Episode 398 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 398 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life. If your life is all about parkrun, my name is Melissa Ellis and I am back on Wurundjeri Country.

00:00:36Oliver Spake: And I am Ollie Spake and I am on Dharawal Country. Hi.

00:00:40Melissa Ellis: We have not heard from Dharawal Country for some time. Ollie, welcome back. Thank you.

00:00:45Oliver Spake: Thank you for having me and, well, yeah, welcome back to your own state after hanging around mine. Oh, I was. Two weeks in a row.

00:00:54Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes. And we had Simon and Zara filling in last week, so I actually had a week off recording as well. But weren't they cheeky throwing shade on me?

00:01:04Oliver Spake: LAUGHTER

00:01:06Melissa Ellis: It was nice of him to highlight all the reasons that Victoria is the greatest estate, especially the event capital of the country. Good on you guys. Good to point that out. All the wonderful events we have down here. And yes, we have not had a palm. And while I am in the control tower, there will not be a palm in Victoria. My successors can do that if they should wish. But while I'm in control, I plan on having adventures.

00:01:38Oliver Spake: Keep trying, guys. Keep trying.

00:01:39Melissa Ellis: Yeah, they can keep trying. And one adventure, Ollie, and I hope you're up to date with the news, we'll enjoy Bee Palm next year in Queenstown. Across the ditch.

00:01:50Oliver Spake: Across the Dutch. Yes, I was, yeah, I was excited and surprised to hear the location announced.

00:01:59Melissa Ellis: Mmm. Mmm. So more coming. That's generating a bit of excitement and a lot of people getting on board. I... Was hoping to have had my flights booked by now. I have not yet, but it is usually required to have your passport with you when you need to be doing those things. That tripped me up on the weekend when I intended to do it. Never mind. Still to come.

00:02:24Oliver Spake: Yeah. And it will be coming soon. So, yeah, as you say, it's generated a lot of interest. It's nice to see. And I'm sure we'll have a bit more to say about that later on, Mel.

00:02:38Melissa Ellis: But let me tell you about my recent trip to Pirrama. Would you like to hear about that?

00:02:44Oliver Spake: Yes, please.

00:02:46Melissa Ellis: I caught up at Parama parkrun with Peter and Sonja Pohlman and Oscar, Jan Yates and Andrew Blanda on the traditional lands of the Gadigal of the Eora Nation. And it was event nine with 320 in attendance, including three first timers who I discovered when I arrived early, wandering around with puzzled looks on their faces, those three were Mick anglum from the UK Michael on holiday from Edinburgh and Nicole from Toowoomba who were all in place early expecting a 7 a.m start parama is of course an 8 a.m start as is now policy for all new events in New South Wales despite there being a handful of legacy events remaining which have the earlier start time I chose to walk the event to allow time for a catch up with Sonia and Peter who did arrive on course after we'd set off due to directionally challenged bus drivers. We had a beautiful mild morning with blue skies and as has previously been noted, Parama parkrun is indeed a stunning location. The course is a double out and back along the Parama foreshore with a central starting point. What makes this course a standout is the views at each end of both the Anzac Bridge and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the harbourside green space and its proximity to the Sydney CBD. Of note also is the small sea bath located close to the start finish area, which also features a kiosk for pre and post coffee and treats, a playground and toilets located on course close to the eastern turnaround. I did declare that this is indeed the prettiest parkrun in Sydney and consider myself qualified in that statement, having done both Mosman and Dolls Point parkruns previously. It is, of course, only by opinion and, as always, subjective on the basis of personal preferences and the conditions of the day. Sydney did throw me a curveball with a snap train strike to complicate my visit. That didn't detract from the experience as it was indeed another fabulous adventure. I did grab some audio with the three first timers I met before the event, as well as a post-event chat with Jan Yates. So let's have a listen to those now. I'm at the start line of Parama parkrun and I've found a few tourists here. We're all here a little bit early. I'll just introduce you all to them if you'd like to give me a name.

00:05:13Mick Anglin: Mick Anglin. I'm the Event Director for Brockenhurst parkrun in the New Forest in England.

00:05:15[background music]

00:05:20Michael: I'm Michael. I've flown in from Edinburgh for a holiday and I'm here to do the parkrun. First one. First ever parkrun.

00:05:27Nicole: Fabulous. And? And Nicole and I'm touristing. I'm from Toowoomba in Queensland.

00:05:33Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. So we're all here a little bit early because, well, I came early to make sure that I could get to the start line in time. And I think my fellow tourists might not have realised it was an 8am start. It's a beautiful morning here, though. It's warm already and we're by the water. There's people starting to turn up. Mick, do you want to tell us a little bit more about what brought you here today?

00:05:57Mick Anglin: I came to Townsville for the World Triathlon Championships and I've been doing parkruns all the way down the East Coast since. So this is my 21st parkrun in three weeks.

00:06:10Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. Very good. And our first timer here today, you're heading off to Centennial afterwards to catch up for a group run. Is that right?

00:06:18Michael: Yeah, that's correct. Hopefully, if I make it on time.

00:06:20[background music]

00:06:22Melissa Ellis: Very good. Now, Nicole, what are you doing in Sydney?

00:06:27Nicole: I've just been down here for a family holiday and head home today. So just fitting in a parkrun in New South Wales before we head home.

00:06:34Melissa Ellis: Have you done many different parkruns around the place?

00:06:37Nicole: Probably about 10 different locations. Usually a bit of a homebody. Yep.

00:06:43Melissa Ellis: Very good. All right. Well, thank you very much, everybody. I hope you enjoy your parkrun this morning and all the best in your future travels.

00:06:49Mick Anglin: Thank you. Cheers. Thank you.

00:06:52Melissa Ellis: Alrighty, I'm at the finish line now. Completed Parama parkrun. And I'm with Jan Yates. First time I've met Jan. Good morning, Jan. Good morning. It's so exciting to meet you now. Stop it. Tell us your home parkrun again, Panania. Yes, Panania.

00:07:04[crosstalk]

00:07:09Jan Yates: I asked you and then I said it. Yeah, no, yep. So you're the one that posts all the photos with Rocky? Yes, yes, yes. I don't go home much as, you know, now that I'm adventuring. But, you know, whenever I go home, you know, it's home. But, yeah, that's my home parkrun. And I like to volunteer there when I'm not adventuring as well. So, yeah. We had a little frond here today.

00:07:30Melissa Ellis: We had Andrew Blanda who was doing finished tokens. We had the Polmans in attendance. Turned up at the last minute, just caught the tail. And we had Catherine O'Connor.

00:07:39Jan Yates: So that was good. Yeah, it was great. How did you find the course? Well, this is my second time doing the course because I did the trial. And look, it's a beautiful course. It's picturesque with the two bridges, Anzac and the Harbour Bridge. And it's a beautiful day. The numbers are a bit lower than last week, which I was really happy about. We only had about 300. Unfortunately, I joined the parkrun Stat Club on the boardwalk today. So that wasn't so good. But some lovely people helped me up and I kept running. Are you okay? Nothing major? No, nothing major. Just getting my hand and my knee. But it's just the boardwalk, you do have to come here. You have to be careful to lift your feet because when you're running, if you're not lifting your feet, it's easy to trip.

00:08:26Melissa Ellis: So we feel a bit special. We made it into the Polman's video that they do when they tourist and is featured on the unofficial Aussie parkrun tourism page. So that was a bit special. And this is going to be, or is now, I think, Sydney's premier event. Yes, definitely. We were lucky. We've got a beautiful day and numbers were... Not as big as they were last week. Yes. If you are going to come here, adventurers, maybe don't choose City to Surf or Sydney Marathon Weekend because this is not an event I don't think that will cope too well with large numbers as we discussed in the video. Try and come on a quieter weekend just as well, not to overwhelm the team. But do come here. Absolutely. It's beautiful. It is. It's beautiful. Yep. Well, it's lovely to meet you today, Jan. Yes, it's lovely to meet you too. It's nice to put a face to the name. So I was so excited to have a few adventurers here. But now I've got some light rail to catch and head back so that I can come back out again to the Lyric Theatre and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Yes, and we'll hopefully meet up again soon.

