Episode 359 - Rrrrriverside

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 359 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life if your life is all about parkrun. I am Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:35Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I am joining from Dharawal Country.

00:00:40Melissa Ellis: Welcome back, Ollie. You've had a little holiday, is that correct?

00:00:46Oliver Spake: I have, yeah, yeah. I have had a four-day weekend and... probably generous to call it a cruise it was a cruise of sorts a bit of a sampler a float yeah just kind of floated up and down the coast on parkrun day too so uh yeah we'll we'll we'll get to that but yeah how have you been Mel

00:01:08Melissa Ellis: I've been very good, thank you. And I should say, we are recording on a new platform for the first time this week. It is called Riverside. So it's a bit of a test. Let's cross our fingers, Ollie, that we have a podcast this week.

00:01:23Oliver Spake: Absolutely. And everyone, please let us know what you think. Do you notice anything different? All feedback is good.

00:01:30Melissa Ellis: Because we're still working out how the buttons work.

00:01:32Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. I didn't even learn the last one's buttons very well, but that's all right.

00:01:38Melissa Ellis: We might have an improved quality of audio. You never know.

00:01:42Oliver Spake: Never know, yeah.

00:01:44Melissa Ellis: Yes, but our old recording platform, Zencastr, ceased to offer a free, what would you call it, a free version that we could record on. And being as we have no income.

00:01:58Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, I did spend the entire budget on a new whiteboard too, so.

00:02:03Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:02:07Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:02:08Melissa Ellis: Yeah, no, but my week's been good so far. It was only Monday.

00:02:13Oliver Spake: Well, it's all up from here too. Yeah, that's right, Mel.

00:02:18Melissa Ellis: But do you want to tell us more about your cruise? Tell me, what was the name of the ship?

00:02:21Oliver Spake: Ah, well, I was on the Ovation of the Seas, which departed Sydney. On Friday afternoon and then returned a.m. on Monday. It was, I think, originally meant to take us down the coast and stop off in Eden on the south coast of New South Wales. But as that was cancelled, we just apparently floated backwards and forth between Sydney and Newcastle. And... It was wonderful, whether it was time with the kids, with Kathy and with her parents as well. And not ideal hill training as I think I have been fearing, but I did find the gym. I did find the treadmills can give me a bit of an incline as well. And Mel, as I mentioned, I was away on parkrun day, but I nonetheless did get out there for a 5K 9.12 laps of the ship.

00:03:19Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:03:19Oliver Spake: To complete my parkrun day experience, which was a little bit of a challenge with the headwind as I rounded the bow of the ship. But that's all right. Nothing like a challenge.

00:03:30Melissa Ellis: So does the – I've never been on a cruise ship. Does the track run outside? Because I don't know why I thought they were internal. I don't know.

00:03:38Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, and I wouldn't know the different permutations that might be across different cruise ships, but this particular one is actually a ship that I'd been on with Cathy and Hannah and Zali and Ava, about four or five years ago so Hannah and I previously had done a pop-up parkrun on that very ship on that very deck and this time Hannah didn't join us so it was it was just me so I did look disclaimer I did start my parkrun a bit earlier um 5 50 in the morning and is that because of the weather or you just didn't want people to see the crazy man running around around in circles Well, that was actually one of the few times in the morning that they would let me out on the running track. So, yeah, for some reason it was closed relatively often in the morning. And the main reason was, of course, I couldn't stand between my daughters and breakfast.

00:04:39Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:04:40Oliver Spake: So I had to get my parkrun done. But, yeah, yeah, a good, I think it was 28 minutes and three seconds. There was a little bit of an incline each time rounding the bow. So, yeah, nine little bumps in my Strava profile, which it hasn't uploaded yet. So I don't. Yeah, well, that's the thing. I did track it.

00:05:06Melissa Ellis: It doesn't work, Ollie. I've tried it on the Spirit of Tasmania. It just very naively thought I would get patterns of walking around the air, outside of the decks in a nice circular and no I had a straight line because of course the boat's moving you're moving yes yeah that's right and I was like you're such an idiot so I think according to my watch it was about 6.53 we weren't going very fast um

00:05:08[crosstalk]

00:05:34Oliver Spake: 6.53 Ks, but yeah, nonetheless, I got my experience in post-parkrun coffee, didn't live up to the usual post-parkrun coffee, and I was the only finisher at event number two.

00:05:48Melissa Ellis: And you didn't see any other people out there doing 5 Ks either?

00:05:53Oliver Spake: No, not a soul. Oh, that's disappointing. Not a soul.

00:05:58Melissa Ellis: Bugger.

00:06:00Oliver Spake: Yeah. So, yes, that was my parkrun day. I do look forward to getting back to a real-life parkrun sometime soon.

00:06:09Melissa Ellis: And we can hear a bit more about that later.

