Episode 397 - The Grate Return

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Simon Mackley: Welcome to episode 397 of the parkrun adventurers Podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. I'm Simon Mackley on Quandamooka Country.

00:00:34Sarah Jefferson: And I'm Sarah Jefferson coming to you from Noongar Country. Thanks for having me back this week, Simon. The view has never looked so good from up here. It seems like it's been a little while since we've spoken all things parkrun, to be honest.

00:00:50Simon Mackley: I think it's been five weeks actually, because we had to sort of push it back a week. So I haven't actually recorded since I recorded with you, actually. I haven't had one with Mel yet.

00:01:00Sarah Jefferson: So you've had a little bit of a holiday as well.

00:01:03Simon Mackley: Yeah, not intentionally.

00:01:05Sarah Jefferson: Nice.

00:01:06Simon Mackley: So yeah, we've had a bit of an update from our little friend Budgie. So Budgie's currently with Karen Hamilton and took a very long plane ride apparently. So Budgie may even be rumoured to be coming to a parkrun extra day, which we'll come to in Birthday Boy a little bit later. So how was your parkrun day, Sarah?

00:01:28Sarah Jefferson: So the last parkrun day, Simon, I headed to Dolls Point parkrun on the lands of the Bidjigal people. It was a beautiful and sunny morning to tick off another coastal parkrun in New South Wales. And Simon, I must say that this course is very pretty. I don't know if you've heard about it, but running beside the crystal clear water and the intrigue of lots of planes taking off and landing, as well as the Sydney CBD in the background. So the event was number 288 and an attendance record was broken on the day with 382 participants, up nine actually from the previously held record. So the event was run by 22 friendly volunteers with Cam Kerr doing his first RD on the day. He did an incredibly good job. And I guess the first one always feels like the hardest. So he did incredibly well, as I said. As I was in Sydney for family reasons, I brought along my mum and my nephews. That was always nice when you get to recruit the family. Normally when I take my nephew along, he ends up costing me a lot of money as I need to end up bribing him with, when he was younger it was baby chinos, now it's milkshakes, pancakes, et cetera. However, he did tell me that this was his favourite parkrun to date. Wow. Yes, controversial. I'm sure you'll have something to say about that. As they were doing sand works along the course, there was a slight course diversion, but it was still incredibly flat. As it was mentioned on the pod a couple of weeks ago, it's a really great course for anyone who needs to stay close by to the airport. I just wish that I'd pack my swimmers for a post-parkrun swim. Instead of that, we headed to breakfast at Kiss the Barista. No, I did not kiss the barista, just for the record. But I enjoyed a green juice and some toast while catching up with fellow adventurers, Sherry Brandtman and Abby, as well as Ingrid Botha and Jazz and their cute little dog, Paris.

00:03:37Simon Mackley: So I've got a question for you. Your nephew's done how many different parkruns?

00:03:44Sarah Jefferson: He has done 14 parkruns, I believe.

00:03:46Simon Mackley: Okay. Yes.

00:03:48Sarah Jefferson: Mostly are in Victoria, I will say.

00:03:50Simon Mackley: Okay.

00:03:51Sarah Jefferson: About 14 at the ripe old age of nine.

00:03:55Simon Mackley: So he's done one of Sydney's prettiest parkruns.

00:03:58Sarah Jefferson: That's right. He hasn't done Mossman parkrun yet.

00:04:01Simon Mackley: So that's okay. So he can say Dolls Point is the prettiest for the moment. Okay.

00:04:07Sarah Jefferson: That he's done. So maybe the next time I head back to Sydney, I'll have to take him over to Mosman parkrun and check out and see what he thinks.

00:04:17Simon Mackley: If our listeners could see my face. So the other thing I was going to say, so you've mentioned that there was a new attendance record. So I'm wondering how many people you took along. Like you said your mum and your nephew, but did you bring more than nine people?

00:04:34Sarah Jefferson: I wish I could have dragged along that many people. No, on the day it was myself and two others. So... And we technically didn't even get a frond really because the others were actually volunteer roles. Well, Jazz and Ingrid were tail walking. However, Sherry and Abby were doing, I think it was timing. It was either timing or tokens. Okay. But yes, I know. I wish I could have said it was because I dragged nine or ten people along. Yeah, fair enough. But I did have a wonderful morning and it was really nice to catch up and have some park faff over breakfast as well.

00:05:09Simon Mackley: Nice.

00:05:10Sarah Jefferson: How was your morning today?

00:05:11Simon Mackley: Simon? I had a little adventure as well. So I went to Samford Parklands, which is on the lands of the Yuggera people. It was their event number two, which had 336 runners, which was down from over 500 on the launch, with 24 volunteers. So Tricia was the fantastic RD on the day. So I believe she's one of the EDs as well, one of the co-EDs. Her energy and enthusiasm was infectious. I stood near the finish line once I'd actually finished to encourage the people finishing on. And she greeted each and every one of them with excitement and funny little things. And one of the things she said to a small group, she went up really close to them and said, you're so lucky. The best tokens are about to be handed out. Got a little laugh out of them and they pushed on to the finish. And yeah, like it was those sorts of little things that I was just, yeah, Tricia was amazing. So this event has a couple of cows. I say a couple, there's probably about 20 cows up against the fence waiting to be patted or whatever. So they're very friendly cows. So I'm suggesting if anyone is about to do their 50th different event, that they get along to Samford Parklands for their cow and get some pictures with the cows. That would be the place to do it. So the course itself, is a two-lap course on mostly concrete path with a grassy slash sandy trail section out and back early in each lap. It's a little bit out of Samford Village. So you drive through Samford Village if you're coming from Brisbane. So a short drive away, packed with cafes, and we chose to go to the Long Yard Larder. So when we got there, the TV inside the cafe, as well as near the front door that had a poster, One of those ones that says, this cafe is loved by your local parkrun. So that kept on flashing up on the screen occasionally, as well as some ads for the local area. And also for the eagle-eyed participant, there was a QR code on the table where you drop your token into at the event that you could order your coffee before you even leave the event. Wow. Yeah, scan the QR code. And then it's a couple of minutes into Samford Village to go and pick up your coffee.

