Episode 386 - Fly High

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Simon Mackley: Welcome to episode 386 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life if your life is all about parkrun. I'm Simon Mackley and I'm coming to you, as always, from Quandamooka Country.

00:00:36Melissa Ellis: And I'm Melissa Ellis and I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country. Howdy, Simon. Hey, Mel. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Nice to have you back in the level two with a view.

00:00:50Simon Mackley: Not much of a view today from up here. It's a bit rainy. Not good. It's good. Yeah, it is good.

Tribute

00:00:57Melissa Ellis: We haven't had rain in weeks. So yeah, very good. Okay. Yes, we do like it when... For the garden. Exactly. Okay. Well, I wanted to start off this week, Simon, with sad news. Now, we didn't... Add this to last week's recording, the news came to us after we recorded and we deliberately decided to wait until this week to announce the sad passing of our friend and fellow parkrun adventurer Michael Schultz on Tuesday the 25th of June aged 69. Kedron parkrun posted on their socials on the 27th of June, this week we were saddened to hear that a special member of our Kedron parkrun community, Michael 'Schultzy' Schultz, A145711, passed away after a period of illness. Schultzy was into parkrun as soon as it started in Brisbane. He participated at New Farm event number one in 2011 and hadn't missed too many Saturdays since. As he was local to Kedron Brook, we became his home event and he was at our inaugural event on the 2nd of April 2016, having already completed 190 parkruns at that point. Schultzy travelled far and wide to attend parkruns across Australia, and until recently he had completed every parkrun in Queensland, including travelling to remote areas such as Cloncurry, Longreach and Weipa. He volunteered on 110 different occasions, most recently volunteering regularly on Sunday mornings at Des Connor Park Junior parkrun. Schultzy's last parkrun was at Kedron event number 376, park walking with a group of friends on the 18th of May 2024. He then backed it up the next day for the final time volunteering at Junior parkrun. Schultzy earned his blue shirt completing 562 parkruns at 206 different locations. The Kedron parkrun community together with many friends Schultzy has made at other parkruns across Australia wish to share our condolences to his family and friends. Our community are invited to honour our parkrun friend Schultzy for a special celebration on his life Saturday the 20th of July at Kedron parkrun, joining in for some post-parkrun nibbles and cake. So, Simon, very sad news about our friend Michael Schultz. He was battling some skin cancers for quite a while. He was. We did know. He did attend the last Palm. And I engaged the help of some of our adventurer friends to work out just how many Palms Schultz he did. join us at because he he loved to be amongst the community whenever he could be he didn't post much on social media but he'd turn up and he he'd be there and from what we worked out he he was at The Beaches in 2019, Mount Barker in 2020, Nambour in 2021, Bellerive in 2022, and most recently in Toowoomba in 2024, meaning that he only missed the first one at Shellharbour and WA.

00:04:10Simon Mackley: Yeah, he did. He certainly liked to be amongst the people. So yeah, I agree. He hasn't posted a lot, but yeah, he definitely liked to be that guy. He knew everything. Like he knew everyone and he knew everything in the, previous time to seeing him in Toowoomba I saw him at Kirra and it was coincidentally um event number 555 and he was the first one to tell me it was event 555 so he he'd gone there yeah specifically for that um but yeah like he liked to talk to everyone and everyone liked to talk to him because he yeah because he was such a um a friendly guy so yeah sadly missed very well known and much loved member of the wider parkrun community not just the tourists no exactly and unfortunately we have another uh community who lost one of their own as well so uh Graeme from Umbagong he was actually interviewed by Ingrid back in September 2022 and And you obviously referred to him when you went to Umbagong as well. So Umbagong parkrun posted, it's with great sadness that we farewell our parkrun friend, Graeme Fitster. Graeme embodied the parkrun spirit of community connection and inclusion and was part of the initial team who established Umbagong District parkrun. Graeme often shared his appreciation for the parkrun community and how it helped him through some very rough times. Graeme gave back more than he received, by volunteering almost every week, inviting members of the local community walking groups to join us as parkwalkers and creating the A-frame board that displays key messages and our volunteer roster. Graeme continues to hold a special place in the hearts and memories of our Umbagong community and will be deeply missed.

00:06:00Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so two sad things to announce this week and two communities grieving a loss of very special people.

00:06:09Rachel: Yeah.

00:06:11Melissa Ellis: Our thoughts go out to all those that knew those two men. Obviously, very special men to be held in such high regard. Exactly. But Simon, moving on to some news of a lighter note, I guess you could say, or maybe not, because it wasn't so great for Kangaroo Island parkrun to turn up in the rain as volunteers and have no participants arrive.

00:06:35Simon Mackley: Very strange indeed. I mean, I know it's a remote parkrun. But, yeah, it must have been very, very strange.

00:06:43Melissa Ellis: But good work for the event team to turn up in any case and be there ready in case anybody did arrive.

00:06:51Simon Mackley: Exactly.

00:06:52Melissa Ellis: I think it looked like pretty bad weather from the photograph that was posted on their event page showing some rain through the car windscreen.

00:07:00Simon Mackley: Yeah. And I saw a couple of comments of people saying, I'm going to be there in a couple of weeks. Will you turn up? They're like, we turned up this time. We're definitely going to be turning up. You come, we'll be here.

00:07:09Melissa Ellis: And interestingly, just yesterday in my social media, it popped up, or it might have even been today, one year since my visit to Kangaroo Island. Oh. And I do know that when I was planning it, because I planned it with the Office Lady or the OG Office Lady, and I was mindful that it was going to be the first weekend in July and, you know, weather, because South Australia has been known to have some nasty weather that's wiped out a few parkruns on a particular weekend with storms. So, you know, you always do take that gamble, I guess, as a tourist, because event teams have to put... general safety of the population first and foremost. And, you know, if it's an area where it's likely to cause unreasonable risks, then cancellations are always possible. Exactly right.

00:08:04Simon Mackley: And we've had a follow up to the Ross-on-Wye baton as well. So our friend Danny Norman from With Me Now came back and said, re the gold baton. That was the Leeds Building Society marketing thing around 2018, if I recall correctly. Ross-on-Wye's gold baton is not a direct imitation or relation as far as I know. I expect it was influenced as the Ross-on-Wye people have been around long enough to have seen the LBS ones. So thanks, Danny, for coming back so quickly and telling us all about that.

00:08:37Melissa Ellis: And adventurers, if you see this baton, try to get it to me. No, I think it's a great idea. I'm actually, I think it's very novel. Actually, some parkruns in the past have had stuffed toys that have journeyed around. Yes.

00:08:56Simon Mackley: I'm pretty sure. I'm trying to think where it was. When I first heard about the Wagi Bridge troll, I thought that's what was actually happening, but then I realised it was going backwards, on tourist trips with Wagi Bridge people.

00:09:09Melissa Ellis: Maybe we could have an adventurer type thing that we could set free to the adventurer community and see where we could get it to. I wonder if we could get something to Danny and Nicola.

00:09:20Simon Mackley: Wow, that would be amazing.

00:09:23Melissa Ellis: I had an idea.

00:09:24Simon Mackley: You did? Well, I think you've got more than one idea tonight.

