Episode 351 - Missing Magpies

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:24Simon Mackley: Welcome to episode 351 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. I'm Simon Mackley and I'm joining you from Quandamooka Country.

00:00:36Melissa Ellis: And I'm Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country. Welcome back, Simon. Thanks, Mel. Good to be here again. How has your month been? Have you been busy? Has it been a month?

00:00:49Simon Mackley: It must have been. It must have been. It has to have been. No, it's been a good month.

00:00:53Pippa White: I've done a little bit of touring around and I've

00:00:57Simon Mackley: Yeah, I've had a fun month. Let's put it that way. It's been very busy with end of soccer season and that sort of thing.

00:01:03Melissa Ellis: I'm glad I gave you the intro to do because I'm getting tripped up a little bit with our new little catch cry because I'm just so used to reeling off the same intro for so many times that I forget to say it.

00:01:19Simon Mackley: I can't imagine how you get tripped up, Mel. It's easy.

00:01:25Melissa Ellis: He says after he's just done take two.

00:01:27Simon Mackley: Oh, goodness. So what's happened in your week, Mel? What's been going on?

00:01:37Melissa Ellis: Well... I had my daughter's bridal shower. I think I mentioned that last week at the end of the pod. I don't know. I don't talk about my older kids very often probably. Most people aren't. I don't know if everybody's aware that I've actually got five children. And my eldest daughter's recently turned 30, so she's a big girl. Sarah, and she's the one getting married, so... Very enjoyable Sunday afternoon with all the ladies of the family enjoying a bridal shower. I haven't been to one. I don't even remember the last bridal shower I would have been to. A very, very, very long time ago in any case. Bet you've never been to one at all.

00:01:55[background music]

00:02:19Simon Mackley: I was about to say I've never been to one.

00:02:23Melissa Ellis: But it was fun because we're playing games and, you know, all those corny like I call them sort of Tupperware games. Yep. And I've got alerts going off in the background. This is really annoying. It's my Dropbox updating files. It's going to be all through the audio. Yay. Yay. I don't know how to turn that sound off. Anyway, yes, like Tupperware games. So we did a How Well Do You Know the Bride and you would imagine that I should have won that game, wouldn't you? But I didn't.

00:02:52Simon Mackley: Oh, well, there's a point where you have to hand her over to someone else and they know more about it than you do.

00:02:58Melissa Ellis: I did know lots of the answers, though, so that was reassuring. I knew her favourite movie. Okay. So a lot of people got stuck on that. Good. And I sat and watched Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on, I don't know, one evening anyway with Zoe, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. So, yeah, that was good to rewatch after having just had the Broken Hill trip.

00:03:23Simon Mackley: Exactly. What's next, Mad Max?

00:03:28Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I did get asked that. No, I didn't really feel compelled to go back and revisit Mad Max.

00:03:33Simon Mackley: No, fair enough.

00:03:34Melissa Ellis: Oh, but apparently, so my mother-in-law, obviously I've only lived out here in Melton for the last five years, but my mother-in-law has lived here longer and Mad Max came up randomly in conversation on our drive over to the bridal shower. And apparently it was the original film, the first one, was filmed out in the back roads around Melton. Oh, wow. All those car chases and everything. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. I know. Probably Bacchus Marsh too, I would imagine. So, yeah. So Mad Max, the first one, local to here. And then, of course, the sequel, was up in Silverton. Yep. So there you go, a little bit more history. But anyway, we should talk about parkrun.

00:04:19Simon Mackley: Well, how was your parkrun day?

00:04:22Melissa Ellis: It was really good, actually. So because I was restricted by time because I had to head over to the other side of town, I volunteered and I chose Peppertree parkrun to volunteer at and I did a non-running volunteer role. Oh.

00:04:38Unidentified speaker: Hmm.

00:04:39Simon Mackley: What did you do?

00:04:40Melissa Ellis: I did photographer. Oh, nice. So I'm friends with the ED, Adrian. He's one of my regular volunteers down at Junior, so... I said, okay, put me wherever, whatever you need, wherever you want, whatever you need done. And, yeah, he had me as photographer. So I quite enjoyed that. And I took Lucy and she quite enjoyed that too. So that was also parkrun with a friend, if you like, because I think Ollie suggested last week your parkrun with a friend could be the furry friend. Yes.

00:05:13Simon Mackley: So who is Lucy?

00:05:15Melissa Ellis: She is my remaining dog. Okay. So I did always have three dogs. You only ever used to hear the boys because they were the ones that were trip-trapping in and out of the office all the time. But Lucy, she would stay outside all the time and only come in in the evening to watch TV. So she never comes up as far as my office. She comes in the back door. She has access to the house all day. She just chooses to stay outside and comes in when the streetlights come on.

00:05:47Simon Mackley: Oh.

00:05:48Melissa Ellis: And watches, jumps up on the couch to watch TV with me. So she's sort of my evening companion. And I have to put the TV on for her. I can't start recording. I have to go down there and turn the TV on and open the TV room and let her go in and jump up on the couch to watch TV. So anyway, yes, Lucy came. She had her parkrun experience. So that was good. It was enjoyable. And I should say that Peppertree parkrun is on the lands of the Wadawurrung people.

00:06:16Unidentified speaker: Cool.

00:06:17Melissa Ellis: But what about you, Simon? Please tell us how you spent your Saturday morning.

00:06:22Simon Mackley: So I ventured down to Coomera. So it's located on the lands of the Yugambeh people. There was about 80 people there. When I turned up, there was no flags. There was mist coming off the lakes that it starts next to. So it looked beautiful. But yeah, it's a two times two and a half K out and back So you start next to the lake I just mentioned, run across a short boardwalk. Then you'd run down a hill to the lowest part of the course, which is next to a dog park. And then you turn, go up a hill along a longer boardwalk, which goes next to the lake, joining up to a footpath, which goes up a slight hill to a turnaround point, which is literally hidden around a corner. Then you follow down exactly the same way you came back to the start line. Once you reach there, you go around a lamppost, which from Gold Coast City Council says parkrun here, 7 a.m. Saturday. And you go back and do exactly the same thing again. And then to finish, you finish on the grass next to where you started. But, yeah, it was very much like a lot of people knew each other there, it seemed. But the first-timers brief was quite funny. I can't remember the name of the guy, but he – yeah, he gave a great first-timers brief.

