Episode 404 - Boomerang

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Sarah Jefferson: Welcome to episode 404 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life if your life is all about parkrun. My name is Sarah Jefferson and I am coming to you from Noongar Country.

00:00:35Simon Mackley: And I'm Simon Mackley coming to you as always from Quandamooka Country. Welcome back to your November episode, Sarah. How are you feeling?

00:00:44Sarah Jefferson: Thank you, Simon. I'm feeling really good. I'm I mean, I'm sure in maybe a week's time I won't be able to put my shoes on anymore and tie my shoelaces up.

00:00:56Simon Mackley: Fair enough.

00:00:57Sarah Jefferson: But aside from that, I'm feeling, yeah, really fit and really well. So loving that the weather's warming up here in WA. Finally, so that's really nice. Are you getting in the water? I put my legs in the water on Saturday, but I have been in for a few swims. I did go for two swims or two dips, I'm going to say, before work last week, which was really lovely. And we obviously don't have daylight savings in Western Australia, so the sun is up, I think, at 5.06 is our sunrise.

00:01:31Simon Mackley: Wow.

00:01:32Sarah Jefferson: Yeah. Plenty of time before work to sort of get down to the beach and enjoy that.

00:01:37Simon Mackley: Nice.

00:01:38Sarah Jefferson: Anyway, I need to ask you because the last time you recorded, I don't think you actually shared how you went with the Bondi to Manly Run that you were participating in. How could you forget to mention this, Simon?

00:01:50Simon Mackley: That's why I couldn't remember where I went for the previous parkrun day because I didn't go to parkrun. No, we did well. Well, sorry, I say we did well. We had a fun day, unfortunately Paul who did leg one was a bit injured by the time he finished then I took over leg two it was more lumpy than I had actually anticipated it was going to be but yeah I had a great time then I handed it on for leg three which is what I did last year and that is definitely the worst leg and the newest person to our group did that and then the final leg was C4 to Manly and It was all fun and games. So, you know, we had a lot of fun. It was a lot of moving around and that sort of thing, which is what Mel did last year. She came and supported us. So, yeah, we had a really, really good time.

00:02:40Sarah Jefferson: Fantastic. So for someone who's originally from Sydney, so where would you have started your part of the race and finished?

00:02:49Simon Mackley: So I started at Rose Bay and I ran to Kirribilli. So I had around the Opera House, over the Harbour Bridge, past Kirribilli and Admiralty House and then into one of the parks. Well, on the map they're calling it North Sydney, but I'm going to say that it's Kirribilli. So it's the back of Kirribilli. Beautiful.

00:03:10Sarah Jefferson: And you definitely couldn't have wrangled a parkrun in that time. I'm sure, you know, some people have been known to do this.

00:03:19Simon Mackley: Yes. So last year we actually dropped Mel somewhere so she could go and do – I want you to do Greenway. No, I couldn't have wrangled it because our first runner went off, which was Paul, at 6.30. And by the time he got in, it was nine o'clock.

00:03:39Sarah Jefferson: And not near Rose Bay. A parkrun near Rose Bay. Yeah.

00:03:42Simon Mackley: No, the closest one would be Parama or Centennial. And yeah, it just isn't enough time. Fair enough. So I still have to get back into Parama, Macquarie and... A, B, G, M, A.

00:03:56Sarah Jefferson: Yes, the three that you need to get back and do might be part of your 2025 goals.

00:04:01Simon Mackley: It may just be, yes, yes, yes.

00:04:05Sarah Jefferson: So I guess heading back to some parkrun talk, Simon, how was your last parkrun day?

00:04:10Simon Mackley: I had a wonderful parkrun day. I went to Calamvale's 10th birthday. So as Mel and I have talked about before, actually Mel, was here two years ago, and we went to Calamvale's eighth birthday. So yeah, I went to the 10th birthday. It was their event, 474, with 229 participants and 21 volunteers. The theme was white, which was a reference to the Junior 10 t-shirt being white. So well angled there. I didn't realise the white until I got there, what the reason was. There were a couple of standout people in white. So Mike, the ED, was in a white suit looking very Don Johnson, also with 1980s classic white Reebok shoes. I'm sure you can remember what they look like.

