Episode 365 - Tick Tocky

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:24Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 365 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.

00:00:36Simon Mackley: And I'm Simon Mackley and I'm coming to you for Quandamooka Country. Hey, Mel. Happy New Year.

00:00:43Melissa Ellis: Happy New Year, Simon. Happy New Year, Mel. How's things? Things are brilliant and we're back into the swing of parkruns.

00:00:52Simon Mackley: We're back at the desk, back in the comfy chairs and back for another year after a nice little break.

00:00:59Melissa Ellis: And I can see you, Simon. I know, it's awesome. This is a first for me. We've got the cameras on and I usually turn the cameras off. But, you know, it might have its benefits if things go awry. Indeed. Indeed it will. But let me tell you just quickly, I had one of those worst experiences at parkrun Morning, Simon. My goodness. What happened? Have you had it when the alarm doesn't go off and you wake up and you look at the time? And it's not what you want it to be.

00:01:33Simon Mackley: Definitely. Yes, I've had that.

00:01:34Melissa Ellis: Oh, my goodness. Yes, half asleep, woke up. I'd had my alarm set for 5am because I do like to have a nice hour or so to get ready, make my coffee for the car trip and all that kind of not rush um so I had the alarm set for five o'clock wanting to leave the house by 6am to drive across town woke up at 10 past six no way oh and my brain just I think my brain exploded I'm like um what do I do what do I do horror just sheer horror but anyway I'm like okay thought it through quickly got out Google maps and did the calculation of the drive time worked out it was mathematically possible yay if I literally just got dressed and got in the car so seven minutes later I was backing out the driveway wow caffeined or not caffeined, uh, yes, sans caffeine um yeah But I made good time and so I did do a quick stop at the 7-Eleven.

00:02:43Simon Mackley: Lovely.

00:02:44Melissa Ellis: For a povo coffee.

00:02:46Simon Mackley: One dollar coffee.

00:02:49Melissa Ellis: Before I turned up at my event. But, yes, that was a shock. Oh, my goodness. And you know how come? You know how come my alarm didn't go off? Well, phones are good for alarm clocks as long as you charge them. Ah, yes. Yes. When they're flat, they don't work. No, they don't buzz.

00:03:06Simon Mackley: No, you're right.

00:03:07Melissa Ellis: Even if you have two alarms set, they're still not going to go off if they're flat.

00:03:12Simon Mackley: Oh, yes. Epic fail.

00:03:15Melissa Ellis: It was all user error anyway.

00:03:17Simon Mackley: At least you got there. I did. You got there for plan A. I'm sure you had a plan B and a plan C in your head.

00:03:19[crosstalk]

00:03:23Melissa Ellis: And I was feeling really anxious after, you know, not the best start to the day. And as I was saying, ready, set, go, I was like... I don't even want to run. I don't feel like this. Maybe I'll just walk. But you get that adrenaline when the crowd moves and you just move with them. And if you self-seed yourself well, which I must say I'm pretty good at doing these days, looking around at the people and judging them, where I should be. So before you know it, you're running along at your good pace. Yep. And I did a good time, which I wasn't expecting. Awesome. So I was pretty happy with that. But I do always maintain Frog Hollow is a fast course. What makes a course fast, Simon? Some courses just are and they shouldn't be.

00:04:13Simon Mackley: Yeah. Who knows?

00:04:15Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Frog Hollow is a weird one. It's like an out and back, but As you're coming back, you can't go all the way to the finish line. You've got to do a loop of a lake.

00:04:25Simon Mackley: Oh, okay.

00:04:26Melissa Ellis: And before you can then return to the finish line. And the lake's like granitic sand, so it's not – mostly you're on pavement, but then you've got to go off and do this loop on granitic. So it just – it shouldn't be fast. Okay, yeah. Yeah. It's just a weird one. Anyway. Interesting. Okay. But tell me about your summer break, Simon, and your adventures.

00:04:48Simon Mackley: Well, I've stayed at home, but I have had the pleasure to go to quite a few different parkruns. So on the 23rd, I went to Main Beach, as I had said in the last pod, where I was meeting up with the ambassadors. But the big thing was, that Sarah and Matt from the West Side came to Main Beach as well so they've now done the first event in Australia which they were very excited about so yeah I met up with them had a good chat with them before I then went off to breakfast with the ambassadors I don't know what it is about Main Beach it always seems to feel longer than 5k so three times I've done it but it's yeah it You know how Frog Hollow is a fast one? The main beach to me just feels like it's the longest 5K ever. And I don't know what it is. So that was on the 23rd. Then on the 30th, because I didn't do a Christmas Day one, I went to New Farm with Sarah and Matt again, and that was a bit of a last-minute change because Sarah had been up in Toowoomba the night before, where we met up with Roberta, who is – volunteering before she flew off to South Australia so we had brekkie with her before she literally left to go to the airport she gets around that way she sure does um then New Year's Day I went to wet rock or sorry White Rock and that was a flip of the tongue but I was about to say it was absolutely pouring down so I am going to call it wet rock yeah so it's um It's an interesting one. It's all trail. And there's a few little things that they tell you at the start, like do not go off the trail because it used to be a artillery firing range for the army. And if you step off the trail, there's the possibility of there being unexploded ordnance.

00:06:41Melissa Ellis: No way. Who's doing that risk assessment?

00:06:43Simon Mackley: I know, exactly.

00:06:45Melissa Ellis: What?

00:06:46Simon Mackley: So I had been warned of this. So, like, I was concentrating on staying on the path. The problem was that before we even got to there, the first time as brief, we had someone say, okay, there's a lot of endangered frogs in this park, so try and stay out of the puddles because they've been laying their eggs. And I'm like... As I'm running in ankle-deep water, I'm thinking I am not avoiding puddles. You're a frog banterer. Exactly. So I didn't want to go off the trails because of the ordinance thing. I didn't want to jump in puddles. It was one of the hardest parkruns I've done because it was so wet and it's quite wet. quite undulating. So, you go up a hill for probably a few hundred metres and then you run downhill to the turnaround point. So, let's say you run downhill for two Ks and then you run back uphill for two Ks and then five and a minute.

00:07:46Melissa Ellis: Oh, it sounds great. I can't wait to go there.