00:07:50Melissa Ellis: Oh, so when you say it was funny, you mean is it amusing? It was amusing, yes.

00:07:54Simon Mackley: It was a bit odd. It was quirky. Okay. Yeah, no, it was good. How did he make it quirky? It was like he'd done it like a hundred times before. Yeah. He was just – It was all off the cuff. It wasn't reading off the back of the board and all that sort of thing. He knew exactly what he had to say. So he's probably been there forever.

00:08:14Melissa Ellis: Oh, goodo. But yeah, a good morning out there.

00:08:18Simon Mackley: Okay, but you'd done it before? I have never done it before. Oh, new event. Woohoo. New event for me. So my 11th new event this year. Yeah, so I've taken advantage of the fact that there's no more soccer for the rest of the year. And it knocked off another one of my eye indexes. Ah. So I think it's event number eight. I might be wrong.

00:08:41Melissa Ellis: Oh, actually, now it's all coming back to me. Yes, I've got Coomera in my sights too. I think we've had a conversation about that.

00:08:50Simon Mackley: We have had a conversation about this, exactly. I think it's number eight. I've taken it off my list so I can't see where it is now. I've got a feeling it might be the next one on my list. Yeah, because you knew it was seven. So, yeah, it was eight, definitely. Yeah. Excellent. So, yes, like I've actually avoided trying to go down to the Gold Coast more recently because the road has a lot of roadworks on it at the moment. But the good thing was it spat me off before the roadworks actually happened and I was on sort of a – it was the old Pacific Highway as opposed to the Pacific Motorway.

00:08:56[crosstalk]

00:09:26Melissa Ellis: Do you think that's Australian colloquial term, spat me off? Yeah. Simon really means that he took the exit prior to the roadworks.

00:09:37Simon Mackley: Correct. Exactly. The GPS directed me elsewhere. Good-o. Excellent. So, yes. No, it was a good Saturday and I got home quite quickly and, yeah, prepared for the rest of the weekend.

00:09:52Melissa Ellis: Do they partake in brunch?

00:09:55Simon Mackley: I actually didn't ask because I knew I needed to be home earlier because we had other things happening during the day.

00:10:00Melissa Ellis: That was the same with me in this case, yes. I went to the local Macca's and grabbed a takeaway.

00:10:08Simon Mackley: So did I. Drive-through.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

00:10:14Melissa Ellis: all righty well moving along we have some items to discuss news and discussion some exciting things to discuss Simon because the uglies have been announced or well they will have by the time this goes to air so we actually have the scoop because as we record it hasn't been announced But I shall read this because this is an excerpt from the post. And it says, Ugly Christmas Singlet Shirt Day is on the 16th of December this year. Make sure you save the date. More exciting still, the new uglies are out. Two designs again this year, the shiny new 2023 design, featuring some cheeky little characters sitting and swinging from tinsel on the front and a quality release of the reimagined 2019 design in case you didn't get the hint there and don't quite remember the 2019 design was the koala hugging a pineapple and it's back with some new knitted detail brighter colours and Christmas lights adorning the pineapple And did you see the visors are back with a new design too. Very exciting. Those are super limited though, as they aren't made to order. So once they run out, they're gone. The order portal closes on the 1st of October. So don't miss out. That's super soon.

00:10:23[crosstalk]

00:11:38Simon Mackley: That's very quick. It's only open for... Maybe 10 days.

00:11:42Melissa Ellis: Wow. Okay, I'm getting distracted. The order portal closes on the 1st of October, so don't miss out. Head over to the Ugly Christmas Singlet Shirt Day Facebook page or visit www.iheartugly.com for all the ugly details. And I have some images to describe. Now, as mentioned, cheeky characters sitting and swinging from tinsel. This is going to be the most popular, I think, ever. I'm going to call it. I think so. I'm going to call it.

00:12:13[crosstalk]

00:12:16Simon Mackley: I think so too.

00:12:16Melissa Ellis: Do you? Yes.

00:12:17Simon Mackley: Yeah, I think this is the best one ever.

00:12:19Melissa Ellis: I do. So they're budgies. And not only, they're not just any old budgies, but they're two very special little budgies. I'm not, I guess I'm allowed to say, buddy and bluey, the budgies. Yes, and the green budgie is hanging upside down from the tinsel and the blue budgie is just sitting in a traditional budgie pose, I guess you would say. Yes. The colourings are very snow globe with a nice vibrant blue. And it's almost the same blue as our adventure shirts, but a bit brighter and a hot pink.

00:12:53Rachel: I guess you would say it's hot pink. Yep.

00:12:55Melissa Ellis: Yeah. With the traditional design. Oh, what does it say on the back? Merry Chirpmas.

00:13:02Simon Mackley: That's right.

00:13:02Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:13:04Simon Mackley: Merry chirpmas.

00:13:05Melissa Ellis: I'm in love with this. And this was me saying, oh, I don't think I'll get ugly this year. I've got enough ugly shirts. But then I saw this and I was like, oh, dear, I have to have it. And even Zoe wants one. So that's, like, amazing.

00:13:19Simon Mackley: That is awesome. Yeah. And a new visor.

00:13:23Melissa Ellis: Yep. Yep. So if you missed out last year, fear not. And the colours are just a little bit different to last year's design as well.

00:13:30Simon Mackley: Yep. Still green and red, but yes.

00:13:33Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but the other, the reimagined this year, the koala and pineapple, that was a very popular design that has come back as well. I've seen that one around quite a bit. So good job to the elves. They have excelled themselves. Anyway, we should probably move on.

