gunbower Creek.

00:45:44Unidentified speaker: More than likely we'll be.

00:45:47Unidentified speaker: So we'll be doing the Cohuna parkrun a couple more times.

00:45:50Lynne: Nice, nice. All the best for your parkrun adventures and jump on the podcast and you can add parkrun adventurers as one of your five running, you know, on the list there. So sign us up and we'll look forward to sharing parkrun Adventures with you. No worries, thanks so much.

00:46:05[background music]

00:46:17Melissa Ellis: And thank you to David, David, Lyndell and Lynn. That's a bit of a pattern happening there, Ollie.

00:46:26Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:46:27Melissa Ellis: And welcome to the parkrun family, Wilson Inlet Heritage Trail and Harmony Boulevard. We have mentioned their launches previously. And happy birthday to Palmerston for the 17th. And hello to Cobram.

00:46:43Oliver Spake: Yes, great hearing about some adventures in Cobram.

Emails

00:46:49Pippa White: Mel, look, the inputs continue. We've got some mail.

00:46:54Oliver Spake: You've got mail. And so our first email, and we do have a couple of emails, so I will read those out. Our first email comes from Clancy Skinner, who says... Hi, parkrun adventurers pod team. Avid listener, first-time writer-enterer. I was listening to the episode recently in which it was mentioned that some parkrunners were renewing their vows at parkrun in November, which inspired me to share my own parkrun wedding story. My wife and I recently got married on the 1st of September, 2023, a Friday, which we picked so as to be able to do our first parkrun as a married couple the following day. The wedding was a fair way from our home area, so we... We'd ventured to Mount Penang parkrun for our celebratory post-marrying 5K. As this was a special one for us, we decided to have some fun with it and do our version of the just-married drive-away. I had designed some race bib style signage for us to wear. I was just, my wife was married, and I had specially sourced a tux shirt, t-sedo shirt, So there's a reference here, see attached photos. And there are some nice photos there, incidentally. We'll get to that. But for the occasion, and my new wife ran in a white dress. The volunteers and parkrunners at Mount Penang were very encouraging with the RD offering us congratulations in her run brief and many a runner and walker shouting their congrats on the course. One of the Marshals even had a wedding themed playlist playing as we made our way around the two and a half lap course. We had, of course, told all of our guests about the parkrun and tried to encourage as many of them to come as we could. Sadly, we only saw two people from our guest list in attendance. You tried. And they were already regular parkrunners. Oh, well. Now my wife just needs the last two letters for her namely challenge. And... She'll change her name to make it official. We had tried to complete the challenge for her in advance, but wedding planning and parkrun tourism don't always go hand in hand. Thanks for all you do on the pod. Always entertaining on my long runs. Shout out to Rex Gream from my home parkrun of Armadale, who you met and mentioned a few episodes ago. Regards, Clancy, a newlywed. And g'day, Rex, too.

00:49:29Melissa Ellis: But, yes, congratulations. And a couple of really nice photos there showing the newlyweds in the Mount Penang selfie frame. And it was the back of the newlyweds showing their just and married signs pinned to the back of them. And also a running photo from the course of them running in the said white dress and said t-sedo.

00:49:56Oliver Spake: That's right. They look sharp, they look black, and they look white. Collingwood. Moving right along. We also heard from Calum Burrell, who said, Hi, Mel and Ollie. Also TOC, Simon, and TOL, the Office Lady, of course. There is indeed a story behind my camel cow. When Philips Park started in March 2023, right next to Manchester City's ground in Manchester, I was on 93 locations. Having done a recce of the park the year before, I knew there was one or two humps with a steep incline that all the participants do twice on the course. The other thing that influenced my decision to wear a camel costume was when I was at a Starbucks a few months ago. Other cafe brands are available. A slightly dyslexic barista wrote my name down on the takeaway cup as camel. So the costume and theme was a nod to those things. Plus, I like the alliteration of, thanks, Callum, Callum's camel cow. Okay. It was sufficiently quirky for the occasion. The event itself was fantastic, shared with lots of parkrun family. Coincidentally, I listened to this week's podcast on my way to work and heard the request to mail in. The night before, the Sahara Desert had deposited sand over the majority of Manchester's cars, so I was listening to a camel mention with my car covered in sand from the Sahara, loving Streaky September and listening to all the parkrun love across the globe all the best Calum Burrell a 461587 excellent thank you for letting us know Callum uh that's uh I like a theme yes themed event not so much the sand over the car that might not have been such a Well, it certainly was authentic. So, yeah, I appreciate that.