00:06:12Oliver Spake: Yes, that's right. But, Mel, I trust that you actually did parkrun.

00:06:16Melissa Ellis: I did, yes.

00:06:18Oliver Spake: Excellent.

00:06:19Melissa Ellis: Not much to tell. I didn't prepare anything today. I went to Point Cook. Been there before.

00:06:26Oliver Spake: How was Point Cook?

00:06:27Melissa Ellis: it was nice. It was festive. They were celebrating a few milestones of local people and they had somebody cross the line. Oh, I should have written it down. They were a certain number finisher at Point Cook parkrun. So they made a bit of a fuss of them. You know, one of those numbers with lots of zeros on the ends and

00:06:50Oliver Spake: Ah, I see. I see. Something like that. Yes. Yeah. 50,000. There we are. I just happened to have the results open. There we are.

00:06:58Melissa Ellis: Thank you, Ollie. You're such a quick Googler.

00:07:03Oliver Spake: This time I did have the results open. So I'm a quick scroller in this case. Yes.

00:07:08Melissa Ellis: Yes, I chose Point Cook because I didn't have a lot of time in the morning to go anywhere. I needed to go somewhere quickly within a certain distance of home. And I was looking to work on my p-index. So Toolern Creek was out because that would have ruined my streak. Peppertree was out because that would have ruined my streak. They're the two closest parkruns. And in my, yeah, Point Cook is probably my next closest parkrun. And I hadn't been there in a few years. So... So I went out there and I brought my attendance at Point Cook to eight. And that's the whole point of raising my p-index to eight. So I now have five events on eight or more.

00:07:48Oliver Spake: Well done.

00:07:48Melissa Ellis: So I've got two events on seven. That's Wilson Botanic and Frog Hollow. They're both over in the southeast. So I need to get to both of those events and increase them to eight. And then I've got to get one more event to eight so what are the candidates to uh well I've got four events on five and they are Albert Westerfolds pucker and Studley yeah so if I hazard a guess um I might look at pucker to bring that up Yes, yeah. You know, birds and stones and all that jazz.

00:08:23Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:08:23Melissa Ellis: Plus I'm keen to get back there and see me mates, so yeah.

00:08:26Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:08:27Melissa Ellis: But, yeah, but no, working on your p-index is a nice little distraction to have in your back pocket when you can't get to a brand-new event.

00:08:35Oliver Spake: That's right.

00:08:36Melissa Ellis: Oh, and I caught up with adventurer Andrew Reynolds as well, so it was nice to catch up with him, have a little chat. He's also a Victorian Statesman.

00:08:44Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:08:46Oliver Spake: No, that sounds nice. And it must be a nice treat to have one a little closer to home from time to time there.

00:08:54Melissa Ellis: Yes, exactly. Didn't have to get up early. Yes. Didn't have to drive very far and was home. And yeah, so I was out Saturday night. So there you go.

00:09:05Oliver Spake: That's that. That is that. And I was expecting to have some internet connection on the ship, but I couldn't even manage that. So... What I didn't manage to do on the ship was to log my Saturday morning parkrun as a nottie.

00:09:21Melissa Ellis: Oh, no.

00:09:21Oliver Spake: Last week. However, I did manage to log one on Friday morning, Mel.

00:09:25Melissa Ellis: Oh, so you are included in the numbers.

00:09:28Oliver Spake: I hope I am. Unless I messed that up.

parkrun news bulletin

00:09:31Oliver Spake: I hope I am. Because I understand we do have a bit of news and discussion following on from last episode.

00:09:38Melissa Ellis: We do. So, TOC put the call out last week for adventurers to log a nottie because the numbers of notties have been dropping. Not many people are still doing it, aside from Tony, and I assume Jacqui um so the adventurers got behind it Ollie I'm so proud of you guys we had 34 adventurers log a nottie and uh take the while the australians uh figures had a spike from 93 the week before to 127 so that was a nice little rise and obviously the international nottie numbers would have also had a lift because our international adventurers would have not appeared within our Australian totals obviously yeah that would have helped the global numbers so there you go we did it TOC we and I think it was actually the largest ever number for Australia in notties wow I think yeah did it is an understatement well done Yeah, so a bit of news there. Now, I also wanted to raise, Ollie, I was just looking in what happened over the last seven days, parkrun Australia, they had a little announcement that they had joined forces with Diabetes Alliance Programme Plus, which is an initiative to enhance diabetes care in communities. Yes.

00:11:09Oliver Spake: And so parkrun Australia is collaborating with an innovative program in the Hunter, New England local health district called Diabetes Alliance Program Plus. Specialist teams travel to communities to see patients with diabetes alongside their general practice team, improving access to specialist knowledge and supporting collaboration between health professionals. The specialists and GP team support each other to give people with diabetes the best care available to manage their condition, particularly in rural areas, which is a fantastic initiative and I think fits with obviously the community impact that parkrun seeks to have across these rural, regional and remote areas.

