Episode 366 - Euphony

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:24Oliver Spake: Welcome to episode 366 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life if your life is all about parkrun. I'm Ollie Spake and I'm joining you from the front seat of a van in Darkinjung land.

00:00:39Melissa Ellis: And I am Melissa Ellis and I am joining from Wurundjeri Country. And I can see you in your front seat of the van and I hope I don't just keep getting the giggles because it's quite amazing what I am getting to witness. Yes. With your background, live audience.

00:00:58Oliver Spake: That's right, that's right. Palm is going to be an absolute breeze this year, Mel, because we're doing another kind of a live and I'm joining you from the holiday park at Umina Beach. So this is a very active live audience.

00:01:14Melissa Ellis: We do appreciate that you've gone to the effort of setting up in the front seat of the van and it's brought a new meaning to the word palm because that is what I see happening. From the top of the screen down onto your head, little hands.

00:01:28Oliver Spake: That's right. Yes, palm of a hand.

00:01:30Melissa Ellis: Oh, and I've got somebody in the rearview mirror as well.

00:01:34Oliver Spake: Oh.

00:01:38Melissa Ellis: Yes.

00:01:39Oliver Spake: Never mind. But it's good to catch up again. It was lovely to hear you and Simon and good to be back from the summer break. It's been a bit longer for me.

00:01:49Melissa Ellis: It has. Have you had a good Christmas? Yes.

00:01:52Oliver Spake: I have had a lovely Christmas. Thanks, Mel. It's been, I think, as I say, a sizable break, but it always kind of goes fast as well.

00:02:03Melissa Ellis: So you've had time off work?

00:02:05Oliver Spake: Yeah, I had two weeks off work and went back for two weeks and there's the rest of the live audience, all the birds in the background. But just for everyone's benefit, you might hear campground noises at any point in this week's pod. But two weeks back at work and another week off now as we've, yeah, we've taken the family van up to the central coast, but sadly not for a parkrun day. Yeah.

00:02:32Melissa Ellis: Oh, what?

00:02:34Oliver Spake: One drop.

00:02:35Melissa Ellis: Oh, no.

00:02:36Oliver Spake: Oh, well. And you are back at work, Mel.

00:02:41Melissa Ellis: I am. Yeah, role reversal today, Oliver.

00:02:44Oliver Spake: Yeah, sorry to rub that in.

00:02:45Melissa Ellis: Yeah, thanks for that. Yeah, no, I've been back. This is my second week back. So baptism of fire for me thrown into the full-time work environment now. So I'm the business at the front and you're the party at the back.

00:03:01Oliver Spake: albeit in the front of the van. But yes, absolutely. It works. I've got the seat backwards, so it totally flows. Yes. Would you care to share with us how your parkrun day was?

00:03:14Melissa Ellis: I would love to. So I journeyed to Puckapunyal parkrun, which was my seventh visit, leaving me just one more visit, plus one more to Wilson Botanic, to bump my P index up to eight. I will add, though, that although it is always nice to be working towards parkrun achievements, my primary motivation is to visit the event and its wonderful Co-Event Directors, Michael and Annika. I returned to pucker with friends and parkrun ambassadors Tanya Baker and Mark Porritt for the event's first week back after their Christmas break. We made up a group of 25 on a lovely mild morning where I managed to take another 20 seconds off my course PB. We also hung around to have brunch in Seymour, which I don't often get to enjoy. Tanya happens to be Eynesbury Junior's event ambassador and we also welcomed the pair Sunday morning as they performed course check and set up tail walking and parkwalker duties for our third birthday celebrations. Along with my new co-ED Janelle, we were right chuffed to welcome 26 kids to our forest. We averaged 16.5, so this was a pleasant surprise. Don't ask me how you get a half of a child, but anyway. Perhaps enticed by the celebrations and promise of cake, we have, although, had a recent influx of kids training for cross-country, so maybe that has something to do with it. It wasn't even market week. And that's a pretty quick wrap-up from me this week, unless you're interested in the adventures of Lucy the Pomeranian or my ongoing battle with my lawn.

00:04:49Unidentified speaker: Perhaps not.

00:04:52Melissa Ellis: I do have one more thing that is newsworthy that I wish to share with our listeners, and that is that our very own host, Oliver Spake, was just last week awarded the 2024 Community Sports Award from the Shellharbour City Council for his contributions to the Shellharbour parkrun event. There are a couple of lovely photos on the Shellharbour parkrun Facebook page if you would like to check them out and have a sticky at Ollie's gorgeous better half, Cathy. We really are very proud of you, Ollie. Congratulations from everyone on Level 2 with The View.

00:05:25Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel, and thank you, everyone on Level 2 with a view. And, yes, yeah, that... nomination and certainly that award came as a big surprise as naturally there are many in my community and the broader community that are deserving of a great uh kudos and gratitude for their efforts but uh yeah it was um a special night and and lovely to to be given you know that kind of um recognition um not something I'm terribly comfortable with but uh all the same um Yeah, yeah, great to see that, you know, that's another feather in the bow for Shellharbour parkrun.

00:06:06Melissa Ellis: Congratulations. Well deserved.

00:06:09Oliver Spake: And wouldn't be possible without the wonderful event team and everyone in its history. But, yes, look, I am curious to ask about Lucy's latest adventures.

00:06:22[crosstalk]

00:06:22Melissa Ellis: Well, nothing since the washing machine incident, which you probably saw on social media. Yeah. No, she's giving me grief, this dog. She's really giving me grief. Anyway, she now sleeps in my bed. I've never been a person to have the dog in the bed, but what do you do? Anyway.

00:06:42Oliver Spake: I bet she appreciates that now.

00:06:44Melissa Ellis: It's like when you've got a baby, Ollie, and it's the middle of the night and you just want to sleep. It's just like whatever it takes to get sleep. That's where I'm at the moment with this dog.

00:06:54Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:06:56Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:06:57Oliver Spake: Very familiar with that.

00:06:58Melissa Ellis: But please do let us know what you got up to over summer parkrun-wise. You said you had two, well, we call them misadventures.

00:07:08Oliver Spake: Well, I was very excited about my two adventures planned for the summer break. Beyond my couple of RD stints at home, trips to Tuggeranong and Rooty Hill parkruns were planned. But as you've suggested, yeah, neither happened. It's been a great holiday period with some fantastic time to enjoy the beach with family, take a break from work and to enjoy some home parkrun delights. But Inshallah, which is something I learned in Egypt and Jordan when mum married there over about 20 years ago, meaning if God wills, so fate and a few tummy bugs and other sicknesses decided that I should stay in Shellharbour all summer. [Arabic: "Inshallah — "if God wills". Ollie translates it himself in the same sentence."]