00:07:35Sarah Jefferson: Wow, that's great.

00:07:36Simon Mackley: That was really good.

00:07:38Sarah Jefferson: That's quite unique. I actually haven't seen that before at an event.

00:07:42Simon Mackley: Yeah, neither have I. So, yeah, I don't know if they have any affiliation or whatever, but that obviously, yeah, to have the signs up in the cafe and all that sort of thing and to have that QR code, there must have been some sort of connection there, which is fantastic. And the place was packed. The food was really good. And yeah, the coffee was really nice. Apparently, it's a local roaster as well. So it's not some branded coffee sort of thing. It was someone who roasts the coffee locally.

00:08:11Sarah Jefferson: Great. And it's great to hear that the cafe is already on board supporting a new event this early on. in their journey. So fantastic.

00:08:15[crosstalk]

00:08:20Simon Mackley: It kind of felt like you're out in the country as well. Like we were really only half an hour out of Brisbane city, but yeah, once you sort of go over the hills a bit and you come down to Samford village, it felt like you're in the country. So it was a really nice event and I encourage anyone to go and check it out. Fantastic.

00:08:39Sarah Jefferson: And I think before, did you say 50 different events for a Cowell or, or, or a Cowell? So 50 events being a half Cowell.

00:08:46[crosstalk]

00:08:46Simon Mackley: Yes.

00:08:46Sarah Jefferson: Is that right?

00:08:47Simon Mackley: So a cow being...

00:08:49Sarah Jefferson: Being 100.

00:08:49Simon Mackley: Yeah. So a Cowell, yeah, is 100. Got you.

00:08:53Sarah Jefferson: So a cow... C-O-W.

00:08:56Simon Mackley: Correct.

00:08:57Sarah Jefferson: Perfect.

00:08:58Simon Mackley: When I did my 50th different event, I went to Cowpasture Camden to do it because I thought that was going to be memorable.

00:09:06Sarah Jefferson: Makes sense. The C-O-W.

00:09:09Simon Mackley: Yes. Okay.

00:09:10Sarah Jefferson: Awesome.

parkrun news bulletin

00:09:12Sarah Jefferson: I guess moving on to some news and discussions then, Simon. Fortunately, again, it has been relatively quiet on the parkrun front.

00:09:21Tina: Yes, a few.

00:09:25Sarah Jefferson: However, we do have a special congratulations to Ryan Stoddart, the latest parkrunner to achieve his Tasmanian statesmanship. So as mentioned in the pod last week by TOC, Ryan did complete his statesman at Kingston Park parkrun. I believe Ryan is headed home to Queensland to tick off the new events that have launched while he's been away and give him some time to purchase a new set of wheels and set out on his new adventure. I know in last week's pod, Mel suggested that South Australia would be his next location. However, I will say that I am gunning for Westie's best, Simon. Okay. And I'm going to say without any bias at all, that this is the location that Ryan will be choosing. What about you? What are your thoughts?

00:10:15Simon Mackley: How many events do you have in WA?

00:10:18Sarah Jefferson: Oh, I know we're in the 50s. I'm going to quickly look this up. Okay.

00:10:22Simon Mackley: So there's a year's worth of travelling.

00:10:24Sarah Jefferson: Yes.

00:10:25Simon Mackley: So my thoughts are that I reckon that he will go and knock off the ACT. And my reasoning behind that is because it's an easy one geographically. It only has nine events within the Territory, so he could do it pretty easily. Nine weeks, he's got it done. But I don't think it'll be Victoria because he'd be there for over two years based on them being over 100 events. So, yeah, my guess is ACT, mainly because it's easier. But then again, he might just go and do Northern Territory and knock four over there in a month.

00:11:00Sarah Jefferson: Who knows? Take that off. I guess hopefully we'll find out soon what Ryan's plans are Yeah. And it's 56 in WA. I was going to say it's either 55 or 56. I've completed 55 of the 56.

00:11:14Simon Mackley: Okay. So when are you getting that last one done?

00:11:17Sarah Jefferson: I am going down at the end of October. Okay. So the end of next month. Okay. Yes. Yes. October is next month. which is crazy.

00:11:25Simon Mackley: So I heard that an event in WA had all their gear stolen on the weekend. So I'm wondering if someone was trying to set up a sneaky little event somewhere.

00:11:36Sarah Jefferson: Oh, I did read about that. How devastating.

00:11:40Simon Mackley: Yeah.

00:11:40Sarah Jefferson: They had to cancel the parkrun event at Bibra Lake. They did. I did read that fortunately, I might be able to find it quickly, that the RD did get his Don't know if he got his keys back, his wallet back. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who offered their support on Saturday morning after my car was stolen while I was setting up for the finish line. As my car drove away, my thoughts weren't on the vehicle itself, but rather on up to the 400 parkrunners I felt I'd let down. From those celebrating milestone runs to our visiting friends and the individual aiming to complete 54 parkruns and volunteer stints in a year, I truly appreciate your understanding. So fortunately, he says, I was able to recover my car along with my phone, wallet and all of the parkrun gear. In the end, the thieves only managed to leave behind a very frustrated Run Director and a free ride home. So I did see that. Very disappointing. But fortunately, everyone was okay and everything was returned and still in the car.

00:12:50Simon Mackley: Yeah, that's awesome. That's really good.