00:11:55Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and further encouraging GPs to prescribe parkrun for health and wellbeing measures to have a positive health impact.

00:12:05Rachel: So, yeah, that's really good.

00:12:07Melissa Ellis: And the announcement came with a released video as well that's been used in social media and I think like within the GP network, all over the place actually.

00:12:20Oliver Spake: Yeah, it's great to see and I look forward to seeing and hearing more about it. Speaking of seeing more, Mel, I understand the hoodies are on their way.

00:12:31Melissa Ellis: They are. So we discussed the arrival of the Milestone hoodies in the UK a month or so ago, but they're going to be appearing in the Australian shop, I noticed, Ollie, from the 28th of November for pre-order. So that will make a lot of people happy.

00:12:47Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, yeah, I imagine so. They are, I mean, the colours really do look fantastic and nice and bright. I haven't landed on whether I will order anything at some stage, but, yeah, I do look forward to seeing them about, maybe in time for winter in our case.

00:13:08Melissa Ellis: On the Christmas list, remember?

00:13:10Oliver Spake: Well, yes, yes, yeah, it would be nice to add to the Christmas list, actually. That's a good point.

00:13:14Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:13:16Oliver Spake: But I think that's it for our news and discussion, Mel.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:13:21Oliver Spake: However, we do have an update across the ditch from Alison, who's been out recording a roving report from a new parkrun there. So why don't we pause ourselves and have a listen to this week's roving report.

00:13:30[background music]

Roving report Alison Fraser (King) — Northern Pathway parkrun

00:13:46Alison Fraser (King): Kia ora koutou, it's Alison here reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. I've come to Tamaki Makaurau for the launch of Northern Pathway parkrun. It is the eighth parkrun in Auckland and the 43rd open event in New Zealand currently. So let's see who I can have a few words with. [Te Reo Maori: "Hello / greetings to you all (the plural form addressed to three or more people)"]

Talking to Anna — Chair of the Upper Harbour Local Board, Auckland; first-time parkrunner

00:14:11Alison Fraser (King): So I'm walking on the Northern Pathway with Anna. And Anna, what's your involvement with this part of Auckland?

00:14:19Anna: I'm the chair of the Upper Harbour Local Board. And Upper Harbour stretches all the way from North Cross to West Harbour. So it includes this whole beautiful pathway we're on.

00:14:29Alison Fraser (King): Now at the start, before we started, we learned about the pathway. So can you share with listeners what this pathway is?

00:14:36Anna: Yeah, sure. It was part of a project called the Northern Corridor Improvement, which was a $700 million project, project around this area and there was improvements to cars to public transport and for walking and cyclists so for cars they added a lane on this portion here by constellation and they also did a fly over a fly under an underpass directly out to west Auckland for buses they extended the busway that used to stop at constellation all the way to albany it was a real pain you'd stop, we'd be at Constellation and then they'd get off the motorway and trundle along and it was very time consuming, especially when you just want to be home. And then there's this new pathway which goes all the way from Albany to Constellation and then from Constellation up State Highway 18 up to Albany Highway. So an absolutely brilliant asset and I'm really, really hoping one day that we can convince the planners or the powers that be to extend this pathway all the way to the Harbour Bridge and then maybe even over it. Wouldn't that be great?

00:15:46Alison Fraser (King): That would be good. This is an ideal path for a parkrun.

00:15:52Anna: This is your first parkrun today? This is my first parkrun. I do a bit of walking but not organised. What do you think about the pole parkrun concept? I think it's amazing. I think I might come more often. What a great vibe. Everyone there having fun and it looks like a real sense of camaraderie and to have people from Manchester and Napier and Tauranga, it's quite cool. Yeah, it's supremely cool.

00:16:20Alison Fraser (King): Do you do many? Yeah, I hike on every week and I'm one of a few who are here today who've done every one in the country. Fantastic. So we're all excited that there's a new event for Auckland to get more and more people active on a Saturday morning.

00:16:38Anna: Yeah, and I love the fact that it's 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. You can be done by 9, you can go home and do what else you need to do for the day. I'm going to get my kids out next week. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time, Anna.

00:16:51Alison Fraser (King): You're most welcome. Thank you.

Talking to Scott — Event Director, Northern Pathway parkrun, Auckland

00:16:54Alison Fraser (King): I'm here with Scott, the Event Director for Northern Pathway parkrun. So how do you think you launched when, Scott?