00:07:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

00:07:52Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm getting back on the wagon, Mel, eating and drinking just a bit more healthily and currently struggling my way through a gym challenge to get me mountain ready for this year. And I've had a chance to try and boost the parkrun time, so getting it back to almost being able to run the whole course. So that has been a delight, and I'm sure the adventures will come. But sadly, I did miss out on visits and catch-ups with some fellow Frondies, and I am assured that they had a lovely time, albeit without me.

00:08:31Unidentified speaker: But

00:08:32Oliver Spake: Really, the boost in the parkrun numbers that I know we've been noticing and chatting about on the pod, it's been a huge highlight and it's been a treat to welcome many adventuring parkrunners to our pretty little spot in Shellharbour. We've seen our largest attendance post-COVID and on the new course, and many have continued to discover parkrun locally today. And just this Saturday gone, I had the pleasure of jogging the first kilometre of the course with the very person who first helped me learn about parkrun. And he's now on 33 parkruns completed and aspiring to hit 50 before our 10th birthday.

00:09:10Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's fabulous. Excellent.

00:09:13Oliver Spake: It's nice how things come around. It is. It's a synchronicity. That's right. That's right. But, yeah, numbers are huge. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, it really wasn't a lot to my summer. Thankfully, relatively simple. But, yeah, like I say, many, many people adventuring, holidaying and clearly discovering parkrun.

00:09:37Melissa Ellis: We just want you to be healthy. So I didn't realise that your health was impacted to that level that you weren't actually able to run a complete 5Ks.

00:09:48Oliver Spake: Yeah, and I don't know whether it was because I got COVID in November. I had a few sort of bugs. I've had low iron and many other things that I happily yak on about, but I don't think our pod listeners really are tuning in for Ollie's Health Weekly for the gory details. But, yeah, working on it and, yeah, it's heading in the right direction, so I can't wait for some more hills.

parkrun news bulletin

00:10:14Melissa Ellis: All right, well, let's take the...

00:10:17Oliver Spake: The segue across for the attendance.

00:10:20Melissa Ellis: You're better at doing that, yes. Please, that's exactly what I was trying to say. A new Aussie attendance record this weekend just gone. So Albert Park, let's start with Albert Park, had a whopping 1,090 finishers, supported by 38 volunteers, passing South Bank's previous record of 1,010 finishers. So that's amazing. I've seen the photos on social media and well done to Joanne and Scott for coping with that. I would probably add that may have a little bit to do with the Oz Open that's going on at the moment in our lovely city.

00:11:00Oliver Spake: It is a big week for them usually.

00:11:02Melissa Ellis: So we've got a huge influx of tourists in town. So that may have something to do with it. Plus, we're experiencing some quite nice weather as well. Now, Australia had a total of 78,274 participants. So that was a new Australian attendance record with 19 events recording attendance records also recorded. Prior to 2024, Australia had never gone over 70,000. So we've now done so every week of the year. So that's pretty good.

00:11:35Oliver Spake: Go Aussie. Look, the celebrations don't stop there, naturally. And also in news and discussion, it would be remiss of us to not mention what's been happening across the ditch, where Colin Thorne, who we have heard about before, has celebrated parkrun Day number 175 for him, or at least finished number 175. But most excitingly, he's gone up an age category. Yeah. Worth noting that Colin has an age grade percentage of 114.01. And this parkrun day just gone, he was 378th out of a field of 384. But, Mel, Colin, who is now a centenarian, is that how I say it? Centenarian. Centenarian. Oh, don't ask me. Yeah. I'm not sure if this is my dodgy keyboard. In any case, Colin has just celebrated his 100th birthday a week ago, well, about a week and a half now as of the date that this podcast will be coming out. But after completing this 175th parkrun at Whangarei, the Whang parkrun, um, And, yeah, after reaching the 100 milestone club at age 98 in 2022, Colin has set the goal perhaps all of us would aspire to achieve. He finished in a time of one hour and 34 seconds, so there's a nice 100 in that number as well. In addition to the 165 parkruns at the Whang that Colin has completed, he's also visited 10 other New Zealand parkruns. But... Naturally, it was a highlight to see the parkrun community celebrating Colin's achievement and story. The parkrun New Zealand story, with thanks to Colin Thorne and Jeremy Brown, highlighted just what parkrun means to him. And I quote, parkrun has been a wonderful thing for Colin, especially after losing his wife, Betty, in 2021 in their 70th year of marriage. When it came to running, Betty was Colin's biggest supporter. Colin says parkrun gets the old bones moving and has also increased his social circle. He is a popular figure at Whangarei parkrun where he catches up with friends and family. His positivity and sharpness is evident to all those who meet him and is infectious. It's been a great life and I've been so blessed with my health. And his advice to living a long and fulfilling life is to keep both body and mind active and to eat healthily. And a little aside, of course, and I'm no longer quoting here, for those who may not have been listeners in our lockdown days, the Whang parkrun frequently made appearances in our (not)parkrun stats from New Zealand as we all found that as a wonderful way to connect and have an outlet. And, of course, Mel, you have seen Colin's run report, haven't you?

00:14:47Melissa Ellis: Yes, I have, and we're not going to read it out, but we did want to make mention that Colin did write the run report for Whangarei this week after his birthday. So if anybody would like to jump over and have a read of what Colin had to say, yeah, you can jump over to their website where they have published it in their news. We're not going to talk about the typo. No, we're not talking about the typo.

00:15:18Oliver Spake: No, we're not going to talk about my typo. Thank you very much. And it's been lovely. I continue to see, as of 30 seconds ago, more and more news articles about Colin's story. So I think it goes to show the power of parkrun and just what it can bring. And seeing, and I know There were some posts in Dazza's of some of the shirts that people were wearing, the 100 shirts to celebrate. So to see the level of support amongst the community was also a real highlight.

00:15:55Melissa Ellis: Excellent. It was great to hear about the Whang again. But what else have we got next? This weekend, the one millionth different Australian will start their parkrun journey. So this weekend on the 27th of January, we'll see the one millionth different person in Australia take part. 999,503 different people have participated in parkrun events as walkers, runners, volunteers since the first event launched in 2011 with thousands of first-timers around the country taking part for the first time each week. Did I say that number right?

00:16:33Oliver Spake: It sounded right to me. That's good.

00:16:36Melissa Ellis: So that's another little exciting stat.

00:16:38Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah, what a big month.

00:16:41Melissa Ellis: It is. Yeah, January. Well, I guess traditionally would you say January in Australia would be? the biggest month for probably new parkrunners as well as attendance records, just with our weather. and holiday period.