00:05:00Sarah Jefferson: Definitely.

00:05:00Simon Mackley: Definitely. Then there was another guy that was in white long pants with a white singlet and a white jacket. And he was pushing a stroller at one stage and he looked very, very hot. Like Mike didn't run in his suit. So it was actually making coffees for people at the end, which was something I hadn't expected. But, yeah, there was plenty of people in, like, white dresses, white tops and skirts. There was quite a few. I don't know if you had them in WA or you saw them at Curl Curl. There were these Suncorp shirts that said I run positive on them or singlets. It was in the early days of parkrun when Suncorp was a sponsor. So there was a few people in those, and much, much more. So while not everyone got that memo about it being white, the one thing that most people were wearing was a smile, which was lovely. So Calamvale to me is a quintessential community event. If you're yet to go there, it's a two and a half lap course on a concrete path and a real pleasure to go to. Everyone's very chatty and very up for talking.

00:06:05Sarah Jefferson: Sounds like a nice morning. Yes.

00:06:08Simon Mackley: So where did you go to?

00:06:10Sarah Jefferson: I headed to a close event to home, which was nice for a change, to South Beach Recreation Reserve parkrun's third birthday. So similar to yours, it was a themed event. So three years celebrating under the sea. So there were lots of people participating with floaties around their waist. Kids were dressed in shark onesies, people with buckets on their heads and some streamers hanging down of their faces like a jellyfish, as well as people wearing swimming caps and swimwear. So I was joined by three colleagues, a fellow adventurer, Brenton Pullman, as well as Matt. None of us were wearing any of the marine or ocean attire, but we did get in the ocean after, which was good. And as I'm now in my third trimester of pregnancy, I am enjoying, I guess, just being fit and able to participate. So for me, looking at parkrun with my sober glass half full, My experience, I guess, for me, it's nearly twice as long as I normally get to enjoy. So I'm looking at that positive. I guess at the start when I had to start walking, I'm thinking, my goodness, this is taking me double the time. But now my experience is double in length. So that's been really good. And I've been able to walk and had a big chat to a friend, which was really nice. On the morning, there were 194 participants and 13 volunteers. So this was actually an attendance record that was up by three, although the one before was 191, which was set on the 20th of November in 2021. So afterwards, we headed down for a swim And then headed home for breakfast. It was the last weekend of the garage sale trail. Simon, I don't know if you're familiar with it, but there are four days a year where everyone puts on lots of garage sales. So I headed out or quickly came home, had breakfast and headed out to check those out. So it was a nice morning.

00:08:11Simon Mackley: So a bit of the old reuse, recycle, all that sort of thing is the garage sale, I guess.

00:08:17Sarah Jefferson: Definitely. I mean, I didn't really find any true bargains last weekend. I got some good bargains. Anyway, it's just fun. You just never know what you're going to find, I guess.

00:08:25Simon Mackley: Yeah, for sure.

Budgie update

00:08:26Simon Mackley: Well, I believe we have a Budgie update. So I have seen that Budgie went to Panania parkrun. So Jane Yates popped into Dazza's and said, Budgie and I planned a visit to the ACT, but due to family commitments, I needed to stay close to home. Plan B, we went home to Panania parkrun where he met Rocky. Mel gave us a recap on the last pod about a few of Budgie's up and coming plans. So I believe that you might be meeting Budgie soon, Sarah, and taking him back to the West Side.