00:17:00Scott: I think it went way better than the expectation, frankly. So many people, we'll be close to, I think by the time we finish, I think we'll be 280 or somewhere around there. And everyone was just a few little nudges about the course, but it's a perfect, nice, flat course, well the surface is smooth I'll give you that yeah that's what I mean it's definitely not flat what was the inspiration for this parkrun oh well I guess firstly I'm just so obsessed with seeing more parkruns so that and so my my eye is always out for a new new parkrun and um When they were building the extension to the bus expressway and then they started to build the pathway next to it, almost 12 months ago, I thought there's got to be an opportunity here. And so I've just been keeping an eye on it. I've run it a few times, even when they were still building it. And then once it was finished, to me it was obvious that it had to be a parkrun. So that's how it happened. And it's quite hilly. Yeah, it is. Well, it depends how you look at it, because it's out and back on the same route, then that actually means at the end it's a zero elevation. So it's really just a state of mind, that's one way to put it and do you know if you've got many absolute first-timers here today to increase our population yeah well I counted a dozen at least brand new people so and and they the ones that I saw were locals I knew that knew know them as locals so um yeah we've got at least a dozen new ones and and there'll be more because we've been promoting it in the local area And then once we get past the normal, you know, it starts to become more of a local run. And yeah, there'll be a lot of people.

00:17:18[crosstalk]

00:18:44Alison Fraser (King): Now, have you already got your eye on another parkrun course?

00:18:47Scott: I always do. I've been looking in the, not that I live there, but I've been looking in the Thames area. We're very keen to try and get one up, sort of walk with, something in between.

00:18:57Alison Fraser (King): A walk with, definitely needs one.

00:18:58Scott: Yeah, so we've been checking out some courses, potential courses. We're always looking, Andrew and I particularly, we're just always looking around. Anna, my wife, just she's so patient with me we're driving through a town so let's go in some of these back streets and see if we can find if there's a course somewhere yeah is Andrew your co-ed here or is he still just at Sherwood yeah co-ed um Sherwood yeah we need to set that one up together yeah that's right and this one and then yeah yeah good team because yeah as I said at the briefing yeah he's the patient one so he keeps me like just just you know because I want it to happen straight away and so andrew's pretty good at saying okay well we'll get there and this one's been about probably from the time when I first started to seek landowner permission which you know it's uh the tricky one around the bureaucracy because it's Waka Kotahi Auckland Transport and Auckland Council so there's three of the um so there was quite a bit of going round and round in circles for nearly four months before we we could get the sign off but we got there well there's been lots of happy faces when you hear some applause as you can see the Tail Walkers coming in so I think that's our cue to start heading towards the coffee yeah the main event yeah and it's a great little cafe the euro deli Tom Tom there is just so excited about having us so well congratulations on the successful launch of your events great thank you thanks for coming

00:19:19[crosstalk]

00:20:08[crosstalk]

00:20:21Alison Fraser (King): And that's a wrap from Northern Pathway parkrun. First parkrun in New Zealand to start with the letter N. And another thing that Anna told me after we'd stopped recording, we carried on walking together, was that on the Northern Pathway, they have planted 280,000 native trees, which is a phenomenal amount. And When they are all fully grown, it's going to be absolutely spectacular. It's next to a motorway and you go across State Highway 1. I think it's the first in New Zealand to do so. But don't let that detract you from going. It is an event to be visited. Definitely a great addition for Auckland. And even though it is a challenging course, I think this is one that people are going to love. We went to the cafe afterwards, Euro Deli Cafe, just across the road from the start finish area and stayed there until one o'clock because it was some really good conversation and the coffee there was awesome. Loads of selection in the cabinet and also on the menu. So yeah. If you come to Auckland, you've now got an eight parkrun to choose from. I know it's pretty difficult, but I can definitely recommend this one. So that's it from me. And I'll see you another time on another parkrun adventure.

00:21:35[background music]

00:21:51Melissa Ellis: And great to hear from Alison over at the New Northern Pathway in New Zealand. So, Ollie, it's good, probably, opportunity to reiterate that over in New Zealand, they don't have a restriction about silent launches or anything like that. There's only... I think three countries in the world that have the silent launches being the UK, Ireland and Australia.

00:22:14Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:22:15Melissa Ellis: So it was good that Alison was able to get there and enjoy the birth of that event, walking with Anna, discussing the new pathway and E.D. Scott. The fact that it's New Zealand's first N. Yes.

00:22:30Oliver Spake: Yeah. Which I'm sure is very welcome. Very, very long awaited.

00:22:36Melissa Ellis: For those beleaguered alphabeteers that...

00:22:39Oliver Spake: That's right. And a little bit of elevation.

00:22:41Melissa Ellis: I believe so.

00:22:43Oliver Spake: Which is good fun.

00:22:44Melissa Ellis: Not the easiest of courses, but, you know, sounds like it's a ripper. And bringing the events in Auckland to eight.