00:16:57Oliver Spake: Very much so, yeah. And naturally the boost that the new year, new hopes and new goals give us. I certainly heard some references in last week's pod and, yeah, continue to hear references to the New Year's resolution effect. It's real. We're seeing it. Let's keep them going.

00:17:21Melissa Ellis: Yes, and everybody's accrued their leave again. That's my theory.

00:17:26Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:17:29Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, it is time for us to move swiftly forward to listen to some roving reports this week. We are going to hear from Alistair Actionman at St Peter's, PK at Belair National Park, and we've got Johan from a South African event.

00:17:40[background music]

Roving report Alistair Buchanan — St Peters parkrun

Talking to James — Run Director on the day, St Peters parkrun, Sydney

00:17:54Alistair Buchanan: Hi, this is Alistair Buchanan for Guerrilla Tourism. At which fabulous parkrun are we visiting today? St Peter's. St Peter's, and who am I speaking to?

00:18:05James: James.

00:18:06Alistair Buchanan: And James, what position did you fill today? I was the Run Director. Is this your first time playing Run Director? No, third. Third, but is there something special that happened today at St Peter's parkrun? We had a crazy number of people, about 610. I hear that it could also be, besides just being a crazy number, the also record number that we've had at St. Peter's?

00:18:31James: I think so, yeah.

00:18:33Alistair Buchanan: Bam! Take that for you. I know not his maiden voyage, but pretty close to it. So, okay, give me a little detail on what is your story in relation to parkrun?

00:18:46James: Yeah, sure. So I've been parkrunning about one and a half years now. I started parkrun after I saw it on a YouTube by Matt Parker. Yeah, I was looking for something to just get into the community more and meet people when I moved to a new place. And yeah, I started at St. Peter's and I've met a lot of good people, and enjoyed it a lot, yeah.

00:19:09Alistair Buchanan: Awesome. St Peter's is a beautiful parkrun and if I'm not mistaken the first parkrun in Sydney?

00:19:18James: I believe it was the first one established in Sydney, yeah.

00:19:20Alistair Buchanan: Yeah and with that New South Wales but fourth in Australia? I think so. All right, cool. Okay, we've got all the stats down. Now, talking about parkrun tourism, though, this is a bit of an interesting parkrun in that there's a lot of marshals needed to run this course. How many marshals? I think five is our standard. Five! Bam! And that's a lot of volunteers that we need. If there's just five marshals, we also have the regular Timekeeper, tokens, you know, how many?

00:19:50[background music]

00:19:54James: I think it's about, I think we had 21 on the list today or something like that.

00:19:59Alistair Buchanan: 21! And do you guys regularly keep up or have you got to send out the call for help on Friday night for volunteers?

00:20:09James: It depends on the week. Like, you know, if you're before a major event, like, say, the Sydney Marathon or something like that, then you're overflowing with volunteers. But, yeah, and other weeks, it's maybe every second week you've got to send out an appeal email on Thursday, but we get pretty good numbers. But we're always looking for more.

00:20:31Alistair Buchanan: We're always looking for more. That's the sale. Something I found interesting, we're at the kiosk having coffees. Is that the after parkrun coffee house?

00:20:47James: Yeah, that's where we normally go. It's right in the park, so it's nice and convenient and good coffee.

00:20:52Alistair Buchanan: Okay, can't complain about that. Because a lot of places have the parkrun after coffee place, but I see there's a lot of parkrun branded shirts. Why do you think that there is such a strong community of parkrunners or parkrun people at St. Peter's while some other visited parkruns I've been to, there is less community?

00:21:20James: I've mainly been to St. Peter's, so I can't make a lot of comparisons, but the Event Director here, Paul, is really a welcoming guy. There's a good community of Run Directors. There's a good core of regular volunteers who you can get to know and make friends with. It's just a good place.

00:21:25[background music]

00:21:39Alistair Buchanan: It's a good place. I love the brick stacks, but okay, as a tourist, as partly the guerrilla tourism statement makes sense of, What's the deal with the three giant brick stacks? What's going on there? I believe they're on old brickworks.

00:21:57James: There's a few signs around the park if you want to go have a look.

00:22:01Alistair Buchanan: Ow, use your eyes. But we have this giant park here, brickworks. Why did they decide to make this green space? And then why did this get chosen as the place to have the run? Why not, for lack of a better word, Hyde Park?

00:22:20James: You really need to ask Paul that one.

00:22:22Alistair Buchanan: Okay, okay. I'll make a note of that for next time I'm in town. Cool. All right. So you didn't expect this many people for parkrun this week. What is your hunch for why we got such a large number this week? I suspect there were an awful lot of New Year's resolutions about starting running. Okay, cool. New Year's resolution. Now... What's the regular amount of runners, you guys, or sorry, not runners, attendees, because it's completely okay to have parkwalkers, or even, I guess, park moonwalkers, if that's your style, to come. What's the regular amount? We usually get about 450. 450 is a good number.

00:22:55[background music]

00:23:05James: Yeah.

00:23:07Alistair Buchanan: Because I'm visiting my mate Jason, who lives nearby. This is the closest parkrun to him. How many close to us parkruns are there? Centennial Park. What's the next closest?

00:23:21James: I know that there's Rhodes and Greenway. In terms of... Yeah, I wouldn't be able to listen. Oh, there's Cook's and a few others as well. Okay. The parkrun site's got a good map on.

00:23:40Alistair Buchanan: Oh, yeah. Well, good, good. I gave promotion. I like that. All right. Important question. Oh, actually, no. I think you kind of answered but not answered because you haven't done much touring yourself. How many other parkruns have you done? Mainly just Whanganui at this point, which is in New Zealand. Bam! International! Okay, that's maybe a step up from me. I've only done Australian. I have more parkruns under my belt than you, but you have countries over me. So okay, we can maybe call a draw on that. All right, well, I guess that's my questions. Thank you very much for your time. Unless you've got any final big shout-outs you want to give to anyone about the lovely St. Peter's. If you're thinking of volunteering, go for it. I'm loving the volunteer pros. All right, dudes, be safe.

00:24:00[background music]

Roving report Paul Kitching — Belair National Park parkrun

00:24:45Paul Kitching: G'day, it's PK here with another roving report. Gosh, been doing a few of recent. This one from the awesome Belair National Park parkrun. So this is a new parkrun here in South Australia. And I did it last week. Loved it so much. I'm coming back. We're actually coming back to get my number five for the Wilson Index. Yeah. And it is magnificent. It is so popular that they have Car Park Marshals as needed here in the beautiful National Park. So a few tips before we get in there. If you do come to do the Belair National Park parkrun and you need to use the toilet or the bathroom, it is near enough. The car park. So it's on the other side of the car park. So you may want to go or find out or look on their page. They actually shared a really cool video on their Insta page yesterday. So go to the bathroom next to the car park before you then walk through the car park to the other side to where the actual parkrun starts. And also it's really popular. I think they've been having like 300, 400 people here, which is awesome. And it's a trail run as well. So let us go and get amongst it and we can talk about it a little bit later with some legends. Great to be out adventuring. Okay, I'm now out on the course and I've caught up with some people wearing 100 t-shirts and matching pink parkrun merch.