00:13:54Simon Mackley: We shall.

parkrun news bulletin

00:13:54Simon Mackley: We shall. So I've got a little bit of news about the Women and Girls of parkrun project that was on last year. So as everyone will remember, there was 40 or so videos of women and girls at parkrun. So when the project was started, they were seeing that there was more male first timers across all the states and territories compared to women and girls. One of the aims of the project was to reverse that gender balance. So they wanted to attract more women and girls first-timers compared to males. So the results over the last 12 months have shown that 52% of people identifying as female were first-timers in the last 12 months. And that was up from 47% the previous 12 months and actually equates to over 5,000 extra females than males last year or in the last year. So every state and territory in Australia had more female first-timers than male first-timers over that 12-month period. which is a great result for that project.

00:14:56Melissa Ellis: Yeah. That's super cool. Well done, parkrun.

00:15:01Simon Mackley: Exactly. 5,000 extra females is, yeah, that's phenomenal, and that's definitely a big achievement.

00:15:07Melissa Ellis: Very good. All righty. So I've got some news. I don't think we gave this any plugs in the podcast previously, which was probably very remiss of us, but we've been selling stickers. And they actually sold really well. The Office Lady organised them and she sold them through our social media page on Facebook. I don't know if there was any post on Insta. I didn't check. But in any case, they were so popular, they were bumper stickers and a phone sticker. So the two bumper stickers, one said... Free Weekly Obsession. That was my idea. And Proud Podcast Listener, the other one said. And it had our logo. And, yeah, same with the little mobile phone sticker. That's our logo. But anyway, they've all been posted out. So all those people that ordered, you will be glad to know they should be turning up in the mail anytime soon.

00:16:07Simon Mackley: Indeed. Indeed. But don't fear if they haven't turned up within two weeks because mine took two weeks to come from New South Wales to Queensland, thanks to Australia Post. Oh, dear.

00:16:16Melissa Ellis: Yeah. I must have got stuck in the bottom of the bag.

00:16:19Simon Mackley: Who knows? But, yeah, they look great. So the next thing is something we don't talk about a lot because I know, Mel, you and Ollie don't really do this, or at least don't talk about it, is not parkrun. So the whole initiative that started during the pandemic to keep people still doing their 5K anywhere they wanted to do it. So there's still people doing it. So I think for the first time since the pandemic, the number of Australians that have actually logged at least one not parkrun during the week. Yeah, it was the first time it's actually dropped below 100. So it was 97 last week. And worldwide, there was a very, very palindromic 1,111 people worldwide that were still logging their (not)parkruns. So I know the Office Lady does it because she's in my group of dirty cheaters still doing the (not)parkruns. So we're getting about four or five a week doing it. Sometimes, actually the Office Lady last week did five. Yeah, noughties. Including her (not)parkrun. Sorry, including her parkrun, she's probably done six 5k. So there's one of the days that she probably did somewhere between her two for her streak and her five for the (not)parkrun. As opposed to a Freedo. True. Well, you can still do a Freedo and still log it as a (not)parkrun.

00:17:46Melissa Ellis: Yes. It's very confusing.

00:17:50Simon Mackley: Anyway, I interrupted you.

00:17:51Melissa Ellis: Sorry.

00:17:52Simon Mackley: No, that's okay. And I was going to say I'm going to follow up on something that I think it was you and TOC talked about two weeks ago with start times. So I thought I knew the answer to this question, but instead I went off to parkrun to make 100% sure and I was right to have done so because the rule has changed a little bit. So this is the parkrun start time rule in Australia? Correct. So I'm going to caveat this by saying that there are some events with different start times than those that are listed I'm just about to list and those are historical exceptions and the times I give now are not negotiable at all. So Queensland and Northern Territory start at 7 o'clock. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT are all 8 o'clock. Tasmania is 9 o'clock. And then we have the massive state of Western Australia. And going to this 26th parallel thing again. So anything north of the 26th parallel is a 7am start. And anything south of the 26th parallel is an 8am start. Very good. Yeah. I was going to say, as I said before, There are events that do start outside those times, so please check their Facebook pages for their start times.

00:19:11Melissa Ellis: I know I can pretty confidently say the whole of Victoria is 8. We don't have any events that vary from that.

00:19:20Simon Mackley: Okay.

00:19:21Melissa Ellis: I know Tasmania has one variation on the 9am with Devonport.

00:19:27Simon Mackley: Okay.

00:19:27Melissa Ellis: That starts at 8.

00:19:29Simon Mackley: Okay. Yes.

00:19:30Melissa Ellis: Yes. And obviously, New South Wales has two time slots, as we have already discussed.

00:19:38Simon Mackley: So the rule used to be anything south of Yamba was 8am. But I know, you know, Mosman and Curl Curl and Centennial. And I'm sure there's a lot of others that start at 7am, even though there's an 8am strict rule now.

00:19:55Melissa Ellis: Well, thank you for bringing us that update, Simon. It's okay.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:19:58Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Now, time for us to jump over and have a little listen to Lyndell, who sent us some audio from Wes Mitchell Park.

00:20:00[background music]

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Wes Mitchell Park parkrun

00:20:16Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I am coming to you from Tuncanbar, which is the traditional Aboriginal name for Tin Can Bay. I'm at Wes Mitchell Park parkrun. Phew, I think I got that all out. Okay, and I'm with Event Director and today's Run Director, Greg and Gordon.

Talking to Gordon — Run Director, Wes Mitchell Park parkrun, Tin Can Bay

00:20:35Lyndell Murray: How are you guys today?

00:20:36Gordon: Good, thanks. Very good, thank you.

00:20:39Lyndell Murray: And did I get all that right?

00:20:40Gordon: we think you do yeah I think so yeah yeah Gordon gordon's Run Director I'm Event Director excellent now how did today go for you Gordon well it was a bit touchy at the start doing the uh speechifying the first day I've done it so yeah a few forgotten things but no the rest of the day is pretty good I think you did a great job thank you

00:21:02Lyndell Murray: And you have to do everything for the first time, don't you?

00:21:05Gordon: Absolutely, absolutely. I'll do a bit more practising though.

00:21:09Lyndell Murray: And you'll come back and do it again?