00:09:35Jan Yates: Absolutely. Okay. Bye. Bye.

00:09:40Oliver Spake: And yeah, look, I think you're in good company there, Mel, being nice and early to the parkrun. But look, it's definitely one that I would love to get to very, very soon. It's a beautiful spot.

00:09:53Melissa Ellis: It is. It is. I was very pleased and had a lovely morning. But would you like to update us with what you've been up to this last month or this last period since the last blue moon? Has it been a month?

00:10:08Oliver Spake: I actually don't know. It may be one, it may be two. Yeah, I've kind of lost count. But I'm sort of working on the basis that it's somewhere around there. And yeah, needless to say, I'm a little jealous of your adventure to Pirama. I have spent the last, well, several parkrun days in the very familiar Wadi Wadi land in Dharawal Country and I have spent that time volunteering and it's been nice. It's been nice. It's definitely been welcome to have a bit more of a low-key home time while life at home has been very disrupted between work and, you know, Yeah, work on the house and everything that's happening down this way. I did get up to Sydney for a bit of running, Mel, but aside from that, I'm pretty boring. Probably have to say my highlight really was being on course set up. And photography, I think it was on Saturday just gone because we had a few people from the Run Beyond Project who I have noticed at the Panorama Punish previously and they were having a sausage sizzle fundraiser to support some youngsters that are out there training to take on the punish for the first time ever as part of um yeah linking them with a supportive community and giving them some running goals so I had the help of one of their youngsters sitting at the course got to chat and and um talk strategy and yeah yeah it was nice to see them well supported out there

00:11:54Melissa Ellis: Did you want to speak a bit more to the Panorama Punish now? We did have it scheduled to discuss later, but now might be a good time.

00:12:01Oliver Spake: Yeah, true. See, I've been back two minutes and I'm already breaking the system. But yeah, the Panorama Punish, it's only a matter of weeks away, Mel. And I know you won't be joining us this year. And it has been a very... Yeah, fun time, a fun weekend for many, many adventurers. So I am looking forward to getting back up there, planning in a visit to Lithgow on the way through. So I'll actually get not just a parkrun but a parkrun adventure and travelling up there with Mum and also with Bec Bailey. So it'll be nice to get up there and enjoy the Punish. 6.2km doesn't... Always sound like a long distance, but I remember how hard it is and how nice the view is at the top.

00:12:56Melissa Ellis: It's all about the iconic race track, though, isn't it, too? That's what I felt. I just liked the thrill of running the hot lap of Mount Panorama. It is really a community event as well. And we want adventurers to join up the Adventurers Club because we haven't been fortunate enough to take out the largest club yet, but we have been close in the past. We have been. If you're considering it and you do intend to go and you're a listener, please join the Adventurers Club when you register. And if you haven't yet registered, you can put in the code word, I believe it's parkrun, for a 10% discount.

00:13:36Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah, that's right. So, as you say, Mel, wonderful community. I can't think of a spot on that course where there isn't great support. And, yeah, something to enjoy is zip around the corners on the way down the hill there. But, yeah, my calves are hurting just thinking about it, though.

00:13:56Melissa Ellis: Will this be your third punish, Ollie?

00:13:58Oliver Spake: It will be my third, yes. Yeah, that's right. And, yeah, it's just... A hell of a time in a hell of a town. So, yeah, looking forward to that.

00:14:09Melissa Ellis: I hope to be back in the future. Not this year, too close to baby, but in the future.

00:14:18Oliver Spake: Ah, but Mel, I did notice you've had a few, well, you and others have had a few misadventures with public transport there. I've taken some notes, so...

00:14:30Melissa Ellis: what's with this snap strike Oliver that's one of the reasons I was so early to parama was the trains were still running but at a reduced schedule so I left super duper early because I was staying out near the airport so I left super duper early to allow for any cancellations and uh Everything ran really smoothly and I was there an hour early, but that's fine. Wonderful. I'd rather be early. Yeah. It gave me the opportunity to talk to the first-timers, which was nice.

00:14:58[crosstalk]

00:15:04Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah. I mean, you obviously liked the place because you came back, Mel.

00:15:11Melissa Ellis: I did. Yeah. I travelled up this weekend to the Australian Botanic Garden in Mount Annan on the lands of the Dungarool people for event 14 with 42 other participants. I needed a 14 for my Wilson Index, which was an added bonus. But I had taken the opportunity of a Victorian public holiday last Friday for the AFL Grand Final to enjoy a road trip north to visit both the new event catch up with friends and explore the beautiful Mount Annan Gardens. The gardens are located on 416 hectares in Western Sydney and feature open spaces, native woodland areas and over 4,000 native and introduced plants. The gardens have free entry as well as a garden cafe and shop with a small nursery in which you can purchase a selection of the native flora. We did have a frond on the morning, which you'll hear more about later. I walked the course with Sam Schroder, the OGOL, which starts just inside the Mount Annan Drive entrance and hugs the eastern perimeter of the park. It's an out-and-back course with challenging terrain and elevation, which trends downhill to the turnaround. And, well, you know what that means on the way back. They claim it as Sydney's hardest parkrun, which I will suggest is likely, although I only walked it, so that does make it harder to gauge. You need trail shoes for this one. You'll need to watch your footing, and I'd really caution to think twice about taking a pram on this course. There are toilets in the park. However, they don't open until 8.30, so be mindful of that and make a stop before you arrive if you need to. It was really lovely to meet, for the first time, adventurer Sherry Brandtman, who was barcode scanning with Luke, and Andrew McDonald, who was on finish tokens. And thank you very much to the event team for this special mention on their socials. After the event, we joined the Frond for brunch at the Garden Cafe, purchased some plants at the nursery, before heading off to check out our motel and make the trip south to the ACT to watch the granny.

00:17:18Oliver Spake: I did pause there for a second wondering exactly what granny you meant, but, yeah, that's right.

00:17:23Melissa Ellis: Granny, that's Aussie slang or maybe it's Victorian slang for the grand final.

00:17:29Oliver Spake: It must be Victorian slang, which wasn't very appropriate given the grand final, Mel. What gives? Yeah. What do you mean? No Victorian teams.

00:17:44Melissa Ellis: Oh, you mean the Brisbane Lions that originated as the Fitzroy Lions. Fitzroy. The Sydney Swans that originated as the South Melbourne Swans.

00:17:48[crosstalk]

00:17:54Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. They flew north. Yes.

00:17:59Melissa Ellis: Yeah.

00:18:00Oliver Spake: Yeah. Yeah.

00:18:01Melissa Ellis: No, I'm happy. I was happy. It wasn't a great game, I'll be honest. No. It wasn't very enjoyable. No. It was a bit of a cakewalk. So for anybody who doesn't already know, the Brisbane Lions ate swans for breakfast.

00:18:18Oliver Spake: And dinner. Yes.

00:18:19Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so, but a free Katy Perry concert, got to be happy with that.

00:18:24Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's right.

00:18:26Melissa Ellis: And did you watch the pre-grand final entertainment? You probably didn't watch the grand final, did you?

00:18:32Oliver Spake: I was at, yeah, I was at one activity, one kid's activity at that point, yeah.