Talking to Tracy — Mount Barker parkrunner touristing at Belair National Park

00:26:11Paul Kitching: How you going, Tracy?

00:26:12Tracy: Great, thanks. Excellent. I'm only wearing one t-shirt.

00:26:14Paul Kitching: Oh, sorry, you're not wearing 100 of them. And Deb?

00:26:17Tracy: Hey!

00:26:18Paul Kitching: Some fellow Mount Barker parkrunners, also touristing. And Clem. Hi, Clem. Yep, Clembo, Clementine. We are, yeah, sorry, sorry. What are your thoughts so far on Belair?

00:26:33Tracy: Oh, love it. Did it last week. Yes. A little faster this week as I'm not tail walking. It's great. Had Deb to push the pace a little.

00:26:41Paul Kitching: Love it.

Talking to Deb — Mount Barker parkrunner touristing at Belair National Park

00:26:42Tracy: Lovely.

00:26:42Paul Kitching: And Deb, what are your thoughts on this course?

00:26:44Deb: It's actually a really lovely course. I think the downhill on the way back, which we'll love.

00:26:47[crosstalk]

00:26:49Paul Kitching: Yes.

00:26:49Deb: A little challenging for the uphill on the way out. But, yeah, beautiful. No ruse today.

00:26:55Paul Kitching: No ruse, I know. But lots of crazy people. Can you tell me, you know, in 24 seconds or less, no. About the 24 in 24 challenge?

00:27:03Deb: Yeah, so today there's a whole bunch of crazies, as you said, that are starting from Belair to do 24 parkruns in 24 hours. So we'll go from here to Cleland.

00:27:13Paul Kitching: This is not an official parkrun event.

00:27:16Deb: I am not quite sure why they decided to do two tough ones to start. But, yeah. Oh, they're going to Cleland from here?

00:27:23Paul Kitching: They're going to Cleland from here.

00:27:24[crosstalk]

00:27:24Deb: Oh, my goodness. Everything will be easy after that.

00:27:27Paul Kitching: Everything will be easy. Apart from Anstey at 3 a.m. or something?

00:27:30Deb: Anstey's at 3 a.m., yeah.

00:27:32Paul Kitching: That's crazy. So, yeah, the whole idea is that you do 24 parkruns in 24 hours. They've got a map, they've got timing, they've got a bus and they've got crazy dedicated people out there doing it. One being your husband, Daniel.

00:27:44Deb: Yes.

00:27:45Paul Kitching: Well, let's hope he survives. I'm sure he will. Is he wearing a kilt?

00:27:49Deb: He is not wearing the coat today. A little warm.

00:27:52Paul Kitching: Good stuff. I love it. Yes, so just once again, that's not an official parkrun event. It is something that parkrunners, some people have chosen to do, starting here at Belair. And then good luck to them. Let's hope they do well. And it's great to see Belair once again full of awesome people having fun. We're just about at the finish line.

Talking to Marilyn — Barcode Scanner volunteer, South Australia

00:28:14Paul Kitching: Speaking of legends, here's one. Marilyn, you are the parkrun barcode scanning legend of South Australia, or probably of Australia.

00:28:22[crosstalk]

00:28:22Marilyn: No, I think there's one that's done more than me.

00:28:25Paul Kitching: Okay. How many times have you done it? uh this is the 492nd oh my goodness um volunteering oh my goodness that's the official ones cheapest look at that so uh you'll be doing your 500th at uh torrents yes of course wow good on you so this is your first time at Belair it is yeah it's nice lovely it's beautiful of course isn't it lovely um I know you don't get to go out and see the course but we can see parts of it

00:28:30[crosstalk]

00:28:44[crosstalk]

00:28:51Marilyn: I can see quite an extensive part of it.

00:28:51[crosstalk]

00:28:54Paul Kitching: And it's a nice way to be part of the community, isn't it? Why do you volunteer?

00:28:59Marilyn: It's a feel-good thing, you know, and you get to meet all the people and socialise with the people. And being the Barcode Scanner, I get to see a lot of the people. You sure do. So it's absolutely brilliant, something I love and I look forward to. It starts my weekend off brilliantly. I love it.

00:29:16Paul Kitching: I love it. Well, thank you for everything you do for parkrun. I'll let you keep going. There's a few people coming. Keep doing great things, and I look forward to hearing about your 500.

00:29:22Marilyn: Thank you.

00:29:24Paul Kitching: Look at that.

00:29:24Marilyn: What a legend. Thanks, Marilyn.

00:29:27Paul Kitching: And that's a wrap from Belair National Park parkrun. I'm now back in the car. It was just crazy busy when I left and I didn't want to bug the RD or others. And I thought, well, I'd spoken to probably, I was going to say the most important person there. Everyone, every person who goes to parkrun, whether you're taking part or volunteering, obviously is important. But Marilyn, my gosh, coming up to her 500th parkrun volunteer role. She started at Torrens. Obviously Torrens was the very first parkrun here in South Australia. and she is a stalwart there and so nice to see her today. So, yep, get out and get amongst the Belair National Park parkrun if you can. It is within a national park. You don't have to pay to get in. You can park in the free car park area and then go and do it and get amongst it. There is frisbee golf as well. There you go. There's a bonus. You can do frisbee golf as well after you've done parkrun. Get amongst it, have fun, and look forward to seeing you at another adventure soon. Cheers, PK, out.