00:21:11Gordon: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Greg's really good and helps us all along, so he knows what he's talking about and gives us all the help we need.

00:21:20Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. And it's event number eight today, so it's...

00:21:25Gordon: only new yes isn't it yes um our first anniversary coming up in three runs time our 10th we'll have to get the cakes out any excuse for cake at parkrun is that right that's it yeah Greg found an excuse a couple of weeks ago there's someone having their 400th run yeah yes the cakes came out that day so I'm sure they'll come out in a couple of weeks time

00:21:47Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. That is music to my ears. Just making parkrun even more fun than it already is. Certainly is.

Talking to Greg Garner — Event Director, Wes Mitchell Park parkrun, Tin Can Bay

00:21:54Lyndell Murray: Now, Greg, you got a shout out on the podcast not too long ago because as a new Event Director, you got a run in. You got another run in today.

00:22:01Greg Garner: I did, yeah. And I think I broke 30 minutes, which was surprising.

00:22:07Lyndell Murray: That's wonderful. And it is such a reflection on you that you are able to get a run in so early in the evolution of this parkrun. Tell me a little bit about the volunteer community here.

00:22:17Greg Garner: Yeah, so probably 12 months ago, I put out a call to see if we could get a parkrun started at Tin Can Bay. And so what we've done is we've got a core group of people here, from Tin Can Bay and surrounds who have jumped on board and we've got it up and running and as you said event number eight today fantastic so 12 months journey what was that like any hurdles any funny stories anything people you'd like to shout out on that journey Well, we pretty well had the course set up because along the foreshore here, there's wide cement paths. So the course sort of was already here. We just had to work out where we were going to start it and where we were going to finish it. So I'm going to have your scanner. Yeah. But like anything, organising funding. Thank you, to get it started um but we got on board the Gympie Regional Council who provided the funding to get it started through one of their well-being grants uh so that was a huge help to get it up and running brilliant now we've touched on the course can you describe the course a little bit more for the adventurers who might have their eye on coming to Wes Mitchell Park Okay, so it starts in the playground at Wes Mitchell Park. You run up 400 metres and there's a turnaround point. Then you come back past the start-finish line and then you run down to what we call the Crab Creek boat ramp and there's a turnaround point there and then you come back to the finish line. So it's pretty straightforward all along wide cement paths.

00:23:58Lyndell Murray: Yep, and we're standing here looking out on a body of water And Rainbow Beach is just across the way there. The trees, the birds, the coast, the water. It's a nice course, isn't it?

00:24:12Greg Garner: It is. It is. And, yeah, it's totally along the Tin Can Bay foreshore. And the tide's in this morning, which is usually it seems to be out.

00:24:18[crosstalk]

00:24:22Lyndell Murray: All right. Now, Greg, you're a bit of a friend of the pod. You've come to Palm. You're a bit of an adventurer. Where else have your adventures taken you in parkrun?

00:24:32Greg Garner: I think I've done 36, 37 parkruns so far. So yeah, I've done a few around the place. Hope to get a few more in, a few more interstates along the way, mainly in Queensland though.

00:24:47Lyndell Murray: Great. And your parkrun journey, how did you get into parkrun in the first place?

00:24:53Greg Garner: Well, they decided to start one in Gympie, Victory Heights. And so I went along and did it there. Unfortunately, the first day I couldn't actually do it because my sister was getting married in Brisbane. So my actual first parkrun was done down at New Farm Park.

00:25:09Lyndell Murray: Hey, snap, me too. Yeah, so yes. All right. Now, is there anything else that you would like the parkrun adventurers to know about Wes Mitchell Park parkrun here in Tin Can Bay?

00:25:22Greg Garner: Well, it's a great place to come for the weekend. There's caravan parks, motels. You can also travel over. Rainbow Beach is only 30 minutes away. Tin Can Bay's also got the dolphins that come in of morning. So you can go and feed the dolphins at the marina. So, yeah, markets are across the road this morning. So every third Saturday, markets are on as well.

00:25:50Lyndell Murray: what to do yep and amenities you touched on the playground there's also toilets and water um at the start here some barbecues but you want to punch out your own bacon and egg rolls definitely brilliant all right well thank you Greg for the contribution that you've made to parkrun here in the Gympie regional area with Victory Heights and now Wes Mitchell Park parkrun and here's to many more thank you very much thanks for coming

00:26:10[background music]

00:26:23Simon Mackley: And thanks for that, Lyndell, up there at Wes Mitchell Park in Tin Can Bay, where she spoke to fellow adventurer Greg Garner.

00:26:32Melissa Ellis: Sounds like it's going along very nicely, that new event up there. So good to hear from you too, Greg.

Emails

00:26:39Simon Mackley: I think we've got some emails, Mel. You've got mail. So we heard from Josh Button. He said, hi, adventurers. I completed my sixth parkrun on Saturday and my first since adding the adventurers as a club. My mates and I travelled to Culborough Beach for a long weekend. We ran Huskisson parkrun on Saturday. A beautiful flat out and back following the shore of Jervis Bay. I managed to run a parkrun and a 5k PB since returning to running. This weekend I plan on saving my legs by volunteering for the first time before Sydney Marathon on Sunday. Love the podcast. Cheers, Josh.

00:27:16Melissa Ellis: And Josh sent us a couple of photos as well. So there was one of him in the selfie frame there at Huskisson. And the second, I think it was the parkrun photographer that captured a photo of him on course. And I think it was a little bit funny because he was caught. What's the correct terminology for blowing your nose while you're on the run? snot rocket I was just gonna say he was blowing his nose but sure I don't know it looks like it might be one of those fancy running ones where you shoot or shoot it off sideways oh josh never mind But thank you for riding in. I hope you had a good run at the Sydney Marathon. I wonder if you saw Ollie. I believe he survived. Ollie, that is, not Josh. It looks like he did.

00:28:15Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:28:17Melissa Ellis: Yes, there was a post I saw of him. Trying to bite his middle? Or was that kissing? I don't know.

00:28:23Simon Mackley: I don't know.