00:18:35[crosstalk]

00:18:36Melissa Ellis: Have you seen it in the media? No. She came out onto the ground atop a futuristic looking vehicle and that was all silver, like a silver bullet. I don't know if it was supposed to be like some sort of spacecraft or futuristic train or something, but it had this piece of silver material flapping behind it, a la Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I don't know if anybody else picked up that reference, but it did not pass me by. LAUGHTER I was very happy with my Katy Perry concert. Thank you very much.

00:19:13Oliver Spake: Well spotted, Mel. Yeah. Yeah. I was trying to think of some good plant puns. I've got nothing.

00:19:22Melissa Ellis: Plant puns?

00:19:24Oliver Spake: Well, you know, just it seemed appropriate given the parkrun theme there for your parkrun adventure. But it sounds like it was a lovely time out there.

00:19:35Melissa Ellis: Yes, well, I came home with a Lucanalia, but I don't expect anybody's going to really understand what that is. But it is a native Australian plant. They do grow quite well in the mountain botanical gardens. So it was really quite chuffed to be able to purchase one of those to bring home. Because I do like my gardening. I am a bit of a green thumb. Peek behind the curtain.

00:19:56Oliver Spake: Well, and it's the time of the year for it in our neck of the woods anyway.

00:20:01Melissa Ellis: Absolutely is. And I was really hoping to get to Floriade, but unfortunately I didn't get to Floriade. However, I did have a Sunday morning run with Dave around, well, I shouldn't say around because Lake Burley Griffin is a very big lake, but... A section of Lake Burley Griffin and there was lots of flower, I don't know what you'd call it, little flower plots around the edge of the lake advertising the floriade. Lots of tulips. Pretty, lovely. So I'm very disappointed I didn't get there. Maybe next year.

00:20:36Oliver Spake: Always need something on the list, Mel.

00:20:38Melissa Ellis: Next year I'll be back.

parkrun news bulletin

00:20:40Melissa Ellis: Yes, but anyway, Ollie, we probably should move on to news and discussion.

00:20:44Oliver Spake: That's right. Well, I was going to say, speaking of, you know, not being the season for something in our case and something on the list, dry robes, drying robes. So parkrun UK posted that our apricot thermal robes are coming back and they don't look too bad, Mel, but, yeah. Yeah. I couldn't quite justify the need for it in my neck of the woods, but it does in parkrun UK's post.

00:21:12Melissa Ellis: Geez, I don't know about that. Your parkrun gets washed out quite frequently to my memory.

00:21:19Oliver Spake: True, true, true. It's probably the temperature more so, but you've got a good point. But, yeah. Yeah. A waterproof robe featuring a plush Sherpa fleece lining and a convenient internal zip pocket for all the essentials. Made for both comfort and practicality. I feel like I'm doing one of those sponsored infomercials. Apparently we were paid. That's right. That's right. But, hey, you know, it supports parkrun. And as they say, with limited stock available, don't miss your chance to grab one before they go on.

00:21:54Melissa Ellis: Now, I have seen these. Peter Pohlman and Sonja Pohlman are in possession of these and have worn them on a trip to Melbourne. So I have seen them in real life. I do believe they can be posted to Australia and New Zealand. I have seen that people are ordering them and getting them sent. And I do believe the postage isn't too bad in this instance.

00:22:16Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:22:18Melissa Ellis: And they're not for running in, we should add. These are more spectator attire. And I do believe they're very popular. They were very popular. I know Danny and Nicola have spoken about it last week on With Me Now in the hope that they would return and that they were an item that parkrun could or should bring back because they were very popular. So this is good news.

00:22:44Oliver Spake: Yeah, they look great.

00:22:46Melissa Ellis: I don't know if I'll get one, though, because I just got a dry as a bone, and that's probably... That'll cover you, yeah. Yeah, same, same, but different.

00:22:54Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:22:55Melissa Ellis: But anyway, I also wanted to bring up, Ollie, that last week we missed a message from Jodie Vandermeer. She sent it to our messenger and she said, five of our running group Redlands Plotters completed the alphabet today at Queen Elizabeth parkrun in Casino. I made us matching personalized shirts that have all our parkruns in the word bubble. And she shared with us a picture that she... had taken showing five ladies looking very splendid in their customised black tops and the word bubble of course as as described with all their different parkrun names that made up their alphabet so congratulations and thank you for writing in to us jody sorry we're a bit late but what an achievement well done um

00:23:43Oliver Spake: And, Mel, it was also Active Nation Day. So Lorna Jane had an Active Nation Day asking everyone to put on your active wear and let's get moving. So to walk, jog, run or volunteer on parkrun Day Just Gone, which was, of course, Saturday the 28th of September. And for everyone who joined in, Lorna Jane undertook to donate $1 to women's community shelters with a goal of raising $100,000. And I could see that you have captured the published total from parkrun Australia, Mel. Yes. 68,095 people. I did my homework. Okay.

00:24:26Rachel: You did.

00:24:26Oliver Spake: You did.

00:24:29Melissa Ellis: Very consistent. Yes. Yes. And we should say that Lorna Jane is one of Australia's partners, sponsored partners. So, yes, that was just Australia-wide, that promotion. But that's pretty good, chipping in for charity. Thank you, Lorna Jane.

00:24:48Oliver Spake: Yes. Yes. And, Mel, as we record, it's the 30th of September.

Streaky September

00:24:53Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:24:54Melissa Ellis: It is, and do you know what that means? That is the end of streaky September, the last day today, if my days of the month are correct. That means tomorrow is October, and we are wrapped up for another year. I didn't get as engaged this year, Ollie, as I normally do, but somebody who is very, very engaged is the wonderful streak master herself, Pippa, and she's got a parting word for you.

00:25:29Pippa White: Hi, Streakers. So how was it? By the time you get to hear this, it will be over. Streaky September will be over. And actually, the next step that I'm going to ask you about, you'll have done. So did you break it? First of October, did you lie in bed all day and go, yeah, I've been there, I've done that? Or are you going to keep going? Are you going to keep going with us until New Year? Just until New Year. No more than that. Streaking is one step at a time. I've had a brilliant time and I've got myself reset. I've taken some of that obsession out of my mind, some of that obsession out of my psyche. Not all of it. I'm still streaking mind. But a little bit of that has changed. And that's because I've actually stopped and thought about what I'm doing every day. Is it really necessary that I do X, Y and Z as it were? but I've had a brilliant month. Turns out that I'm still appalling at Strava Art. The occasional sound you get in the background is the dogs that I've been looking after so that I could streak with animals. And I haven't managed this year to add myself to, and add anybody else to the parkrun adventurers group, which is a bit of a pain, but there we go. Apart from that, I've just loved getting out and doing the Bingoe card squares, because it's taken the seriousness out of running and walking for me, which is brilliant. And I hope that some of the rest of you have found that too, and some of the rest of you have found that joy in mental health improvements. So Northern Hemisphere, we're about to go into winter, but I'm feeling energised and ready to get go. Southern Hemisphere, here you are, it's springtime, it's time to get going and get joyful about all that summer brings with it. I hope you're all ready and I hope you've all found where you're going to be for the next few weeks, few months or the year. So happy streaking for those who stay. Happy chilling out for those who are not. And for those groans in the background, I better go and find the tennis ball so that I can kick it around for a friend. Until next year, happy streaking.

00:27:43Oliver Spake: And thank you as always, Pippa. It's always been, I think, a nice way to keep us motivated and, yeah, to give us a bit more to think about through streaky September, having you as part of the team there, Pippa. Mel, I have to come clean. I did not have any kind of streaking effort to write home about, but I'm in constant awe of everyone that has. And I promised myself I'll get back out there more one day.

00:28:13Melissa Ellis: Well, that's pretty good. And when I say I haven't been very engaged, I actually do streak, via my Garmin challenges out every morning before seven o'clock doing a pre-7am activity I make sure I get a half an hour activity every day and do a minimum of one mile so I've been doing that for oh yeah yeah since January so that's my little streak

00:28:42Oliver Spake: Yes, yes, which is very impressive. And, yeah, it has been great to see everyone's efforts. And, yeah, let us know. Will you keep streaking?