00:22:51Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:22:52Melissa Ellis: So they can do longest run. Well, they already could, couldn't they?

00:22:54Oliver Spake: They could, yes. Yeah. But now they can mix it up even more or do what the Sunshine Coast do. True. Yes.

Dazza's

00:23:03Oliver Spake: Ah, but Mel, I think it is time to check in with Dazza's, where this week at Dazza's, Dazza said, Remembrance Day 2023. At the 11th hour on the 11th day in the 11th month, we will pause to remember all who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for peace. Thank you to all who have or do serve. Dazza welcomes you all warmly. And of the many people checking in to Dazza's, we heard from Cass Castleton, who said, brilliant day at Queenstown parkrun to complete the eighth alphabet. Get to see so many parkrun world tourists and adventurers. Great day had by all, plus a new country for volunteering Tail Walker today. And Cass shared the picture of himself with a huge chocolate cake.

00:23:58Melissa Ellis: Yes, congratulations. Now we also heard from Wendy Glen, Birdsland Reserve for my friend Jo's 250th milestone. We've literally known each other through our parents pretty much since we were born. She's as sweet-natured and generous now as she has ever been. And Wendy shared a photo of herself and Jo in the Birdsland selfie frame. And so congratulations, Jo. I know Jo. I know her from my days running with the slow burners. So congratulations.

00:24:29Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, big congratulations there. That's a very exciting milestone. Now, also checking in, Barbara Luther, who said it was great to parkrun at Hamilton Island this morning with Belinda Taylor. And Belinda did add, Tail Walker duties on the island, paradise, with a selfie on course showing the water behind her there. And, yes, the pic there did have Barb and Belinda in their adventurers tops by the flag at Hamilton Island, which is a great, fun and challenging parkrun.

00:25:02Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Gemma Holly. She said, sailed the seven seas to celebrate the seventh anniversary of Nepean River parkrun. And there was a picture of Gemma and her friends dressed as pirates. Oh. Well done. Happy birthday to Nepean River.

00:25:20Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Happy birthday to the team there. And special congratulations, Gemma. I am envious even just of the fact that you managed to mark the occasion suitably. I will always rue the day that I didn't.

00:25:34Melissa Ellis: You just like dressing up as pirates. Yeah, one job.

00:25:38Oliver Spake: But we also heard from Val Warwick, who said, Steve and I, Janet and Jeff, had a fabulous five hours together. Janet and I park walked, but as there were no first-time parkrunners, we didn't have anyone to take under our wings. We enjoyed each other's company, cheered on passing runners, stopped and talked and checked on others, and thoroughly enjoyed Nantu Wama's alternative course. And then... There was the park faff over brekkie. And in between all that, we all stopped talking for a minute's silence at 11am. Yes, Janet and I can keep quiet. Ha! Definitely a fabulous time together. And the photo of the four friends there in the selfie frame.

00:26:23Melissa Ellis: And I thought that is a really good example, Ollie, of what a parkwalker is all about. Friendly, encouraging and engaging with the other participants. So good work, girls. Perfect modelling.

00:26:34Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, very much so.

00:26:36Melissa Ellis: Ollie, we heard from Andrew Yeatman. Lake Claremont parkrun finished tokens for volunteer number 125, location 29. First week as a parkrun photography and video ambassador, so the camera came along for the ride. Well done, Andrew. And Andrew shared a photo of himself in the selfie frame out there at Lake Claremont.

00:26:55Oliver Spake: Fantastic. Well, we look forward to seeing many, many more pictures and videos there. Now, someone who took the time out of a special weekend to check in was Sonja Pohlman, who said, thank you, Georgina Devine, for my magnificent fairy bread cake. And the pic of Georgina and Sonja holding the fairy bread cake, which is shaped like a slice of bread with hundreds and thousands on top. So a great effort there.

00:27:24Melissa Ellis: And wanted to say a special happy birthday to Sonja Pohlman.

00:27:29Oliver Spake: Yes, happy birthday for what is currently in our time yesterday, Sonja, but I hope you had a fabulous parkrun day as well.

00:27:39Melissa Ellis: Now we also heard from Johan Duvenhage and I thought you might get this one and I was going to laugh at you doing all the pronunciations, Ollie, and look what happened, I got it. Okay, so Johan says... went off to Umfolozi parkrun, South Africa on the North Coast to complete the Manzini Explorer, similar to the Peel Club, and now having run in all 22 South African regions. It was a beautiful morning, although a bit hot and humid, and the run was awesome with a sighting of some antelope and a giraffe. Made all the more fun by having Chris and Heather Reeler there. And Johan shared a photo of the Manzini Explorer achievement from the Running Achievements app with the green tick to say he's done it. Good work.