Dazza's

00:28:27Melissa Ellis: But Simon, it's Dazza's. It's time for Dazza's. Dazza's had a rest last week, but it's back. And Dazza's said a couple of weeks ago we celebrated Bacon Day. Today it's Guacamole Day. Shout out to all the avocado lovers. How was your morning? Are you an avocado lover, Simon?

00:28:47Simon Mackley: I do love avocado, yes.

00:28:49Unidentified speaker: Good.

00:28:49Melissa Ellis: That's good. And there were in excess of 162 comments.

00:28:56Simon Mackley: There were.

00:28:56Melissa Ellis: Or thereabouts. And first up, we heard from Holly Pleasance, and she said, these ducks were very encouraging to run faster, chasing us because they had babies. And she posted a photo of the ducks with the ducklings. So she and I were on a parkrun course, not sure which one. I could probably find that out if Holly has joined the Adventurers Club. Oh, should we publicly shame her?

00:29:22Simon Mackley: I don't know.

00:29:25Melissa Ellis: Is that wrong? It's probably wrong, isn't it? Maybe. I don't know. Control F. Oh, it's all right. She's an adventurer. She was at Warwick parkrun. Okay. Yes. Interesting. I wonder if she knows the Pohlmans. I would say so. I would absolutely say so. Anyway, you've got the next one. I have.

00:29:45Simon Mackley: We've got Lee Cabrita.

00:29:47Unidentified speaker: That's her porn name.

00:29:50Simon Mackley: Such a pretty but hot morning volunteering as scanners at Parramatta parkrun, graced by the presence of some dirty cheaters, which had Sally, Bianca and I grinning from ear to ear, coffee at Cafe W and an unexpected frond. How good's that? And there was a picture of Lee, Sally and Bianca with their token buckets.

00:30:12Melissa Ellis: Oh, and I believe the Office Lady was one of those at Parramatta. Would that be right?

00:30:18Simon Mackley: She was. Both her and Luke were there with their ears on. And the Ideas Man.

00:30:24Melissa Ellis: He was too. That's right. Yes. So there was a lot of adventurers at Parramatta. There was. Very good. And we also heard from Mary DeLuna and she said the Wagi Bridge Troll made an appearance at Bishan parkrun Singapore with a few Aussies from the Ponds parkrun too. And not only the Ponds... But Wagi Bridge parkrun because the Scarboroughs were there. And Mary shared a selfie that she took with the Scarborough family and the other Ponds friends. And the Scarboroughs shared some photos too. Scarboroughs on tour and otters crossing the course. That's, I didn't know about that. I didn't know that was a thing, picture thinking what are they but yes they're definitely otters so Bishan has just gone higher up my list of events that I want to go to now yeah yeah but yeah thank you Mary and thank you to the Scarborough family I hope they're enjoying that was their first overseas parkrun oh was it okay nice then we heard from Vicky Smith so she said we went to Maroondah Dam today very challenging for me but we did it as Tail Walkers in 72 minutes

00:31:40Simon Mackley: Slow by some standards, but we smashed it like an avocado. And she shared some lovely photos, including a very cool waterfall.

00:31:48Melissa Ellis: I saw Vicky. She volunteered at Junior's on Sunday. Oh, nice. Yeah, only we call her Nana. And we heard from Catherine Greenstreet who said parkrun and carnival of flowers. Now that's a garden. And Catherine shared a photo of herself and I think her husband's Ian. Does that sound right to you, Simon? Is it Catherine and Ian Greenstreet? Don't know. Oh, I hope it is. Anyway, in front of a colourful flower bed in their volley vests at Picnic Point Parklands. Now I think it's the Festival of Flowers up there this time of year in Toowoomba.

00:32:25Simon Mackley: It definitely is, yes. Yeah, Toowoomba is definitely a bloom currently. Okay, so we heard from Darren Pead and he said, Quinns Rocks parkrun in Perth for Lucille and I today to complete our third alphabet. That is some work to get three alphabets. So I know Darren lives in Sydney. So yeah, to get across to Perth just for a queue is pretty big, but he does travel the world. So there was a picture of Darren and Lucille in the selfie frame with a very ominous sky behind them at Quinns Rocks.

00:33:00Melissa Ellis: And I think we featured that photo this week for the Consolidated Club Report. Would that be correct?

00:33:06Simon Mackley: I think so.

00:33:07Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:33:08Simon Mackley: Yes, that would be correct.

00:33:10Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Tracy May. Oh, and I've forgotten how you told me it was said already. Casnewydd. Casnewydd. And why is Newport in brackets, Simon? [Welsh: "Newport"]

00:33:21Simon Mackley: Because Casnewydd is in Welsh. Newport is in English.

00:33:24Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay. And so it's that parkrun. Yeah. So, Tracey was there this morning on our way to drop our son back at uni in Cardiff. Oh, I can say that bit. That's in Old South Wales. She's got two smiley faces and a beautiful lake mirroring the sky.

00:33:44Simon Mackley: I added that that's in Old South Wales at the end. It wasn't her, though, right?

00:33:49Melissa Ellis: Simon, you've got to put it in italics and make it red. Yeah.

00:33:55Simon Mackley: she made a comment about it being a beautiful part of South Wales. So I thought, well, I'm going to put in that that's old South Wales.

00:34:02Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:34:03Simon Mackley: Sorry. I should have given you the heads up on that. Italics. Italics. Okay. I'm learning the tricks of the trade. I've got a desk full of post-it notes. I'm trying to. Anyway. So next we heard from, I'm going to say Belinda Rachel Caffey. I'm hoping that's what her name is, but that's what it is on Facebook. So she was at Clermont Waterfront parkrun in Florida. She said, I felt like a piece of sizzling bacon on the run walk. Does that count? And there was a picture of her and a friend in their run down under singlets with a superb sunrise in the background. That was a magical photo.