00:30:00[background music]

Roving report Johan Duvenhage — Voortrekker Monument parkrun

00:30:31Johan Duvenhage: Goeiemorgen, parkrun adventurers. It is Johan, and this week I'm reporting from the other side of the Boereworskerton, and I have the absolute pleasure to attend a truly iconic event that returned to parkrun South Africa on the 6th of January, 199 weeks after the last event before the COVID pause. Of course, I'm talking of none other than the Voortrekker Monument parkrun. The event takes place on the grounds of the Voortrekker Monument heritage site in the capital city Pretoria to the north of the Gauteng province. The Voortrekker Monument is a granite structure located on a hilltop overlooking the capital and was built to commemorate the Voortrekker or early pioneers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854 in search of a better life in the interior. It was designed by the well-known architect Gerard Moerdijk and the monument is 40 metres high with a base of 40 metres by 40 metres. Construction started in 1937 and the monument was finally inaugurated on 16 December 1949. Entrance to the parkrun allows for free parking but not entry to the monument. However, if this is your first time visiting the site, please do not forgo the opportunity to visit inside. After passing through the gate, one finds oneself inside a big laager consisting of 64 ox wagons made out of decorative granite, the same number of wagons that were used at the Battle of Blood River to form the laager then. By the way, for those that don't know the word, a laager is an encampment formed by a circle of wagons. A beautiful indigenous garden surrounds the monument. The parkrun starts and ends in front of the monument and makes its way through the grounds, which was declared a nature reserve. And if you're lucky, you may see some of the zebras, blesbok, mountain reedbuck, springbok, black wildebeest and impala. It is a one lap course on paved roads down and around the monument hill and then meandering upwards towards Fort Skanskop. But expect to huff and puff a bit when you hit this part of the course. Fort Skanskop, a nearby fort built in 1897 by the government of the then South African Republic after the Jameson Raid, is currently a museum and was added to the monument complex in the year 2000. The route proceeds through the fort and then returns, very luckily, downhill to the monument with one last tough little uphill before ending in the parking area in front of the steps of the monument. The team was expecting it to be popular on its return, but was blown away by the turnout of 1,792 parkrunners for event number 205, the largest post-COVID attendance in South Africa to date. There were 1,081 timers at their return event, of which 312 were newbies doing their very first parkrun. 60 PBs were set and 49 volunteers assisted on the day. Reports indicate that even as the event started about 10 minutes late, there were still vehicles queuing to get into the parking lot, so anybody intending to visit in the next few weeks is advised to arrive a little bit earlier than they would usually do. Once I finished my run and barcode scanning at event number 206, I got to chat to Hugo van de Heve, the Event Director and also Run Director of the day. [Afrikaans: "a big laager — a defensive encampment formed by a circle of ox wagons. Johan glosses it himself at [00:31:52]."]

Talking to Hugo van de Heve — Event Director and Run Director on the day, Voortrekker Monument parkrun (Pretoria,…

00:33:36Johan Duvenhage: Howdy parkrun adventurers, it's Johan. I am reporting here from the iconic Voortrekker Monument parkrun that restarted last week on the 6th of January. I'm standing with Hugo van de Heve, who is one of the Event Directors here at Voortrekker Monument parkrun. And Hugo, good morning.

00:33:55Hugo van de Heve: Morning, everybody.

00:33:56Johan Duvenhage: Right, so you restarted last week after quite a long pause.

00:34:01Hugo van de Heve: Yes, we first started negotiations in 2021. Unfortunately, there was no agreement to be made between us and management and then we restarted in October 2023 and then we got an agreement and then it was agreed that we can reopen on the 6th of January 2024.

00:34:23Johan Duvenhage: If I recall my maths correctly, that was 199 weeks after the COVID pause.

00:34:30Hugo van de Heve: Yes, all I can say is close to four years. We had to close on the 14th of March 2020 due to COVID and almost three years, ten months after that we managed to reopen.

00:34:43Johan Duvenhage: Fantastic. So obviously you were quite in anticipation of your first event since the reopening. What was your expectations initially?

00:34:52Hugo van de Heve: so we didn't know what to expect and there was a lot of discussion in the weeks leading up to the event so we were thinking now a thousand is is enough and that's the amount of tokens that we had and in the moment that we arrived at The Venue we already knew that that something weak was coming and as people started coming in we knew we were in for for a very big event We ended on 1,792 runners, which was the biggest event in the world last week, Saturday, the 6th of January, 2024.

00:35:24Johan Duvenhage: I think if I recall correctly, it's also the biggest post-COVID result for us in South Africa.

00:35:29Hugo van de Heve: Yes, I think that is correct.

00:35:31Johan Duvenhage: So obviously, you said you expected about 1,000 runners and you had almost double that. How did that affect your scanning and the finish funnel?

00:35:42Hugo van de Heve: So we had to be creative. Due to the mass amount of people, halfway through, we decided to double up on the token handouts. So we had two token handouts and at the end we had seven or eight Barcode Scanners. But everything went fluently. All I can just say is some of the experienced Barcode Scanners just came in put their hand up, volunteered, helped where necessary. And that is what parkrun is all about, is the volunteers, they know what needs to be done and they just do it without being asked to do it.

00:36:16Johan Duvenhage: Thank you very much. And so feedback from last week's event, what did the people say?

00:36:21Hugo van de Heve: No complaints. Everybody just congratulated us on a brilliant event. Everybody liked it. So there was just good feedback. Even today, the week after, everybody was in agreement that this is an awesome parkrun.

00:36:38Johan Duvenhage: So today our numbers were a little bit lower, but still pretty good.

00:36:42Hugo van de Heve: yes it's still higher than than what we finished actually before covert uh I think our last one was around about 800 and we were above 900 today yeah I think I scanned the Tail Walker in at 910 which should probably take us to the highest attendance in South Africa today as well again we hope so anyway we hope so we'll see at the end of today when everybody's results are in our main contenders I think is is Delta and joburg and then maybe Merchstein and maybe Wittalengel Gardens.

00:37:10Johan Duvenhage: All right, thank you very much. Anyway, congratulations on being back. Guys, it is an absolutely fantastic parkrun. It's a little bit tough on the calves. They lovingly call those little uphills the... Flat meander. Flat meander. You will love it. The views from the Voortrekker Monument is absolutely awesome. When you come visit South Africa, please do not miss Voortrekker Monument parkrun. Thank you very much. Thank you. See you next time.

00:37:38Hugo van de Heve: Thanks.

00:37:39Johan Duvenhage: As you've heard, there were 910 participants this week, of which 357 were first-timers, including 136 doing their very first parkrun. 160 PBs were set, and 27 volunteers assisted. Well, whilst we had high hopes for the attendance stopping the leaderboard, Resolution Saturday got the best of us, and four other South African events had more participants than Voortrekker Monument's 910. They were Botanical Garden, also in Pretoria, with 1,175. Century City in Cape Town with 1,103. Durbanville outside of Cape Town with 1,058. And Bryanston in Johannesburg with 1,047. It really looks like parkrun South Africa is now well on its way to recovering to its pre-pandemic numbers. Until next time, happy adventuring.

00:38:20[background music]

00:38:34Oliver Spake: Thank you very much to Action Man Alistair and to PK and to Johan. So to hear from Alistair from St Peter's from a week prior, PK at Bel Air, also prior, and Johan at Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. Good job. Yeah, yeah, nothing like the authentic pronunciation, of course, but there's my attempt.

00:39:07Melissa Ellis: At least you had a go. Good job. I wasn't game.