00:09:31Melissa Ellis: Nice, okay. Yeah, let's think tank that. Anybody got any suggestions what we could use? See if we can get something from Australia from, well, depending on what we come up with, one of the hosts' local parkruns via Adventurers across to Danny and Nicola. That would be fun. That would be amazing. So where were you on the last parkrun day, Emel? Well, Simon, I don't have anything very exciting to report back this week. Actually, I know, I know. I'm letting the side down. But I actually returned to Puckapunyal parkrun for my 10th visit. And we were very lucky. The rain was on its way, but we managed to get through parkrun without any adverse weather conditions. And yeah, it was just... A nice parkrun morning, very small crowd. First female, thank you very much.

00:10:24Simon Mackley: I did see that in the results, actually. I did see that. Yeah.

00:10:28[crosstalk]

00:10:29Melissa Ellis: Nailed it. Yeah, but I didn't run a particularly good time. Doesn't matter. A note for myself for future reference, always stop at the last servo for a toilet break. Always, always, always. Even if you think you don't need to go, do it. Funny. So I didn't run as fast as I possibly could have because I was being really careful. Okay.

00:10:55Unidentified speaker: Fair enough.

00:10:56Melissa Ellis: What about you, Simon? Let's change the subject.

00:10:59Unidentified speaker: Quickly.

00:11:01Simon Mackley: So I went to Redcliffe parkrun. So I hadn't been there before. It was not my NENDY, but it was very close to being my NENDY. There's a lot in that area that I actually haven't done yet. So Redcliffe parkrun is on the lands of the Gubbi Gubbi and Nii Nii people, part of the Undambi people. It's a flat, scenic coastal course with a mixture of concrete path and boardwalk. The parkrun starts at the southern end of Sutton's Beach Park, heading to the north side of Settlement Cove, which is like this kid's play area kind of thing on a lagoon, before looping around and going back past the start, heading south before turning at Margate boat ramp and finishing back at Sutton's Beach in the centre. This was one of the very few parkruns recently that I've had that actually measured five kilometres on my watch. Like they've been measuring quite a bit, well not quite a bit, but a bit longer. So yeah, literally I crossed the line and five k's went off. It was a beautiful morning at Redcliffe, not too cold, not too hot, but I can imagine in summer, it's a pretty taxing course because it's quite exposed. So I'm glad that I've done it in the middle of winter, even though it was still quite warm. And I ran into pod listeners, Lockie Miners and Tony Everingham. And behind the lens on the day as photographer was Lockie's wife, Nicola, who took some shots of me doing the, adventurers pose. So yeah, she got some good shots of that. Oh, excellent. But yeah, it was a, it was a beautiful day for it. I would definitely suggest it to anybody because it doesn't get a lot of Well, I haven't heard a lot about Redcliffe prior to this, but I was convinced of the four or five that I've got in that area to go and do Redcliffe. So that's your second Red, because Redland Bay you've also done. Exactly. And after we had a conversation about the colours of the rainbow or whatever, I, yeah, listening back that week, I was like, I've done lots of greens, I've done obviously reds. Oh, the power of hindsight. Exactly right. Yeah, the things you hear when you actually listen back.

00:13:15Melissa Ellis: And I also wonder, commenting that it would probably be a tough one in the heat, do you think all the people in South Africa are doing the same complaining about like, oh, they think that's hot.

00:13:27Charlotte: They don't know what hot is.

00:13:29Simon Mackley: Oh, I don't know. I think they get hot and cold just as much as we do.

00:13:34Melissa Ellis: Yeah, you don't think they get hotter temperatures?

00:13:38Simon Mackley: In South Africa, I would think they would get a very similar climate to us. Okay. I might be wrong. Well, bad reference from me. Maybe I'll edit that out. No, no. I mean, it could be true. Maybe we need to ask Johan.

00:13:51Melissa Ellis: Yes. Anyway, okay, that's it for our wrap-up of last week.

00:13:55[background music]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:13:58Melissa Ellis: So let's throw now to this week's Roving Reports.

Roving report Calum Burrell — Rendlesham Forest parkrun

00:14:09Calum Burrell: Hello parkrun adventurers, it's Calum and I'm back with you today at Rendlesham Forest parkrun in Suffolk. Now we made the drive yesterday which took somewhere between five and six hours with stop-offs so yeah it's quite a journey for us today from the northwest of England down to the

Talking to Vicky — Australian parkrun tourist from Main Beach, Gold Coast

00:14:34Calum Burrell: what is at the suffolk heritage coast which is in the east of England area of England as part of the country that we've not been to before and anyway we're super excited for today's parkrun which as I've alluded to is going to be a little bit of a celebration all right we've just finished Rendlesham parkrun and I'm here with Vicky so um how did you how do you feel after that one Vicky

00:15:02Vicky: That was a magical, magical trail run in the forest. I've never done a flat trail run, so it was absolutely magical.

00:15:10Calum Burrell: And just explain what you're more used to and where you're from and where you've come from and everything about today.

00:15:15Vicky: I'm from the east coast of Australia, from the Gold Coast. I do a lot of trail running, so I like really, really big hills. I do road running as well, but in the last few years I've turned to trail running. When I go on holidays, it's always good to find your tribe rather than running alone, and parkrun's just the best friendly community, great institution, always meet nice people.

00:15:41Calum Burrell: But I thought I was doing well. I've come from Manchester and you've come all the way from Australia. Yeah. So, have you got another parkrun lined up when you're on your holidays?

00:15:48Vicky: I did North Walsham.

00:15:50[crosstalk]

00:15:50Calum Burrell: Oh, nice.

00:15:51Vicky: Last week in Norfolk, we were there on holidays.

00:15:53Calum Burrell: Ah, okay.

00:15:54Vicky: Yeah, but I returned to Oz on Tuesday. Oh, right. Oh, wow. Okay. And my local parkrun is Main Beach on the Gold Coast.

00:16:02Calum Burrell: Yep. Isn't that one of the first in that area, was it? Yeah. Yeah, it's the iconic one. A little bit.

00:16:04[crosstalk]

00:16:08Vicky: Yeah, yeah.

00:16:08Calum Burrell: But did you know anything about the celebrations that were happening today before you came?

00:16:12[crosstalk]

00:16:12Vicky: I read on the Facebook page. Oh, right, okay. I was scanning the map for parkruns, and my mum lives five kilometres away, so I made my way through the forest to get here on a map. Brilliant. I got lost. I rang my friend in Australia and said, I'm lost. So she was helping me to orient here to get here. Oh, wow. And I made it with a minute to spare before the start. Blimey, wow. But anyway, I made it. It's fabulous. Rendlesham Forest is sublime, isn't it?

00:16:29[crosstalk]

00:16:41Calum Burrell: Yeah, so you have a section where there's cones with pine cones, which is... Yeah, yeah. And lots of aliens around. I don't know if you know about the UFO sighting here.

00:16:44[crosstalk]

00:16:49Vicky: I did the UFO trail yesterday.

00:16:51Calum Burrell: Oh, did you? Oh, right. Okay, we've not done that yet, but hopefully we'll squeeze it in before we leave, because obviously we're going to the cafe for the celebration. Yeah. Yeah, it's just superb.

00:17:01[crosstalk]

00:17:03Vicky: Yeah, parkrun with my entry into running, where did you start Main Beach yeah yeah I got to two and a half k I thought I was dying and that was my journey into running 13 years ago yeah well it was it was just a community that used to get me there every Saturday morning if I didn't feel like going I knew I could get to a parkrun yeah and that's what got me running yeah I started in 2013 as well so yeah yeah how many have you done I think this was my 83rd, because I do a lot of long-distance running now.