00:34:45Melissa Ellis: It was. And she's off touring. So yeah, in the USA. Well done. Yeah. And lastly, we've got Roberta Winters. Picked up a friend at 6.10am for a trip to Scribbly Gums for her third ever parkrun, then headed to Brekkie where Avo was on her plate. And Roberta shared a photo of herself and her friend in the selfie frame out there at Scribbly Gums. I hope they enjoyed Scribbly. It's one of my favourites around here.

00:35:13Simon Mackley: A lot of people just want to go there for the name of that one. Well, it's like literally when you pull up in the car park. the scribbly gums are in the car park. So I actually haven't noticed the five or six times I've been the scribbly gums actually in the park. Oh, really? But they're definitely in the car park.

the Obi Award — Belinda Rachel Caffey

00:35:32Melissa Ellis: Now, that's it for Dazza's. So we need to choose. Well, we don't need to choose. We need to find the envelope to reveal the winner. Yeah, it must be here. Let me have a look under. I don't have Post-it notes. I just have, like, random pieces of scrap paper because I'm one of those, like, reuse everything. So when I have to print something and then I don't need it anymore, I cut it up and make my own, like, scrap paper to write notes on. So that's what I have. I'm too taught to buy.

00:36:06Simon Mackley: Sorry? You put a bulldog clip on it?

00:36:09Melissa Ellis: I don't even do that. They're all just loose in a pile. Right, okay. Yes, no, I have an envelope. So this week's Obi goes to Belinda Rachel Caffey. Yay! Hooray. Over there in Clermont. Is that how you say it? I don't know. That's with my American accent. Well done. It sounded Texan. Well, that's in America.

00:36:15[background music]

00:36:46Simon Mackley: It is in America. You're right.

00:36:48Melissa Ellis: Yeah. So anyway. All righty. Now who's throwing?

Club Corner

00:36:53Melissa Ellis: Oh, it must be me throwing to Rachel for Club Corner. Yeah.

00:37:00[background music]

00:37:10Rachel: 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 course designs. I was inspired to do this after some recent chat on the pod, something about a balloon, is that right? I am not talking about the physical and intellectual processes of designing a course. You can read all about that on the parkrun official webpages. You know, via the volunteer hub, volunteer.parkrun.com. Then use the search box and type, course design. You will get three responses, event location and course design guidance, plus, starting an event, and then, secure event processes. It's the first response that you want to read. There's about two and a half thousand words there, and they are very handy. Go on, geek out and get in there deep. Rather, as this is a podcast, I am talking about the shapes that events make when viewed from above, the Strava art view of the world as it were. Let's go. The main shapes we recognise, when viewing events, are. Single lap. Where it's clockwise or anti-clockwise, you start from one point and end at another point, typically, the same point as you began from. Multi-lap. This is where you do the same thing repeatedly, outside of custodial events, I have read that that Eastleigh, UK. Once did 12 laps, owing to icy conditions and the rest of the course being inaccessible. This was in December 2010. Most multiple lap courses tap out at 3 laps. Sometimes the laps are identical, other times they vary. A classic is outer and inner circles looping around a central point. Out and back. This can be a straight line or any other shape. You start from one end, then do what it says on the box and come back. Multi lap, out and back, aka, an out and back out and back, start from somewhere, go somewhere else and come back, then repeat it all again. Butterfly out and back, where you have the same overall outline as an out and back, but you don't start from an end, you may start in the middle, or it could be toward an end, it doesn't matter. A multi lap, butterfly out and back, sheesh, yep, this is exactly what it sounds like, and actually quite popular. The last main grouping of events are Squiggles, where the course follows the natural curvature of the land and you could get something that Mr. Squiggle would struggle with. We also have special features within the overall structure of the event course, like Ocean View has a foot shape around the vines or Somerdale Pavilion with a curly whirly. Then we start getting into combos, where the basic options are combined, so for example, a lap loop on top of an out and back looks like a lollipop. If you squash the lollipop then you get a balloon type shape, etc etc etc. Do you have a favourite shape at parkrun? Do you enjoy certain shapes more than others? Why not write or record something for Mel and gang to share your views? And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future Club Corners.

00:40:02Simon Mackley: And thanks to Rachel for that Club Corner about course designs. So, which is your favourite shape of course, Mel?

00:40:13Melissa Ellis: I prefer the out and back or the single loops. So I like to not do multiple laps. That's not my preference to do multiple laps or double out and backs. Okay. What about you?

00:40:31Simon Mackley: I actually like loops because you then see – well, sorry, I like loops that you're running the opposite direction to people so that you're always – seeing people as you go past I actually like that idea so like an out and back does that obviously but like I'm just thinking maybe I'm a bit biased by the whole Mossman thing because three laps you see people a lot over the entire sort of three laps or mile loops but yeah we'd love to hear the listeners what you think um is your favourite shaped course write in and let us know You might feature in You've Got Mail.

00:41:08Melissa Ellis: And, well, they would because we put them all in. Yeah. But, you know, it made me realise just then when we're talking about multiple loops and seeing people multiple times, people don't high-five much anymore, Simon. That just died from the pandemic, didn't it? It did. It didn't.

00:41:33Simon Mackley: I think I've only ever high-fived my friends since, or people in Dirty Cheaters or that sort of thing.

00:41:39Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I just don't really see people doing it at all. So, yeah, that's interesting. Anyway.

00:41:44Simon Mackley: Yeah, it is interesting.

Consolidated Club Report

00:41:46Melissa Ellis: But I know you want to know, Simon.

00:41:49Simon Mackley: I want to know.