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:28:55Oliver Spake: But, Mel, we actually have a lot of roving reports, so many that you won't hear all of them now, but we do have a few to catch up on. So I think it's time we pause and have a listen to those.

00:29:00[background music]

00:29:07[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving report Ruth Perkins — Sonsbeek parkrun

00:29:22Ruth Perkins: Hi parkrun adventurers, this is Ruth Perkins and I'm coming to you today from the most beautiful park in Arnhem in the Netherlands, Sonsbeek. I'm going to ask for a better pronunciation from Hans who is the Run Director today. So how would I say your parkrun name?

00:29:44Hans: It's called Sonsbeek.

00:29:45Ruth Perkins: Sonsbeek, brilliant. So for people visiting your park for the first time, what would you say are the attractions of this park? What do you like most about your park?

00:29:58Hans: Well, I usually announce it like it's probably the most beautiful park in the Netherlands. It's a beautiful park. We have lots of different trees. We have some water in it. A hill that's not really normal and usual in the Netherlands. Yeah, just about that.

00:30:16Ruth Perkins: Lovely. And how long has the parkrun been here for? Were you on the team setting up the parkrun?

00:30:23Hans: Yes, we started in 21. I was one of the co-organisers. I still am. Yeah, 21. So we just had our three years anniversary and also our 150th event. It was a few weeks ago.

00:30:38Ruth Perkins: Congratulations, that's wonderful. And yourself, have you run many parkruns? Have you visited many other parkruns?

00:30:48Hans: Well done! I think I'm now at 46 parkruns participating, volunteering. I don't count the volunteering because I do it because it's fun. So I've been abroad. I've been in Germany and Scotland so far for parkruns in the Netherlands. It's a long term project to visit all the Dutch parkruns.

00:31:13Ruth Perkins: Oh, wow. How many are there roughly in the Netherlands now? 25. Oh, brilliant. Okay. And how many of those have you done now?

00:31:22Hans: I think I'm stuck at 18 at this moment.

00:31:24Ruth Perkins: Okay. Oh, that's pretty good going. So parkrun adventurers, we like to do a lot of tourism, it has to be said. And I'm going to be mean and try and press you to pick three of your favourite parkruns, which can't include this one, which I agree is absolutely beautiful.

00:31:42Hans: Well, that makes it hard because this park is the best. But I would say I liked Aviemore because you run just outside the city and go back again in Scotland. I liked in the Netherlands. There are a few. Sorry that takes so long, but it's difficult. I like Maastricht, it's in the south of the Netherlands, because it's a nice small park. And also I think Sittard is also in the south, are really nice. It's a little bit smaller, you do three laps over there. We have two laps, but I don't mind doing three laps, because you can recognise when you can put some extra effort in.

00:32:30Ruth Perkins: Yeah, very good idea. So we have two laps here of your beautiful park and a little bit of an incline, would you say?

00:32:40Hans: It's 50 metres in total, so it's not really much, especially if you're from a country that has mountains or hills. But the Netherlands is... rather flat so some people are not used to going uphill except for bridges so sometimes I'm warned of the newcomers so there's a slight slope behind us great well thank you so much for chatting with us today and thank you for what is a beautiful parkrun you're welcome it's always nice to see tourists from everywhere around the world and I'm sure they'll come thank you so much

00:33:19Ruth Perkins: Hi there parkrun adventurers. Here's a bonus section for you. I've met two lovely parkrunner tourists here today. So I'm here with Harry and David and they've come here this weekend especially. What did you think of this parkrun today?

00:33:36David Mitchell: Like all parkruns, when you're finished, they're great, aren't they? They're always great when you're finished. Actually, this is a beautiful parkrun. The track's very smooth all the way in. There's a little bit of a hill in the middle of it, which is unusual for Holland, of course, or for the Netherlands. But actually, it's good. It's beautifully well kept, well marshalled. We had a good welcome when we were here. So it's certainly one of the favourite ones I've done. I wouldn't want to come and do this every week, of course, but there's tough parkruns no matter where you go.

00:34:07Ruth Perkins: And David, how many different parkruns have you been to, would you say now?

00:34:10David Mitchell: I don't know the numbers exactly, but I have done a number. We do a bit of the parkrun tourism as we like to do. So every place we go, we certainly try and fit in a parkrun if we do. I mean, we did Germany just a month in July with a trip on a motorbike trip down through Germany. And my brother Harry here, who's obsessed with parkruns, said, oh, we're going to stop in Bonn for the night. I said, oh, why there? He said, oh, there's a parkrun in the morning. So that's how it works. But we're not alone in saying that. But yeah, it's a beautiful parkrun here. And we're here to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands from 1945. I was at 44. 44, of course, 44. So it's the 80th anniversary. We're both ex-parachute regiment, so we're quite proud to be here, and we get a great welcome from the Dutch people. So I've got about 250-odd parkruns, but I'm injured just now, so I'm just getting around when I can, unlike Harry, who's obsessed with parkruns. How many have you got?

00:35:14Harry Mitchell: This is my 460th today.

00:35:17Ruth Perkins: Wow, gosh.

00:35:18Harry Mitchell: But they're all, as David said, most of what explains what parkrun's all about and how it becomes quite obsessive. It's a great way to meet other people, out and about, outdoors, and great for your mental health as well and that social thing, especially during COVID and thereafter COVID. So great, it's done wonders for me. Really great.

00:35:39Ruth Perkins: And how many parkruns is it you said you've been to now?

00:35:42Harry Mitchell: Well, this is my 460th today. My home one is in Scotland, Camperdown Park, which was in the top 10 hardest parkruns in the UK at one time. It's been overtaken now because there's lots more now, but it's a great one lap course and I've done 400 there. That's in Dundee? In Dundee and Scotland.

00:36:04Ruth Perkins: wow that's incredible so if you had to pick three of your favourite parkruns where would you say have been your three favourite it's very hard to say anyone where there's alcohol at the finish oh italy's good for that most of the italian parkruns seem to finish with fizzy wine

00:36:20[crosstalk]

00:36:24David Mitchell: Yeah, do you know what? They're all good. They've all got something to offer. But there was a great one down near Yorkshire someplace around a country park and that was absolutely stunning. I can't remember the name of it. It was in Yorkshire someplace.

00:36:40Ruth Perkins: Oh, yeah, I think I know.

00:36:42[crosstalk]

00:36:43David Mitchell: That was fabulous, yeah. But yeah, hey, they're all good.

00:36:46Ruth Perkins: They're all good. And I haven't asked your surname. I know your first name is what your surname is.

00:36:50David Mitchell: We're the Mitchell twins.

00:36:52Ruth Perkins: The Mitchell twins.

00:36:52[crosstalk]

00:36:53David Mitchell: So Harry and Dave Mitchell.

00:36:54Ruth Perkins: Oh, brilliant. Great. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me. And I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. I think there's an event to go to now, isn't there? I think you're moving...

00:37:03David Mitchell: Yeah, the military are jumping into the same drop zone that the military jumped into 80 years ago. So there's a big event going on there where the military guys all parachute in. Princess Anne's going to be there at some point, along with other royal dignitaries. And no doubt there'll be some bars there as well, so we'll end up in there at some point.

00:37:27Ruth Perkins: Wonderful. Thanks so much for chatting with me today then. Cheers.

00:37:30David Mitchell: Cheers, gents. See you, Gary. Good luck.

Roving report Val Warwick and Steve Warwick

00:37:34Val Warwick: Hi, parkrun adventurers. This is Val and...

00:37:38Steve Warwick: I'm Steve.