00:07:49Simon Mackley: Exactly. But no, it's a smallish group and that sort of thing. But the funniest thing was that they'd put on their Facebook page the day before, Because it's been so hot out here, the kids want to have a water fight before the start of it. So obviously with the rain, there was all these people with water pistols. There was one guy with this massive super soaker, and as I was running along, like I was already clothes sticking to me, all this sort of thing, he was running at me saying, you don't look wet enough, and firing water at me. I'm like, okay, great. So that was a bit of fun, and it would have been fun had it been a much hotter day, but After that, I met up with Sarah and Matt again. So they went and did Ipswich. So I met up with them on the other side of Ipswich and we had breakfast together for their last time in Queensland. They were going off to the tennis and then flying home that night. Then the next week, 6th of January, I went to Kelvin Grove and it was one I hadn't actually heard a lot about. So I wasn't expecting heaps. But I've got to say it was a gem just outside the city, like not very far from the city, heap of parking in the industrial area near where it starts. And it's definitely not one to be overlooked in Brisbane. I have a new appreciation for Kelvin Grove, that's for sure. And then last Saturday to finalise it, I went to Fodder Forest. So we had people staying with us over the weekend from Sydney. And they said that they wanted to go for a parkrun. And I thought, well, Redland Bay, because of this rain that we've had for three weeks, is going to be so soggy. So I went to Fodder Forest. And yeah, so our friends, two of them were first timers, never been to a parkrun before, which was awesome. One of them actually got their barcode on the way to parkrun, which shows how much of a first timer they were. But lo and behold, Jackson came along for his 12th parkrun. to now keep his promise of doing one parkrun for every year of his age. So I'm not looking forward to his 50th in 2061. So, yes, Fodder Forest was wet, but it wasn't as bad as Redland Bay because they actually cancelled and were turning people around saying, go to Fodder Forest, go off. So we had a massive influx of people with a couple of minutes to go. including my brother and his family. So yeah, it was a much bigger event at Fodder Forest on Saturday. Now, I know you've had huge adventures, so I want to hear all about it.

00:10:27Melissa Ellis: Oh God, where do we start? I start back at Toolern Creek. So Christmas morning, my traditional Toolern Creek visit for the year. And it was my fourth time going there. And the third time I shared it with Brendan Peel and Jodie Maisie. We also had some wet weather. So I decided to leave my lovely Brooks Christmas runners at home so they didn't get wet and muddy. And it was just as well because it did rain, although it wasn't heavy. The air was just wet. So it wasn't unpleasant or anything like that. Jodie and Brendan kept dry under the shelter there at Toolern Creek with a bit of an adjusted start finish point. And yeah, so we had a few days obviously to recover from the festivities before I packed up the barina and headed west to the Clare Valley in South Australia where I was camping for nine days. My little car was packed to the roof with all the gear required for myself and Belinda who was flying in to join me from Brisbane. The first parkrun of the trip was Copper Trail. Copper Trail is in the small town of Kadina, meaning lizard plain in Aboriginal, and is the largest town in the Copper Coast and on the Yorke Peninsula. It's about 150km from Adelaide and runs on the Copper Coast Rail Trail, which is a walking and cycling trail connecting the towns of Kadina and Wallaroo, following, obviously, the old railway line. The course runs as an out and back on Bichman Path with the start finish point opposite an old race course. There are toilets on hand and a small shelter for the briefing with historical signs giving information on the local points of interest. We were joined by Andrew Johnston and Martine Barrot to make up the crowd of 98 participants and 11 volunteers, third highest since their launch in November 21. Afterwards, we joined the event team for brunch at the Triple B Cafe in Wallaroo, a book and board game cafe. Belinda and Martine enjoyed a game of Marvel Guess Who while we waited for our food to arrive. We also discovered adventurer Nicole Yarwood and listener Robin Gosling were at the table. And we also signed up Event Director Jerry, who happily shared his adventuring stories with us. With tourist tips from the team, we set off to find North Beach where we could drive on the sand in Martins Commodore, not the Barina, and tour the historic Moonta Mine area on the bumpy miniature train. Fun fact, my ancestors were Cornish copper miners who came to Moonta before continuing on to the goldfields in Bendigo, Victoria.

00:13:00Rachel: Okay, so that was the first one.

00:13:02Melissa Ellis: Our second parkrun adventure was a trip into Adelaide to volunteer at Thorndon Juniors on this Sunday. It was a great morning with the kids managed expertly by adventurer and RD Jonathan Morgan. We had quite the adventure afront happening with holidaying Sam and Luke, also volunteering, Jet Setter, as previously mentioned, Roberta Winters, locals Anthony Patterson, Belinda Land and a surprise appearance from the very lovely and ever-giggling Janet Reid. The next parkrun adventure was New Year's Day, where we headed to Port Broughton on the traditional lands of the Gawna people. Port Broughton is a small town located at the northern extent of the Yorke Peninsula on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf, and is situated about 170 kilometres northwest of Adelaide. Here we were joined again by Copper Trail ED Jerry for the multi-terrain coastal parkrun beginning at the Port Broughton foreshore, not far from the jetty and the toilets. This parkrun was an unexpected gem, Simon, a bit like your, what was your, Kelvin Grove. Kelvin Grove. Yes, because beginning with a grass section, the course veers off onto a sandy trail down onto the beach. It is an out-and-back course, which varies in difficulty depending on the tide. A high tide means running on the softer sand. For those more organised than I, there is also a caravan park along the course, which would make for a convenient adventure. Despite the mixed terrain, I very much enjoyed this event, which had a small group of 37 participants for the first parkrun of 2024. Afterwards, I did meet co-EDs Kirsty and Alison before joining my friends for another brunch at a nearby cafe. Now, the final Saturday of my trip to SA, the 6 of Jan, was to Nuriootpa parkrun in the Barossa Valley on the traditional lands of the Peramangk people. This one is a double out and back course alongside the Grapevines and is relatively flat on a primarily gravel path. It was event 291 and the influx of holidaymakers meant the event recorded their highest attendance since their launch in September 2017. That was 101. After the event, we said goodbye to Martine and Andrew and then, along with Belinda's friend Jenny, headed to a nearby cafe for a quick coffee. This was the end of our South Australian adventure. I said goodbye to Belinda and I began my long drive home to Meltown. But South Australia is a treasure trove of parkrun delight and we enjoyed each event we attended as well as the different experiences we had in the regions. I look forward to returning soon for more adventures.

00:15:40Simon Mackley: Huge, huge adventures.

00:15:43Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:15:44Simon Mackley: Sounds like a bit of driving and a lot of exploring.

00:15:48Melissa Ellis: A lot of driving, Simon, and, you know, crazy as I am, I returned to rural Victoria the week after, just did a lazy 1,200 more kilometres around the Silo Art Trail. But that's an aside.

parkrun news bulletin

00:16:02Melissa Ellis: We should move on, though, because this is going to be a very long recording and we've got some news and discussion to cover. And first of all, there was excitement the other week, being the 6th of Jan, a new Aussie attendance record. I do believe there was a total of 78,050 people participants on the weekend the biggest ever made up of 72 odd thousand participants and just over five and a half thousand volunteers did you have anything else to add so yeah I saw that that came up on the 6th of January but I saw last weekend that there was 19 events in Australia break their attendance records and so far this month there's actually been 50 events 50 of the 480 or so

00:16:52Simon Mackley: parkruns that have had new attendance records so Australia is certainly waking up to to parkrun people are either coming back or we've got more first timers and and that sort of thing so yeah it's uh it's records are plenty in Australia at the moment I've got a theory

00:17:12Melissa Ellis: You want to know my theory? Yeah, what's that? I was trying to think, why did people stop going to parkrun over the holiday period for a couple of years after the pandemic? And I reckon everybody had no leave left. Everybody was just working. They weren't on leave, Simon, because everybody used up all their leave over COVID. And so people are just finally getting back into that kind of go away for Christmas, you know, mindset. Maybe, yeah. Because they've accumulated more leave.