00:12:52Sarah Jefferson: But yes, also note to self when you're setting up a parkrun course to take your keys out of your car as well. I did think that.

00:13:03Simon Mackley: Yeah. So, yeah, like I said before, I don't think Ryan's going to do Victoria. So while we're talking about the Great Estate, it has the Grand Prix, it has the Melbourne Cup, the AFL Grand Final, the Australian Open, Boxing Day Test, but do you know what it has never hosted?

00:13:24Sarah Jefferson: What hasn't it ever hosted? Palm.

00:13:26Simon Mackley: It has never, never hosted Palm.

00:13:29Sarah Jefferson: True. Great pickup.

00:13:31Simon Mackley: I don't know how it can be the greatest state if it's never hosted a Palm.

00:13:35Sarah Jefferson: And also while we're on that, how many teams are in the AFL Grand Final from the supposed greatest state this year, Simon?

00:13:43Simon Mackley: I think it's

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:13:46Sarah Jefferson: from the greatest state I don't think there's any I believe it's actually from the state that I live in and the state I used to live in it's quite embarrassing isn't it go the swans I say all right so before we get cut off the air Simon and Mel edits this right back I think we should throw to some roving reports great idea

00:14:00[background music]

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Riemer parkrun

00:14:15Lyndell Murray: Guten Tag, parkrun adventurers. My name is Lyndell. Ich bin in Munich. So, g'day. It's Lyndell here and I'm in Munich today and I have just done Riemer parkrun. It's a bonus parkrun for me, actually. I was not meant to be in Munich. I was meant to be at a stair climb event today. But poor weather cancelled that. And so I decided to come to Munich a day early. And surprise, surprise, there's a parkrun here. So there's actually two parkruns in Munich. Riemer is the one that I did. And there's also, I think it's Westpark, park one on the Western side of town so I chose Riemer mainly because of the weather unfortunately the poor weather that cancelled my stair climb followed me to Munich as well and it was cold and rainy and so for that reason and also because I got in late I decided not to take a chance on public transport I decided to drive and it looked like Rima had better parking options available than Westpark. So off to Riemer, I went in talking to some of the volunteers there. It's led by a really great volunteer team, a few Brits amongst them and a few local Germans. One of the volunteers told me she lived 630 metres from the parkrun. It was a small parkrun today, probably due to the weather. I think last week they were saying they had 90 to 100 people and the But in today's feels like temperature of minus one and rain the whole time, a smaller crowd showed up. I think there was also a run later in the day that some of the local parkrunners were going to do. So there's a couple of reasons why the crowd was very small. Um, the parkrun itself is a lovely parkrun. I have a feeling that you may have heard of this parkrun before. I have a feeling, um, that TOC went there on his parkrun journey last year. And the reason I know that, the reason I remembered that is that one of the volunteers was telling me that the reason why it's so flat is that it is an old airfield and And that rang a bell. And I think TOC might have told us about this parkrun. So I'm sorry if this is all old news. But interestingly, the airfield closed some time ago. And probably the thing that the airfield was most renowned for or most infamous for was a major plane crash that happened there, which wiped out a whole bunch of professional footballers from, I think, Manchester United. So anyway, the parkrun is very flat. It's quite a lovely parkrun. You run out a K out, do a lap of a lake and then run a K back to the start finish area. On a nice day, it would be absolutely breathtaking. And today I really just wanted to get my run done and get home again. Um, so that is going to be it from me today. I didn't capture any audio at the, at the event because of the weather. Um, it was just too rainy to get my phone out really. And, um, after the event, I didn't go for coffee with the crew because I was cold and wet and I think most of them were going to head home as well and just get warm and dry. So that's it for me. This is pretty much the end of my European vacation. I'll be back in Australia parkrunning in the next couple of weeks. So until then, until you're next here for me, happy parkrunning. [German: "I am in Munich."]

Roving report Alison Fraser (King) — Ōrākei Bay parkrun

00:17:56Alison Fraser (King): Kia ora koutou adventurers, it's Alison here reporting in from across the ditch in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland for the Channel 5 News crew and today I am at Ōrākei Bay parkrun. It is the newest parkrun in Auckland and I'm feeling sounding a little bit breathless right now it's because I've just gone past halfway I'm on my way back to the finish and This is not a flat course. It's quite undulating and the turnaround, there is a nice little climb to the top, but this is a great parkrun. So I'm going to see who I can get to talk to us today. Just running past me on her way back to the finish is the turnaround marshal Laura and Laura had done some chalk artwork on the path and I'm going to send in some pictures but it had me singing at the top. Can you sing what you had written out? [Te Reo Māori: "Hello / greetings to you all, adventurers"]

00:18:52Laura: Well, I don't know if you want me to sing it, but don't stop, never give up, hold your head high and reach the top.

00:18:57Alison Fraser (King): And as I got to the top, I carried on the song, but I'm not going to do that to you listeners. So Laura, are you a regular here? Yep, yep.

00:19:04Laura: And why do you come to this parkrun? It's the closest one to me and I got involved right when it was starting up. So it's been quite an awesome little community to get involved in, yeah and do you like marshalling at the top there I love marshalling at the top and getting to see everyone when they've reached that top of the hill they're defeated but they're also like energised for the rest of the way yeah well thank you so much Laura thank you looking forward to hearing the podcast

00:19:27Alison Fraser (King): I'm walking with one of the Tail Walkers, Paul. Welcome to Auckland, Paul.

00:19:32Paul Whelan: Thank you very much.

00:19:33Alison Fraser (King): And I understand this is your first international parkrun.

00:19:36Paul Whelan: True, very true, yes.

00:19:38Alison Fraser (King): Where have you travelled to, or travelled to us from?

00:19:41Paul Whelan: Sydney, Australia.

00:19:43Alison Fraser (King): So your home parkrun is?