00:37:40Val Warwick: And we're very fortunate to have with us... Ryan Stoddart. Most of you have been following and know exactly what he's been doing, living in Tasmania for the last five months in his car. But tonight is Ryan's last night in the greatest state. We might be the smallest, but definitely the greatest. How are you feeling tonight, Ryan?

00:38:07Ryan Stoddart: I'm actually quite sad. Yeah, sad to... My time in Tassie is over and heading back to the mainland. I've had a fantastic time here. I've done so much. So many great memories. But there's still so much I want to do down here. And I just didn't manage to fit it in in five months.

00:38:29Val Warwick: See, I did say it's the greatest state, didn't I?

00:38:34Steve Warwick: Well, Ryan, we have 22 parkruns here in Tasmania. You run all of them. The bad news is there's a couple more starting up shortly. So you'll have to come back again. So you're filled in your Saturdays, but what do you do with the rest of the weeks? You're just sitting around doing what?

00:38:55Ryan Stoddart: Well, there's so much to do in Tasmania. I was out doing lots of hikes. So I probably did about three laps around Tassie and I think I racked up about maybe 8,000 kilometres of driving. But, you know, I went out to Cradle Mountain and Freycinet and went right down to the bottom. Cockle Creek. Yeah, Cockle Creek down to the south and Bruny Island, Flinders Island. Yeah, so I've done lots of walking. But I've also read lots of books too. I think I read nearly 40 books while I was here. And I went on lots of swims too. Yeah. In winter? In winter, yes. I think the coldest was six degrees water. It was probably the coldest swim I went for, but very refreshing.

00:39:44Steve Warwick: So you sound like you've had a good time. Would you recommend other people to come down and do what you've done?

00:39:50Ryan Stoddart: Definitely, definitely. And you don't have to come in winter. You can come in summer if you want to. It's up to you.

00:39:58Val Warwick: Now, we always ask on the podcast for the three favourites, but we all know that you cannot have three favourites because you would have 22 favourites. Now, can you just fill us in on maybe your three most memorable ones, ones that for different reasons have stood out? There may be more than three, of course, but share away.

00:40:25Ryan Stoddart: yeah um every parkrun down here was was fantastic um I do love the trail um ones um but the most memorable I think um Whitemark Wharf parkrun just because it was quite hard to get to so it's out on flinders island and And because I live in my car, I had to take my car across on the Bass Strait Freight. And the week I planned to go was the week when Tasmania had that 150k an hour winds. And so, yeah, my trip over was cancelled. So it was delayed two weeks. And then coming back from that was also tough. My trip was cancelled. I had to fly back. Yeah, so very difficult to get over there. So that was quite an interesting parkrun. Kate Reed in North Seston, the day I did that, two days prior to that, I think it was nonstop rain. So Kate Reid parkrun is a trail run but there were so many puddles that day it was quite fun actually. And the third one will probably be way out in the west, Zeehan. That's another trail run. It's double out and back. Probably my favourite one too. And I got the Z. So I got my second alphabet by going to that one. Yeah, so they're probably the most memorable ones.

00:41:56Val Warwick: And you did figure in the local paper down there, didn't you, there was a big spread about the running guy.

00:42:03Ryan Stoddart: Yeah, I think we had nine parkrun adventurers down there too. My girlfriend came down for that, Sarah, and also a couple of mates of mine from Queensland, they were also there.

00:42:12Val Warwick: And Steve and I and Martine and Andrew and, yes, it was a big lot of adventurers that weekend. You also did a whole lot of other running and hiking and I think you've had an absolutely amazing time. And you're not the only one that's a little sad. I think we are. We're going to miss you. We've enjoyed having you come and stay with us a couple of times. But... We wish you all the best and I know all the rest of the adventurers will be wishing you all the best as well for your next adventure, wherever that is going to take you. Thanks, Ryan.

00:42:50Steve Warwick: Thank you. Thank you.

Roving report Sarah Jefferson — Invercargill parkrun

00:42:52Sarah Jefferson: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Sarah here from the West Side, across the ditch, at the bottom of the South Island at Invercargill parkrun. And this morning I'm here with the Run Director, Liz. Thanks for having us this morning. Thanks so much for coming. Now, your briefing this morning was impressive. It was in the form of poetry. Do you mind sharing it with the listeners, please?

00:43:09Liz: Yeah, let's see if I can get it out in one.

00:43:11[23 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:43:34Liz: With dogs on leashes, short and fast Young ones under eleven's care With guardians their journeys share Our volunteers, a noble crew We thank thee for all that you do To join their ranks, just let us know Invercargill at parkrun.com Send a note to show Remember thy barcode, scannable and bright Without it, no time, they'll run Though they'll run with might Post-run to Cheeky Llama we repair For tales and treats and friendship fair May the wind be gentle, the path be clear, set a new record or simply cheer. With hearts alight and spirits high, let Invercargill parkrun fly.

00:43:55[background music]

00:44:12Sarah Jefferson: Huzzah! Well done. Very impressive, very engaging this morning. Just trying something different. Definitely. Now, a beautiful course here in Queen's Park. Do you mind briefly just describing it to the listeners, please?

00:44:28Liz: It's probably the most complicated design of a park we could do. It's traditionally was an out and back course with several triangles included in it. That's probably a good direction. It's meant to take us on a magical journey around Queen's Park. I would agree with that. It was certainly magical. And it takes us around through the Band Rotunda, then we go and showcase the Rose Garden, and then take a lovely jaunt along the trail along Calvin Street. We come along through the Coronation Ave, and then we do a triangle view up our only hill, which is a six-metre rise. Yeah, very, compared to a lot of other events in New Zealand, we're very flat. Yes, very flat indeed.

00:45:12Sarah Jefferson: Very flat. Yeah, you know, it's beautiful. And I could imagine in the warmer months when the trees are covered with leaves, it would be even, you know, a completely different view as well. Oh, every season gives us a different view.

00:45:20[crosstalk]

00:45:23Liz: And the trees are really good for protection in the winter too.

00:45:26Sarah Jefferson: True, true. Now you are parkrun ambassador, is that right? Yes. And you are the Event Director here. Yes. So you're obviously quite involved in parkrun. How long, I guess, you're involved in the setup of this course as well?

00:45:40Liz: Yeah, we set up in 2018 here, which did take a while to set up, so it took about two years for us to get going. So my parkrun journey started at Main Beach in 2016. Main Beach, okay. And I came in last, second last, because the table was behind me. Can't be last, that's right. But it was terrifying, because on the course that day, there was a sign that said that a python had been released. And given how slow I was, I thought I was the prime target for that python, so um yeah evidently when I got back to the finish line after freaking about it for the entire 5k someone told me the sign had been there for about four years damn damn but it made you you know and that's that made me come back yeah yeah nice and now you've got quite um a group

00:45:54[crosstalk]

00:46:29Sarah Jefferson: all very lovely, all very welcoming. What's the secret?

00:46:33Liz: Well, we try and have a party in the park, so our volunteers are active volunteers, so they're not missing out on an event by volunteering, because they actually dance and put music on and try and be a bit more... involved so a lot of people don't feel like they're sacrificing a run like we might have used to you know some of the old um yep early adopters of parkrun might have thought um yeah and what we try and do we've noticed that the more volunteers we have the more walkers we have and so um it's been really instrumental encouraging the walker group to come to parkrun um and makes it there's a party in the back with that parkwalker because as a result we've got a huge increase in volunteers um not just from those walkers but also from their families yeah so um who are runners and yeah so it's been fantastic so we this week today I think we've got 27 volunteers out um we probably need 13 to run nicely um so more than a couple yeah yeah and we just we just want to get people out and doing um it's great but just be part of it yeah yeah

00:46:35[background music]

00:47:26[crosstalk]

00:47:33Sarah Jefferson: I did notice there were a lot of walkers on the course. I did walk today. And, yeah, I didn't feel that I was towards the back at all. No. So, yeah, that was really great. And I guess the way that it kind of, the course is designed, you don't feel. You're not getting run upon or anything. You're left behind. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's quite nice. And one more very important question. So Cheeky Llamas is the place to go after here. What is the best breakfast recommendation at Cheeky Llamas? So I quite like the poached eggs on hash browns. Oh, on hash browns. Yeah. That sounds good. Or the French toast with salted butter. Wait, salted caramel butter. Oh, my God. Sounds like it's going to be a very hard choice this morning. Well, thank you so much for having us and thank you for sharing a little bit of your parkrun journey with us.