00:17:07[crosstalk]

00:17:31[crosstalk]

00:17:34Calum Burrell: Normally on the Saturdays, that year, long-distance running.

00:17:36Vicky: That's a long-run day for me, but like I said, it's always the best thing to get to. And sometimes we incorporate it in our long run. We'll do a bit before, do a parkrun, and then do a cool-down after.

00:17:46Calum Burrell: So it's just the best community of people. So how many other countries have you done? Have you done any of the others in Europe at all? No.

00:17:53Vicky: No, I've done them a few places around Australia. And I've done... Holkham Hall, Holkham in Norfolk.

00:18:01Calum Burrell: Oh, yes, yeah, yeah.

00:18:02Vicky: I think, yeah, I've done Ipswich parkrun.

00:18:06[crosstalk]

00:18:07Calum Burrell: Oh, okay. Yeah, I have done a couple in Suffolk, yeah.

00:18:10Vicky: But, no, it's just so good. It's a great community of people and, like I said, it's, you know, rather than running alone, if you don't know where you are, you can always find friendly faces and have a little bit of fun.

00:18:23Calum Burrell: Okay, the parkrun adventures, dying to know, what are your top three parkruns?

00:18:27Vicky: if you can narrow it down to top three Rendlesham Rendlesham Forest Rendlesham has just beaten Nambour Nambour is another trail parkrun on the sunshine coast and then my home one Main Beach right okay this is beautiful because it was flat so it was a little bit easier to run not so technical fantastic well I'm glad you enjoyed it today a bit I had a bit of a stack so oh

00:18:38[crosstalk]

00:18:46[crosstalk]

00:18:53Calum Burrell: So I better clean up mine. I'm literally a mile in. One of the tree roots got me. Oh, no. So, yeah, I better clean myself up. But, I mean, lovely to meet you, Vicky. And you too. And you enjoy the rest of your time over here. And thank you for speaking to us at the parkrun adventurers. All right. Thank you.

00:19:02[crosstalk]

Roving report Sarah Jefferson — West Coast Park parkrun

Talking to Charlotte — Run Director, West Coast Park parkrun, Singapore

00:19:08Sarah Jefferson: Thank you. Good morning parkrun adventurers, it's Sarah here from the West Side standing in the rain with Charlotte but it's not cold because we've gone five hours north heading to Singapore to check out West Coast parkrun. You've certainly put the weather on this morning It's been raining probably for the last three and a half Ks, I think.

00:19:28Charlotte: Yeah, definitely.

00:19:29Sarah Jefferson: And you're telling me it's a cold day. What temperature is it here?

00:19:32Charlotte: It's probably about 26, 27, which is cold for Singapore. It's usually in the 30s, yeah.

00:19:36[crosstalk]

00:19:37Sarah Jefferson: But the humidity's got to be pretty high, right?

00:19:39Charlotte: Humidity very rarely gets below 85, so yeah, definitely. Definitely a shock to the system. Yeah, you get wet either way, whether it's raining or not.

00:19:47Sarah Jefferson: True, true. So Charlotte is a little bit of an adventurer. You said when you go travelling. Yeah, yeah. So did you want to share with the listeners maybe a few parkruns that you have enjoyed while you've been on your travels?

00:20:00Charlotte: So one of my favourites was Claisebrook Cove in Perth. So I really enjoyed that when I was over. There is an amazing parkrun near Disneyland in Tokyo, which is along the Tokyo bay it's a nice out and back very very boutique about 20 people um really really welcoming no one speaks any english but everyone knows what's going on it's magic um and one of my other favourites is Roma Pineto which is in rome it's on a hill on the park up behind the vatican city so as you're running around the park you're looking down over the vatican over rome it's Really, really beautiful. Very iconic. And they had Prosecco at the end, which is always a winner.

00:20:36Sarah Jefferson: I have heard about these runs over there in Europe. How did you get into run directing here?

00:20:43Charlotte: So I did parkrun when I was back in the UK, originally from Brighton in the UK. Then I've been living in Asia for the last 10 years or so. When I moved to Singapore, I remember looking for something new, first time in Singapore, and going... Oh, my God, they have parkruns in Singapore. So it came down, was running for about six months, and then the Event Director, Russell, left, and Pete took over as Event Director, and I agreed to run direct, so I stepped up into it, which was really cool. I'm assuming you've enjoyed it. Well, yeah, I've been doing it for five years now.

00:21:14Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, well, thanks for doing that. It's great for us tourists who enjoy these little getaways. Yes, it is. And you have got some touring coming up, is that right?

00:21:23Charlotte: Yes, so I'm... I'm a teacher, so I'm now off for six weeks. So I'm back in the UK next week. I'm doing Seaford Head parkrun, and then we're in Slovenia, and then Vienna parkrun. Then there's one of the Zed parkruns in Poland. I haven't worked out which one yet. And then finishing up in Frankfurt parkrun. Oh, wow. Already planned the Saturdays around parkrun.

00:21:40[crosstalk]

00:21:43Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, perfect, perfect. Can I just get you to do a quick course briefing for the adventurers, just so they can, I guess, visualise the course here in Singapore, please?

00:21:55Charlotte: So West Coast Park is what we call one of our destination parks, so it is very, very well equipped. It's a main... tail Mac path all the way around um it is one elongated figure of eight loop so you do a loop at the top end a long thin it through the middle loop at the bottom end come back up the long thin round the loop so it's nice and easy stay on the widest path um lots of animals um I don't know if you saw the monkeys and the chickens today no I saw lots of chickens a squirrel looking thing yeah and the frog that nearly jumped on me But, yeah, lots and lots of animals, very green, nice and shady.

00:22:23[crosstalk]

00:22:30Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, beautiful. And you get a view of, is this the port or the harbour? It's a harbour. One of the harbours. Yeah, beautiful. Very, very cool. Yeah, well, thanks for talking to me this morning and thank you for hosting us. We've really enjoyed our morning. Thank you for coming and joining us. We really appreciate tourists. Thanks so much.

00:22:33[crosstalk]

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Petrie parkrun

00:22:46Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I am on the lands of the Turrbal people and I'm at Petrie parkrun which is just north of Brisbane, not too far north, it was about a 20 minute drive for me today to get out here to Petrie. I have been here before, I haven't done a roving report from here I don't think so why today on my second or third visit to Petrie am I doing a roving report? Well Mel, you said it, I'm answering the call. You said it on the podcast not too long ago that you hadn't heard much about Meadowbrook and it just got me thinking that quite often when I go adventuring close to home, so when it's not that big an adventure and I'm just checking out one of the parkruns around the Brisbane area, I don't tend to do a roving report because it's not really adventurous, it's just up the road, but... I've realised that every parkrun's worth profiling and every parkrun is worth finding out about. So here I am. The briefing looks like it's just starting now, so I'm going to head over and check it out and I'll check in after the run.

Talking to Brad — Run Director, Petrie parkrun

00:23:51Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, I've caught up with Brad. Brad is run directing today. How did today go at Petrie parkrun, Brad?

00:23:58Brad: Oh, as good as every other week. It's always magical down here in the Sweeney's Reserve Park.

00:24:03Lyndell Murray: Sweeney's Reserve Petrie is where we are at Petrie parkrun. For those of us around Brisbane, we often see the Sweeney runners out with their singlets with the phrase mounds of opportunity. Tell us about the mounds of opportunity, Brad.