00:52:02Melissa Ellis: And Callum sent us a picture of his celebratory cupcakes that were printed with camels on them.

00:52:11Oliver Spake: Yeah, in black and white. There we go.

Club Corner

00:52:15Oliver Spake: But, well, I think let's stick with the sand theme because it's time for Club Corner and I believe Rachel has a special theme for us.

00:52:25[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:52:39Rachel - Club Corner contributor: This is Rachel with Club Corner, where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs, and I am coming to you from Arrernte Country. Today I'm going to talk about sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft, and smooth. Um, I'm not sure what came over me there, but anyhow. I have the high ground. No, no, no, that's when we talk about elevations, which will be never. Today we are talking about parkruns around the world that are held solely on sand. This is not strictly a club, but one day, maybe someone will do all of these events, and then they can claim the niche. Please note that this does not include those seasonal or slightly sandy events that use some sand or for some of the year. This is about those events that relish the grit and grind it out all year. I am going to highlight the all sand events and include the relevant parts of their course descriptions. Without further ado, and believe it or not, the first event to host an all-sand event is in Northern Ireland with Portrush parkrun. This event began in September 2012, and they are very modest in their course description. Or are they? This description is straight from their course description. This is the first beach parkrun in the world which is run entirely on the sand. It is a there-and-back course that starts at one end of the beach and follows the beach around the beautifully scenic coastline. The beach has a mixture of soft golden sand and harder compacted sand at the water's edge. There is a natural slope to the beach that is not too steep, but also flat sections. A few years later, we have an Australian entry, with The Beaches parkrun starting in November 2014. Their course description is a bit more hardcore, and less flowery, it reads thus. This is a two-lap, butterfly, out-and-back course. The course is run entirely on sand. Being located on the foreshore, the course is subject to normal beach hazards. Although infrequent, these hazards may include submerged rocks, blue bottles, large or unexpected waves, flash rips, sand gutters, hazardous surf conditions, and shallow water crossings. We wait until May 2018 for another territory to begin a beach event, this time it's the Republic of Ireland with Inch Beach parkrun. Out and back route along the beach. No mucking about from them, they just describe the course like it is. Two months later South Africa gets into the act with Melkbosstrand parkrun. Their description is, this is a beach run slash walk that proceeds for 2.5 kilometres and then runners and walkers turn around and return. Again, keeping it plain and simple. Thank you to this event. We get another new territory with Wales joining the all-sand fun, with Hafan Pwllheli parkrun beginning in February 2019. Their description is a bit more in-depth. The course is entirely run on the beach over soft sand for out and back. Due to the proximity to the sea, seasonal tides may affect the exact course. Similarly seaweed and stones are likely to be encountered, so care is needed. This mob likes to build the drama, much like the beaches did. Winky face. The Republic of Ireland gets their second entry with Narin Beach parkrun in June 2019. The course is an out-and-back along the beach. Phew, these Irish don't mince words do they? Tell it like it is they do. And finally, we have an England entry with Great Yarmouth North Beach parkrun, which started in February 2020. And they bring something new to the table. Laps. Their description has been markedly shortened for this pod. And here are the basics. The course is two and a bit laps clockwise all on sand slash shingle. Keep on the sand passing to the left of arrow markers to circumnavigate the dunes. Please stick to the edge of the dunes and not run in the sea at the water's edge. Note that there have historically been other events that ran on all sand, but they either now use alternate courses or have closed, and I'd rather not sully my waters with non-sandy entries. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

00:56:26Melissa Ellis: And thank you to Rachel for bringing us all the news from the beach. I just feel like I need my bucket and spade and my beach umbrella.