00:19:44Paul Whelan: Panania.

00:19:45Alison Fraser (King): Panania, awesome. And you are an adventurer. Yes. We've established already, doing the zoomies. Yes. Why'd you come here?

00:19:53Paul Whelan: First international parkrun, trip to New Zealand on holidays so need to Yeah, just parkrun in general. Love parkrun.

00:20:04Alison Fraser (King): So you just picked any old parkrun that was easy to get to?

00:20:07Paul Whelan: Well, this one was 20 minutes away, but because of the letter O. Yeah. And it looked good. Okay. Yes. What do you think so far? Oh, perfect. Love it. Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it? Every parkrun's great. So some a little bit more than others, but I love this one. This one's very nice.

00:20:26Alison Fraser (King): And what's the story with your Viking hat?

00:20:29Paul Whelan: okay the name is viking and just meant a few years ago I follow my Canberra raiders back from Canberra which is three hours from Sydney and I love my football team and just put the horns on and went from there got a lot of uh comments and cheers people like the look and just went from there oh well I hope it's not too hot under there because it's a bit sticky this morning it does get a little sticky but different temperatures heat and you know cold so just go it's only five k's it's all good one hour yeah I wonder if we've got any more in the front today we'll have to see what we've got a front of two so that's a good start very good start all right thanks very much Paul cheers thank you very much

00:21:21Alison Fraser (King): So I'm with Robert, who is one of the Event Directors from Ōrākei Bay parkrun. So thank you, Robert, for putting on an awesome parkrun.

00:21:28Robert: Yeah, thanks for coming along. Appreciate it.

00:21:30Alison Fraser (King): Can you tell us your parkrun story?

00:21:32Robert: Yeah, absolutely. So it was a couple of years ago now. My friend, my colleague at work was asking me for like quite a few things, weeks like oh you have to come along and have to try out parkrun and eventually I gave in. He was actually living in Edinburgh at the time and I was still in Glasgow so we met kind of halfway in Falkirk and that was my first time. I'd done like a lot of running before that as well but I never saw the appeal of going out and doing just a 5k because you think like I could just do a 5k anywhere why I don't need to go and do this event So, yeah, I went along with him and then I really enjoyed it. Obviously, I have a wee coffee afterwards and stuff. And then we did that over the next few weeks, kind of meeting somewhere in between Glasgow, Edinburgh. It's about 20 miles either way. So meeting in there. So we did a couple around there. And then I was like, oh, I could probably do this myself and started going around all the different ones in Glasgow as well. When did you come to New Zealand? That's now two years ago now. My parkrun journey started only in February before me moving out in July. So yeah, I've been in New Zealand just over two years now. It's flown by.

00:22:44Alison Fraser (King): What's the story behind this parkrun? How did it come to be?

00:22:49Robert: Yeah, so actually when I first moved to New Zealand, I moved into the kind of Ōrākei area. It was a good location for me to live in between my work and the kind of city centre. And I was kind of just running around to check Strava, what's all the kind of popular routes, obviously go down to Tamaki Drive and there's loads of nice running along there in front of the water and then there's also this kind of pathway here that I was wondering what's that? So I went and ran down and the first time I ran down I was like this would actually be perfect for a parkrun like it's like big wide paths it's got like the train station right next to it it's got the shopping centre where we're sitting right now and we can have a coffee and there's loads of car parks and it kind of just ticked every box and I was like this is a stunning location it actually took me say almost like two years or 18 months or so to do something about it but um in in that time uh I met like a load of friends at different run clubs and every Saturday morning we'd go out and do a different one around oakland and sometimes go a little bit further afield as well like make a weekend of it or if we were doing like an event uh or a marathon a half marathon somewhere else we'd try to do a parkrun on the Saturday as well so we had this like this like group chat full of like 20 30 people And we were just like, every weekend we were doing something. And then it was when Northern Pathway started up in the north side of Auckland, North Shore. I got speaking to the Run Director there, Scott Arrow, and just said, I've got this idea for one in Ōrākei, what do you think? And he was really encouraging of it. So that's kind of how it all got going. And from there, I was able to lean on all of the run club friends and persuade a few of them to join as Run Directors. And we got our team together. Here we are.

00:24:34Alison Fraser (King): And you now have the largest inaugural attendance for a New Zealand event.

00:24:40Robert: Yes, that was quite a day. I think 615. A few people mentioned about that record being a potential thing and I wasn't really thinking too much about it. I did create a Facebook group just to kind of update friends and family about what was... what we were doing and the progress and people seemed interested obviously you have a lot of parkrun tourists around Auckland and very quickly this group grew and grew and grew from just me and my pals out to we've now got over a thousand people in this group and then we were like okay we probably weren't going to break the record here but At that point you do think like are we going to be able to handle this and I kind of I was very confident we had like a very experienced group of people and plus we have like the facilities here to be able to handle it we have like massive car parks by the train station and Ōrākei Bay Village and we had like big wide pathway so it would be plenty safe so at that point I was thinking oh you know what we could just keep advertising this so I just kept going and word spread and then of course they have all the parkrun tourists the guys down and Wellington flew up and people from all over the place Hamilton and beyond all came over and yeah it was incredible I think we absolutely smashed the record and yeah it was a special day it was stressful but yeah I think we handled it very very well all the results were correct and I was really proud of the team that joined. And even on the day as well, people just kind of were helping out and recognising issues. We had people volunteer as Funnel Managers at last minute, just helping things go along. Yeah, it was awesome.