00:39:10Oliver Spake: Yeah. But, Mel, I suppose, first and foremost, Alistair, as fate would have it, was there a week prior to St Peter's birthday, which was on parkrun Day just gone, their 12th birthday. And they marked it by breaking the very record that Alistair was there for them to set. So 682 finishes this week. And I did... Note that Alistair asked a couple of questions about the event, and whilst I don't necessarily have all the answers, St Peter's was launched back on January 21, 2012, with 122 people at their inaugural. They now average 291 finishes, although last year that's been closer to 400, with an average finish time of 28.42 up until that 12th birthday. 24,354 individual people have run with 161,402 total finishes over the years. Again, excluding parkrun Day just gone. And to celebrate, parkrunners wore their milestone shirts and party hats. But St Peters is, of course, one of the New South Wales parkruns that's been profiled in David Crook's book on every Saturday. And both the Crook book and our very own Quizmaster Simon Mackley, whose parkrun journey incidentally also began that day, have confirmed that it started at Sydney Park because, drumroll Mel.

00:40:40[background music]

00:40:45Melissa Ellis: Consider it inserted.

00:40:52Oliver Spake: So, yes, I think one of the questions that Alistair did ask was, you know, why Sydney Park? And turns out... To get good volunteers, sometimes things need to be handy. So, yeah, what a great location and how lucky we were to have someone like Paul and, of course, everyone else involved so close. Add to that the easy train access, the location itself, all of Paul's and everyone's efforts in launching it, they've all been factors in its success. So Paul, who's done so much for the parkrun community, also is, according to the Crook book, Australia's longest-serving ED. So happy birthday, St Peter's, and thank you, Paul, and the whole St Peter's parkrun community.

00:41:37Melissa Ellis: St Peter's Appreciation Week.

00:41:40Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. But, look, it was lovely to hear also some of the fun kicking off with the 24 parkruns in 24 hours down in South Australia at Belair. So I don't quite know how people did their three and a bit longest runs in a day, but kudos to them. it's been quite incredible to even just fathom what that would involve.

00:42:05Melissa Ellis: Well, we know our old mate Phil Gore, he could do that.

00:42:09Oliver Spake: Yeah, he could in his sleep, I'm sure. Yeah, absolutely.

00:42:13Melissa Ellis: Okay, so that's that. And then we had Johan, of course, the event that had relaunched 199 weeks after the COVID pause, close to four years. So, Johan, they're on the second week and they had 910, so... Great numbers out there as well. South Africa is also getting big numbers and enjoying large attendances just like us.

00:42:33[crosstalk]

00:42:40Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

Dazza's

00:42:44Oliver Spake: It's so awesome. Aside from the roving reports, we've had no emails, so I think it's time to switch across to Dazza's Mel, where this week Dazza has said it's take a walk outdoors day, which I must sound like I'm doing. Could they make a day more perfect for us? Welcome to Dazza's where the coffee is hot and the milkshakes are cold. Come on in, place your order, and tell us all about your parkrun morning.

00:43:06Melissa Ellis: And first up we've got Natalie Sopa coming to us from New Zealand and she said it's a wrap on my parkrun adventures in New Zealand. Six new ones and one repeat being Foster parkrun today where I got a PB. The only other time I was the Tail Walker. Highlight was introducing a friend to parkrun and her whole family came too. Unfortunately today is my last parkrun until I return to Melbourne at the end of May as I will be having a different adventure in non-parkrun countries again. And Natalie shared a collage of her adventures with the selfie frame across the seven stops along her trip. Oh, I wonder what she's up to. I'll have to wait till she returns to get the end of that story. That's right.

00:43:59Oliver Spake: at Lake Mac this time. So, uh, Ian said did first time as briefing at Lake Mac this morning in front of volunteers and 463 finishes. My first, first time on this role with Auslan interpreter speaking for the hearing crowd. That was my 222nd parkrun. And, uh, We also got the photo there included in the Dazza's post of Ian giving the first-timers briefing to the crowd. 2-2-2, Ollie. 2-2-2.

00:44:30Melissa Ellis: Bit of a cricket reference there. I'm enjoying the cricket. I'm riding to the Big Bash. I don't know if all the listeners would know the Big Bash, the international listeners. T20, that's international, isn't it?

00:44:43Oliver Spake: That's right. Yes, very much so.

00:44:46Melissa Ellis: Anyway, I digress. We also heard from Martine Barrot. She came to us from Tasmania. She said, hey, Dazza, Andrew, Eric and I ventured to Windsor Precinct for a leisurely walk. Course is a flat gravel double out and back around the sports precinct. We met one of the regular attendees, Gary, and they shared a photo of Andrew and Martine with Eric Banner. And they took much pleasure in pointing out to me, Gary. Gary is a snake. Not really boyfriend material. No, perhaps not.

00:45:24Oliver Spake: Now, we heard from Jonathan Morgan, Mel, who said, took a leisurely walk outdoors as Tail Walker at the Avenues parkrun this morning while celebrating my 250th volunteer. Time for a chat and a cold drink afterwards with parkrun friends at the nearby Tree Climb Cafe. Also time to change the colour of my volunteer milestone collage to green and to add some more photos. And we've got an amazing collage of volunteer photos there. Check it out or we just might have to make sure that you can check it out.

00:45:59Melissa Ellis: That must take a lot of time to put together, Ollie, way more time than I could probably manage. But I'm very impressed and congratulations, Jonathan. Jonathan is a Junior's Run Director, so yay, another mention for Juniors. Now, we heard from Chris Gore coming to us from WA, and he said, Hi, Dazza. Karen and I went running with our nephew, Trent Beale, for his son's first ever parkrun at Bibra Lake parkrun. He has only just turned four, and today was his first run, and he ran all the way and still finished with a big smile on his face. And Chris shared a couple of photos, one of the best selfie frame photos that we've seen, plus an action shot. Sound effects are ramping up in the background, Ollie.

00:46:06[crosstalk]

00:46:46Oliver Spake: Is it the birds or the screaming kids outside? I think it's children. Ah, yes, yes.

00:46:54Melissa Ellis: Anyway.

00:46:55Oliver Spake: Now, over in the UK, we heard from Maria Wicks, lots of ice on the ground at Panshanger. Have I got that right?

00:47:04Melissa Ellis: I don't know.

00:47:05Oliver Spake: Didn't fact check that one. Didn't pronunciation check that one. Panshanger parkrun. My 91st run there, aiming to get to 100 this year. I needed the biggest cup of tea after that. Thanks. And the selfie shown there showed the icy path behind Maria. So well done surviving that one.

00:47:25Melissa Ellis: Very good. Now we also heard from Adrian Luscombe, also coming to us from the UK, and he said lots of fun at a bitterly cold but beautiful Quakers walk. And he shared a photo of himself with the pop-up by the path looking glad to be in a beanie.