00:24:21Brad: The mounds of opportunity is the parkrun course, the hills that you roll over in the first kilometre and then also the last kilometre because it's out and back are your mounds. And... It'll just stem from there.

00:24:35Lyndell Murray: You've got to have a positive tilt on these things, don't you?

00:24:38Brad: Absolutely. You don't look at it as an issue. You've got to look at it as an opportunity.

00:24:44Lyndell Murray: Absolutely. Hills are your friend. Hills make you strong.

00:24:47Brad: Absolutely. No doubt.

00:24:48Lyndell Murray: All right. Now, apart from the mounds of opportunity, how else would you describe the course here?

00:24:53Unidentified speaker: Okay.

00:24:54Brad: This course is just beautiful. We get a lot of positive feedback from runners that come here for the first time. You're pretty much running along the creek most of the way out. It's a nice shade throughout the course. Lots of diversity on the track. We've got the best volunteers out on track all the time. It really is. You don't have anyone come here and not enjoy it or come and thank you for running such a great parkrun. It is. It's an amazing community.

00:25:24Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. And it is a lovely course. Out and back, all on concrete paths. Fabulous mounds of opportunity. Lots of shade, as you say, along, is it the North Pine River here? Yes, it is. North Pine River, just north of Brisbane. Now, the community, you've touched on that a little bit here. You're a Run Director and it looks like you've got plenty of volunteers that are always happy to be here. Is that the case? Always.

00:25:29[crosstalk]

00:25:46Brad: Yeah, every week the roster's full before we leave every Saturday for the following week. No one's ever shy of volunteering around here. And, I mean, the Sweeney runners take up a massive part of Petrie parkrun, so, like... 90% of the volunteers are usually from there, but, like, we get people come in, some, you know, strangers that come in and volunteer from time to time and they just fit in. It's just, yeah, it really is, it's awesome to be part of.

00:26:19Lyndell Murray: Now, your journey with run directing, tell me about that. How did you get into volunteering, and what do you like about volunteering?

00:26:26Brad: Oh, well, like, I volunteered in the normal positions, various roles, and it was the Event Director, our Event Director, Vicky, that approached me and said, like, you know, would you like to be a Run Director? So... I said, well, if you need someone, I'm happy to give it a crack. So it was pretty much offered to me. And I just said, yep, sure, if I can get you running more and help out as well, like, good. It's good for everyone.

00:26:55Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. Now, running. You're a runner yourself, Brad.

00:26:58Brad: I am, yes, yeah.

00:27:00Lyndell Murray: And this podcast is for people who like adventuring around to different parkruns. Have you done much adventuring to different runs around the place?

00:27:09Brad: I probably haven't done as much as I should. Like, I think I've only touristed about 25 times, but it's definitely on the cards. But I tend to take my time up either running here or volunteering here. It's just home for me. I can go anywhere and I don't... I just always seem to like coming back to Petrie.

00:27:29Lyndell Murray: And why not? As we've said, the course is great, the community is wonderful. All right, is there anything else that you would like the parkrun adventurers to know about Petrie parkrun? You had a few visitors this morning. Anything else that you'd like them to know?

00:27:43Brad: Oh, we always have visitors down here, but you've got to come down and check it out. It truly is one of the best parkruns I've ever been to, and that's not just because it's my home, it is. It's always beautiful to come back here if you've touristed elsewhere, so come on down and check it out.

00:28:02Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. Well, thank you, Brad, for talking to me. Thank you for everything that you have done as well for Petrie parkrun and this parkrun and the Event Director who now gets to run a bit more.

00:28:12Brad: Yeah, absolutely. That's the goal. Let everyone have a run. A couple of weeks out of your time is nothing.

00:28:18Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. Thank you.

00:28:19Brad: Awesome. Thanks.

Talking to Rhys — Petrie parkrunner and Royal Brisbane Hospital fundraiser

00:28:21Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, I have caught up with Rhys. Now, Rhys, you had an interesting story to tell just before the run briefing this morning. Over to you. What's happened? What are you up to?

00:28:30Rhys: Well, it all goes back to events about 10 years ago. I was involved in a pretty serious car accident. I woke up 12 days after the accident in the Royal Brisbane Hospital and I've got them to thank for my life. So Tuesday into Wednesday last week, I ran on a treadmill for 24 hours and covered 120 kilometres, raising $13,000 for the hospital.

00:28:49Lyndell Murray: Holy smokes.

00:28:51Rhys: It was a bit of an experience. The hospital's a pretty interesting place in those hours from 10 till 2 o'clock in the morning. There's some interesting people around the place.

00:29:00Lyndell Murray: All right. So you set up your treadmill at the hospital itself?

00:29:03Rhys: Correct, yeah. Yeah, I had a treadmill for me. I had one beside me so that people could come along and run along with me and just keep me company. I needed something to occupy my mind. 120K or 24 hours on a treadmill isn't the most engaging activity.

00:29:15Lyndell Murray: No. And hospitals, lots of white walls. Not much to look at in there either.

00:29:18Rhys: Yeah. No, there's just no scenery change whatsoever except for the unusual people who pass by in front of you. And, yeah, no babies delivered, which is a bit of a disappointment. We're watching as the pregnant women were coming across to get to the maternity ward. No babies.

00:29:33Lyndell Murray: No babies. Nobody here. Okay. All right. Now, this is an incredible story, Rhys. 24 hours. Let's just recap this. 24 hours, 120 kilometres. Yes. $13,000 raised. How many friends came and ran with you on that second treadmill?

00:29:53Rhys: I had plenty during the day, but the nighttime ones are the important ones. And I had, who do we have? One, two, three, four, five, I think six. Six friends from here at the Sweeney Runners running group at Petrie came along and ran through the night with me and got me through the toughest of the hours.

00:30:09Lyndell Murray: Now, they are real heroes, right?

00:30:11Rhys: Legends. I couldn't have done it without them, yeah. Yeah, especially the one who was there from 10 till 2 in the morning. He really saved the day because all of my body rhythms were saying, go to bed, you idiot. And I just couldn't go to bed. Well, there was no bed. There was just a treadmill under me.

00:30:25Lyndell Murray: Indeed. All right. Now, so probably a lot of the people here at Petrie parkrun have supported you in this and known your story. Tell me about Petrie parkrun. What's your parkrun story?

00:30:37Rhys: Petrie parkrun wasn't where I discovered parkrun, but it's where I discovered my community. They're just a beautiful bunch of people here, our community here at Petrie. It's a very country feel in city surrounds. It's the thing I love most about Petrie. And everyone here, they're social, they're giving, they're friendly, just a beautiful bunch.

00:30:58Lyndell Murray: That's wonderful. Now, is there anything else that you would like to tell? This is a parkrun podcast for people who like to adventure to different podcasts. What would you tell them about Petrie, apart from the friendliness and the happy community?

00:31:10Rhys: Don't believe the people who tell you about the hills. They're a bit of a struggle, but they're over us after the first kilometre. It's just beautiful. It's green, it's leafy, it's shady, it's perfect in winter, it's perfect in summer. Some might say it's the best parkrun in Australia. They'd be right.

00:31:27Lyndell Murray: Brilliant, brilliant. All right, Rhys, thank you so much for talking to me today. Well done. Brilliant on your fundraising efforts. High five. And I'll see you another time at Petrie parkrun.

00:31:40Rhys: I'll be there. Thank you.