00:26:20Alison Fraser (King): Yeah, the parkrun community coming together. 100%, yeah well thank you so much for today I think there were 172 finishers today I was 170 I came in with the Tail Walkers this is my first parkrun back after having flu so I thought I'd take it easy yeah and yeah really enjoyed the course you've got yeah soaked it all in and yeah I think I'll definitely be back great yeah welcome back anytime thank you And that's a wrap from Ōrākei Bay parkrun. Thanks to Robert, who is run directing, and all the wonderful volunteers. And a big thank you to my parkrun buddy, Rach, for driving us all the way up to Auckland. We set off at five in the morning. We've got home just around two o'clock. But what an awesome day. I'll see you again soon.

Roving report Janet Reid — Yeldulknie Weir Trail parkrun

00:27:06Janet Reid: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Janet here, coming to you live from Yeldulknie Weir Trail parkrun. We finally ticked off our Y and I'm sitting here with Event Director, Tina, and I think you've had a successful morning. Hi, Tina. Welcome.

00:27:21Tina: Thank you. Yes, we've had a very successful morning. Yes.

00:27:25Janet Reid: So can you tell me a little bit about how you came to be involved in parkrun and did you start this one here at Cleve? Was that you?

00:27:33Tina: Yeah, it was. So back in, I think it was early 2018, I was doing a lot of running. And I went to Port Lincoln for a wedding and I heard about this thing called parkrun. So we did that, my sister, a couple of friends and I, and we were like, this is amazing. We need something like this in Cleve. So at the time the council was doing up the trail that we use now and we thought that was a pretty good option to use. So we looked into it and, yeah, the rest is history. So we launched in April 2019. Wow. And today was event number? Oh gosh, now you're testing me, 242 I think it was. Fantastic. I always have to look that up on a Saturday morning.

00:28:10[laughter]

00:28:20Janet Reid: So we have a little bit of history with your event. This is the second time we've attempted it. Last time we came up to Cleve, what happened?

00:28:30Tina: We got flooded out very badly. Yeah. And I think that was the first time our creek had run in 19 years or 20 years. And, yeah, it was really wet.

00:28:45[laughter]

00:28:46Janet Reid: And then as we arrived yesterday, it started to rain.

00:28:51Tina: Here we go again. But no, only a spit.

00:28:55Janet Reid: And how do you find the community response to parkrun here?

00:29:00Tina: Uh, the Cleve community, we've got a very good diehard core group of parkrunners here. Um, obviously we've got a lot of other sport that goes on on a Saturday morning, but, um, yeah, a lot of locals love parkrun. Um, and a lot of the regulars now they plan their holidays around parkrun.

00:29:21Janet Reid: Oh, that's the best way.

00:29:23Tina: So they're parkrun tourists that just happened to go on holidays. Yeah. They plan their holidays around parkrun. That's the way to do it.

00:29:33Janet Reid: Now, as I say, we came up for parkrun today, but we've also come up for another reason, being the inaugural Cleve Running Festival. Yes. Which starts tomorrow. Yes, it does. So who was the organiser behind that?

00:29:41[crosstalk]

00:29:46Tina: Oh, once again, it was me. So obviously parkrun has allowed a lot of locals to come engage in running in a group um because it's pretty hard out here to go to an event um so parkrun has fostered that enthusiasm in the running community and probably I think it was two years ago um maybe three years ago I can't remember now um there was a group of us that just started talking about how great it would be to have a bigger event to get more people engaged and for locals not to have to travel off the Eyre Peninsula. So yeah, we kind of talked about it, hummed and hard, and then eventually we just went, nah, let's do it. So we set a date for a meeting, formed a committee, and that was 12 months ago, and here we are. We're about to launch tomorrow. Yes. The eve of the launch. Yes. Have you had a good response? We have. We've got over 360 people registered across the three distances.

00:30:53Janet Reid: And what are the three distances?

00:30:54Tina: So we've got a half marathon, a 10 kilometre and a five kilometre. So... And then at the finish line, we've got a kids' dash as well, which is the length of the oval or the cricket pitch, depending on their age.

00:31:02[crosstalk]

00:31:06Janet Reid: And how did you go for volunteers?

00:31:08Tina: We have had plenty of offers now. It's been good. Yeah. Yeah. The community's had a lot of stuff going on recently, so we're all a little bit volunteered out. But, yeah, no, when the times mattered, they've all stepped up and, yeah, it's been good.

00:31:24Janet Reid: And do you feel you're ready for it?

00:31:26Tina: Yes. I think we've over-organised. LAUGHTER Better to be over than under. Yes. Yes. No, we've got the last final jobs that we have to do today. But, yeah, we'll be fired up and ready to go. Yep. The collection later on today? Yes. Yes, the collection between 2 and 4 from the Cleve Hotel and then in the morning tomorrow down at the Cleve Sporting Bodies. Excellent.

00:31:50Janet Reid: Have you done any other parkruns besides your one here?

00:31:53Tina: Yes, I've done a few. Earlier in the year I did Kirra up in Queensland. Oh, yeah? When I was up there on a business trip. And then I've just done a few around Adelaide. I've done Mount Gambier. I haven't done a lot interstate, but, yeah. Is there anyone that sort of grabbed your heart?

00:32:14Janet Reid: Of course I have.

00:32:15[laughter]

00:32:15Tina: Besides you. LAUGHTER Ours is definitely my favourite. I really don't know what would be my favourite. Maybe Mount Gambier. Yeah. Because that's pretty specky walking around the lake there.

00:32:30[crosstalk]

00:32:33Janet Reid: Yeah. Great.

00:32:35Tina: Yeah.

00:32:35Janet Reid: Good. Well, thanks very much for chatting with me today, Tina, and all the very best for tomorrow. We're super excited to be part of it and supporting you. Next year we'll aim to come up in June so we can bring you some rain for the farm.

00:32:45[laughter]

00:32:47[crosstalk]

00:32:48Tina: Come and stay for May, June, July and all the time.