00:17:41Simon Mackley: It's a big possibility. And I think a lot of New Year's resolutions as well.

00:17:46Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but there was something else exciting happened, wasn't there?

00:17:49Simon Mackley: There was. That's a great segue talking about records. We have a new female parkrun world record. Ciara Mageean in Belfast in Northern Ireland set a new record at 15 minutes and 13 seconds, taking 12 seconds off Izzy Batt-Doyle's year-old record from Aldinga Beach last year, which obviously remains the Australian record of 15 minutes 25. So Ciara is apparently a two-time Olympian and obviously a very handy runner. And from what I understand of the course that she was on, it isn't flat. So it's no frog hollow, shall we say. So yeah, apparently it was quite windy. But yeah, she broke the female world record. Good work, Ciara. So it's... Aussies turn to take that back.

00:18:42Melissa Ellis: And it does tend to happen this time of year when these elites are on holidays, Simon.

00:18:48Simon Mackley: That's exactly right. And it is an Olympic year, so they're in their tuning up period, I guess.

00:18:56Melissa Ellis: Now, in other news, we wanted to, I guess, give a little bit of a shout-out to one of our roving reporters, which is Greta, who stepped down as a regional ambassador. After many years nurturing the growth of South Australian events with ambassadors and Event Directors, Greta has decided to step back and continue her parkrun journey as a member of the parkrun community. So we wanted to extend our thanks to Greta for everything she She's done for parkrun in South Australia and hope that we will continue to hear from her when she visits new events because she is a statesman over there in SA.

00:19:36Simon Mackley: Yeah. So, I mean, she's definitely the person that has got SA experience. going and that's probably why you enjoyed so many events over the break.

00:19:45Melissa Ellis: And so many of them I had previously heard of probably because of Greta lodging her roving reports when she's visited.

00:19:52Simon Mackley: Sure. In other news, it sounds like we have a new Milestone shirt supplier. So Prodirect is being replaced in the UK by Sports Shoes. So obviously here in Australia, we don't know much about Sports Shoes, but we're going to have a new supplier of the Milestone shirts. So my understanding is at the moment that you can't actually order a Milestone shirt But there is an announcement pending. I think it's going to be this week from what I hear.

00:20:22Melissa Ellis: Well, we'll just keep our eyes peeled on the socials, the parkrun Global, I guess, and even parkrun Australia socials for more news about milestone shirts.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:20:34Simon Mackley: So I think it's time that we threw to some roving reports. Now, we've had a few over the break. So we are going to hear from PK at West Beach. Tracy at Bellevue Juniors and Lyndell at Paradise Point.

00:20:40[background music]

Roving report Paul Kitching — West Beach parkrun

00:20:55Paul Kitching: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's PK here. I am out on the course just by myself. It's... Sorry, what course am I on? Where am I reporting in from? I am reporting in from West Beach parkrun in South Australia on the coast, as the name suggests, of Adelaide. It's not a new parkrun course, but it's back to its old original course, which is fantastic, which is why I thought I'd do a quick report and celebrate that. So... West Beach parkrun is at West Beach, clearly, and it used to go up the river, up Torrens River, along Linear Park, and then back down. Linear Park had some work done to it, so it had to go along the coast, which was also very nice, but we are thankful that the original coastal... Sorry, the original river course is back, which is fantastic, and so... Yeah, I'm out on it today and it is beautiful. With a bit of an added bonus, a bit of a spoiler alert here, there is now, they've just created some wetlands, which is really interesting, right next to the river. And it looks like maybe a sculpture trail. Anyway, good stuff. Let's finish the course and chat to some legends. So good to be out here enjoying this beautiful morning here, getting amongst parkrun day just before Christmas. Okay, we are now at the finish line. We've done West Beach parkrun, and there are quite a few people. I came in at 3.27. I wasn't running. I kind of ran a little bit, but anyway. I reckon they're going to break their record today.

00:22:29Paul Kitching: Let's find out. Anyway, let's talk to one of the legends who's doing parkrun for his first time. G'day, Will. Hello, PK. Sorry, when I say parkrun for the first time, I mean West Beach. Yeah. parkrun for the first time. You've done a few parkruns. How many have you done, do you reckon?

00:22:43Will: Probably around 12. I think this is my 12th, so I'm relatively new to the concept.

00:22:47Paul Kitching: What about your PA? She'd probably know. How many has he done? I don't know. Oh, well, there you go, talking it up. Yeah. What do you think of today? A bit warm?

00:22:58Will: Yeah, it was a bit warm, but I actually like it. It's probably one of my favourite parkruns because it's a bit more flutter.

00:23:04Paul Kitching: Yeah, nice. I like running next to the beach in the water as well. Yeah, it'd be good. Are you tempted to have a swim?

00:23:09Will: I am, actually. I was tempted to get my feet in there. It's cooled down a bit.

00:23:12Paul Kitching: I reckon we should do that too. Yeah, I think so. Why do you like parkrun? Why do you do parkrun?

00:23:17Will: Ah, it's nice to get out in the morning and do a quick run, some exercise, and it's good to catch up with everyone as well.

00:23:23Paul Kitching: So, yeah, it's good to see the community. Correct. You've got it there, mate. You said the magic C word.

00:23:29Will: Yeah.

00:23:30Paul Kitching: Community, that is. Well done, mate. No, good stuff. Thank you for being part of it. It's always nice to see you out and about. Keep doing it. Thank you. Nice work, mate.

00:23:40Paul Kitching: And now I'm with one of the co-EDs, Alida. How are you? Nice to see you.

00:23:43Alida: Good, PK. Always good to see you. Glad you could come back to the beach.

00:23:46Paul Kitching: Yeah, well, I saw your T-shirt before I saw you. What are we wearing today?

00:23:50Alida: 100 Volunteer.

00:23:51[crosstalk]

00:23:51Paul Kitching: Yes, you are. Whoop, whoop, whoop. Siren's going off.

00:23:54Alida: And the show came just in time.

00:23:55Paul Kitching: Well done. Congrats, mate. Hey, congrats. Sorry, I didn't drop your chat, by the way. Sorry, I just wandered up to Alida. We were chatting out in the course, which was nice, wasn't it? You were telling me.

00:24:04Alida: All about the back to the river. Back to the river, yeah.

00:24:08Paul Kitching: And the bonus wetlands.

00:24:10Alida: It's beautiful.

00:24:11Paul Kitching: Did you know there were going to be wetlands?

00:24:12Alida: There was talk about them, but we didn't actually know what that actually was going to look like because we all know the artist... Oh, did you volunteer, by the way?

00:24:16[crosstalk]

00:24:17Paul Kitching: You meant to be in the volley photo?

00:24:19Alida: No. No? Okay, sorry. It's all good. No, the best thing in the world, the artist renditions obviously keep changing, so we're all just waiting with bated breath to see what it actually was going to look like. And it's still not done. There's a few Ghana artworks going to come through. Yeah, I can't wait. So it'll be beautiful out in the course when it's finished.