00:47:45Oliver Spake: Yeah, quite cold. Squeals. As you can tell by the screams in the background.

00:47:47[crosstalk]

00:47:50Melissa Ellis: Yes, sound effects. I'm going to have to put them in this week. Hooray.

00:47:53Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. Now, last but not least from the ones we were reporting through in the pod this week, Irene Heather in Queensland, off to volunteer at Zillmere's seventh anniversary dressed as a zookeeper. Well, with a crock hat and a kangaroo and a wombat hanging off me. My order is definitely an ice latte with a humidity here. And Irene shared two photos in her zookeeper costume, one with Lyndell the Legendary.

00:48:24Melissa Ellis: Very good. Well done. And thank you for volunteering, Irene. That is, of course, Irene Bommakanti.

00:48:30Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. And, look, thank you, everyone, for joining us in Dazza's. But I suppose, you know, there can only be one Obi winner.

the Obi Award — Jonathan Morgan

00:48:41Melissa Ellis: So... Oh, you forgot the envelope. I'm going to take a photo. I forgot the envelope.

00:48:46Unidentified speaker: This is the benefit of having... All right.

00:48:51Melissa Ellis: Ready? Smile. Smile.

00:48:53Oliver Spake: kookaburras in the background too there we are okay coming to you from the uh the campground in outback Australia no coastal Australia with authentic kookaburras um the winner of the Obi this year this year this this week wow Ollie's out of practice Jonathan Morgan

00:49:15[background music]

00:49:29Melissa Ellis: I don't think I can pick that up in the photo. But anyway, it was there, I promise.

00:49:33Oliver Spake: No one could read it either. Congratulations, Jonathan. Thank you for all of your volunteering efforts. And yes, yes, that's a fantastic collage.

00:49:47Melissa Ellis: It is, yes. So we will share that on our socials this week. Fabulous. Okay, so that brings this section to a close.

Club Corner

00:49:57Melissa Ellis: It's time for us now to pass over to Rachel for this week's Club Corner.

00:50:05[background music]

00:50:15Rachel: This is Rachel with Club Corner, coming to you from Arrernte Country, and in 2024 I am going to make things snappy. Counting. It's a thing. You can count your parkrun participation in two main ways. Runs, in air quotes, or volunteering, or runs, in air quotes, and volunteering. Or, or, and. That's an or, or an, and, simples. There are pros and cons for both ways of counting, the latter being that it aligns with milestone shirts, the former that it's everything that you do, the shortest version is, you do you, and don't let anyone browbeat you, smiley face. I told you these would be short. Stay tuned for our future Club Corners.

00:50:55Oliver Spake: And thank you very much to Rachel.

Consolidated Club Report

00:50:57Oliver Spake: But Mel, I think the numbers that I would now like to hear would be the Consolidated Club Report numbers. How are we going?

00:51:06Melissa Ellis: We are going great guns. The adventurers Consolidated Club report for Saturday, the 20th of January 2024, saw a total of 546 members, 423 of which took part on this date in four countries across 218 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 27 events. There were three in South Africa and that was it for overseas this week. Locally, we had adventurers at 48 events in New South Wales. There were 47 events in the greater state, 41 in Queensland, 13 in South Australia, 11 in Tassie. There was 10 over on the West Side, nine on the North Island. The ACT and the South Island both had four and there was one in the Northern Territory.

the Frond

00:52:01Oliver Spake: And internationally our largest frond, Itchen Valley Country. So, yeah, that's one I'd like to get to sometime. But the Smiths, Stuart, Tamsin and Morglen.

00:52:14Melissa Ellis: What's the attraction to Itchen Valley, Ollie?

00:52:17Oliver Spake: Well, I don't know the geography, but my family hail from Itchen in Southampton. So, yeah, it makes me curious. So, yeah.

00:52:28Melissa Ellis: Okay, that's a nice little connection.

00:52:31Oliver Spake: I think I understand it to be part of Hampshire as well, but yeah, I need to explore it.

00:52:37Melissa Ellis: Okay, well.

00:52:39Oliver Spake: Yeah, I believe it's further up the river, but yes.

00:52:43Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:52:46Oliver Spake: And the screams in the background once again.

00:52:51Melissa Ellis: Locally, our largest frond was seven in the greater state at Kirkdale Reserve and present were TOC, Jacqui, Sarah Jefferson, Val and Steve Warwick, Erica Hopcraft and Scott Wilson-Smith. And that was a spontaneous frond, Ollie. They just all came together and that was really lovely to see. And, of course, Jodie Maisie was there as well, volunteering on finish tokens.

00:53:18Oliver Spake: That's right, and some great photos in Dazza's from the frond there. Now, on the Adventurous PB side, congratulations to Rebecca Ryan, and well done. parkrunner number 3580708. I don't know why I read it out that way. I did. Ran a PB at Albert, Melbourne, amongst everything happening there in 37 minutes and 16 seconds.

00:53:45Melissa Ellis: Fancy running an all-time PB among so many people. How on earth did you get space, Rebecca? Tell us your secret. Maybe the crowd just dragged her along.

00:53:58Oliver Spake: Or maybe she dragged the crowd.

00:54:00Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, true. Now, we had some adventurer milestones, Ollie, our very own friend at the pod, M. Nico. She is an athlete, A389043. She ran her 250th milestone, of course, at her home at Kirra. So congratulations, Tim. We also had Timothy Amos, A8082855, ran his 10th milestone at Hagley. Maurice Cohen, A7028859, ran their 50th milestone at the Whang. There's the Whang. You don't hear anything about the Whang for weeks and weeks and months and all of a sudden they're everywhere.

00:54:43Oliver Spake: That's right, Whang Central.

00:54:45Melissa Ellis: It's Whang Central. Yes. So congratulations, Maurice. We also had Christiana Charlet, a 715709, ran their 100th milestone at Mundy Regional. So, wow, that's the hardest parkrun in Australia to do your 100th milestone at. Well done. Good effort.