00:28:23Oliver Spake: Yes. Congratulations. And, yeah. Some of the sights at the South African parkruns, yeah.

00:28:32Melissa Ellis: We get excited about giraffes, but they probably think kangaroos are exciting and we just go, meh, kangaroos, meh.

00:28:39Oliver Spake: And the koalas and the platypus, yeah, very, very true. And, yeah, the resident red-bellied black snakes and the like, that's true. Yeah. Now, we heard from Calum Burrell, who said there was a minute silence observed before the start of Bolton parkrun. It was nice for the Burrells to meet up with Cameron's story whilst on his UK adventure, a frond of three. And the photo there of Calum, Lindsay and Cameron with the Bolton pop-up. Adventurer Steve Walsh was also in attendance there. Yeah. Yeah, thank you, Calum. And yeah, great to see Cameron popping up during his time over there. Obviously, Calum was part of the fabulous team that hosted us at palm23 this year.

00:29:25Melissa Ellis: Now, lastly, we heard from Andy Airey and he said, 60 of the Airey Airways posse left Bristol at 5.15am to Victoria Dock, London, travelled by cable car over the Thames to the start where many wore Sodbury Slog t-shirts, which is our local Remembrance Sunday race. Two minutes silence at breakfast after in the O2 building and there was a picture of the very large group at Victoria Dock. The Sodbury Slog. Sounds challenging.

00:29:56Oliver Spake: Yes. I'm going to have to look it up. But, no, thanks, Andy, and thank you, everyone. Yeah, we covered some ground in the Adventurers Club and in Dazza's this week, and I'm looking forward to hearing about where the club's up to.

the Obi Award — Gemma Holly

00:30:11Oliver Spake: But for now, I suppose we have some more important business to attend to, and that is a matter of an Obi, Mel.

00:30:19Melissa Ellis: Yes, would you like to do the honours? Yes.

00:30:22Oliver Spake: Yes, please. I have an envelope here. Thank you to everyone for leaving the space very, very clean. This week's Obi goes to Gemma Holly.

00:30:25[background music]

00:30:45Melissa Ellis: Well done, Gemma. And good on you for dressing up and getting into the spirit at the seventh anniversary out there at Nepean River. I have not done that event myself, but I do look forward to getting to it eventually.

00:30:57Oliver Spake: It's a good one out there. But I think after all the fun and excitement at Dazza's, I think it's time now to switch across to another segment.

Club Corner

00:31:07Oliver Spake: Club Corner is back once again. So let's pause and listen to Rachel.

00:31:15[background music]

00:31:26Rachel: 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 TOC's homework from last week, I have done the hard yards and put in the elbow grease. We learned about the English language alphabet and parkrun, back in Club Corner number 2. Scroll back in your feed if you need to remind yourself and listen to episode 319 Alphabet Ears from January 2023. Back then the letter C was living large in Australia, with 49 event names, and letter M following with 44 event names. The bottom end of the packs saw the letters I and V. Both used only thrice each, and Zed only once in Australia. These days, around the end of October 2023, it's not much changed, with C now on 50, M on 46, I and V unchanged on 3 and Z still on 1. But I digress. TOC was wondering about how many times you can do the alphabet in the world. Well, wanna know more? The answer is 9. A caveat here first. This is the parkrun alphabet pushed into an anglicized English alphabet. Letters have been transformed to their closest resembling partner, and Polish and French parkruns assumed to start with the event location name rather than all starting with P because of Polish grammar etc. If you thought that Z would continue to be the problem child for the remainder of the world, you would be wrong, there are 12z, equal with 12y, and I has 14. So if those three aren't the limiting factor, which letter is, I am going to pause for dramatic effect, and feel free to shout out your guesses now. Dot, dot, dot. The answer is Q, with only 9 in the world. As far as popularity goes, worldwide, as at around October 2023, for 5K parkrun events, the most popular starting letter is C with 180 events, followed by B with 176 events. If you are keen, I will list them all in order. Are you ready? Take a breath. C, B, S, M, W, P, H, L, T, G, R, A, D and K, N, F, E, O, V, J, U, I, Y and Z, and Q. That's your lot for the week. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for future club corners.

00:33:42Melissa Ellis: So great to have Rachel back, giving us all the homework that we didn't have last week from Tony about alphabets, all those alphabets.

Emails

00:33:53Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, and Mel, I suppose, not unrelated to that, we've got mail. You've got mail. So we have a message from the messenger, David Messenger in this case, who has sent in an email and said, Hi, Mel. In the last week's pod, you discussed Cass Castleton achieving nine alphabets and you asked... What is the limit? I was intrigued, so I went and had a look from the current list of global events. The answer is 9, limited by Q. The second limit is 11, due to Z. The third limit is 12, due to Y. And the most common letter is C, with 180. So you could join the Pirates Club 25 times over. Regards, David Messenger.