00:24:33[crosstalk]

00:24:35Paul Kitching: Oh, I can't wait. Hey, let's wander over. Let's live. Let's chat live and see whether you break the record because, oh, I don't know. There could have been. We'll find out in a minute. Let's ask. Well done, Max. Well done, buddy. Great to see you. We're going to find out live whether we break the record today.

00:24:51Unidentified speaker: What numbers did we get? Can you remember? Oh, it hasn't finished.

00:24:55[crosstalk]

00:24:57Paul Kitching: Oh, my gosh. Sorry, I saw the volley photo. It's still going. It's all right. What are we up to, though? Looking tempting. Anyway, so that's quite a few, isn't it? What's your record here?

00:25:08Alida: 402 is the record. It's one of those records that we're very happy doesn't get broken anytime soon.

00:25:13Paul Kitching: Correct. But you had the Adelaide Harriers out for their Christmas run.

00:25:17Alida: They were out today. It was beautiful.

00:25:18[crosstalk]

00:25:18Paul Kitching: Which was nice.

00:25:19Alida: And they're hoping for the Adelaide Frontrunners to make their way to Christmas Day as well. They've promised they're going to come through. Awesome.

00:25:25Paul Kitching: I love that you are doing Christmas. Oh, we've got treats. Is this meant to be for volunteers only? Can I have one? Thank you. That's very kind.

00:25:31[crosstalk]

00:25:31Unidentified speaker: I made this one. Yeah, you did.

00:25:34Paul Kitching: Just eating. What was that one that I'm eating? Fudge.

00:25:36Unidentified speaker: It's got cranberry and pistachio in it.

00:25:38Paul Kitching: Cranberry and pistachio for Christmas. Awesome. I'm eating Christmas stuff at a Christmas parkrun. Life can't get much better than this, can it?

00:25:45Alida: Happy parkrun Day.

00:25:46Paul Kitching: Happy parkrun Day. Thank you so much for everything that you do for parkrun.

00:25:49Alida: And likewise. Things wouldn't be the same without us.

00:25:52Paul Kitching: Love it. You know it. Thank you. Alrighty, that's it. That's me signing off from another awesome parkrun.

00:25:58Will: West Beach parkrun. Come and do it.

00:26:00Paul Kitching: Get amongst it. Merry Christmas whenever you hear this.

Roving report Tracey Wood — Bellevue Park Junior parkrun

00:26:05Tracey Wood: Good morning, parkrunners. It's Tracey in a Tutu and I'm coming to you from last year. Yes, through the magic of technology, I am recording the last parkrun in Queensland of 2023 and I'm down at Bellevue Park Juniors this morning. Why? Well, actually, Des Connors Junior parkrun unfortunately had to be cancelled due to soggy fields. So I've come down here and check it out and say hello to the team. Stand by.

00:26:37Tracey Wood: Good morning again. I've got Dwayne. Hi, Dwayne. Good morning. Dwayne, what's your job here today?

00:26:44Dwayne: I'm the Run Director here at Bellevue Park Junior parkrun.

00:26:47Tracey Wood: And how long have you been doing that for?

00:26:50Dwayne: I've probably been the Run Director, well, a Run Director here for about two years. Previous to that, I was Run Director at Main Beach parkrun, so the big parkruns on Saturday for about four years.

00:27:00Tracey Wood: And tell me about your parkrun history. Is Main Beach your home parkrun?

00:27:08Dwayne: Yeah, Main Beach is my home parkrun. It's the one that I've done the most of. I think I've done about 100 or so Main Beach parkruns. I've done about somewhere just over 250 in total. Just over, I think, about 120 volunteers. So I've been doing it for quite a while and then helping out quite a bit, doing run directing and other volley rolls throughout the year, throughout gold coast as well my other half is a ambassador for the gold coast so we actually know quite a few of the Run Directors and um yeah really involved in in the gold coast community for parkrun too so it's really really great yeah well we appreciate you doing this junior event on the gold coast um uh coming from Des Connor juniors we know that the kids just love it um what's the atmosphere like here what sort of vibe do you have Look, I think it's really, really good. Previous to us being at Bellevue, we were at TSS. So it was a slightly different location, different setup. Unfortunately, with COVID, we couldn't continue. And then when we actually came back, there was actually conditions there and we weren't able to actually meet all of them. So we actually moved to this location. But in terms of the atmosphere, I think it's really, really good. The kids have a great time. We've got music that's playing. It's all about getting them involved and being really happy and enjoying what they're doing. And we spend a lot of time making that happen.

00:28:25Simon Mackley: So, yeah, it's good.

00:28:27Tracey Wood: Yeah, yeah, fantastic. Okay, lots of volleys arriving, so I'll leave you to attend to them and chat to you later.

00:28:33Tracey Wood: All right, team, juniors is finished. Everyone's crossed the finish line, and I've got Louie with me. Hi, Louie, how are you?

00:28:40[background music]

00:28:40Louie: Hi, I'm good. How are you? I'm well, thanks. How did you go today? I went good. I had my sister almost beat me today, but I only just – Abel was about to overtake me, but I stayed in front of her at the finish line.

00:28:56Tracey Wood: Good on you, good on you. Now, Louis, I hear that you're a future Run Director in training because you may have volunteered here once or twice here before. Would those rumours be correct? And could you tell me a bit more about that?

00:29:09Louie: They're correct. And I have done a lot of parkruns, but my favourite two runs are... First time is welcomes and warm-up.

00:29:17Tracey Wood: Do you bring your own particular style to warm-up? Is that what you do? Yeah. I've done... Louis is consulting his stats here. He's making sure he's got the official numbers. So stand by while we have official verification. Hold on.

00:29:33Louie: I have 97 volunteers and I do an extra exercise in the warm-up every week.

00:29:42Tracey Wood: That is awesome. And why do you keep coming back to juniors? And please don't say your parents make you.

00:29:47Louie: Because I like the environment and I like running.

00:29:51Tracey Wood: Awesome. Thanks for chatting with me, Louie. You have a really good day, hey?

00:29:55Louie: You too.

00:29:56Tracey Wood: Thanks. All right, team, that's a wrap from Bellevue Park Junior parkrun. I think there were about 30 or 40 finishes today. Awesome effort. Extra volleys as well. Great time here. Pretty darn hot in the sun, so I'm going to wander off, find some shade, and maybe have a bite to eat before heading back to Bruce Vegas. Hey, have a good day, folks. Have a good holiday. I will see you at palm24. Bye.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Paradise Point parkrun

00:30:24Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I'm coming to you from the lands of the Yugambeh people. I'm down on the northern fringes of the Gold Coast at Paradise Point parkrun. Gee, I got through that okay, didn't I? I thought I might not get through Paradise Point parkrun.

00:30:41Lyndell Murray: Anyway, I am here with today's Run Directors, David and Lois. G'day, how are you going today?

00:30:47Lois: G'day Lyndell, nice to see you. Hi Lyndell, thank you.

00:30:50Lyndell Murray: Now, big numbers today. I was a little bit late for the first-timers briefing, but there was a big group there as well. Being on the Gold Coast, you get lots of visitors at this time of year.