00:55:04Oliver Spake: Well done, everyone. And, of course, remember, if you'd like us to track these achievements, you can add the Adventurous Club as one of your five affiliations on your parkrun profile. Please let us know if you need a hand. Send us an email. We love our emails. And, naturally, if these are not enough stats for you, check out www.theinformant.me for all the stats from the informant profile.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:55:28Melissa Ellis: Now, we had one event launch in the last week that we are aware of, Ollie. That is Lousberg parkrun in the German town of Aachen. Now, the course description states that it is two laps along the north side of the Lousberg. So I had to have a little look and figure out what the Lousberg is. So it is a small mountain in the northeast of Aachen. It's a popular place for the Aacheners to go for a walk, relax or do sports. So perfect place for a parkrun. There is a tower on top of the Lousberg with a slowly spinning restaurant. There were 65 finishes supported by nine volunteers and a staggering 38 people or 58% were first time to parkrun. I also, as I was looking up a little bit about Lousberg or Aachen, I came across this little story that I wanted to share. So it's a story about where the Lousberg comes from. So it's more about the name, I think, Lousberg and how it got its name. So the story goes that when the devil was tricked by the Aacheners, he wanted revenge. So he travelled all the way across the empire to the North Sea where he took a giant pile of sand from the bottom of the sea. He threw it over his shoulders in a bag and dropped it to Aachen, planning to bury the cathedral and the entire city underneath it. When he had almost arrived in Aachen, right at the place where the Lousberg is today, he took a break and he met a bigger child called Luz. He asked her, child, tell me how far it is to the empire's capital, Aachen. Luz, who had recognised the devil because of his hooves and tail, answered, Alas, do you see my clothes? Only lumps. And do you see my shoes? I've walked so far my soles are almost gone. When I bought my clothes and shoes at the market in Aachen, they were all new. Well, thinking that Aachen was still very far away, the devil decided to let go of his plan. He left the giant pile of sand right in front of the city and he went back to hell. This is why the mountain is called Loosberg, and why people today say that Aacheners are too smart for the devil. So there you go. There's a little bit of folklore for you and a little bit of history about the Lousberg in Aachen.

00:57:52Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel, and welcome Lousberg parkrun to the parkrun family.

00:57:56Melissa Ellis: I checked the pronunciation of Aachen. I didn't check the pronunciation of Lousberg.

00:58:00Oliver Spake: Well, that's okay. Please let us know if we, yeah.

00:58:04Melissa Ellis: Yeah, let us know. You're right in. Correct us. Do we have German listeners? I'm sure we do. Anyway. We'd love to hear.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:58:11Melissa Ellis: I need to also apologise. Johan sent a roving report that we did play this week. He sent that in last week and there was another bit of audio that was giving a little wrap-up of the South African inaugurals over the past little while and I missed it. So I'm just going to enter it now.

00:58:30Johan Duvenhage: And in South Africa, we got right to business with our first inaugural on Saturday, the 6th of January, as the Mapule Sindane School parkrun launched at the park next to the namesake school in extension 2 of Kwagutwa Township outside eMalahleni in the Mpumalanga province, eMalahleni, previously known as Witbank, is about 130 kilometres east of Johannesburg. This is one of the very few multi-lab courses in the country and consists of a bit more than four laps on a mixture of grass and dirt around the perimeter of the park and alongside the school. The start and finish is close to the car park and entrance to the park. 35 parkrunners joined for the first event, of which two were brand new, supported by 14 volunteers. Uber parkrunner Djabulani Mkizi was also there to complete his 280th different Southern African event, the only parkrunner to have run almost every parkrun that ever existed in the region, currently having 218 active events. After this week, where he increased his tally to 281 Southern African events, he still has to get to four of the latest parkruns and has unfortunately missed out on two that closed before he could get there. By the way, Jabu has a re-index of 126 and his We Were There challenge count is 67. Apart from this, we also had two events restarting after an extended break. On the 6th of January, 199 weeks after their last event before the COVID pause, the iconic Voortrekker Monument parkrun returned in a very big way for event number 205. More about this return and the event to follow in a roving report. Finally, as reported in December, Odendaal Stadium parkrun in Prince Albert in the Great Karoo of the Western Cape relaunched on the 13th of January, 200 weeks after their last parkrun event. There were 12 parkrunners, all of them first-timers at the event, with one newbie doing his first parkrun and nine volunteers for the event.

01:00:27Oliver Spake: And, yeah, there is certainly a lot going on in South Africa. So thank you so much, Johan, and thank you to everyone who has played a role in, yeah, in growing parkrun South Africa. Mel, looking forward.

01:00:43Unidentified speaker: Mm-hmm.

01:00:44Oliver Spake: I'm not sure. There's much to look forward to. No, there's plenty on the horizon. Maybe not for you. There's one important reminder that was mentioned, of course, last pod, and that is that orders are open until midnight on 11th of February for the adventurers shirts. So please have a look, and if you've got any questions, pop them in the comments or shoot The Office Lady a message.

01:01:11Melissa Ellis: I'm tempted to get myself a singlet. Only now that I know it's in the honeycomb fabric, I am really tempted because I've got a T-shirt. So I'm thinking I'm, yeah, anyway, I shall keep thinking I've only got till when the 11th.

Sign-off

01:01:25Oliver Spake: That's right. It's coming soon. It's coming soon. But sooner than that, next parkrun day. What's happening, Mel?

01:01:30Melissa Ellis: Oh, gosh. Well, I'm going to stay local. I think that there might be some people hanging out at Studley that I might want to go and catch up with. Yeah, so Studley parkrun and round two with the lawnmower for me. What about you, Ollie?

01:01:46Oliver Spake: Yeah, I'm not sure why we asked me, but, yeah, it's Shellharbour. Really? Of course. But the day before, mind you, I'm doing the running leg in the Aquathon. So thank you to adventurer Bec Bailey who will be doing the swimming, which I would stand no chance in doing. And, yes, there are two others in the Windang clan in another team. So it's a little bit competitive and I'm going down.

01:01:48[crosstalk]

01:02:16Melissa Ellis: Are you not going to run against Lance, are you, Lance?

01:02:21Oliver Spake: Lance, that's right. Yes, I will be looking at the back of Lance as he disappears off into the sunrise.

01:02:27Melissa Ellis: I almost wish I could be there.

01:02:31Oliver Spake: Yes. Good luck, Ollie. Plenty coming up. Thank you. I'm going to need it.

01:02:37Melissa Ellis: It was good to catch up with you again.

01:02:39Oliver Spake: It was. It was. And, look, all the hundreds of people around me too. Yes.

01:02:43Melissa Ellis: Yes.

01:02:45Oliver Spake: Thank you for letting us all join you.

01:02:47Melissa Ellis: There was no hands protruding from above you in the footage, so that's good. The girls must have gone to sleep.

01:02:55Oliver Spake: Yeah, they're very, very quiet. Yeah. I think they're watching something now. Excellent. Yeah, good outdoorsy camping stuff. Look at that screen.

01:03:05Melissa Ellis: Well, you enjoy the rest of your holiday. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. On location in your caravan park.

01:03:10[crosstalk]

01:03:11Oliver Spake: That's right. Where will I be next week? No. No, we're exciting. But thank you so much, Mel. It's been lovely to be back. Thanks for having me.

01:03:21Melissa Ellis: No worries. Now, everybody, as always, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That is it for another week. We'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:03:30[outro theme playing]