Roving report Alison Fraser (King) — Jubilee parkrun

00:31:43Alison Fraser (King): Good morning, adventurers. It's Alison here. And this morning I'm going to be at Jubilee parkrun, which is in the northeast region of England in County Durham. I've come to Jubilee for the J. There are just four Js within the United Kingdom, if you count Channel Islands, which is Jersey, which is administered by parkrun UK. But there are no Js in New Zealand, and I'm coming here today to finish my second alphabet, we're just about to set off from our hotel so I will be coming back to you shortly with an interview hopefully with the Run Director so let's go and do a parkrun and catch up afterwards

Talking to Jack — Run Director, Jubilee parkrun, Spennymoor (County Durham)

00:32:28Alison Fraser (King): I'm with Jack, today's Run Director. So welcome to the podcast, Jack. Hiya, great to be here. Thank you so much for an awesome parkrun this morning. Can you tell us about Jubilee parkrun?

00:32:38Jack: Yeah, so Victoria Jubilee parkrun. It's a lovely event here in Spennymoor. Again, a Victoria Jubilee Park called Jubilee as a parkrun. it's a really nice community feel event about a three and a half lapper around our lovely park we've got loads of volunteers that look after and put loads of floral arrangements out and it always looks lovely and stunning weather today a little bit mixed but that's fine and either way we've always got our volunteers out to help cheer you around but it's a really lovely event that goes through and it's one of those smaller parkruns with lots of visitors that just really retains that community spirit of parkrun

00:33:15Alison Fraser (King): So the park is called Victoria Jubilee. Yes. As we noted as we came into the park this morning,

00:33:20[background music]

00:33:21Jack: but we managed to get a J for our alphabet yeah it's I think there's a few events which are in like Victoria X parks or what have you that have ended up being just called like the J or they've dropped the Victoria I suppose you would have many more V's if that was the case but either way J is still quite a challenging letter to get for an alphabet so a couple of choices in the northeast but at least we make that fourth in the UK yeah and what a pretty J parkrun you've got Yeah, it is really nice. And the council here as well, the Spennymoor Town Council, do a great job of keeping things maintained and well. And we have just a lovely set of facilities. There's a number of parkruns in the UK that don't have toilets and pieces, but that, skate park, playgrounds. I think the only downside, but can be an upside as well, is the park for local audience doesn't allow dogs. But at the same time, that works, like it helps keep the park a lot fresher and more maintained but it's a shame because we've got a little spaniel that would love to volunteer with us when we go and tourist anywhere else but just not here yeah so tell me about your parkrunning Jack you mentioned off here and that you've done many more volunteers than actual runs so what are your counts Yeah so I've done over 250 volunteers now and I got into parkrun through volunteering to start with more so and then got into running. I used to live down in Bedford and have been on the core team down at Bedford parkrun and also in the juniors and then we were expecting a baby later on this year and so family and everyone was from the north east we moved back up to uh up to Spennymoor and hence able to come and join in locally up here, done just over 100 parkruns myself um at I think 55 different venues so I've been able to do quite a lot of touristing across the northeast and across like north-ish London got to the point where the next parkrun was an hour away and that was a bit of the cutoff for me

00:35:04Alison Fraser (King): An hour away, that's a luxury for us in New Zealand.

00:35:07Jack: Well, I know. I think with some of them, if you're having to get up at 5, 6 a.m., that requires a huge amount of commitment. And sometimes that's a little bit of a push.

00:35:17Alison Fraser (King): So you're Run Director today. What's your favourite volunteering role?

00:35:21Jack: Favourite volunteering role for me to be honest is the first time as welcome because for me it's about that community spirit and if you're the first touch point someone that's brand new to an event or brand new to parkrun that you can make a huge difference to their experience and their knowledge and how comfortable they feel around the event. There's so many people that turn up and are either like worried that they get lost or like am I going to finish last and you can just help put all those things to ease which is just really nice, and we had a great first time was welcome this morning yes I think you had Carol our Event Director uh doing that today and like I say amazing she came over from Cotsford Fields, another northeast event when this one set up and like I said just a really great core team that helped put this event on and you mentioned you're touring as well so on the parkrun adventurers we like to find out your top three not including your home event okay my top three I have three favourites for different reasons actually I really enjoy Hamsterley Forest in the northeast um it's just an incredibly scenic forestry England venue but I think it's one of the 20 hardest in the UK so it is really hilly and difficult we also have Cotsford Fields again really enjoyable because um ones that are right on the seaside Really small and difficult, but when you run up on part of the course, you're on top of a cliff face and you can see straight down to the sea, which is lovely. And I've also really, as surprising as it is, enjoyed Selby parkrun. Sorry, I think it's Sewerby or Selby parkrun. I need to double check the name we went there we basically stayed with an Airbnb with family to visit and it was on this old disused airfield was not expecting anything to be great and then was my PB for ages so it's always got a bit of a place in my heart awesome well thank you so much for your time this morning Jack putting on an awesome parkrun first alphabet for my friend Vicky second alphabet completed for myself well done we'll be raving about this one nice thank you very much

00:37:09Alison Fraser (King): And that's a wrap from Jubilee parkrun. What a hidden gem this is in the northeast of England, if you are looking for a jay parkrun or even if you're just looking for a really cool weekend away you can't go past Jubilee parkrun so that's the first parkrun for me in the north east region of England I've done almost all the regions now in the UK so hopefully next week I will be ticking off the last region and I may be getting a report from there So that's it from me this week, and I'll see you all on another adventure very soon.

00:37:40[background music]

00:37:56Simon Mackley: And we're back from those roving reports. So it sounded very, very wet in the background of that roving report from Sarah up there at West Coast parkrun in Singapore. You could hear that coming down. And what an absolutely huge achievement from Rhys with Lyndell at Petrie, where he raised $13,000 and ran for 24 hours straight, 120 kilometres within Royal Brisbane Hospital. On a treadmill. Unbelievable. I can't imagine that.

00:38:27Melissa Ellis: Thanks, Lyndell. I wanted to congratulate her for bringing us news of Petrie parkrun. I especially like the mounds of opportunity. Yes. I think that's a very positive way of referring to the hills there. So, yeah, good work, Rhys. Now, also, I wanted to mention how I thought it was funny that 26 to 27 was cold for Singapore.

00:38:48Charlotte: It's all relative.

00:38:50Melissa Ellis: Exactly. Exactly. Now, Alison, I should point out, Simon, it was interesting that Jubilee Park is actually named Victoria Jubilee Park. But at that point in time, they were happy to drop the Victoria so that obviously it's the common – it's probably a common start to a park name in the UK after Queen Victoria. So it's worth mentioning that naming regulations – can evolve and also be indicative of a certain period of time with whoever may have been steering the ship, if you like. Exactly. Yeah.

00:39:30Rachel: And what was the other one we heard from Calum?