00:31:01Lois: Yes, we do, Lyndell. I think Gold Coast being a good tourist destination, people come to Paradise Point because they know it's a flat course. So we do get people here who want to do well, try and get a PB, even though we've got three turns. But people are interested in coming. So, yeah, that was about 20 visitors today, or at least seven first-timers going to come to run at parkrun for the first time. So their Saturdays will be changed forever from now on. They sure will be.

00:31:34David: And today we had visitors from Scotland. We had South Africans.

00:31:37Lois: Ballarat.

00:31:38David: Ballarat. Sydney.

00:31:40Lois: Sunny Coast.

00:31:40David: Yeah, so all over.

00:31:42Lois: Gloucester. My nephew and his wife are here from Gloucester, UK. From Gloucester, yes, that's right.

00:31:47Lyndell Murray: Yes, so good visiting. Now, and it's a big parkrun, so you have lots of locals here as well. Tell me about the locals and the community here at Paradise Point.

00:31:56David: Well, they're very supportive and we're lucky that one of our regular runners is the local counsellor, Shelley Curtis. And she's fantastic and her family here and they help out with the volunteering as well as running. And we average over 300 here. On the website it says just over 200, but this morning we had nearly 340 runners, which is pretty standard for this time of the year.

00:32:21Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. Now, we've alluded to it being a flat course. Which of you would like to do a course description for the parkrun adventurers?

00:32:30Lois: Yeah, so flat course. We run, it's 5Ks. Fancy that. We run on a good wide concrete path. There's about 500 metres on a boardwalk. Big, nice, big, wide turns. And unfortunately, you do have to go past the end and come back down around Jonathan's Corner to come back. But on the sea, so on the water, always with a breeze, even in hot weather. And plenty of shady trees. So really, come and join us. It's a great place to run.

00:33:06Lyndell Murray: It was a bit of a hat backwards day for me today because it got a bit windy. I thought I was going to lose my cap. So I had to turn it around for a bit of air so I didn't end up in the water here. Yeah.

00:33:17David: People do that to get a PB, Lyndell.

00:33:19Lyndell Murray: Well, I didn't get a PB today, I can guarantee you that.

00:33:23David: And of course the beauty when the people go through the finish line and get their barcode scanned and mill around, catch up with all their friends, then within 100 metres we've got half a dozen fantastic cafes and restaurants and coffee shops and we'll be going over there very shortly.

00:33:36Lyndell Murray: Yes. And, you know, all the amenities. There's water bubbles on course. Yes. Toilets everywhere. So playground for the kids. It's got everything here. All right. Now, this podcast is for people who like adventuring. So time to talk a little bit about your story with parkrun. We'll get to your volunteering. But first things first, how are you as adventurers? Tell us a story about that.

00:33:40[crosstalk]

00:34:08David: Well, we are quite adventurous in that we have completed the parkrun alphabet from all over the world, but mostly in Australia. And we're lucky that just up the road in Brisbane, we have a Z.

00:34:19the Birthday Boy: Yes.

00:34:20David: The Zillmere, which is really good. Although the D is a difficult one here because the nearest one is out of Dalby. But we've done that. We've done our five overseas parkruns. So, yeah.

00:34:30[crosstalk]

00:34:31Lyndell Murray: international adventurers we are yes yeah a little bit obsessed um the 5k app which is very handy it gives you the progress on all the different badges virtual badges that you can earn and we've got quite a few of those yes Lois I overheard you recommending that to somebody at the first time as briefing this morning so definitely an adventure at heart all right now I'm going to put you on the spot and you can decide whether you want to do this together or both of you I'm going to ask you for your top three parkruns, not including Paradise Point. Who wants to go first? Lois is going first.

00:34:39[crosstalk]

00:35:05Lois: So I've been lucky enough to go to Bushy Park and obviously that was just a thrill with two and a half thousand people on that summer day. So I'm going to say Bushy Park. Last year I went to Amsterdam on holiday and did Bos. B.O.S. in a forest. Lots of expats, fast runners. I was the last runner, walkers behind me. They just were speedies, but through a forest with deer and horses and wildlife, it was fantastic. And my third, I think, would be in Australia, somewhere like... Where would we go in Adelaide? Aldinga Beach. Aldinga Beach. So beautiful, friendliest people. Yeah, so they're my top three. Excellent. What about you, David?

00:35:10[background music]

00:35:49[crosstalk]

00:35:58David: Well, my favourite local one is up at Tamborine Mountain. It's more a bush run, so it's quite challenging and fun. But Lois and I are unique in that as a team, I don't run. I've only done three parkruns, but I have volunteered nearly 220 times. So Lois runs and I volunteer.

00:36:20Unidentified speaker: Yep, yep, yep.

00:36:21David: So I enjoyed volunteering up there. I like, again, another local one is Mudgeeraba. That's a really nice, flat, friendly group of people. That's a really good parkrun. And overseas, one of my first ones was East Coast Park. Oh, yes. At Singapore.

00:36:37Lyndell Murray: Yes, yes, yes. Now that probably would have been really mild and not very, you know, not hot at all.

00:36:41[crosstalk]

00:36:43David: No, we were concerned about the snow. 7.30 in the morning, it was so hot. But that was fun. And that was the first time I'd volunteered in the deep end. It was only 70 people. And the Run Director there, English chap, he put me straight in as Timekeeper.

00:36:57Lyndell Murray: Fantastic.

00:36:59David: Straight in off the deep end. And I've loved it ever since.

00:37:02Lyndell Murray: And you volunteer a lot here, obviously, being Run Directors. What's the best thing about volunteering at parkrun?

00:37:09David: Oh, meeting all the wonderful people regularly every Saturday. And I've got to know so many people here. And they're very supportive and welcoming. And I do cajole and bully, whatever it takes to fill a roster each week. So I use my friends and people that I know. And they're happy to do it.

00:37:27Lyndell Murray: Yeah, I'm sure they are. Yes. All right. Now... We've spoken for a little while. I feel like I could talk to you for hours about parkrun because just the joy that you have for it is just really apparent to me and it's beautiful. What is one more thing that you would like the parkrun adventurers to know about Paradise Point parkrun?

00:37:49David: Well, I've mentioned the great coffee right across the road.

00:37:53Lyndell Murray: I've got one. Oh, yeah. There was a park dog at the end turnaround who was just adorable. Little white, little puppy dog. Oh, Casper.

00:38:03Lois: Casper, new to volunteering. Casper's first time today. His mum, first time volunteering today. Emma, yes. Emma, yeah. So that's, you know, it's just parkrun is, as it says, it's for everybody, isn't it? Sure, it is. A community within the community.

00:38:18David: Yeah, it's fantastic.

00:38:20Lyndell Murray: All right. Well, thank you so much for talking to me today. Thank you for everything that you do for parkrun, both here at Paradise Point and overseas. Timekeeping in your first show. High five.

00:38:30[background music]

00:38:31[crosstalk]

00:38:33David: Well done, Lyndell. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Lyndell. Bye. Cheers.

00:38:45Melissa Ellis: And great to hear from our Channel 5 News crew again, Simon. It is. It's good to hear some voices we haven't heard in a while as well. Yeah, welcome back, Tracey. Good to hear from you.