00:47:35[background music]

00:47:47[crosstalk]

00:48:13[crosstalk]

00:48:14Liz: We're so delighted that you're here. Yeah, thank you.

00:48:15[background music]

00:48:15Sarah Jefferson: Enjoy the South. And highly recommend Invercargill parkrun. Yay, thanks. Thanks.

00:48:19[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:48:33Melissa Ellis: And thank you very much to our three contributors this week for Roving Reports. Ruth Perkins, we've heard a few times from Ruth now. We're enjoying your reports. Thank you, Ruth. Keep sending those in. And Val and Steve, thanks for bringing us news of Ryan and news from down south in Tasmania.

00:48:53Oliver Spake: In the greater state.

00:48:57Melissa Ellis: everybody's getting on board with this I think uh you know what is it um it's the highest form of flattery imitation it's the highest form of flattery I'll take it I'll take it as a win and Sarah coming to us from across the ditch over there and uh good job Liz on reading the run brief in poetry there's a few events out there that do that I think it's nice nice little touch And of course, there were more. We are very well aware there are more. We've got them in the bank and we will bring them to you as we catch up with all our roving reports. But thank you to those that sent in and you should hear those next week.

00:49:37Oliver Spake: What a good problem to have. Thank you, everyone.

00:49:39Melissa Ellis: It is a great problem.

00:49:41Oliver Spake: Yes, but...

Dazza's

00:49:43Oliver Spake: Someone who we never like to describe as a problem. Not that our roving reporters are problems. Gee, just keep digging, Ollie.

00:49:50[background music]

00:49:50Val Warwick: God, Dazza.

00:49:52Oliver Spake: Dazza, save me.

00:49:55Michael: You should really shut that door.

00:49:59Oliver Spake: MUSIC This week, as I said, September is Friendship Month. In amongst celebrating streaks, bingos, the end of winter sports and dodging magpies, we can also celebrate our friends. Did you make a new friend at parkrun? See someone you hadn't seen in a while? Enjoy a catch-up with someone you only see on Saturday mornings? Or perhaps you enjoyed your own company and will worry about friends later. However it went, come see your friend Dazza and tell us all about it.

00:50:31Melissa Ellis: And one person that came into Dazza's was David O'Brien from Tasmania. And he said, ventured to Zeehan Golf Club parkrun for event number 33 at the old mining town in the southwest of Tasmania. The course is a two lap out and back along a gravel path with approximately 85 metres of gradual elevation. I was checking out the course the day before along a bush path in the middle of nowhere when a couple passed me saying hello as they passed. I quickly thought, I know that voice, turned around and said, TOC?

00:51:05Val Warwick: That voice is very distinctive.

00:51:08Melissa Ellis: Yes, it was. And along with Jackie, we proceeded to have a great chinwag as we walked along the bush path for the next half an hour. parkrun morning brought fantastic weather with 25 participating. I was lucky enough to take the win, just edge out Tock and Tasmania's adventurer, Steve Warwick. I also regained my Tassie statesmanship, which I am proud of. I then volunteered as Barcode Scanner, cheering on all the finishes. Jared the Timekeeper was a busker from Hobart and sang a few songs as participants were finishing. The post event consisted of coffee at the local pit stop cafe, debriefing and discussing adventuring with the O'Connells and Warwicks. Zeehan was one of the friendliest parkruns I have been to and the west coast of Tassie has great sightseeing opportunities. I stayed at the Zeon Bush Cabins where the owners were also parkrun participants and volunteers. And David shared a group photo with TOC himself, Jack, Val and Steve with the selfie frame. And yes, just to reiterate again, David and TOC placed first and second.

00:52:18Oliver Spake: Yeah, good one to get to out there. But we also heard from a little further north there, Mel, in Victoria, Mark Prowse, who said, hey, Dazza. My friendship with Suzanne Aquilina has developed from volunteering at Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun with her. I was invited to join a group of MCR runners at Darebin parkrun and Mark shared a photo of herself and Suzanne in the Darebin selfie frame.

00:52:47Melissa Ellis: Oh, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

00:52:50Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:52:50Melissa Ellis: I know those ladies. Alrighty, we also heard from Ellie Shepherd, who's back home in the UK, and she said, if I was asked for one word to describe parkrun, it would be friendship. So it was an honour to be able to help a friend, Chris Lloyd, celebrate her 50th parkrun by parkwalking, me, not her, at Salcey Forest parkrun in Northamptonshire. Chris's husband, John, was on barcode scanning duty and afterwards we sorted all the finished tokens back in order in the excellent cafe there. And Ellie shared a photo of John, Chris and herself with the pop-up there at Salsey Forest.

00:53:30Oliver Spake: Now, we heard from Belinda Cafe in Japan. When we were wandering around looking for the start of, oh, I'm not used to this one, Futakotamagawa parkrun, we ran into someone who offered to walk with us there. Turned out to be the ED Tim. We had a lovely, if very humid walk for five kilometres, excited to tick off another country. And the photo there was of the ladies under the bridge, Belinda and Simone Biddle.

00:54:02Melissa Ellis: And Simon's very good at saying that one. I want to say it. Yes.

00:54:08Oliver Spake: Yes. Yeah, that's why.

00:54:09Melissa Ellis: Yeah, no, Simon's the expert with that.

00:54:12[crosstalk]

00:54:12Oliver Spake: It rolls off his tongue. Yes. It does. I can't. I can't do it, Simon. I need practice.

00:54:18Melissa Ellis: I always want to say footed Tamagawa or Tamagotchi or something. No offence to them. And it's a very iconic photo of their start line under the bridge because... Part of their name, which we won't try and say again, is painted underside of that bridge there. Now, we also heard from Johan Duvenhage, and he said, Levi and I finished our short vacation at Bredasdorp parkrun, South Africa, with a few tough uphills. It was a beautiful morning as the cold front was moving in a bit slower than predicted, and we got to enjoy the route and the friendly locals for my 150th Southern African event. And there was a great photo of Johan out on course running with Levi. Congratulations, Johan.

00:55:07Oliver Spake: Wow. Now, across the Dutch, Sarah Jefferson. Hi, Dazza. After a missed flight and a diversion to a totally different airport, we did get to Invercargill parkrun as planned. What a stunning course and park. We loved our visit here and highly recommend it. We went waterfall searching after parkrun, which was epic. And the photo there was Matt and Sarah from the West Side in the New Zealand selfie frame.

00:55:36Melissa Ellis: That is a very long way from the West Side.

00:55:39Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:55:40Melissa Ellis: Down there in the deep south of New Zealand. Next we heard from Martine Barrot who came to us from South Australia. She said, hey Dazza, Andrew Johnston, Roberta Winters, Eric Banner and I ventured to Port Lincoln parkrun for a friend's frond. We met some lovely locals. September is also Save the Koala Month. I have made friends with many koalas. With Park Faf and Brekkie now done, we are off to see if we can find some local koalas at the Mikkira Station Koala Sanctuary. And Martine shared a photo of herself with Andrew and Roberta out there at the Port Lincoln selfie frame. And that's nice to know that it was save the koala month. Yeah, yeah.