00:39:34Melissa Ellis: Last week, Calum sent us, obviously, audio from Rory Marriott. And there was a bit of extra audio that I held over for this week, just in the interests of time last week. So, yeah, we heard him talking to Vicky, who actually hails from Main Beach on the Gold Coast. And she rated Rendlesham as number one in her top three. Simon taking out Nambour as her favourite trail run. So... Interesting. Okay. Yes, there you go.

parkrun adventure challengelistener challenge

00:40:05Melissa Ellis: Right. But I've come up with another idea. Okay. And it is a club. Now, I was inspired by seeing Lyndell's photo on Dazza's This Week of herself in front of a bridge. So, Lyndell actually didn't go to Petrie this week. She was there last week, so I should also mention that. She sent us two roving reports this week, but we've played Petrie. But she was actually at Logan River parkrun, and that is the red bridge in her photo of Logan River parkrun. And I thought, ooh, because at the moment I'm a little bit fascinated with bridges on parkrun courses. So I'm actually proposing an international club that's not just Australian because, you know, we talk a lot about Australian-centric challenges. But I thought for the – because we are tourists. And so – Like people travel for other sorts of challenges, like the university one, right? Yep. Okay, so my bridge list is Logan River with the Red Bridge. Now, in Victoria, we've got Studley parkrun with Cairns Bridge. Then in the Wimmera River Horsham parkrun, there's the Anzac Centenary Bridge, and all these bridges you run across. Okay, yep. So it can't just be next to the parkrun, actually.

00:41:23Simon Mackley: I was going to say, is that part of it?

00:41:24Melissa Ellis: Yep. You have to go over it. And then in New Zealand, they've got that Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. I don't know really how you say that, but that's at East End parkrun, and that's the funny white-shaped bridge where you can get the fancy photo with the mountains in the background. Okay, yep. And then in the UK, in Wales and England, there's the Severn Bridge.

00:41:49Simon Mackley: Oh, Severn Bridge. Yeah, okay.

00:41:51Melissa Ellis: Yes. Now, there's probably more. So, we actually need to find a parkrun in every parkrun country, really, I think. Okay. A bridge, not a parkrun. We need to find a parkrun bridge. A parkrun with a bridge that you go across.

00:42:03Simon Mackley: Yes. Okay. Do you like that challenge? I do like that challenge. Is it a prerequisite you go across the bridge? The reason I'm saying that is because on Logan River, you cross over the bridge turnaround and come back on it. It's literally the turnaround point. So you do go on it, but you don't go across it and keep going. Oh. You're picking it. No, I'm just asking the question. You're picking it. I'm not splitting hairs here. I don't think it matters. Okay.

00:42:32[crosstalk]

00:42:34Melissa Ellis: No, you just have to have run on the bridge. Yep, okay. In my rules. Okay, so we need one in South Africa. But most of these ones you actually go all the way across. You might turn around and then come back over it, but you actually go all the way to the other side. It has to be like a decent bridge though. Like it's got to be a special bridge. Oh, okay, all right. Like, these ones are all, like, Studley is a historic bridge. That red bridge, that's pretty.

00:43:00Simon Mackley: I was going to, if you saw it in real life, you wouldn't think that's a historical, very special bridge. No. It is red. It is definitely red. Well, it stands out. It's my list, okay? Okay, yeah, sure.

00:43:13Melissa Ellis: Anyway, we can move on.

00:43:14Simon Mackley: Okay, so we need a South African. We need a US, Canada bridge.

00:43:19Melissa Ellis: Yes, send us in your bridges for adjudication.

00:43:24Simon Mackley: Yeah, and you're going to be the adjudicator because you already haven't got me. Because it's my list.

00:43:28Melissa Ellis: Yeah, exactly. It's my challenge. I get to choose.

00:43:33Simon Mackley: Exactly.

00:43:34Melissa Ellis: You think up your own challenge, Simon, and then you could be the boss of that.

00:43:38Simon Mackley: I did, and we might hear about that a little later. Fair.

Dazza's

00:43:44Simon Mackley: Okay, so how about we hop into Dazza's now. So this week Dazza has said, Today is National Camera Day. Were you snapped on a run, walk or volunteer this morning? Perhaps you were the one taking the pictures. Come on into Dazza's and faff about your photos or just paint a picture with words. Either way, we'd love to know how your parkrun adventures developed today.

00:44:07Melissa Ellis: And first up, we heard from Peter Thomson coming to us from the ACT. And he said, minus three with an ice cube emoji at Mount Ainslie today. Privileged to be snapped with and meet the Australian of the Year and his partner before a cuppa and a muffin. And Peter shared a photo of the Australian of the Year, Richard Scolyer, who ran 29.39. Just saying. So how good's that? He's got a phone with a celebrity. And worth noting, Sherry Brandtman was also there and she also came into Dazza's. But yeah, Richard Scolyer, doing really well too, I would like to report. I have seen him in the media. He's been undergoing experimental treatment for his brain tumour. And the last media account I saw, he is responding very well and doing well. Oh, good. Fantastic to hear.

00:45:01Simon Mackley: Well, he's obviously doing quite well if he can run 22.39 at Mount Ainslie. I know. Yes. Yeah, that's amazing news. Someone else we heard from was Ian Thompson in the UK, and he said, Hi, Dazza. A visit to the frozen wilds of the historical motor racing track Brooklands this morning. A steady effort with a great community feel due to the course having changed a fair bit since my last visit in 2020. No extended park faff this week, though, as off to Runnymede Relays at Windsor Great Park for three more hours in the blazing sun. And he posted a photo, a thumbs up selfie of Ian and friend in the Brooklands pop-up.

00:45:44Melissa Ellis: I just realised Ian used an ice cube emoji and he mentioned community and he posted a thumbs up picture. Yes. Good work, Ian. I'm impressed. Amazing. Now we also heard from Chloe Bravos coming to us from the West Side and she said someone completed her first parkrun. It was a chilly start at Woodbridge Riverside parkrun and I did have to help Lucy for a chunk but she made it begrudgingly over the line and got her first finish token thanks to the very patient volunteers. And in brackets also points to the equal opportunity employee for the camera wordplay or the photo wordplay. Anyway, there's a camera emoji in there with a winky face. And there was a photo of little Lucy in the selfie frame. She's so cute.

00:46:33Simon Mackley: Yes. Congratulations, Lucy. We also heard from Jason Andrew from the what's that? The Ring of Steel State.

00:46:42Melissa Ellis: Who put that in?

00:46:44Simon Mackley: That was me. I think it said the greatest state, so I couldn't agree with that. So ring of steel state. Seven members of our running club ventured out to Frog Hollow parkrun to help a couple of them pick up their F for the alphabet challenge. Managed to get it done before the ice cube started falling. Great to meet the one and only Tony O'Connell. Thanks for taking some time out to have a chat. And there was a picture of Andrew and Ollie in the selfie frame. And TOC also posted, Selfie skills for National Camera Day. Great to meet pod listeners Jason Andrews and his son Ollie and chat all things Two Bays.

00:47:24Melissa Ellis: Next, we heard from Heather Hunter coming to us from New South Wales. And she said, I adventured to Dhunggaarr. Is that how you say it, Simon? Dhunggaarr Reserve?

00:47:31Simon Mackley: Dhunggaarr Reserve, yep.

00:47:33Melissa Ellis: Again this week, a beautiful coolish morning relatively for this area. And she had the icicle face and the ice cube emojis and finally caught up on my pod listening again with a laughing face. And there was a photo of Heather in the selfie frame by the water. And, of course, she's referring to the fact that she probably hadn't been able to join in the secret challenges because she hadn't been listening in time. But this week she had, so good work. She has indeed.

00:48:00Simon Mackley: Well done, Heather.

00:48:02Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Greg Garner. You said indeed.

00:48:09Simon Mackley: Sorry. It's okay. We also heard from Greg Garner from Kingsland. It was an early and chilly 4am start to head down to Ipswich Queensland parkrun. Now off to see my daughter play in a final at the State Hockey Championships. And he did put the emojis in there as well. I just, it didn't go with the sentence. And there was a photo of Greg in the selfie frame at Ipswich.