Dazza's

00:38:57Melissa Ellis: Now, we will turn our attention to Dazza's. And this week, Dazza said, after a lovely break with his arms down and his feet up, Dazza is back in the kitchen ready to take your order. How was your parkrun morning? And some of the many comments were starting with Lee Cabarita. That's her porn. You look great, Dazza. Your holiday served you well. I ventured over to Wentworth Common today for its second birthday celebrations and bumped into adventurers Sally, Bianca and Alana. And Steve was a super hot run. And now I'll have a mocker thanks. And Lee shared with us a photo of herself, Bianca and Sally in the selfie frame. Your turn.

00:39:42Simon Mackley: Next, we heard from Andrea Booth. So she said, hi, Dazza. I hope you've had a lovely break. Today I joined the team of Run Directors at Jells parkrun. Excited to contribute in this new way, everyone was very supportive. And there was a picture of Andrea in the RD vest, rounded by the volley team. Very well done, Andrea.

00:40:01Melissa Ellis: That's a big thing, stepping up to RD. It is. I'm sure she'll be great. Now, we heard from Ryan Stoddart in Queensland and he said, Palm Creek parkrun today and officially a Queensland statesman. Beginning of December, I quit my job, packed up the car, left Brisbane and hit the road for an epic parkrun adventure to complete my final eight parkruns and become a Queensland statesman. Old Thomson River Road, Cloncurry, Mount Isa, Emerald, Charters Towers Airport, Atherton, Cardwell and Palm Creek parkrun. Six weeks and 6,800 kilometres later, I'm now a statesman. Yes, I think we got the memo. It's been incredible. The parkrun community is amazing. Passing through Miles, Miles parkrun RD Shirley offered a room for the night. While in Longreach, parkrun Volleys Ross and Susie took me water skiing and put me up in their guest bedroom. Emerald parkrun, on Christmas Day, my first Christmas without family and friends, parkrun Volleys Sharon, Jukka and family invite me into their home for Christmas breakfast feast. Charters Towers Airport parkrun RD Shirley Sahara let me stay on her property while I was there. She even took me on a private history tour of the town. And post parkrun coffees at each parkrun with the event teams and the other parkrunners became very valuable in finding information such as where to camp for free and locating public showers. It's been a wonderful adventure but the adventure is only just beginning. I'm about to head down to Tassie for five months to continue parkrun adventures. And Ryan shared a photo of himself in the selfie frame at Palm Creek. So that's living the dream, Simon. I mean, gosh, quit his job.

00:41:47Simon Mackley: It's huge, absolutely huge. And I think we're going to be hearing a lot more from him if he's heading down to Tassie for five months.

00:41:55Melissa Ellis: Tiffany's going to be a Tassie statesman too before he's finished. For five months, I'm hoping so.

00:42:02Simon Mackley: Yeah, so good job, Ryan. Indeed. Indeed. Now we've got a really short one, which was from Karina Campbell. So she just said splashing around at Lota, but the picture she shared was awesome. It's a shot of her and a friend splashing in a puddle on the Lota course.

00:42:20Melissa Ellis: Well, Simon, maybe we should challenge our adventurers to start getting a little bit more inventive with their photos they share in Dazza's.

00:42:28Simon Mackley: You mean less selfie frames or selfie frames with other things?

00:42:34Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, like the rock. Rocky, where's Rocky from? Isn't he around? You don't remember.

00:42:41Simon Mackley: No.

00:42:42Melissa Ellis: It's okay. No, the listeners will know.

00:42:45Simon Mackley: This is the disadvantage of having a face, that you can see my face go, what?

00:42:50Melissa Ellis: Yes, I can tell. Okay, never mind. Let's move on. Sherry Brandtman from SA. Mount Gambier, wow, what a course. Out and back around the rim of the Blue Lake, hilly stunning views and the friendliest locals I have encountered so far in my touristing even a kangaroo at the end and there was a lovely photo of a smiling Sherry with the blue lake behind awesome the blue lake does look beautiful very blue very blue so next we heard from Andrew yeatman in wa he said Claisebrook Cove parkrun with fellow parkrun adventurers franz carroll Alan raven

00:43:30Simon Mackley: Dave Allmark and Kevin Murphy. John Story's 500th parkrun photo volley number 96 for me. And there was a photo of the old farts with the Claisebrook selfie frame. I wrote that. I guess you had.

00:43:46Melissa Ellis: Yeah, but Andrew refers to the little group of blokes that travel around as the old farts. Okay. So it's his words. I can't get in trouble for that. But congratulations to John Story as well for his 500th parkrun.

00:43:58Simon Mackley: That is huge. He may not be the only one this week, though.

00:44:02Melissa Ellis: More on that later.

00:44:03Simon Mackley: Exactly.

00:44:05Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Helen Rutter coming to us from the UK. She said, hello and happy new year, Dazza. Enjoyed the most wonderful social parkrun day ever at Lindsay's Milestone event, Pavilion Gardens, Buxton. My slowest ever time and well pleased with it. Proper buzzing. And Helen shared a photo of herself looking very cold in front of the pop-up at Pavilion Gardens. Now, I have to mention that Helen always positions herself so she looks like she's just teetering on the top of that pop-up. I thought that too.

00:44:39Simon Mackley: Yeah, have you noticed that?

00:44:41Melissa Ellis: Yeah, yeah, I think it's deliberate. Okay. Yeah, she looks like little Helen balancing on the pop-up.

the Obi Award — Ryan Stoddart

00:44:46Simon Mackley: Yeah, no, it's very clever.

00:44:47Melissa Ellis: You know what we forgot, Simon? What did we forget? We forgot to choose the Obi River.

00:44:52Simon Mackley: Obi, I know.

00:44:54Melissa Ellis: It's the first week back. Oh, well, that's your problem.

00:44:58Simon Mackley: Oh, wow. Do you know what? I'm thinking because of becoming a statesman and doing six parkruns across a very wide range of Queensland events, I think it has to go to Ryan Stoddart. So congratulations, Ryan.

00:45:25[background music]

00:45:26Melissa Ellis: Obi Award recipients. Yes.

Adventurer shirts pre-order

00:45:40Simon Mackley: Oh my gosh. We've got some late breaking news. Adventurer shirts. We are so excited to announce that we're opening the portal again so you can pre-order an adventurers top sporting our Zoomie logo and our motto, business at the front, party at the back, to wear at palm24 or anywhere you like. It's a new fabric, so it's going to be the same fabric as the uglies from this Christmas just gone. So if you've purchased from Ventoo before, the ugly shirts, for example, then you're going to be very familiar with the stretchy honeycomb fabric, which is so comfy and lovely to run in. And after a long period of being unavailable, it's back. For 2024, our shirts are being made in the honeycomb fabric. So we have singlets available in men's and women's sizes from extra, extra small to three times XL and shirts in men's slash unisex and women's from extra, extra small to five times XL. Yes, you read that right. We are offering shirts up to the size of five XL. We all know size matters. Use the size guide on the portal to get the right fit. These shirts are being custom made just for you. So singlets are going to cost $52.50 plus postage and handling and shirts are $57 plus postage and handling. The login code is UPPERCASE, P-A-L-M 23, palm23. And if you go onto our Facebook page, you can use the link on there. I'm not going to read it out because it's going to get a bit confusing. So orders are open until midnight on 11 February, Australian Eastern Standard Time, I'm going to say for our overseas listeners. So no shirts are made or sent until after this date because they are all custom. So once the orders are closed on the 11th of February, shirts will be made to order and you can expect a delivery to your home approximately five weeks later. So that's going to be well into March. So if you've got any questions, pop them in the comments or shoot the Office Lady a message.