00:32:51Janet Reid: It'll be fantastic. But good luck and thank you very much for bringing parkrun to this community and the fun that you all have. It's really wonderful. Thanks for having me.

00:32:55[background music]

00:33:01Alison Fraser (King): Thank you.

00:33:08Simon Mackley: And we're back from the roving reports. So we had three roving reports this week. Two of them were held over from last week. So we had Lyndell at Riemer. We had Alison at Ōrākei and we had Janet at Yeldulknie Weir Trail parkrun. So it was good to hear from Lyndell. I know she's been adventuring around since her time at the Paris Olympics. So unfortunately, she didn't actually record anything from the event, but it was nice to hear in from her from Munich. Then Alison was talking to Laura with her chalk work and she was the Marshal at the top of the hill. She spoke to Paul Viking Whelan on his first international parkrun and Robert the Scot from who is the ED and RD of the day and 615 in New Zealand for a launch sounds absolutely huge. Janet was talking to Tina, who's the ED at Yeldulknie Weir Trail. And yeah, Tina sounds like she continues to do a lot for the running community. And congratulations on Cleve Running Event.

00:34:16Sarah Jefferson: Simon, I was thinking with 615 at a launch, I was just thinking, and correct me if I've missed it, but it's still okay to go to a first event in New Zealand, right?

00:34:26Simon Mackley: It is, yeah.

00:34:27Sarah Jefferson: So I wonder, yeah, seeing that, I was thinking, oh, I wonder if that will be a change or something that they'll think about in the future because, yeah, I'm just wondering if that's sort of sustainable.

00:34:37Simon Mackley: Yeah. Like I don't actually remember when they launched. Like that wasn't the launch day. That was just what the record, their record was on the launch. Got you.

Dazza's

00:34:48Sarah Jefferson: All right. So this week in Dazza's, Dazza said, today is World Gratitude Day. I am grateful for a park to run, walk or volunteer in, a community to adventure with and a coffee afterwards. Come on into Dazza's. Let us know what you're grateful for and tell us how your Saturday morning was. And don't forget to give thanks when you get a post parkrun drink.

00:35:13Simon Mackley: So first of all, we heard from Mark Walls from Victoria. So Mark said, grateful to be in Melbourne and doing my first Victorian parkrun at Albert Melbourne parkrun to complete my namely. And there was a photo of Mark with a younger gentleman who looks quite a lot like him. So we're assuming that that was his son in the selfie frame next to the lake.

00:35:35Sarah Jefferson: We heard from Dean Wirig in Queensland. Love the sentiment, Dazza. I'm thankful for the opportunity to run with my son, Asher, a future parkrun adventurer in the making. Also grateful for the wonderful people who make Gainsborough Greens parkrun possible each and every week. We celebrated event number 300 with a green theme this morning. And there was a photo of Dean dressed in lots of green with Asher and his green toy dragon in the pram.

00:36:05Simon Mackley: Very cute. Next we heard from Eric Banner from New South Wales. Very grateful to North Wollongong for giving some of my entourage their final Compass Club location. So there was a picture of Martine, Andrew and Eric Banner.

00:36:21Sarah Jefferson: We heard from Nick Graney over in Singapore who said that he was grateful for Powerade and air conditioning and in a very sweaty Singapore with a Singapore flag emoji and a racing car. There was a photo of Nick with the Bay East garden frame.

00:36:40Simon Mackley: Cool. We heard from Vicky Smith in WA. So she said back to Oz and down to WA this time. I'm grateful our van started so we could visit Claisebrook Cove parkrun this morning. Thanks to all who attended for making us welcome. And there was a photo of Vicky and John in the parkrun frame with the parkwalker vest on.

00:37:00Sarah Jefferson: Coming to Dazza's from the UK, we had Hendo Stew. I am grateful for completing all 81 parkruns in the southwest of England today at Three Brooks parkrun for the wonderful parkrun adventures, volunteers and participants I have met on all my parkrun adventures. Three Brooks parkrun asks all visitors to get a photo with three fingers held up. So there's a pic of Hendo holding three fingers up next to the Three Brooks pop-up. So 81 parkruns in the southwest. Impressive.

00:37:36Simon Mackley: That is amazing. And then we heard from Alison Fraser-King from New Zealand. So she said, grateful for Roberta Winters choosing to visit Puringa parkrun, which meant I completed the course for the first time since January. I usually volunteer at home and run elsewhere. Been a tourist in my hometown, which has been a great reminder of all the awesomeness on my doorstep.

00:38:01Sarah Jefferson: Sounds like a lovely morning. It does.

the Obi Award — Dean Wirrick

00:38:04Sarah Jefferson: Okay, Simon, do you have the Obilope or Obi-post-it hiding somewhere on that messy stand-up desk of yours?

00:38:12Simon Mackley: How dare you? My desk is much cleaner than the one in front of me. I do have the Obi-post-it note. So this week, the Obilope goes to Dean Wirrick. It appears that he really decked himself out in all of the green attire that he had to attend Gainsborough Greens parkrun So well done for matching your outfit to the parkrun's name, Dean.

00:38:38Sarah Jefferson: I was very impressed looking at the hat, the socks, the shorts. I think there was green on the shirt. I think the pram cover even had green on it and the dragon, of course. Well done, Dean.

00:38:50[background music]

the Birthday Boy

00:38:51Sarah Jefferson: All right, Simon, I think that your dog would like us to throw to the birthday boy.