00:08:57Sarah Jefferson: Yes, supposedly that's the plan, Simon. I just keep hearing about this being relayed in the podcast. So supposedly that is right. So I need to make sure that I've got some extra space in my bag for the huge plane called Budgie that I'll be bringing back. However, I am a little nervous about this, I will be honest. Let's hope that I don't go into labour and that Budgie gets stuck listening to crying babies or dealing with a cranky new mum who hasn't slept. So I guess once Budgie makes his way back on his cross-continental journey to the West Side, I will certainly be aiming to pass Budgie on to another adventurer pronto, that's for sure. And if I'm correct, Budgie then still needs to head back to the ACT and then up to the Northern Territory, which I think could be a little bit tricky at this time of year because it is obviously heading into the wet season. So from experience, Matt and I actually travelled up to Darwin once in April thinking, oh, we'll be okay. It's the start of the dry season. But my goodness, when I walked out of the hotel 50 metres later, I was just about dying of like the humidity. So if anyone is actually going to be heading up to the Northern Territory in the next few months, I take my hat off to you because you need to be pretty hardcore to go up there for a parkrun at this time of year. But anyway... It's a perfect time of year for Budgie to be jet-setting around the West Coast and checking out some of our amazing parkruns here. So who knows how long Budgie will be here for, but we'll welcome Budgie. I don't think we have an agenda for Budgie, but we'll welcome Budgie with open arms. They're certainly worse places to spend the Australian summer, that's for sure.

00:10:43Simon Mackley: Fair call. Yeah. Yeah. In other news, we have been reliably informed that Matty Trent gained his seventh C at Glare on Saturday. So you might be thinking, what's the big deal with that? Well, Matty Trent was actually the one that came up with the Pirates Challenge, where you had to get seven Cs and an R. So yeah, for someone that actually came up with the challenge, it's taken around eight years for Matty to get his Pirate Challenge completed. So he got his first C on Christmas Eve in 2016. And incidentally, he only nabbed his R at Riemer in Germany just this July. So he's, yeah, it's taken a long time.

00:11:27Sarah Jefferson: And that surprises me, Simon, because we have so many parkruns in WA that start with the letter C, as we do just in Australia and worldwide anyway. But that does surprise me. Well done to Matty. We do have an update, I guess, on the Christmas compendium for 2024-2025. I know that TOC has mentioned it previously, but it is now live and it has been filling up. I had a quick look before recording and it was great to see lots of green ticks that are starting to be added and filled in. So it is important to note that these events do have until Monday the 16th of December to decide whether to hold an event on Christmas Day or New Year's Day. And any events remaining undecided on the 16th of December will be marked as not having events on those days. I guess it's a really good time for us Simon to step in and really shout out to those volunteers and event teams who will be getting up early on their Christmas morning and New Year's Day morning to facilitate these events. We know that a lot of often set up goes into these events. Preparing for volunteers at any time is challenging, but particularly at this time of year as well. So thank you to those people in advance. It is a really big commitment. And in saying this, I guess that many adventurers, it's time to let the planning begin if it hasn't already begun. And not that anyone really wants a reminder at this point of the year, but as we're recording on a Monday evening, there are only 37 days left until Christmas, which seems absolutely crazy. But I know that when I start to see this list pop up, Simon, I think, my goodness, we are very close to the end of the year. It's a little bit scary. I'm not sure about you.

00:13:12Simon Mackley: Yeah, no, definitely. And I echo that sentiment about the volunteers as well because I know that, yes, sometimes you have to be going and getting landholder permission and landowner permission to use it on those extra days. Some councils or landowners are fine with it, sort of just saying, well, it could happen on these days and that sort of thing. But, yeah, I know from an ambassador's standpoint that we have to remind the events to go and talk to the councils and that sort of thing to get permission. So I definitely take my hat off to those that put their hand up to volunteer, whether it's Run Director or marshal or, you know, whatever on Christmas Day and New Year's Day because we all appreciate it.

00:13:54Sarah Jefferson: Definitely. And I know for us at Cottesloe, it's often the day that we have hit attendance records. So it's a day where we're stretched to capacity, I guess. And, you know, it can be quite stressful. I've actually never run directed on Christmas and it makes me quite nervous. I'm not sure that I actually would put my hand up for that because lots of people do head down to the beach for that event. So definitely remembering, I guess, patience as well because, yeah, it's amazing that these events are held as even an extra event, right, but particularly on these days as well.

00:14:27Simon Mackley: Yeah, exactly.

00:14:28Sarah Jefferson: All right, Simon. Well, that's it for news and discussions this week.