00:47:56Melissa Ellis: Yes, and I would personally like to thank the Office Lady for all the work that she puts into organising these runs of the shirts. And she does all that communication with Ventu and all the planning. And she's fabulous. So thank you very much, Sam, for all of that.

00:48:12Simon Mackley: She does a lot for us behind the scenes.

Club Corner

00:48:16Simon Mackley: I think it's time we heard from Club Corner. What do you reckon? Let's have a listen.

00:48:20[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:48:34Rachel: This is Rachel with Club Corner, coming to you from Arrernte Country, and in 2024 I am going to make things snappy. We all know, don't we, that parkrun is getting on the clock in 2024, so here are my tips for the youth of parkrun. Okay, here we go. Short and sharp. This is going to hurt, parkrun is a 5K run, job or walk, every Saturday at a regular time. The time varies according to location, and there are many locations, but not many times. There are well over 450 events active in Australia, plus more around the globe. You can also volunteer at parkrun. There is also Junior parkrun, which is 2K and on a Sunday. And that's it. There are loads of parkruns, so why not see a few and stay tuned for our future Club Corners.

00:49:10[background music]

Birthday Boy

00:49:25the Birthday Boy: Howdy, it's the Birthday Boy here, with 2024 getting off to a banging start. This month has five parkrun days, starting with the special day on the 1st of January, then four weekends on the 6th, the 13th, the 20th and 27th. The special day on the 1st is worldwide, so flap your wings and fly off to anywhere, but be sure to check the special event compendium. I probably need a new standard anniversary caveat, but until then, events may celebrate what they're like when they're like, so be sure to check all details with the local source, i.e. their webpage and or their Facebook page. This is especially true for dress-ups, cakes, et cetera. First off in 2024, we have a junior event anniversary with Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun in Victoria, turning three. Yippee. And their anniversary falls on the 21st of January. Yes, the 21st. Remember, juniors take part on Sundays. Now for the 5k anniversaries. Who to pick? Who to highlight? There are two events turning one in the first month. So let's name Calembeen and Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Blackbutt. The former is in Victoria and the latter is tied for the longest parkrun name in Australia and that's in Queensland. So yeah, I guess that's that. This month, the most populous anniversary number is six, with nine events due this month. In rough order, we have San Remo, New South Wales, Brighton, Victoria, Bargara, Queensland, Zillmere, Queensland, Queens Domain in Tasmania, Gardiners Creek in Victoria, Edithburgh in South Australia, Huskisson, New South Wales, and Margaret River in WA. We all know that Zillmere is a Z, so that's a reason enough to go for some. The Q for Queen's Domain is also a pretty rare letter, with there only being four available in Australia. Apart from that, go wild. As with all parkrun adventures, the parkrun cancellations page is a valuable tool. See parkrun.com.au forward slash cancellations. The official cancellation page contains information for the coming weekend plus two further weeks. So be sure to check it again mid-month. Well, see you next month for some more birthday boy banter and be sure to let Mel et al know if you have any requests.

00:51:55[background music]

00:52:09Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much to the birthday boy and Rachel. So we had a double treat there, Simon. We snuck in both of them in that little break. And I would like to thank The Birthday Boy for reminding me about Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun's upcoming birthday that I'd forgotten all about. So this is the worth of The Birthday Boy remembering the junior events because, you know, otherwise they could be forgotten.

00:52:35Simon Mackley: There's not many to remember. Yeah.

00:52:38Melissa Ellis: And how's Rachel? She's getting all hip and... She's getting all TikTok-y. Short and brief and punchy. Yeah. So, you know, this will maybe appeal to the younger listeners in our audience, all those... Do we have younger listeners?

00:53:01Simon Mackley: They might be captive audiences in cars of older listeners. Yes.

00:53:06Melissa Ellis: Well, at least they'll enjoy something.

00:53:09Simon Mackley: If they get what Rachel is.

00:53:15Melissa Ellis: Why is the Google Maps lady talking on the podcast? Oh, dear.

Consolidated Club Report

00:53:25Simon Mackley: Hey, Mel, do you want to tell us about the adventurers Consolidated Club report for Saturday the 13th?

00:53:31Melissa Ellis: I'd love to, Simon. Well, this week, not this week, last week, we had a total of 545 members. We have just exploded. 440 took part on this date in seven countries across 218 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at... 27 events there were five in South Africa two in the USA and one each in Germany and Japan but locally we had adventurers at 50 events what where in New South Wales amazing okay 42 in Victoria, 36 in Queensland, 14 on the West Side, 13 in SA. There were eight on the North Island, seven each in Tassie and ACT, four on the South Island and one in the Northern Territory.

00:54:27Simon Mackley: Bowling strike.

00:54:29Melissa Ellis: Yay. But how's that? Like 50. That's the first time we've hit 50. That's amazing.

00:54:38Simon Mackley: Yeah. Yeah. And there aren't many new events in New South Wales, so that's a good spread of people.

the Frond — Pavilion Gardens parkrun, UK — the group of eight adventurers celebrating Lindsay Burrell's 100th different volunteering location

00:54:44Simon Mackley: So internationally, we had a frond at Pavilion Gardens UK. Okay, with Phil Corker, Pippa White, Cameron Storey, Helen and Andy Rudder, Christine Imbert, Amanda Murray Hintine Hind, or AMH, and Calum Burrell.

00:55:03Melissa Ellis: I'm going to go with AMH because, yeah, otherwise I'm never going to remember the pronunciation of that one. Sure. Amanda, if you don't mind. Eight. Eight at an event in the UK. That's the biggest number ever.

00:55:18Simon Mackley: I think. So good job. It's fantastic. So there was a photo that Calum Burrell shared with us, which was the first Fronde of the Year from the UK. A perfect place for a parkrun, Pavilion Gardens parkrun, and a cracking morning it was for Lindsay Burrell to do her 100th different volunteering location. So many, our parkrun family came to celebrate a really fantastic achievement. And in the photo, we had Phil Corker, Pippa White, Cameron Storey, Lindsay, Christine Imbert, Helen Patricia, Calum and AMH.

00:55:55Melissa Ellis: Hooray! And a big congratulations to Lindsay. What a great achievement. And she was looking very Jessie from Toy Story there with her cow top. Was it a top or she had something around her shoulders in any case and her red... Her red buff around her neck and yeah, looking all very cow themed. Looks like a cow balloons as well. So congratulations. Thank you for volunteering in all those places. Now, locally, there was a front of eight in Australia at three other events. They were Dolls Point, Shellharbour and Toowoomba. So I thought I'd read out the names of those at Toowoomba being that will be the LGA where we're headed for in a few months time. It was Eman, Christine, Lockie Miners, Roger and Barbara Luther, Denise Orton and Ian and Catherine Greenstreet.