00:48:35Melissa Ellis: We also heard from Charles Gregory coming to us from Tassie. And he said, I was covertly snapped from across the boardwalk at Montrose Foreshore parkrun. No ice, not that cold, but a bit of wind. And he shared the said photo of the runners on course at Montrose Foreshore.

00:48:54Simon Mackley: Nice to hear from you, Charles. And we heard from Pauline Taylor, also from Kingsland. Today we ventured to North Harbour parkrun, no ice, lovely 14 degrees. And there was a picture of Pauline and Russell in the selfie frame and it looks like Pauline has a nice warm neck. Can you guess why, Simon? Because she's wearing a buff.

00:49:16Melissa Ellis: She's wearing her adventurous buff. Yay! I wonder where she got that idea.

00:49:21Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:49:22Melissa Ellis: Now, we also heard lastly from Maria Wicks coming to us from the UK, toured to Southall, Southall, Southall. I always get that. I never know how to say that. I don't know. Do you drop the H? Anyway, with a fellow pod listener and friend, absolutely loved the friendliest team, needed to cool down after our panic jog to the course as we missed the start with an ice cube emoji there to show that she has listened. And Maria shared a photo of herself and the friend with the pop-up and a photo of bombing volley in the background. So thank you to all those people that came to Dazza's. Thank you especially to the listeners that used the ice cube or the icicle emoji. I think we tripped people up calling it the icicle emoji. It was sort of more like the frozen face emoji, wasn't it?

00:50:13Simon Mackley: We were happy to accept anything that looked cold.

00:50:16Melissa Ellis: Yes. Yes, whatever conveys the message, that is true.

the Obi Award — Michael 'Schultzy' Schultz

00:50:21Melissa Ellis: But do we have an Obi Post-it?

00:50:25Simon Mackley: We have an Obi Post-it.

00:50:27Melissa Ellis: Okay, well, then let me get the camera ready. Stick it on your forehead, Simon.

00:50:32Simon Mackley: I'm just going to do this.

00:50:36Melissa Ellis: Okay. Oh, dear. I make myself laugh. Okay. All right.

00:50:44Simon Mackley: And do the honours. And the Obi goes to posthumously to Schultzy.

00:51:00[background music]

Club Corner

00:51:01Melissa Ellis: Now, after all that, it's time for us to pop over to Club Corner and hear what Rachel has to say.

00:51:06[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:51:20Rachel: this is Rachel with club corner where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs and I am coming to you from Arrernte Country today we are going back to go forwards back in club corner number one in January 20th 23 we discussed milestones the content back then was all about the milestone colours and we have had the colour for 1000 confirmed since then canary yellow smiley face There is a recently updated parkrun club in Australia which is linked to these shirts, where you can collect the event lining up with the milestone shirt numbers. The shirts in this club, was originally only 50, 100, and 250, but has now extended backward to include the Junior 10 and the Volunteer 25. Plus now, in Australia, we have the latest number, 500. It took us 13 years and 25 days to go from the launch of parkrun in Oz to number 500. So maybe check back in a decade for how close to the thousand we are going. But, to the important things, the event names to collect. Balyang Sanctuary in Vic was the 10th event to launch. Rockingham in WA was the 25th. Followed by Bunbury, also in WA for the 50th. Calamvale in Queensland was number 100. This launch was quite the affair, and there was a great video produced by parkrun Australia. Head to YouTube and search for the phrase, Celebrating 100 Aussie parkruns. Thank you to the previous Mel for this great project. Railton in Tasmania was number 250. Yes, Simon's maths and time zones was correct. And now we have Jeune Park in Queensland as number 500 to launch in Australia! Of the 500 public events launched in Australia, we still have 486 open and active, so we are doing pretty well. The next milestone of sorts will be to have 500 events open in any given week. How exciting. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

00:53:16Simon Mackley: And we have heard from Rachel again, and she has confirmed that the events that I thought were going to be part of that milestone club We're exactly right. So I'm very happy to hear that.

00:53:29Melissa Ellis: Well done. And how many have you got, Simon?

00:53:33Simon Mackley: I have two. How many have you got?

00:53:37Melissa Ellis: Is it Calamvale that I did when I came to visit? Yes.

00:53:40Simon Mackley: And you heard yourself.

00:53:41Melissa Ellis: Yes. Okay. Well, I've got that and Railton and Balyang. So I've got three.

00:53:46Simon Mackley: Oh, nice. So you've got to get across to WA then.

00:53:49Melissa Ellis: Yeah. There's three reasons to go to WA now. One is the successes.

00:53:53Simon Mackley: Oh, yeah.

00:53:54Melissa Ellis: One is it's in the eye index.

00:53:57Simon Mackley: Okay. Yep.

00:53:58Melissa Ellis: And now it's in the milestone club. Excellent. So it's like really important and it doesn't even know. No, it doesn't. It does not.

Consolidated Club Report

00:54:09Melissa Ellis: Anyway, Simon, this week, let me tell you, the adventurers Consolidated Club report for Saturday, the 29th of June, 2024, of a total of 653 members, 479 took part on this date in 10 countries across 251 locations. Wow. In the UK, there were adventurers at 52 events. Wow, six in South Africa, four in the USA, three in Singapore, two in Canada, Germany and Italy, and one in Denmark.

00:54:39Rachel: Locally, we had adventures at...

00:54:41Melissa Ellis: 50 events in kingsland they were runners up to the UK 45 events in New South Wales 39 in Victoria 15 on the West Side coming in ahead of South Australia with 11 there was seven in act five on the North Island four in Tassie two in the northern tree and one on the South Island

00:55:06Simon Mackley: Can I just ask, why were there only three in Singapore? Because we know of four adventurers there. Because it's the amount of events that adventurers were at.

00:55:14Melissa Ellis: Of course. Not the amount of adventurers at an event.

00:55:15[crosstalk]

00:55:17Simon Mackley: At an event, of course. Sorry. That's okay.

00:55:20Melissa Ellis: That's pretty good for Singapore. Out of there, only got four events. We had adventurers at three of them.

00:55:24Simon Mackley: Three. Definitely. There we go.

the Frond — Wyndham Vale parkrun (frond of 10)

00:55:27Simon Mackley: Okay, so largest frond. We had a frond of 10 at one event, which was Wyndham Vale. That was... In the greatest state. In the greatest state. That was Bill Ludwig Jr., Chris Fraser, Daryl Smith, Sal Tourie, Donna Markwick, James Reynolds, Andrew Reynolds, Renee Jackson, John Smith and Vicky Smith. There were also a frond of eight at Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, and Shellharbour and a frond of six at two events which was the ponds and Warringal Parklands. It's a mouthful, isn't it? It is, yes.

00:56:10Melissa Ellis: And guess what? We had an adventurer doing a pilgrimage, Simon. We had Sunil Chummond. He was at Bushy. I'm not sure if it was his first visit, but he was there. Flying the flag. Yay. Because I do believe Sunil is from the UK. That's why I'm not sure if it's his first visit. Yep, that's fair enough. Now, largest international frond was a frond of four at West Coast Park in Singapore, where we had Matthew Stevens, Andrew Johnston, Sarah Jefferson and Martine Barrot. And coincidentally, Eric Banner popped into Dazza's and he said, an international frond at West Coast Park, parkrun Singapore with 15. Sarah Jefferson and Matt from the West Side and my usual entourage of Martine Barrot and Andrew Johnston. The rain came late in the run, but I was already safely stored away. I may be a cotton sheep, but I still don't like getting wet. Hey, Dazza, can Andrew have an iced coffee, please? Haha, there was a little play on words there with Eric Banner using the ice cube and the coffee emoji. And there was a photo of the four adventurers and Eric at West Coast Park.