00:14:30[background music]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:14:31Sarah Jefferson: So we might head over and check out some of the roving reports.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Meadowbrook parkrun

00:14:43Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I am back on the lands of the Yugambeh people. You're probably all sick of hearing from me because I've been checking in quite a bit for the Channel 5 News crew on my tourist streak all around the place. I am at Meadowbrook parkrun today and I could not resist having a chat to celebrity parkrunner Dan the Motivator. Dan, how are you today mate?

00:15:09Dan the Motivator: Excellent thanks Lyndell, how about yourself?

00:15:11Lyndell Murray: Yeah, really great. Now, as I said, I was going to give the parkrun adventurers listeners a bit of a break from me this week, but you are everywhere today. You've got your spray pack with your Dan the Motivator name on it. You've got a singlet with Dan the Motivator. You've got a very, very good outside voice for yelling and cheering at your fellow parkrunners. Tell me about what you do here at parkrun.

00:15:34Dan the Motivator: Well, as I was saying to Lyndell earlier, I got the name at parkrun, Dan the Motivator. I was given an award by Logan River parkrun, which was the first parkrun in Logan City, and took that name I was given, Daniel Legg, the PB Motivator, and ran with it literally, and now I'm a full-time coach and make a living out of that, and a regular at Meadowbrook parkrun, as Lyndell said we are today. And this is now my local and my closest one and where I do all my coaching. And Dan the Motivator was born at parkrun. So for me, I give a lot back. Christmas Day will be my 500th parkrun, but my 125th volunteer as well. So for all those people out in parkrun land that don't have a volunteer ratio better than 6%, well, step it up, right? 6% is our minimum. That's what we're supposed to be getting people. Come on. If you don't love parkrun like me, then say there's something a little bit wrong with but if you're listening to this podcast, then you're my people.

00:16:33Lyndell Murray: It's all good. The people who listen to this podcast are definitely your people because we love parkrun and we love the people at parkrun as well. So you're obviously a real institution here for... You're not coaching a lot of athletes here and participants. Motivating. Tell me about the other people around here at Meadowbrook.

00:16:54Dan the Motivator: Oh, there's basically... Everyone here is so supportive of all levels of runners. That's the biggest thing. It's... yeah and everyone's everyone's happy to have a chat it's it's just a great place to be beyond beyond the the like I love the course as well some people say I don't know the course and the people but it's it's a bit 50 50 for me I I do love the way this this course is laid out some people like a flat course I don't mind the bumps and I like where the bumps are in this course so it suits me but yeah the biggest enjoyable like to say that every week no matter what you're doing even if you're not If you're volunteering, you still get to interact with all the people. Even if you're not out on the course any particular week, that's okay. It's still worth coming for the people, as Lyndell said.

00:17:35Lyndell Murray: Now, volunteering, what is your favourite volunteer role?

00:17:40Dan the Motivator: The majority of my volunteers were pacing in the very early days of parkrun. I've been parkrunning now for 11 years. There were no volunteer shirts and all this credit for volunteering. And people say that a lot of your volunteers were pacing, Dan, but I actually initiated pacing going past 35 minutes. When I first started parkrun, pacing went from 20 to 35 minutes, and a lady said that I was doing my Dan the Motivating thing, and a lady suggested, Dan, it'd be nice to get a 40-minute pacer. And so I thought that sounds good, so I took it to the Run Director at the time, Sarah, and she said, well, the problem is, Dan, it'd be very hard to get anyone to fill that position on a regular basis, to fill that volunteer position. And I said, well... look, what if I become the permanent 40-minute pacer? Will that make it happen? And she said, yes, yes, it will. So for two years, I paced every single month. At Logan River, I paced 40 minutes. And I'm a sub-20-minute parkrunner, but I initiated that. And since then, parkrunners and many parkrunners have extended that even out past 40 minutes so that those back-of-the-pack runners are as supported as the front-of-the-pack runners are, which... I take a little bit of credit for that that's spread out, especially amongst Logan's parkruns. I don't know so much at other parkruns, but throughout Logan, some parkruns have gone out to, like I say, they've got an hour pacer now. And that, to me, that's... That's what parkrun's about, is supporting all levels of fitness. And for me, what I believe is it takes the same mental strength to cover a distance, no matter what your physical ability is. And so for me, the most impressive athletes aren't the guys like me where my mental battle's done in 20 minutes. Those ones that are out the back there battling on for almost an hour, sometimes over an hour. Yep. Those are impressive athletes to me. Those are the mentally strong people that can keep that battle going for all that length of time. That's why I'm here. I finished... Well, this morning I... Anyway, long story about my run this morning, but I finished in the top ten on a regular basis, but I'm always here till the tail runner comes home. Every week. And it's a freak occurrence if there's something more important for me to have to race off to. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:18:53[crosstalk]