00:56:54Simon Mackley: So we had a few PBs from our adventurers. We have Morglin Smith, who is A6887923. She ran a PB at Southampton in 35 minutes and 10 seconds. We had Julie Jackson, A6896725. She ran a PB at Sandon Point down there south of Sydney, 5750. And James Thomas, A7331403, ran a PB at Woy Woy in 46 minutes 15.

00:57:28Melissa Ellis: Well done to all of those. Now, also, we had some milestones, adventure milestones even. And the first one... was our very own Channel 5 News crew, David Moss, A380096. He ran, did I say that? His 500th. Hurrah! At Kawana. Now, Dave also did his 500th with Graham Rose and Pat O'Connor, and they were three of the nine 500-kilometres around the globe this week. But Dave was the only adventurer.

00:58:01Simon Mackley: Yep.

00:58:02Melissa Ellis: Now, we also had Cathy Mudge, A2163126. She ran her 250th milestone at the Terrace. And Sarah Wickham, A876418, who ran her 100th milestone at Mount Helena. So hooray to all those adventurers.

00:58:21Simon Mackley: Remember, if you'd like us to track these achievements, you can add the Adventurers Club as one of your five affiliations on your parkrun profile. And you can also check out all of the stats on www.theinformant.me.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:58:37Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. Now let's look at the events that launched last week, Simon. I'm not sure we haven't brought any information about any launches that may have happened over Christmas and New Year, so let's pretend that we did. Any case, last weekend we had... Hmm, okay, let me gear myself up for this. Ehrenbreitstein, I think. Ehrenbreitstein in Germany. This event is in Koblenz, a charming city where the Moselle meets the Rhine River in Western Germany. The course is an out-and-back on paved paths. It follows the Rhine River and it had 44 finishes. For event one, 10 of those were first-time participants. And a fun fact, there are now 57 events in Germany according to the German parkrun page. Germany's really, really expanding quite quickly.

00:59:35Simon Mackley: The next one we have is Zuiderpark, Hoogeveen in the Netherlands. Uh, so there were 64 finishes and 35 of those were first time participants. So over half of them had never run a parkrun before. The route contains two laps, a smaller one around the park and a bigger one over the dike. A combination of paved for three kilometres and gravel for two kilometres. the start and finish are near a large playground. And so for those playing along at home, Zuiderpark translates in Dutch to South Park. Nice. So there is actually already one called Zuiderpark elsewhere in the Netherlands.

01:00:17Melissa Ellis: Yes, and now they've got three Zs.

01:00:19Simon Mackley: They do.

01:00:19Melissa Ellis: They're very greedy. We also had Brunswick Park in the UK. They had 226 finishes, seven of which were very first-time participants. This event is in Wednesbury and is three undulating loops of a park, one-third grass and two-thirds tarmac. And there's a note on their event page to say there's no toilets. So you need to have a little stop before you get there.

01:00:48Simon Mackley: That's a good tip. Well said, Brunswick Park. And the last one is not a launch, but it is a relaunch after this is the first time they've run again since COVID. So that was Odendaal Stadium in South Africa. The event takes place at Odendaal Stadium in Prince Albert. They had 12 finishers and only one of them was a first-time participant. I reckon it has to be the smallest parkrun in South Africa because they are known for their hundreds and thousands. Either that or a very, very quiet relaunch.

Sign-off

01:01:25Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes. But anyway, that's nice that they're back up and running. So well done and welcome back to the family to Odendaal. Hope we got that right, Johan. Yes, and to those other three in Germany, Netherlands and the UK. Yep. Where are you heading next week, Mel? Well, a week at home again for me. Okay. I think I'm going to head to Pucca. I'm going to go back up to Pucca. It's their first week back after their Christmas New Year break.

01:01:59Simon Mackley: Break. Okay, yep.

01:02:01Melissa Ellis: So that is my Saturday. And Sunday I've got a little birthday party happening at Juniors. I'm RD. Yay. So I would like to invite the whole community Adventurer community to come and join us for our birthday. We would like to get our numbers up. So please steal a child. No, no, that's a joke. Bring a family member if you haven't got little people of your own and come and visit us. And maybe I'll have to buy some lamingtons or something.

01:02:29Simon Mackley: How's the volunteer roster looking?

01:02:31Melissa Ellis: Um, yes. Also, if you'd like to volunteer, we do have some spaces available. And when I'm finished recording, I might put a shout out up on social media. That is a good idea.

01:02:43Simon Mackley: And any week you can go and help Mel to volunteer at Eynesbury. I'm sure she'd appreciate it. I very much would.

01:02:49Melissa Ellis: Yes. Thank you. We're only a small junior parkrun. We're the smallest one in the... Oh, we could be the smallest one in the world. Those are very good. Yes, we are. We're definitely the smallest in Australia. Definitely. But Simon, where will you be on Saturday?

01:03:06Simon Mackley: I am undecided. I have three possibilities because they're three events I haven't done before. So I could be at North Lakes, I could be at Kedron, or I could be at Chermside. There was one that I was aiming for, but it looks like it's been rained out again. So I will be going to one of those three, I would say, so there's still a lot of rain in your in your area it's rained again today it has um but yeah I think it's all sort of run off like everything's sort of catching because everything was already wet and now it's just saturated and and sitting like we've got so many mosquitoes at the moment.

01:03:48Melissa Ellis: And are these events at risk of floods? Because I've walked Kedron. I'm pretty sure that that would be a flood risk, isn't it? Along sort of a drainage...

01:03:58Simon Mackley: It is along a drainage thing. So that may become... Kedron's probably the easiest one for me to get to. And I have actually kept it up my sleeve for an early airport drop-off or an early airport pickup because it's sort of the closest one easiest one that I can work out to the airport. Um, North lakes is in a, uh, you know, community, like, um, it's on an estate. So it's, it's one of the, um, early, early ones. So it would be an eye index for me. I've still got a lot of eye indexes to go, but it's not like, yeah, it would help me along with my eye index. Um, and Chermside, I haven't really looked into that much, but I, I know that's not that difficult to get to.

01:04:45Melissa Ellis: I think I've walked Chermside, but that could be a lie. I'd have to check my Freedos. But that's the good thing about logging a Freedo. You can always go back and check if you've done a course. If you don't log it, then it's gone from your memory. Definitely. Well, I think that might be it, Mel. It is absolutely, Simon. Thank you for joining me again this week. It was a pleasure to catch up with you and hear all about your Christmas and New Year excitement.

01:05:15Simon Mackley: You too. And thank you for having me once again for the third Monday in the month. I'll be back again in a month's time. Maybe it's five weeks because it's a five Monday this month.

01:05:27Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

01:05:29Simon Mackley: As always, you can contact us via the parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week. And Mel, we'll see you next week for more adventures. Bye.

01:05:35[outro theme playing]

01:06:39Unidentified speaker: Bye.