00:57:21Simon Mackley: That's a very clever use of the ice cube emoji. And remember, you can add the Adventurers Club as one of your five affiliations in your parkrun profile.

00:57:31Melissa Ellis: You can, and that will help spread the word about our Adventurer Club because other people will see it in the results table and they'll go, oh, I'm an adventurer, I might join that club too. Exactly. Hmm.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:57:44Melissa Ellis: Now, launches, Simon.

00:57:46Simon Mackley: We have a yes. So we've had two plus one launches. So I know that last week TOC thought that he was being unfairly treated by not having a launch. There was actually a launch.

00:58:01Melissa Ellis: Well, he was really because he's got duped of saying it and you're getting to say it. I know. It's terrible.

00:58:09Simon Mackley: You know, my heart goes out to him. He's a poor thing.

00:58:12Melissa Ellis: I can hear the sincerity.

00:58:17Simon Mackley: So on the 22nd of June, Lightning Ridge parkrun in New South Wales in Yuwaalaraay Country launched. So it launched with eight participants, three volunteers and two, which is 25%, first-timers to parkrun. On their second event, they had 31 participants, seven volleys and five first-timers. It's located in Lightning Ridge in northern New South Wales, a lazy eight hours from Brisbane or eight and a half from Sydney. It's a two-lap course around Lightning Ridge Golf Club, starting and finishing at the Golf Clubhouse. And they've put on there that there are no players playing on the golf course during parkrun, luckily.

00:59:02Melissa Ellis: I want to go to that one. That one is just flown high up on my wish list of parkruns to travel to. You know why?

00:59:10Simon Mackley: Why is that?

00:59:11Melissa Ellis: Because Lightning Ridge is one of those towns where they mine opals, Simon. It is. It's actually really well known in the industry for being a source of opals. And when we went to Coober Pedy and we went to the Gem Show, there was very obviously Coober Pedy opals and Lightning Ridge opals. And did they look different? Oh, I have no idea. I can't remember that much. Okay, fair enough. I just know there's Opals and I want to go there.

00:59:41Simon Mackley: Yeah, no, fair enough.

00:59:44Melissa Ellis: But the next launch we had was the one you mentioned earlier, Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, and it is on Dharawal Country, and they had 266 participants, 17 volunteers and four, which is 1.5%. First time is to parkrun, located in Mount Annan, which is about six kilometres from Cowpasture, Camden, and seven kilometres from Campbelltown. It's an out-and-back undulating trail course. The start-finish area is just inside the gates at the Mount Annan Drive entrance. As this course is located in the Australian Botanic Garden, unfortunately, dogs are not permitted at this event. And we should say that the OG OL is on the core team, as is her Luke. They are. So they might be hanging out there a bit for a while.

01:00:37Simon Mackley: Exactly. And the last launch, which all of these launches have been in Australia. We don't have any international launches this week. So the last one was at Binda Park in Queensland, and that is on the land of the Barna people. So they had 60 participants, 10 volunteers and 29, which is 48% of the runners were first timers to parkrun. So that is a big success. So it's located in Morambar in Queensland, which is a big mining town. The course is a two-lap course with a few twists and turns and also a few sneaky inclines, 57 metres of elevation. It features a run through a tunnel under a main road. This all makes for a very interesting course. Also being a two-lap course, you run past the start-finish line and turn around marshals a few times. enabling the volunteers to cheer and encourage the participants a bit more than your standard out and back course. And that's not actually the blurb that comes from the page. That actually came from the ambassador who I was talking to today, Ian Dunbar, who did an 899 kilometre round trip to go and help launch that parkrun. Wow. Yeah. Good work. Exactly. So that one's actually been six years in the making as well. So the The EDs that launched it have been working on this for a very, very long time. No way. Exactly. And they were lucky enough to have the previous mayor and the current mayor come to the start of it. And the current mayor, I believe, is on the volunteer roster in the next couple of weeks. So they're really getting the community spirit going very quickly out there at Murrumbah.

01:02:25Melissa Ellis: Very good. I haven't heard of that town. I'm not, as we know, very good with Kingsland geography.

01:02:32Simon Mackley: It's a long way out there. But yes, it's, yeah, mining town. Okay, so looking forward, what do you think, Mel? I was thinking because it's a new financial year in Australia. Yeah. I'm thinking that in the Dazza post this week that we want you to drop the word, either dollar, pound, euro, rand, or whatever your currency is, into your Dazza post.

01:03:01Melissa Ellis: Yes, that's a good idea, Simon. We're all celebrating tax time here in Australia.

01:03:09Simon Mackley: Celebrating, yes.

01:03:12Melissa Ellis: Tax cuts. I'm celebrating. I've got more in my pay packet this week.

01:03:16Simon Mackley: Well, this week we will have, but yeah. Yeah, okay. I'm just thinking the close of the financial year isn't always the most... Celebrated. Yeah.

01:03:25Melissa Ellis: I'm a glass half full kind of person.

01:03:27Simon Mackley: Fair enough. I had to pay tax last year, so I'm not looking forward to maybe having to pay tax again this year.

01:03:34Melissa Ellis: Right. Okay. Yeah.

01:03:36Simon Mackley: Yeah.

Sign-off

01:03:37Melissa Ellis: But anyway, it's time to look forward to the next parkrun day. Do you know where you're going, Simon?

01:03:45Simon Mackley: I am planning to go to Madruba. Now, something I've been keeping under my hat is that Redcliffe last week was my 99th event. Did you get an ice cream? No, but I did go looking for it. I bought a flake hoping that I would find an ice cream, but I didn't. So, yeah. So, I will be hopefully doing my 100th different event at Madra Bar this weekend. You know Coles sells cones and, like, vanilla ice cream in tubs? I was planning to do it at the parkrun course. Right. Yeah.

01:04:20Melissa Ellis: Okay.

01:04:20Simon Mackley: Fair. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, I could have quite easily stopped in at McDonald's and got a soft serve cone and stuck it. And then you could have driven back. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't.

01:04:31Melissa Ellis: You're just not committed, Simon. Apparently I'm not.

01:04:35Simon Mackley: Speaking of commitment, where are you going, Mel? You're mean.

01:04:46Melissa Ellis: I am not willing to divulge.

01:04:48Simon Mackley: Because you're not committed?

01:04:52Melissa Ellis: don't know I'm not really sure where I'm going yet I think I am but I might change I'm not really sure I understand yeah so I'm keeping tight-lipped this week but just for those of you who start a rumour she's not going to a launch okay no nor did I last week when I didn't know where I was going and I was being elusive Yes. It's just my new mysterious persona. I'm trying to create a lure, don't even have any stalkers but anyway no but um thank you for joining me again Simon it's been nice to catch up yes it's been a good Monday night I won't see you in two weeks I'm going to be in New Zealand you are and I will be recording with Sarah from the West Side again You will. You will. So good luck with that. I look forward to listening and editing. Editing. It's quite fun editing when you don't know what the people are going to say. I enjoyed that the other time. Good. So thank you, Sarah, for stepping in again. That's it. As always, everyone, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week, and we'll see you all next week for more adventures.

01:06:10[outro theme playing]