00:56:29Oliver Spake: Now, in the UK, Claire Vinicic. Double AK, which was a reference there with the selfie of Claire with the auto park pop-up pointing to a parkrun alphabet flag.

00:56:46Melissa Ellis: So does that mean double A to K? Double A to K. Is that the full alphabet that Claire's done twice? Because that's what I assumed and that's why I threw it in.

00:56:57Oliver Spake: Hang on a second. Let me read that again. Double A-Z.

00:57:03Melissa Ellis: Did I write it wrong?

00:57:07Oliver Spake: Yeah, I did get the alphabet slightly wrong there.

00:57:11Melissa Ellis: Did you though?

00:57:12Oliver Spake: I don't know, but yes, that is a double alphabet. So congratulations.

00:57:17Melissa Ellis: The photo was of Claire pointing to the alphabet flag, so we're going to assume that, right?

00:57:23Oliver Spake: Yes, it was absolutely double AZ, and congratulations, Claire. I finally got over my confusion there, but, yeah, very impressive and understandably pretty stoked.

the Obi Award — Sarah Jefferson

00:57:35Melissa Ellis: All right, all said and done, have you got an Obilope?

00:57:38Oliver Spake: I have an Obilope.

00:57:40[background music]

00:57:40Melissa Ellis: Would you like to announce the winner of this week's Obi?

00:57:45Oliver Spake: I would love to, yes. All it says is don't go west. So cryptically, that's Sarah from the West Side.

00:58:08Melissa Ellis: Well done, Sarah, on travelling a very, very long way for an adventure in the deep south of the South Island of New Zealand and missing a flight. Hopefully we get to hear what happened about that soon. I'm glad you made parkrun, though. That's a relief. And we look forward to the next time you're on to tell us all about it. Absolutely. But, Ollie.

Emails

00:58:31Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:58:32Melissa Ellis: We had an email this week. We did. We did.

00:58:35Oliver Spake: We had an email from Lee Caparito. I don't know what to call it when she's got two names on the footer of the email, but that's still to come. It says, oh, hello, how are you doing? hoping you're all well there in your sparkly room with a view. Thanks for last week's super informative pod. I'm at the very early stages of planning a rough lap of the map for After Palm next year, and it led me to two adventuring questions that hopefully haven't been asked earlier. Those being, has a central hotel been recommended slash chosen for Queenstown for Palm? I'm keen to lock it in. And do you know if anyone has done a parkrun focused lap of the map before so I can pick their brain re-mapping app choices, tips, etc? I've done my fair share of four-wheel drive rallies, outback and desert travel in the past, so will more than likely stick to the coast slash Highway 1 heading clockwise from the Sydney anywho thought it was worth asking rather than reinventing the wheel thanks in advance and thanks again for the pod kind regards Leanne aka Lee Cabarita that's her porn name so two questions Mel nice to hear from Lee it is um so the answer to the first question no um

01:00:04Melissa Ellis: Although I know TOC's booked his accommodation, but I can't say I know if it's a hotel. He could be in Airbnb. Not really sure about that, but that is worth raising. Perhaps we need to re-establish the palm chat or turn it into a group or something like that. But no, I haven't booked accommodation in any case. So that question is answered. And as to a lap of the map, that's exciting.

01:00:38Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:00:39Melissa Ellis: That will be wonderful. So clockwise. So that means that she'll be travelling south from Sydney.

01:00:44Oliver Spake: Yep.

01:00:44Melissa Ellis: And we should invite any adventurers that have in fact done this.

01:00:48Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:00:50Melissa Ellis: to get in touch with us and we can put you in touch with Lee.

01:00:54Oliver Spake: I'm pretty sure there have been some marvellous journeys done of the map that we can probably have some good suggestions from, Mel. So, yeah.

01:01:02Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I know of people doing sections. I don't know necessarily of anybody doing the whole thing. Suggest maybe getting on to, if you're going to Tassie, get on to Ryan.

01:01:14Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

01:01:17Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and Marvellous Mark for the West Coast. Yeah, and I know the Warwicks have done a bit of touring and perhaps the Schroders. Yes. And Kevin, the Caravan. So, yeah, there's a few out there. But if anybody that listens has got some advice they'd like to give to Lee, then, yeah, get in touch with us and we'll put yous together. Excellent.

01:01:43Oliver Spake: Well, Mel.

01:01:45[background music]

Club Corner

01:01:46Oliver Spake: That's our emails, but I think it is time to hear from someone else. I believe it's time to hear from Rachel.

01:01:53[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

01:02:06Rachel: This is Rachel with Club Corner, where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs, and I am coming to you from Arrernte Country. Today I'm going to fill in a few gaps. To be honest, I don't know if these are gaps or not, but we got a question, and I am here to serve for listeners. The first gap to address is the club, Double Barrel. It is, as exactly what's on the tin, it's about event names which have repeated words, it's a tight bunch, and the three in this club currently are, Curl Curl, Mullum Mullum, and Woy Woy parkruns. The next is similar slash related, in that it uses the English language, and we are talking about alliteration, to quote Oxford languages who define alliteration as the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words e.g she sells seashells by the seashore now this club is somewhat flexible as sometimes we include the word parkrun and sometimes not and there are bonus events which have most of their name being alliterative The bonus events. Australian Standing Stones, SS. Benalla Botanical Gardens, BB. Bendigo Botanic Gardens, also BB. Cyril Curtain Reserve, CC. And South Beach Recreation Reserve, RR. For the rest, it's a huge group, 31 all up. Some are cute, like the double barrels listed previously, and some are okay, and a few are magical. What the heck, let's hear me say the cute ones again. Curl Curl, Mullum Mullum, and Woi Woi. The okay, vary, such as Gainsborough Greens, You Yangs, Rocks Riverside and The Terrace. Then we move on to the magical. Paradise Point parkrun! with triple P's and Picnic Point Parklands parkrun! with quadruple P's. Well, I am off to have a good cup of tea and a quiet sit in a corner to recover from this episode. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-Milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

01:04:06Melissa Ellis: And thank you, Rachel, for bringing us more interesting clubs, the Double Barrel Club, which in Australia is Curl Curl, Mullum Mullum and Woi Woi. Ollie, I wonder if other countries have got double barrel parkrun names. If you know of one in your country, can you write in and tell us? I'd like to know. An international double barrel club, perhaps. Or is it uniquely Australian?

01:04:35Oliver Spake: I'm curious now.

01:04:36Melissa Ellis: And, of course, the Alliteration Club, which is too numerous to mention.

Consolidated Club Report

01:04:44Melissa Ellis: Now, the adventurers Consolidated Club Report, Oliver, for Saturday the 28th of September 2024. No, you're not in trouble. Of a total of 690 members, 513 took part, Ollie, on this day in 13 countries across 281 locations. Remember when we started off and we had hardly any?

01:05:08Oliver Spake: Yes.

01:05:09Melissa Ellis: Exciting.

01:05:10Oliver Spake: Yes. I think I still remember who member number 100 was. Yep. Oh, good job. Shame she doesn't get out of bed to park, right?

01:05:17Melissa Ellis: But, yeah. Right. Oh, I know why you remember. In the UK, there were adventurers at 51 events. There were seven events in South Africa, two in the USA and Italy, one in Austria, Finland, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, and Singapore. Locally, we had adventurers at 51 events in New South Wales. The greatest state, with the UK. Silver for the Great Estate on 49 events. Queensland had 47, 19 in Australia. Yeah, the Great Estate, yep.

01:06:02Oliver Spake: That Great Estate, yep.

01:06:03Melissa Ellis: Oh, stop echoing! 17 in South Australia, 8 in Tassie, 6 in the ACT, 5 on the North Island, 3 on the South Island and 1 in the Northern Territory.