00:41:50Melissa Ellis: The adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday the 16th of September 2023. Three of a total of 461 members, 351 took part on this date in 10 countries across 175 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 29 events. Two in South Africa and America and Singapore and one in Canada, Germany, Ireland and Italy. Locally, we had adventurers at 40 events in Victoria, 34 events in Queensland, 33 events in New South Wales, South Australia and WA had nine, the North Island had five, there was three in the ACT, Tassie and the South Island, oh, and the Northern Territory had one, internationally the largest frond was a surprising five at Bishan I don't know what was going on at Bishan well I do there was a family Marvellous Mark and his family of Nicole, James and Elise was there and so was Mary de luna which we mentioned earlier in Dazza's and the largest frond now we had three events with a frond of eight I wonder if you can guess what It was North Sydney, Shellharbour and the Ponds, all of course in Australia. North Sydney would have been their location of choice due to the Sydney Marathon. Exactly. I'm guessing. So now we very often read out the names of the people at the Ponds and Shellharbour, so I'm not going to read those out, but I thought I would list the participants that were at North Sydney. So we had Bill Lodwick, Jason Andrews, Peter Howes, Michelle Joines, Renee Jackson, Andrew Reynolds, Jeff Whiffen and Stephen Cox. So well done to all those adventurers getting their North Compass point. Lots of names we don't hear from very often.

00:43:44Simon Mackley: There, that's right. Going back to Bishan, I'm wondering whether they were up there for Singapore Grand Prix, which was on last night. Yeah.

00:43:53Melissa Ellis: Oh, I bet it was. Yes. It feels like there must have been a reason. But, you know, when you think it's a frond of five, but then you realise, well, four of them is the Scarborough family. True.

00:44:06Simon Mackley: And there's only three events in Singapore. Yeah. Yeah.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:44:12Simon Mackley: We had some launches and none of them were in Australia. And it looks like they were all in the UK. So, first of all, we had... I'm going to say Muncaster Castle, situated in Ravenglass, a coastal village in Cumberland, Cumbria, England. They had 131 finishes and of those 131, 35 of them were doing their very first parkrun. It's an undulating three lap course on a wide tarmac and gravel track, taking you around the castle past views of England's highest mountain. And we think that might actually be in the Lake District.

00:44:51Melissa Ellis: It looked like it was anyway. It's very close to, if not within the boundaries. Now, there also was a launch at Silloth? I'd say Silloth. Silloth Promenade, situated in Silloth Green. Silloth is a port town also in Cumberland, Cumbria, England. So I guess those two events aren't that far apart. 73 finishes out there, seven doing their very first parkrun, and it's a two-lap course, a route going out along the promenade and back on grass, then returning to the start along the promenade. So that was how it was described in their event page.

00:45:36Simon Mackley: Cool. And the last one in, well, actually, sorry, this one was in Scotland, is Whitekirk Hill. It's situated in North Berwick, a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. They had 42 finishes, and two of those were doing their first parkrun. It's a two-lap course on a mixture of gravel and grass trails, starting and finishing near the car park.

00:46:00Melissa Ellis: Welcome to the parkrun family. Yes. So anyway, as far as we know, they were the only three launches and if there were others, we'll bring them to you another time. Indeed.

Streaky September

00:46:13Melissa Ellis: But Simon, it's probably time to turn our attention to how our streaks are going. So should we listen to Pippa's audio first and then come back and have a chat?

00:46:28Simon Mackley: I think so.

00:46:36Pippa White: Hi parkrun adventurers, it's Pippa. By the time you get to hear this, we'll be three weeks in, and that's apparently the amount of time it takes for a habit to form. So, how are you doing? For me, I've just been out and had an early morning run. I've got a really busy day ahead, and this way I know that whatever happens, I've done my streak. I've got it in, ticked, and I got to run through, well, it would have been sunrise if the sun had bothered coming up, but currently the sun's sulking. So I ran from darkness into light, and it's been absolutely glorious. And I'm just going to remind you about why this is such a great habit for me. And then maybe you can pick some things out of this. It's really, really good for my mental health. I've actually just had just over 30 minutes of a run. I haven't done a long run today. Just gone out, done a little run. And I've thought about things. I've sorted some ideas out, thought about a couple of friends who are having tough times at the moment. But my head is now a lot clearer than it was when I first got up and put my running clothes on. It's quite important for me also to maintain my fitness. It's really easy, particularly now we're no longer doing our exercise every day because that was all we were allowed to do and get out within the pandemic. It means every single day I've got up and done something. And I think there's been some concern going through, you know, does this count? Does this count? For me, the streak is about some regular exercise and getting in and just doing it. And if that's running or walking or cycling or swimming, or even if it's, and thanks Helen Rutter, even if it's yoga or Pilates as a regular activity that we commit to and we make sure we do, it's so much better for our bodies. And also, and I'm going to smile at you, Ollie, when I'm thinking about this, it's my time. Sometimes this is more important for women than it is for men. And that's just because we tend to do more of the in-house stuff or we tend to feel we have to. But this little bit of time, this half an hour of each day is absolutely mine. Nobody else is allowed to take it away from me. And if it means I have to get up a Or if it means I absolutely take my lunch break in the office, it's my time. Anyway, so those are the reasons why I keep streaking. I hope that the habit's getting in there and I hope that some of the things that you've done over the last three weeks have helped you find ways to enjoy the exercise. Going forward, you might like to be looking at exercise, collecting animals collecting street names or also to keep your streaks going but those will be the the Bingoe cards a brilliant way to look at what it is that helps you get excited about going out anyway three weeks in isn't this so exciting almost there the end of the month is inside happy streaking

00:49:37Melissa Ellis: Okay, and thank you for that audio, Pippa. Definitely good for mental health and a great start to the day. So Simon, how is your streaky September going?

00:49:51Simon Mackley: My streaky September has a few little dots of nothingness in there. So I just had a look back to see how many times I've broken my streak and it looks like I've broken it three times so far, um but yeah I'm getting back out there I think I'm on four or five days in a row now so actually which I'm about to break tonight because I haven't got anything tonight no excuse you can go out you can quickly I can didn't you ride your bike didn't you say to me that you were going to ride your bike to get sushi I did but it's 300 metres down the road oh so it's not long enough yeah okay But yeah, so it hasn't been very streaky, that's for sure. How about you?

00:50:39Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes, I'm still going. Okay, good. I am still going. So I'm still maintaining my three kilometres a day activity. It's usually a walk, except on parkrun day when it's a run, except this parkrun day when I didn't run, but I did a long run on Sunday. Well, when I say long run, I did seven Ks. Oh, that's long. Isn't it funny though? Like when you're training for marathons, like long runs are obviously, it's a lot different too.