00:19:56Lyndell Murray: Dan, a person after my own heart, I came in at 40 minutes today and you were yelling, 39.20! 39.20! Gee, I was a bit slower than I thought I was going to be today. But it got me there and I think I did get in under the 40, so it worked for me. All right, now before we wrap it up, we did touch a little bit on the course. It's always good to give a bit of a wrap-up of the course. So how would you describe Meadowbrook?

00:20:19Dan the Motivator: Well, it's a... Simply, it is a two-lap course, so that's the most important thing. We had a runner recently come and tried to go up the finish chute after only finishing one lap and then got a miff.

00:20:31Lyndell Murray: They need a bit of motivation to keep going, Dan.

00:20:33Dan the Motivator: That's right. Well, I was Timekeeper that week, so I'm, like, going that way, going, mate, no, turn around, go that way. What are you doing? And he just got it and walked off. But that's a two-lap course. And for me, as I say, it's got a few undulations in it. But to me, they're very well placed. I have ability to actually fall down hills. When I say that, I stay on my two feet. But I let gravity take me down hills and I actually recover my cardio while I'm falling down a hill.

00:20:54[crosstalk]

00:20:59[crosstalk]

00:21:00Lyndell Murray: Brilliant.

00:21:01Dan the Motivator: That's a little bit more coaching technique. So I get every downhill, I get a little rest. in my run. A little break, a little respite.

00:21:06[crosstalk]

00:21:09Lyndell Murray: So there's a few little bumps here. And they're beautifully placed. Yes. Very spread out. It's a lovely, mostly paved course. Very well treed as well. Lots of trees, lots of shade in summer. And Dan the motivator's spray water.

00:21:22Dan the Motivator: That's right. Well, yeah, I have a 15-litre backpack pressure sprayer. It was purchased just for the purpose of putting water in it and chasing people around and spraying them at events. I've actually run, I ran twice in the International Women's Day Fun Run. Yep. And I've run the GC50, just the 25k, though, with a client. Yep. I run that with clients, so I put the 21.5 kilos when it's full. I put that on my back, and then I get to get a workout. When I'm running at my client's pace, I get a bit of a workout still. Good on you, Dan. And it helps me.

00:21:53[crosstalk]

00:21:56Lyndell Murray: So you heard it here first. Christmas Day, massive milestone at Meadowbrook. Come and celebrate Dan the Motivator. Please be here.

00:22:04[crosstalk]

00:22:04Dan the Motivator: Yeah. It's my birthday, too.

00:22:06Lyndell Murray: It's his birthday. It's Christmas. Everything's going to be happening here.

00:22:09Dan the Motivator: 500 parkruns, 200 here. You can't beat it. Brilliant. Come along. There'll be cake, too, probably.

00:22:12[crosstalk]

00:22:17Lyndell Murray: Thank you, Dan. No worries. Thanks so much for talking to me. Awesome. And hopefully we'll see you at Meadowbrook another time.

00:22:22Dan the Motivator: Thank you. We will.