00:56:37Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:56:37Melissa Ellis: Off I'll toddle.

00:56:38Oliver Spake: I do like a good beach parkrun.

Consolidated Club Report

00:56:41Melissa Ellis: You know what else I like, Ollie? I like a good Consolidated Club Report.

00:56:45Oliver Spake: Oh, I think we all do, Mel. How are we doing?

00:56:49Melissa Ellis: Well, this week, the adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday the 9th of September 2023. Of a total of 460 members, 354 took part on this date in 11 countries across 187 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 25 events. Oh! three in South Africa and America, two in Canada and one in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Singapore. Locally, we had adventurers at 41 events in New South Wales, 40 events in Queensland, 34 in the greater state, 11 in South Australia, six in WA, the North Island and ACT had five, there was three in Tassie and the South Island and the Northern Territory had two.

00:57:39Oliver Spake: So a bowling strike with some great representation there from some of those big states.

00:57:45Melissa Ellis: the big states, and not to forget that the UK is climbing up there.

00:57:50Oliver Spake: It certainly is. Yes, yes. So thank you to all of our UK listeners for getting out there and enjoying your parkrun day as an adventurer.

the Frond — Jack and Claire Corkill and Erin Phillips (Richmond Olympic, Canada — largest overseas frond); Amy Miller, Joe McLean, Louise Garbers, Penny Prosser, Kim Marnie, Paul Whelan "the Viking" and Sherry Brandtman (Casula Parklands, NSW

00:58:00Oliver Spake: But also amongst our international adventurers, Mel, our largest overseas frond of three in Canada at Richmond Olympic. So that included Jack and Claire Corkill and Erin Phillips.

00:58:15Melissa Ellis: I wonder if Jack and Claire were doing their recruiting for their Bingoe card challenge or if it was a random coincidence and Erin just happens to also be a listener who's just joined.

00:58:24Oliver Spake: I guess we'll never know.

00:58:25Melissa Ellis: Oh, we will because maybe Jack will write in and tell us.

00:58:30Oliver Spake: Yes, please, Jack.

00:58:32Melissa Ellis: And the largest frond locally, Ollie, was at Casula Parklands in New South Wales with seven. And it was Amy Miller, Joe McLean, Louise Garbers, Penny Prosser, Kim Marnie, Paul Whelan, the Viking, and Sherry Brandtman. Now, that is a large contingency from The Ponds, but touristing at Casula Parklands, good to see.

00:58:55Oliver Spake: That's right. Good to see a few of the Sydneysiders getting together there and

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:59:00Oliver Spake: And we've also welcomed a bunch of new parkruns to the parkrun family with some launches around the world, Mel.

00:59:07Melissa Ellis: Yes, another five this week, starting off with Sheep River parkrun in Sheep River Park. Alcatelx, I think it was, did we say Alcatelx? In Canada, Ollie. So another new event for Canada approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Calgary when I looked up where it was for reference they had 74 participants on their one lap course on various tarmac pathways and bridges with good surfaces

00:59:40Oliver Spake: And we also had Ebenberg in Germany with 155 participants for their launch. Their route consists of two laps. It runs slightly hilly over partly paved, partly gravel paths on the Landau State Garden showgrounds in Ebenberg.

01:00:02Melissa Ellis: We also had a launch at Stadspark Sittard in the Netherlands with 57 participants. I don't have information on their course. I think I got tangled up in Google Translate and couldn't bring that to you. So sorry about that.

01:00:21Oliver Spake: And over in the UK, Dover Waterfront, which I think is the first parkrun in Dover, at least the first one that's there at the moment. It runs both behind the beach and along the pier. 117 participants joined for the launch, but no dogs allowed at that one.

01:00:41Melissa Ellis: And finally, we had Quakers Walk United Kingdom launching with 37 participants. It is described as a peak course of just under three laps across trail and tarmac paths. Chance of puddles and dogs are welcome there.