01:06:16Oliver Spake: All very great places.

the Frond — Pokkinen parkrun, Finland (international); The Ponds parkrun (Australia)

01:06:18Oliver Spake: But our largest international frond, now that I'll actually do my job, sorry, at Pokkinen in Finland. So Rachel Dorsey, Laura Davenport, Heather Morgan, Andy Poole, Andy and Debbie Airey, Rhiannon Taylor, Penelope Thessen, and Linda Boskic. And Andy Airey did... report in um earlier we didn't read it out but we'll definitely have to mention it here uh 130 of us popped over to Pokkinen in Finland to run slash shuffle slash creek at the most northerly parkrun in the world majority of us took the overnight nine hour sleeper train from Helsinki to Oulu We broke the finish record for a normal parkrun day with 173 in attendance and the highest number of volunteers with 59. Also beat the course record by 107. Nine adventurers in attendance too. And yes, the large Airey Airways photo there shared. So it sounds like a great time.

01:07:27Melissa Ellis: Goodness, well done. That must take a lot to... Organised. So good on you, Andy. Yeah, I would say you do all that, a lot of hard work going into it.

the pilgrimage

01:07:40Melissa Ellis: Now, the pilgrimage. Woohoo! We had four adventurers at Bushy this week. We had Laura, Caleb, Tabitha and Timothy Amos. And Laura popped into Dazza's and said, thrilled to complete the pilgrimage today at Bushy parkrun. My daughter, Tabitha, did her 25th parkrun and was thrilled to have the Run Director congratulate her personally and in his briefing. Loved it. Also spotted so many deer and made friends with a Tail Walker and a parkwalker. And Laura shared a family pic there with the Bushy pop-up.

01:08:14Oliver Spake: That sounds pretty special. Congratulations.

01:08:17Melissa Ellis: yes now the largest frond in Australia we had a frond of eight at The Ponds and a frond of seven guess where it was it was at the Australian Botanic gardens in mount Annan and sorry ponds but I'm going to highlight that one this week It was me, me and Dave, joined by Sam Schroder, Ingrid Botha, Bec Bailey, Richard Folchon, and Michael Gentle, with Luke and Sherry on barcode scanning and Andrew on finish tokens. But I think Andrew's forgot to join the Adventurers Club. And I know he's a listener. So, Andrew, do you need some help? We can help you out with that. That's very kind.

01:09:02Oliver Spake: Thank you. But, yeah, well done, everyone. I do look forward to visiting that spectacular-sounding parkrun very, very soon.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

01:09:11Oliver Spake: And I mean that in every sense of it. But, Mel, we did have a couple of new hatches in the parkrun world.

01:09:16Melissa Ellis: I know, and they're both really hard to say.

01:09:19Oliver Spake: I'll go first, shall I? So, is it Bygholm? You tell me. Bugholm parkrun. My Danish is terrible, but in Denmark, in the city of Horsens, which is approximately 200 kilometres from Copenhagen, it's a flat two-lap course on fine gravel in Bugholm parkrun. Event number one had 180 participants and 14 volunteers.

01:09:49Melissa Ellis: Good job. Now it's my turn. Okay. Next we had Judarskogen parkrun in Sweden, which is held in Judarskogen Nature Reserve in Bromma in the western suburbs of Stockholm. And it is at two loops on a gravel path through the Meadows Pass Lake, You gone and through a castle. I don't know if that's true, through a castle, or Google Translate gave me a bum steer.

01:10:17Oliver Spake: It's got me, yeah. I'm not really sure.

01:10:20Melissa Ellis: Maybe there's a castle there, maybe not. Don't get excited. Don't blame me. Event one had 129 participants and 20 volunteers. Welcome to the family.

01:10:29Oliver Spake: Absolutely. Exciting times. But, Mel, there are other exciting times coming up. Other celebrations, including this parkrun Day. Someone's turning 20. 20. In fact, everyone's turning 20.

01:10:45Melissa Ellis: We're all turning 20. Hooray. No, we're not. But it's the 20th anniversary.

01:10:52Oliver Spake: That's right. That's right. So... As PSH himself has said on the 5th of October, every parkrun throughout the world is asked to celebrate our 20th birthday. It's definitely not about Bushy parkrun. The special thing about parkrun's DNA is that your home event is the most special place where the real action takes place. Free forever community. And, well, you don't have to tell me twice. I think I know where I'll go on Saturday.

01:11:22Melissa Ellis: Hmm. So spoiler alert for what was coming up. But it's a good point. So, yes, they are requesting that Bushy parkrun isn't overwhelmed, as it was recently with their 1,000th event, and it would be really great if everybody out there does celebrate the anniversary of parkrun. That's somewhere special to them.

01:11:49Oliver Spake: Yes, yes.

01:11:50[background music]

01:11:50Melissa Ellis: Now, more special things, Ollie.

parkrun adventure challengelistener challenge

01:11:52Melissa Ellis: The return of the listener challenge. Yes, been missing. Insert spooky music. It has been missing. We gave it a rest for streaky September because people were busy doing their Bingoe cards. But it's back. It's back because I think the listeners enjoy it. They like being... you know, mysterious and secretive. Anyway, this week we thought it would be apt, if you would like, in your communications with us on the Facebook page, in Dazza's or wherever you so wish, to pop in a birthday-related emoji. So that could be a balloon or a birthday cake or a present. Yeah, whatever.

01:12:41Oliver Spake: or many birthday cakes in the case of my kitchen at the moment, but yeah.

01:12:46Melissa Ellis: Oh, you had a birthday, didn't you? Ava had a birthday on Saturday. I didn't. Wish Ava a happy birthday.

01:12:51Oliver Spake: Oh, that's okay. Ava made sure everyone else did, so that's quite okay now. Yes, yeah, yeah. This is the nine-year-old that rocks up at parkrun the week before her birthday, grabs the megaphone, tells everyone it's her birthday in a week, gets the shout-out on her birthday but doesn't actually come to parkrun for it.

01:13:11Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Oh, dear.

01:13:14Oliver Spake: Bunch of them. Oh, well.

01:13:17Melissa Ellis: Nine. So nine now.

01:13:18Oliver Spake: Nine now. Nine now. That's right. But yes, sorry. Keep me on track. Birthday emoji. We look forward to seeing them out there. But Mel, since I've let, I don't know, the cat out of the bag that I'm going somewhere predictable this parkrun day, where are you going?

Sign-off

01:13:41Melissa Ellis: Well, actually, this is really apt. Now that I declared that you should spend parkrun Day at somewhere special, I am going to actually be at Puckapunyal parkrun, which is actually somewhere special for me. So I'm really glad that I'll be going there now, and I shall make sure that I let everybody there know that it's a special day.

01:14:04Oliver Spake: Nice. That makes me happy to hear. And I hope everyone gets to enjoy a special day, whether you are at home or adventuring, of course. It's always a nice one.

01:14:15Melissa Ellis: Thank you very much for coming back and joining me today. Thank you for having me.

01:14:19Oliver Spake: Sorry I'm a bit scratchy, everyone, but, hey, it's nice to be back and enjoying some...

01:14:23Melissa Ellis: It makes for interesting audio.

01:14:25Oliver Spake: If I carry a spark running, it sure does. Yes. LAUGHTER

01:14:31Melissa Ellis: And next week I shall be back with Simon.

01:14:34Oliver Spake: And, yes, it'll be good to hear the smoother pronunciation when Simon is back. But nonetheless, as I say, thank you very much. As always, everyone, you can contact us for inquiries, for emails and complaints about Ollie's pronunciation and poor hosting jobs.

01:14:52Melissa Ellis: God, now he's out living.

01:14:54Oliver Spake: Fire parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. But that is it for another week. We'll see you all next week for more adventures.