00:39:02the Birthday Boy: Howdy, it's the Birthday Boy here with some of the goings on for October of 2024. As Birthday Boy has been spruiking about events for some time, we are trying to not repeat ourselves too much from year to year. But one thing that will get a repeat for October is that Germany celebrates their special day this month. It's Germany Unity Day! In 2024, German Unity Day will be held on Thursday, 3rd October. Be sure to check out their dedicated webpage parkrun.com.de forward slash special hyphen events. Just rolls off the tongue. A majority of events in Germany are hosting this bonus day. And if I were more confident in my ability to pronounce another language, I would say congrats, but in German. Another congrats will go to Bushy parkrun, who, fresh off their number 1000, will be hitting their 20th anniversary on the first parkrun day of October. They will be the first event to hit the big 2-0. Now, this is serious tone time. The event team have been very clear, and I'm quoting here, we love visitors at Bushy parkrun, but don't feel you have to visit on the 20th birthday, end quote. They have followed this up with graphics on their social media that ask people to stay local and not come to bushy. Or I could quote PSH with, on the 5th October, every parkrun throughout the world is asked to celebrate our 20th birthday. It's definitely not about bushy parkrun, end quote. So here in Oz, we have many who share the same anniversary as Bushy. So why not make PSH smile and pick from Champion Lakes, WA, Charleston, South Australia, in South Australia, Coober Pedy Oval, South Australia, Hamilton Island, Queensland, Horseshoe Bay Reserve New South Wales Nathan Road Sports Ground Queensland Nolen's Park Victoria Petrie Queensland Portarlington Victoria Railway Park Queensland Werrington Lakes Reserve New South Wales nothing for you if you stay in Tassie act or the Northern Territory but if you are heading somewhere do not make it bushy October holds loads of opportunities throughout the remaining weeks of the month with another 40 events with cause to celebrate. There are nine in week two, 11 in week three and 20, yes, 20 events celebrating or possibly celebrating in the final week of October. So who are our events who are turning one this year? We have Two Rivers Wines in New South Wales and Goulburn River Trail Seymour in Victoria. Check out their Facebook pages for any information about what they are or are not going to do to celebrate. What else could I highlight for you? Is there anything else piquing my interest? Well, let's give a shout out to the elders this month. We have Kingscliff, New South Wales, North Lakes, Queensland, and Kawana, Queensland, all turning 12. If you're a challenge chaser, AKA a box ticker, then you could consider doing orange. They're turning eight, and you could nab yourself an O, which is in the bottom third of letter availability. Orange is also a fruit, a tree, and a colour. I'll finish this month with the anniversary reminder that events may celebrate what they like, when they like. So please check all details with the local source, i.e. their webpage and or their Facebook page. This is especially true for dress ups, cakes, et cetera. And as always with our parkrun adventures, the parkrun cancellations page is a valuable tool. Check out parkrun.com.au forward slash cancellations. This is the official cancellation page and it contains information for the coming weekend plus two further weeks. So be sure to check it again mid-month. See you in November for some more birthday boy banter.

00:43:20[background music]

00:43:30Simon Mackley: And we're back from the birthday boy with the goings on for October. So it's going to be German Unity Day in the first week of October. I think it's the third. So I'm wondering who of our adventurers are going to Germany and staying away from Bushy and parkrun's 20th anniversary. So there's going to be lots of opportunities for cake in October, it seems.

Consolidated Club Report

00:43:55Simon Mackley: So cracking on to the Consolidated Club report, the adventurers Consolidated Club report for Saturday 21 September 2024. Of a total of 690 members, 517 took part on this date in 13 countries across 264 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 58 events, four in South Africa, three in the USA, two each in Italy and the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Singapore. Locally, we had adventurers at 48 events in New South Wales, 47 events in Victoria. In Queensland, we only had 40. West Australia had 18. South Australia had 14. The ACT and the North Island had six each. Tassie had five. The Northern Territory and South Island each had two.

00:44:58Sarah Jefferson: It's a bowling strike.

00:45:00Simon Mackley: It is a bowling strike.

00:45:01Sarah Jefferson: And the largest international frond this week was in the UK, Epworth Equestrian. There were four adventurers, Phil Olson, Nadij Ratta, Andy Poole and Wendy Pallant. In South Africa, there was also four adventurers at Hopkins Land. We had Gerna, Nico and Lisby van der Meerwee. And Marianne Smit.

00:45:27Simon Mackley: And pilgrimage to Bushy, there were zero. The largest frond was at Old Esk Railway Station with 18. We've chosen to highlight Pirrama parkrun, which had 10. And they were Catherine O'Connor, Jan Yates, Peter Abela, Wendy Smith, Ivan Neville, Michael Thomson, Peter, Sonja and Oscar Pohlman, and our very own Melissa Ellis. And I'm sure Mel will be telling us all about her trip next week.

00:45:58Sarah Jefferson: And I did see something on the socials, Simon, about Mel visiting the prettiest parkrun in Sydney, being Pirrama.

00:46:06Simon Mackley: She was at Mossman.

00:46:08Sarah Jefferson: Oh, no, actually. I think you just read her name out there. Oh. So it'll be interesting to hear her feedback.

00:46:15Simon Mackley: She's been to all three, so I guess. She has.

00:46:18Sarah Jefferson: Might be a fair person to being a Victorian. Might be a fair... thing for her to talk about or non-biased person to talk about three parkruns that are in contention for this title in Sydney.

00:46:30Simon Mackley: Unless she has a problem with what we were saying earlier about the greater state and not having a palm.

00:46:35Sarah Jefferson: True, but that may be cut. We'll see.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:46:40Sarah Jefferson: Moving on to launches. We had three launches this week. So starting at Old Esk Railway Station, the course is a two-lap southbound out and back along the concrete Brisbane Valley Rail Trail path with a circular loop into Esk Showgrounds on each return lap. There are toilets and a children's playground near the start and finish area. It's approximately an hour and 20 minutes northwest of the Brisbane CBD. There were 166 participants and 17 volunteers with five first timers.