01:00:56Oliver Spake: Sounds like a lot of fun.

01:00:58Melissa Ellis: It is.

01:00:58Oliver Spake: Maybe ducks. Ducks.

01:01:02Melissa Ellis: And so welcome to all those new parkruns coming on board this last week.

Streaky September

01:01:07Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

01:01:08Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, it's time that we throw to our Streakmeister.

01:01:15Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:01:15Melissa Ellis: With this week's September streaky tips.

01:01:27Pippa White: Hi, parkrun adventurers. It's Pippa. And I'm sat somewhere in the New Forest in the UK, which is actually really, really old. But they call it new. Something to do with being a hunting forest for King Henry VIII. I can't remember now. Anyway, I was here to celebrate a hundredth parkrun with a friend who was a little bit stressed. He said, oh, you've done more parkruns than me. It's not really exciting. I told him it was really, really important. And then... After a more exciting than usual parkrun, because apparently the parkrunners work at some hornets that they didn't know were existing on the course, instead of doing an extra bit of not parkrun or streaking in the forest that we were in, Moors Valley Country Park, I took a friend out. We went for a walk and it was lovely. We looked at the plants and the trees and we stopped and looked. We didn't worry about the fact it was distant. We just really enjoyed each other's company. It's really, really hot. We've had our hottest day possibly of the year. And we had a lovely, lovely walk. And I was explaining how fantastic it was to be streaking with other people around the world. And we're getting ready here for autumn and friends of ours are getting ready for spring. Tomorrow we're doing something quite different. I'm putting on a frock and we're off to the Goodwood Revival to go to one of the old motor racing circuits and look at old cars racing around. And it's going to be really fun and we're going to do lots and lots of walking together and I can't wait. What's been really good this weekend is to streak with a friend. And I did check the Bingoe card and I thought, oh, we almost always have streak with a friend. So I'm going to lobby for streak with a friend to be added to this year's Bingoe card. And if that's the case, then I'm going to tick it off this week and be really delighted. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying your streaking. It's supposed to be fun. Enjoy the looking around. Enjoy the different seasons, the changes in plants and flowers and keep posting the pictures. They're fab. Happy streaking.

01:03:28Oliver Spake: And thank you very much to Pippa, our Streakmeister. We appreciate the inspiration and the company along the way. Happy streaking, everyone.

01:03:38Melissa Ellis: And how have you been going with your streak while we're on the topic, Ollie?

01:03:44Oliver Spake: Well...

01:03:46Melissa Ellis: It's always a long pause.

01:03:46[crosstalk]

01:03:49Oliver Spake: Well, look, technically... Technically, I broke my streak on Friday. It was a long day. It was a very long day with an early morning, a long day in the office, and then a concert on the Friday night up in Sydney. So, yeah, Cathy and I went to see G Flip in Sydney. And unfortunately, I did not manage to make it out as I had planned to streak at lunchtime, which means my streak is broken.

01:04:26Melissa Ellis: Oh, long story short.

01:04:29Oliver Spake: Even though throughout the day I managed, of course, to accumulate the time, I did not streak. It is not fair to say that my streak is still going. So if, like me, your streak is broken, jump back on the wagon with me and let's start it again. So Mel... I'm back on and I'm up to three.

01:04:51Melissa Ellis: Oh, very good. Well, that's what I was just going to say. In our challenge, you can restart, so that's not a problem.

01:04:56Oliver Spake: Thank you. Thank you. And what about you, Mel?

01:04:59Melissa Ellis: Well, I'm still going. I have been maintaining my three kilometres a day and I did go out after last week's episode and after recording it.

01:05:08Oliver Spake: Yes, for a late one, yes.

01:05:10Melissa Ellis: To make up my time. And I'm chipping away at the Bingoe card. So I have signed up a new adventurer to the Adventurers Club. Thank you, Michelle Carlos, in the Broken Hill pub, who agreed to join up. Excellent. So she should, seeing as she was the one that sent me on this course of parkrun adventures. Addiction. Anyway, so, yes, I've ticked that off. Now, we did see an amazing garden. However, and it was the front of the Mad Max Museum.