00:51:06Simon Mackley: They're hours.

00:51:07Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Now that I don't do that sort of distance anymore, a long run is like seven kilometres. Anything longer than a parkrun, oh dear but uh no I'm enjoying it and yes like I said earlier I took Lucy so I'm ticking off that Bingoe card I was gonna say how are you going with the Bingoe card yeah so I haven't got the Bingoe card in front of me I think I've pretty much done everything that's on the bingo I haven't found a rainbow actually Oh, yeah, and the garden thing. I found the garden, but I didn't actually do a streak, so then I couldn't use that. So I have to go out and find another garden. Okay. Another fancy garden. But I think I did streak at the botanic gardens. Oh, so that counts. It does. Yeah. But what about you, Simon, your Bingoe card?

00:52:00Simon Mackley: I'm getting through quite a few of them. I'm on a slow burn with the street sign spelling. I don't want to give away what it is yet, but yeah, I'm working slowly on that. There's some letters that I'm finding a little bit challenging in my neighbourhood. So I'm getting there, but I did have a funny occurrence when I was on my long run two Sundays ago where I thought, oh, fantastic, a magpie. I'll take a photo of that. Oh, look, it's going in front of this majestic looking horse. So I waited for the magpie to move in front of the horse, took the photo, I got home and thought, I'll upload that. And then I realised it was a selfie with a magpie. One job. One job. It was a big fail. But I've got a great photo of a magpie in front of a big horse. For no reason at all.

00:52:55Melissa Ellis: We're getting lots of photos of the tops of people's heads. Yeah. Magpies that you can't even hardly make out. Callum, Callum posted a photo, his magpie selfie. I couldn't see a magpie. I don't know where it was. In the tall grass. Sorry, Callum. It was funny. Maybe they're smaller in the UK. Like our big killer magpies. Oh, good fun. But we have to choose a new level up challenge. Ollie's left us in charge of that again.

00:53:27Simon Mackley: Yep. I was giving it a bit of thought and I was going back to the days of Dave Robbo Robertson and he was talking about, and actually, sorry, I'm back to the pandemic as well with talk, which was saying hi to everyone on your streak. So I know Robbo used to do that all around Newcastle. People would think he was as crazy as a hatter, but yeah, he would say hi to absolutely everyone.

00:53:53Melissa Ellis: But I always do that.

00:53:56Simon Mackley: Oh, jeez. I'm not coming out with anything that you or TOC haven't done already.

00:54:01Melissa Ellis: Don't you do that? Like, good morning, good morning, good morning. So my big problem is that I have always traditionally been a morning runner. So I go out in the afternoon and pass people and I go, good morning.

00:54:12Simon Mackley: I'm the same. I was out last night and I said morning to someone. It was dark. I had a headlamp on.

00:54:23Melissa Ellis: Oh, but no, that's a good one. Yeah. So say hi on your streak. Say hi to everyone on your streak. Yeah. Hmm. What are you thinking? Find a way to represent that on the bingo square, Ollie. Oh, I can do the little wave, the little like waving hand. Yeah. And then people will mistake it for high-fiving. Oh, well. Yes.

00:54:53Simon Mackley: Anyway, good idea, Simon. Well, we've still got three, well, there's two spaces after that left. Should we leave them for the next week? Because then there'll only be a week left.

00:55:02Melissa Ellis: Yeah, let's do that.

00:55:05Simon Mackley: Well, if you don't have anything. No, no.

00:55:08Melissa Ellis: But yeah, a bit clunky today, but never mind. Time to look forward.

Sign-off

00:55:16Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:55:17Simon Mackley: It is. Where are you going on your next parkrun day, Mel? I'm back to adventuring, Simon.

00:55:23Melissa Ellis: Yay. Yay. I'm going to head west to South Australia.

00:55:30Simon Mackley: Well done. Good direction.

00:55:33Melissa Ellis: I got it right, didn't I? Yes. You did. Go west. Yeah, that's on the Priscilla Queen of the Desert soundtrack that I've also been listening to. Yeah, Seacliff Esplanade. I have done a Freedo with TOC and Janet actually. Okay. In the past, many moons ago. I don't even remember why. It must have been one of the New Year trips I did. Over to South Australia. Is it in Adelaide? It's in the vicinity. Okay. Yeah, South Australia on the coast, in the outer suburbs, I guess.

00:56:10Rachel: Okay.

00:56:10Melissa Ellis: One that I haven't done. So travelling again with Martine and Andrew.

00:56:15Simon Mackley: Oh, nice.

00:56:16Melissa Ellis: Okay. Oh, and I'm going to take Zoe. Wonderful. Full car. Because it's school holidays. Yay. Yay. But what about yourself, Simon?

00:56:29Simon Mackley: I had a few different plans, but I've decided I'm going to go to Cleveland to work on my P index of seven. So I'm a total of four away from getting a P index of seven. So it means two at two events. So I'm probably going to do Cleveland and Scribbly Gum or Cleveland and Redland Bay in the next couple of weeks to try and get my P index to seven. Okay. Okay. But, yeah, I was looking at re-indexing. I was looking at new events. But, yeah, I've decided to stay close to home and work on the P-Index.

00:57:06Melissa Ellis: Very good. Enjoy that. I hope you might have a friend. Who knows? Who knows indeed, yes. Well, that's it. Is it for another week? So who's signing out? Me. Okay. As always, you can contact us via Facebook. Hang on. It's been a while. See, this is what I mean. I just know how to say it and then somebody goes and rewrites things.

00:57:32Simon Mackley: Just say it then.

00:57:34Melissa Ellis: I know, but then I'm like looking at the words and what I'm saying out my mouth isn't matching up with the words on the paper. Oh, dear, it's hard to be me, Simon. And I actually didn't say thank you for joining me again, Simon. Oh, that's okay.

00:57:47Simon Mackley: Thanks for having me again and I'll see you in a month.

00:57:49Melissa Ellis: See you in a month. As always, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

00:57:55[outro theme playing]