Roving report Ruth Perkins — Harrogate parkrun

00:22:25Ruth Perkins: Good morning parkrun adventurers! This is Ruth Perkins and I am back in the UK from my epic touring around Japan and I have come to Harrogate parkrun and why have I come to Harrogate well it's a beautiful place if you've never been to Harrogate there is lots to see and lots to do including betty's for the best afternoon tea you'll ever have and there's a turkish baths as well for a bit of recovery after parkrun and most importantly I've come today because it is the 600 event for Harrogate parkrun so yes That's why I'm here. There was, you know, potential for cake and it delivered. There was definitely cake and just such a lovely, friendly atmosphere here in Harrogate. So I'm going to hopefully have a chat with the Run Director and I'll speak to you again in a moment. Okay, I'm back here with Ted Welton. And Ted is the ED here at Harrogate, is that right?

00:23:31Ted Welton: Yep, that's correct. I've been ED for about seven years, I think.

00:23:36Ruth Perkins: Oh, wow. Okay, seven years. So when was this parkrun set up? Was it a while before then?

00:23:42Ted Welton: Yeah, we were set up. I started being ED about events, about 130-ish, or RD-ing anyway. And Adam Prentice was the guy who sets Harrogate up in... 600 events ago I think it was 2013 but I might be wrong and I might get ledger grief for that but never mind oh brilliant so what do you think people need to know about Harrogate parkrun what's kept you coming here all these years our community 100% we are super super super friendly and we've now got really good coffee shop options as well so yes I saw this I saw two on your on Facebook I saw about the chocolate cafe is it and chocolate factory which is up there who do really good tea and pretty good cakes and we've got the saints which used to be called brew bar over that way and they do really good coffee Oh, wonderful. Tea or coffee, there's your choice.

00:24:35[crosstalk]

00:24:40Ruth Perkins: So while I've come over here to chat with you, my husband is headed off to the Saints already, so I'm sure he's having some of that coffee right now. So what's your parkrun history? Have you mostly been at Harrogate? Have you travelled to other parkruns as well?

00:24:52Ted Welton: I've done a fair bit of touring. I started my first ever parkrun, I DNF'd. Well, it was more I could not finish rather than I did not finish because I was so unfit. So I started running because my daughter, who was seven at the time, she's in her twenties now, wanted me to come along. So I did and then just got hooked, decided I would finish and carried on. So I've done... yeah lots here and probably about 50 60 touring oh wow countries oh how many different countries which ones now us um Germany have I done Germany yeah Germany Ireland Scotland or is it Wales um jersey oh

00:25:37[crosstalk]

00:25:37Ruth Perkins: I think that's it for now okay probably ask more so one thing we like to know on this podcast is if you have like a top three parkruns but not including Harrogate unfortunately that's tricky because we are the best um but touring ones I'm gonna go with

00:26:00Ted Welton: Delaware and Raritan. Oh, so that's in America, isn't it? That's the nearest one to New York, or was when I went there. And it was an epic journey to get there. And I got a first finish.

00:26:12Ruth Perkins: And was that prep before running the marathon yourself?

00:26:15Ted Welton: No, it was just on holiday. Just on holiday is something to do. First finish is excellent.

00:26:15[crosstalk]

00:26:19[crosstalk]

00:26:21Donald Scott: Well done. And other ones that I've really enjoyed.

00:26:24[crosstalk]

00:26:25Ted Welton: There's probably too many to list. But I'm going to go with Gibside, which is a National Trust one, which I think didn't come back after COVID. Oh, shame. And that was a beautiful one. And Penrhyn Castle in Wales. Ooh. Because it's pretty and it's controversial. Nearly as good as Fountains Abbey. But Fountains Abbey is lovely. And Adam, who set here up, went on to set up Fountains Abbey.

00:26:47[crosstalk]

00:26:48Ruth Perkins: Fun fact for you there. Ah, interesting. He's here today. Oh, is he?

00:26:52Ted Welton: He was here, yeah. He's not here now.

00:26:54Ruth Perkins: Yes, it's cleared out a little bit. You, as a wonderful ED, have hung around to the finish, haven't you? Did you run yourself today?

00:27:02Ted Welton: Did a one lap with the dog.

00:27:03Ruth Perkins: Nice. Took in the sights. And talking of this dog, what's your dog's name?

00:27:09Ted Welton: Luna.

00:27:10Ruth Perkins: Luna. And Luna is very keen to find any of the crumbs from the cake. She loves.