00:34:46Melissa Ellis: And thank you for that, David. So we had feedback both from Rachel and David giving us some answers. Now, I noticed there was a little anomaly here. Tony, I had to go. Tony.

00:34:56Unidentified speaker: I called you Tony.

00:34:59Oliver Spake: Ollie. That's right. That's kind of my middle name. So I'll go by that.

00:35:05Melissa Ellis: It's like calling your husband the wrong name. I've done that too.

00:35:09Anna: This isn't quite as bad.

00:35:15Melissa Ellis: Yes, so I noticed there was a little anomaly there in the amount of zeds. Now, Rachel claimed that there was 12 and David has said 11. So we went to the adjudicators to try to figure out what was going on here with these zeds. And it does appear that there are 11 Zs or Zed and 12 Zed like characters. So it's all down to interpretation because as Rachel said, we're trying to anglicize all the different languages into our alphabet that we recognise.

00:35:56Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:35:57Melissa Ellis: Now, also note that Australia and New Zealand have five of the nine Qs in the world and eight of the Ys. Hence, the alphabeteers, when they're up doing their repeats of alphabets, need to come out to the Antipodes.

00:36:14Oliver Spake: Yeah, one of the many reasons to make the visit, that's for sure. But, yeah, we're quite fortunate in terms of the parkrun world in having that representation. And... Thank you again to David and to Rachel for helping us answer that question.

Consolidated Club Report

00:36:33Oliver Spake: But Mel, I did mention earlier on I was looking forward to hearing the latest numbers from the Consolidated Club report and I'm hoping you can enlighten me.

00:36:44Melissa Ellis: I can. The adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, the 11th of November, 2023. Of a total of... 505 members! Hooray! We made it. 378 took part on this date in eight countries across 200 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 28 events. There were three in South Africa and America and one event in Austria, Malaysia and Poland. Locally, we had adventurers at 45 events in Queensland, 43 events in the greater state, 39 in New South Wales, 10 in South Australia. WA and ACT had seven. Tassie and the North Island had five. And there was three on the South Island.

00:36:45[background music]

the Frond — Andrew Capple, Claire Taylor, Maurice Cohen, Helen Watson and Alison King

00:37:40Melissa Ellis: Now, I haven't done an international front because I thought we'd give some more love to New Zealand this week, Ollie, and say that there was a front of five at Northern Pathway in New Zealand, which was Andrew Capple, Claire Taylor, Maurice Cohen, Helen Watson and Alison King. Yes.

00:38:01Oliver Spake: So, yeah, great to see some of the celebrations there. We also had some milestones amongst our adventurers, which we've been able to source from a few different points there. So congratulations to Chris Roos, 2092913, who ran 250th milestone. Should I read out the Dazza's post, Mel? I think so.

00:38:26Melissa Ellis: because he did also pop into Dazza's.

00:38:29Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. I felt torn not reading that. So I'll jump straight in. I celebrated my 250th parkrun today at Jells parkrun, where I started almost eight years ago. I had my son and fellow adventurer Nathan with me. And we also met another fellow adventurer, Andrea, who was celebrating her 100th. And Chris shared a picture of himself and Nathan in the selfie frame. Now, the aforementioned Andrea was Andrea Booth, 4910289, who ran a 100th milestone. And... There we are, Andrea also popping in saying, being reflective and grateful for those who have and do serve our country this Remembrance Day. Personally, I had a fantastic parkrun celebrating my 100th milestone with family, friends and my Jells parkrun community. Such beautiful people. Thank you. And Andrea's photo was a lovely photo of herself with the 100 sash, a cape and 100 sign. So congratulations also to Andrea. Now, the milestones continued with Amelia Garner, 520-3385 with a 50th milestone, and Mark Scarborough, who on a rather special parkrun day for him, so Mark Scarborough being 732.901, marking his 250th milestone. Now, Mark's name may come up again in a moment, but I am going to read out Mark's Dazza's post as well, which was parkrun number 250 on my 10th anniversary parkrun. After six years... I finally got a new parkrun PB on the undulating Wagi Bridge parkrun course, and Mark shared a finished photo of the feat. Now, I have gone and thrown in the spoiler there for the adventurers PBs there, Mel.

00:40:34Melissa Ellis: You have. So we have first Erin Phillips, 7606939, who ran a PB at Stones Corner, 4137. Well done, Erin. And also Mark Scarborough, 732901, ran a PB at Wagi Bridge.

00:40:53Oliver Spake: 23 34 so there's a lot going on a 250 milestone on his 10th anniversary and an all-time PB that is bloody marvellous congratulations mark congratulations everyone and of course everyone please remember if you would like us to track these achievements you can add the Adventurers Club as one of your five affiliations on your parkrun profile

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:41:19Oliver Spake: Now, you might have picked up we have had a launch this week, Mel.