00:47:14Simon Mackley: And as I mentioned before, we have Lithuania who has joined the parkrun world. So parkrun Vingis in Vilnius, Lithuania. This launch in Lithuania takes parkrun to a 23rd country, with, of course, France being included in this number, even though they're on halt. There were 223 participants and 21 volunteers. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much more as the Lithuania page has been blocked by my browser. What I can tell you is about the park. So Vingis Park is a huge forested area in a bend of the Neris River, crisscrossed by walking and bike trails. It's home to part of the Vilnius University Botanical Garden and a small cemetery with the graves of German soldiers. An amphitheatre hosts occasional open-air concerts and festivals. Cafes with outdoor terraces serve burgers, salads and soups, and food carts sell local snacks. So welcome... Vingis Park, Lithuania.

00:48:19Sarah Jefferson: Sounds like a beautiful location was chosen. It does. And the third launch that we had this week was called Five Worlds in the UK. It's the second closed facility to launch in the UK in as many weeks. They had 20 participants and eight volunteers.

00:48:34Simon Mackley: Welcome to those three events.

00:48:36Sarah Jefferson: Yes.

Streaky September

00:48:37Sarah Jefferson: We are going to hear some audio now from Pippa. Pippa.

00:48:49Pippa White: Hi, parkrun adventurers. Today is the 20th of September and I'm recording early because today is my parkrun anniversary. And I thought it was really apt to record on my parkrun anniversary and think about streaking today. I started parkrunning then, so it's 10 years, just before the 10 year anniversary of parkrun. So I've been going not quite half the time of parkrun, but not far off. I'm really pleased with myself. Secondly, it's almost the same time, same anniversary as when I fell and cracked my back. I remain absolutely delighted that my injury wasn't as bad as it could have been, that I can still walk, I can still complete parkrun. And actually that the physio I needed to do to help my tummy muscles improve to support my back made me faster at running. So yay, go for all the positives about running and streaking. I had started my very, very first Streaky September 23 days before the accident, plus or minus, you know, I know that date. And haven't stopped since because actually it was part of my recovery. It was quite a long recovery. And then it just became that habit. So that's why I'm really passionate about this whole streaking. It's done so much good for me. This week, though, I've had to really focus on going back to basics, getting streaks in, not a problem, and focus on my mental health and what's really important. Last year or so, we talked on the streaks about the senses, walks or run, where you see and name five things, you hear and name four things, you touch and name three things, you smell and name two things, and then you taste one thing, even if that's just the sweet that you've got in your pocket. So for example, I walk and say, ah, I can see rose hips, number one. I can see that we've got beautiful pink tendrils in the sky, number two, et cetera. And we go on through that. And it's a lovely way to ground when out, particularly when everything else seems a bit grim. So if you're finding life a little bit difficult, then see if that one might help. Apart from that, I've had fun this week. I know I said the word fun a lot last week, but I really have. I've just got out and enjoyed being on two legs and streaking and having a delightful time. So we're almost at the end of September for those of you for whom it's a 30-day task and then you're over. So just a few more days to get going. We're two-thirds of the way through. It's really exciting. We've got one more parkrun left after you've heard this and then September will be done. Happy streaking.

00:51:48Sarah Jefferson: So there were lots of positives that Pippa shared this week. And I guess coming back from some curveballs or when things kind of don't go the way that things are planned. So hopefully some people take some inspiration from that. Happy 10-year anniversary to Pippa as well. And it was great to hear Pippa, I guess, focusing on the basics and mental health being priority as well. And I really liked the idea of the senses walk or the senses run, the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 idea. I guess for me, something that I would take away from that is even just focusing on one sense, maybe that I don't normally, you know, things, five things that I can hear and Yeah, and trying to focus on that while I'm out in my streak on my walk.

00:52:42Simon Mackley: Yeah, some good tips from Pippa for streaky sep meba.

Bingoe card

00:52:46Simon Mackley: So I'm going to jump into the Bingoe card. So a few more things have been released on the Bingoe card and the level up that I'm going to highlight is the letterbox numbers. So I remember this one from a previous Bingoe card a few years ago. So what people used to do was take a photo of Let's say today is the 23rd of September. They would take a photo on their streak with a letterbox number 23. But you can do whatever you want. All these challenges, these level ups are open to interpretation. So whatever you think letterbox numbers is about, get out there and do it.

00:53:25Sarah Jefferson: Fabulous. And another update as well. I have an update about the ugly shirt, ugly shirts. Orders are closing on Sunday, the 29th of September, which when you are listening, I guess that will only give you a few days to ensure that you have put your order in. So don't forget to do that. Maybe even pause the podcast and get onto that right away.

Sign-off

00:53:51Simon Mackley: Exactly. So where are you going on your next parkrun day, Sarah? Yeah.

00:53:56Sarah Jefferson: Simon, I am adventuring again this week. I'm actually headed across the ditch down to Invercargill parkrun, so the bottom of the South Island in New Zealand. Let's hope that I can find some warm clothes and a jacket that actually is fitting me these days. Things are getting a little bit tighter, but I've had a little look at the forecast and it looks quite chilly.

00:54:19Simon Mackley: Okay.

00:54:20Sarah Jefferson: What about you? Where are you headed?

00:54:23Simon Mackley: I am planning to hand out the tokens at Redland Bay parkrun because we've got a few things happening on Saturday. So, yeah, I'm going to volunteer for the first time in a while. Fantastic. And that's nice and close to home. It is. It is. I'll run down there and get my 5Ks in there and back. So next week we have Mel and Ollie back for a Blue Moon parkrun. So fifth one of the month. So Ollie is back. But it has been great having you on the pod again this week, Sarah. So I will see you in a month.

00:54:57Sarah Jefferson: Nice to catch up with you again, Simon. And as always, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week. We'll see you all next week for more adventures.