01:05:46Oliver Spake: Yeah.

01:05:47Melissa Ellis: However, I didn't actually streak in front of the Mad Max Museum, so Martine did point out that I couldn't actually use that on my Bingoe card. To tick off. So, yeah, damn. I have to keep trying that again. So try a new volley roll. I'm going to attempt this pretty soon. I haven't done my challenge yet. I got my selfie with my magpie so I could tick that off. And I'm all over the Fiskale.

01:06:21Oliver Spake: Ah, yes.

01:06:22Melissa Ellis: Yeah. I've just been on a streak of big things.

01:06:27Oliver Spake: Well, yes, that's very true. Yes. Yeah.

01:06:31Melissa Ellis: But just streaking uphill, I've just had an idea. Locally in Bacchus Marsh, we have... a set of 1,000 steps. So maybe I'll go and streak up those steps on the weekend.

01:06:41[crosstalk]

01:06:46Oliver Spake: That sounds like you are well and truly covered there, Mel. We need some more level ups.

01:06:53Melissa Ellis: I'm all good.

01:06:54Oliver Spake: Okay, okay.

01:06:55Melissa Ellis: Yes, I need a rest. I just need a rest this week, actually. But that's probably, unless we've got anything else to look forward to.

Sign-off

01:07:05Oliver Spake: I'm trying to think. No, I don't. I cannot think of anything coming up in the parkrun world. I mean, I don't. I know early October used to be known as International parkrun Day and, of course, the birthday of parkrun. That's still a few weeks away. But, yeah, yeah, look, I'm counting down to the Punish. That's also very exciting. But I'm getting ahead of myself. No, looking forward, nothing much else, Mel. So I take it you will be staying closer to home this parkrun day coming.

01:07:40Melissa Ellis: I am actually, Ollie. I will be returning to a local parkrun this week. So a quieter week. I've got a family occasion on Saturday. Yep. So my daughter's bridal shower is on Saturday. Oh. Saturday afternoon, so I will be staying local so I can do a quick parkrun and get across town to have my Mother of the Bride duties.

01:08:10Oliver Spake: Lovely, lovely. Well, I hope it's a fantastic occasion and well enjoyed by you and, of course, everyone else involved.

01:08:19Melissa Ellis: Thank you. And yourself, sir, where will we find you? I will be in Shellharbour.

01:08:27Oliver Spake: Where I will likely be for the next month. So, yeah, I've got the course gear, so I will be setting up and either trying, I don't know, I'm not sure what new volley roll I can try, so maybe I'll just, I don't know, have to stand on my head and do it or something. But, yeah, yeah, volunteering or parkrunning on the Saturday because, yeah, supposedly I'm running on the Sunday. Okay.

01:08:55Melissa Ellis: Can you do a handstand, Ollie?

01:08:57Oliver Spake: No, I really can't.

01:09:00Melissa Ellis: Okay, Karen, Ollie needs to learn how to do a handstand.

01:09:04Oliver Spake: I think I'm a lost cause. But, yeah, thank you for your optimism and your help. Yeah.

01:09:11Melissa Ellis: That's okay. We'll both look forward to The Punish. That is coming up. So don't forget, if you want to join us there in October, I think it's the 21st of October, at least the parkrun day will be the 21st, I must book my accommodation at the showgrounds in preparation for that. Will you be camping, Ollie? Yes.

01:09:32Oliver Spake: Yeah, I believe we've decided. We have a Shellharbour contingent of three of us and we have decided that we will camp. So we'll see you there.

01:09:41Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Good. I must get on to that.

01:09:43Oliver Spake: Yeah, likewise. But, yeah, look, thank you very much, Mel. Thank you, everyone, for your contributions and your company for another parkrun week just gone. But, yeah. I think it's time. So as always, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on our Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That is it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:10:05[outro theme playing]

01:11:07Unidentified speaker: Bye.