00:41:24Melissa Ellis: We have. We had the Northern Pathway parkrun, as we have already covered in New Zealand, in the Auckland area with 264 finishers, 25 volunteers and 25 people running their first ever parkrun. Would you like to describe the course?

00:41:41Oliver Spake: I would love to. Thank you. So the course, starting at the public reserve, head across the bridge and down onto the Northern Pathway. Head out to a turnaround point near Rosedale bus station, turning to go back up the path and pass the bridge down to the second turnaround at Otihar Valley Road. Return up the pathway to the pedestrian bridge and finish back in the reserve. And... I apologise for the pronunciation. I looked at that earlier and I really didn't know how to pronounce that. So please look up the course description just to be absolutely sure.

00:42:19Melissa Ellis: It does sound like a good one and, yeah, well done for New Zealand. Yes.

International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day

00:42:25Melissa Ellis: But looking forward, what have we got to look forward to, Ollie?

00:42:29Oliver Spake: A whole lot of ugly. A whole lot of ugly. As those final ugly singlets are heading out tomorrow and, our Aussie orders should be received this week. I mean, these elves have been working feverishly and, yeah, they have supported us so well. So we look forward to that and, yeah, look forward to seeing some of the first sights and first delights of their receipt.

00:43:01Melissa Ellis: I am very excited. I am, like, continuously checking my mail and... Very keen to get my hands on that ugly to potentially wear this week.

Sign-off

00:43:12Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. There's nothing saying that you need to wait for International Ugly Christmas Single Little Shirt Day, which I believe is December 16, 2023, to wear your uglies. But I am looking forward to that date all the same. And if you haven't already marked it in your calendar, please go look it up. If you're on Facebook, check out the event and join us with a celebration of ugliness. Tinsels all around. But Mel, maybe a bit closer in the near future? Do you have another parkrun planned? Where are you this Saturday?

00:43:50Melissa Ellis: Well, I do. And I think I have mentioned that I've got a couple of weeks where I'm just hanging local. So this week will be another repeat for me. And I think, I think I'm going to be at Karki Parki, which is otherwise known as Karkarook parkrun, the home parkrun of Chris Ruse. So I don't know if he'll be home. But anyway, that is likely where I will be. Oh, lovely. What about you, Ollie?

00:44:21Oliver Spake: Well, yes, I will be back out completing a real-life parkrun, and I am sincerely hoping, unless unforeseen events get in the way, finally hitting event number 50, as I was ever so close last month to doing so at the very same parkrun that I plan on heading to, which is Kingston Park parkrun in Tassie, down in lutruwita. So, yeah, I'm very much looking forward to that, Mel. That's wonderful. Probably going to take it easy.

00:44:53Melissa Ellis: Yeah, you won't have it. Oh, I hope there's somebody there that you know to share the occasion with you. But we'll be cheering for you and celebrating. Make sure you post in Dazza's.

00:45:03Oliver Spake: I will. I will, absolutely. And, yeah, we'll see. We'll see. Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to convince my little brother to come and make an appearance. But needless to say, I look forward to it. Yeah, a real-life parkrun. It's almost a novelty for me.

00:45:22Melissa Ellis: And would you like to remind everybody why you're going to be back in Tasmania?

00:45:27Oliver Spake: Well, aside from absolutely loving the state, I'm back for my second attempt at the Point to Pinnacle, which is the half marathon that goes from the Wrest Point Casino in Hobart, in nipaluna, up to the top of kunanyi or Mount Wellington. And last year when I took that on, yeah, it was a challenge. It was the best experience running-wise of my life so far. I had trained and I had a great amount of support to fundraise for the Carrie's Beanies for Brain Cancer Foundation. And once again, I've had that same support. So as of today, I've just hit the fundraising goal, which feels fantastic to be able to do so. And I won't be anywhere near the pace I was last year, but I'm looking forward to dragging myself up that mountain.

00:46:24Melissa Ellis: Well, Ollie, you keep your eyes out. We're going to have some other adventurers having a crack at that point as well because Martine Barrot is entered as a walker and Andrew Johnston is going to be chasing you up the mountain.

00:46:35Oliver Spake: Excellent. Or I'll be chasing Andrew. We'll see.

00:46:38Melissa Ellis: So good luck to all of you in that event. Thank you, Mel.

00:46:41Oliver Spake: Yeah, no, look forward to it and a bit of a rest afterwards. But in the meantime, I do look forward to listening to next week's pod as well. But I think, you know, given that, Mel, I will go on and say, as always, everyone, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But that is it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

00:47:05[outro theme playing]

00:48:05Unidentified speaker: Bye.