00:27:14Ted Welton: She will eat all the cake.

00:27:16[crosstalk]

00:27:17Ruth Perkins: Well, thank you so much for chatting today. Lovely to meet you. Yeah, lovely to meet you too. And hopefully I'll be back to Harrogate someday and lots of a podcast, parkrun adventurers 2. So thank you. You're welcome. Cheers. Having chatted to Ted for a little bit longer, it's really interesting. He is a parkrun adventurers listener. He has also listened to the whole of With Me Now and the parkrun show. And he's actually been recorded on both of those, the parkrun show and With Me Now, but he's never been interviewed for parkrun adventurers. So I am very honoured to have had that pleasure today to talk to Ted today. It's a lovely parkrun. I know I say that about all the parkruns I visit, but it really is true. It's three laps around the field. It's a bit of a mix of terrain. There's some paths. There's some more trail-y aspects with the odd little root sticking out of the ground. And today it was absolutely covered in beautiful orange and yellow, golden autumn leaves. There is a toilet and it's not too far from the very centre of Harrogate as well so it's very convenient to get to. I would highly recommend that everyone does go to Harrogate parkrun.

Roving report Johan Duvenhage — Big Bay parkrun

00:28:45Johan Duvenhage: Good morning adventurers, it's Johan and I'm coming to you today from the beautiful Big Bay parkrun in Bloubergstrand in Cape Town. It's an absolutely gorgeous morning and today's a very special day for parkrun and also for Vitality in South Africa. As you know Vitality is our headline sponsor here and today somewhere in South Africa Someone is going to be the one millionth participant for parkrun South Africa. So it's a really big day. And Vitality is here in Big Bay to celebrate with us. It's pink all over. And I've got two very interesting people here today. So Vitality is a health and well-being program. And they also have a milestone program or an active rewards program that helps you to to keep fit and active every week. And their milestones are called the Vitality Centurions. And today we have at least three or maybe even four of the Vitality Centurions in the top 10 of the program. So good morning to you. I'm going to have you introduce yourselves and then just tell me what number of parkruns you're on and what your Vitality Centurion tally is.

00:30:01Brian Orensen: First to you, Bill. Thanks, Johan. It's Brian Orensen here. Yeah, brilliant to be here for the one millionth. My journey has taken me so far 392 parkruns around South Africa and the rest of the world in 70 different locations, four of which are international and 66 domestic ones. And to most of the provinces, although there are a few up, you know, sort of Limpopo and Northwest that I haven't been to yet. And my Centurion status is 400, but I'm now 477 weeks of getting your Vitality Active Rewards, which I think, you know, it's all about numbers, but at the same time, it's a reflection of your commitment to your fitness.

00:30:39Donald Scott: Awesome. And then over to you. Hi, thank you, Johan. It's Donald Scott. I have 400 and I have to work this out, 38 parkruns, and that's 478 vitality credits so hopefully we'll be hitting that 500 sometime soon with my fellow colleagues looking forward to it it has been challenging sometimes in the areas of Palestine and north trying to get my points it can be some challenging occasions but at the end of the day it's all well and it's all going strong and hopefully will be fit enough to be able to see us as a team finishing that 500 Vitality runs. Thank you.

00:31:24Johan Duvenhage: All right and then I am also going to come in here myself also being one of the 400 Centurions today I'm also on 477 of the Centurions and unfortunately my parkrun tally is lagging behind a little bit. So guys how does parkrun play a role in your living with Vitality journey?

00:31:44Brian Orensen: I must say I moved to Cape Town just over 10 years ago and one of the first things I did actually was my neighbour had mentioned this concept of parkrun to me and it was a brilliant way of first of all meeting new people in a new city. And it was the discipline of meeting every Saturday and running. And it really started my running journey. From there, I got more involved with running clubs. I've always been a Team Vitality member as well. And it's taken me to do, I've only done two marathons, but both Cape Town marathons. And if it wasn't for parkrun and the start that it gave me, I wouldn't have got anywhere near to that. Unlike the ultra athletes amongst us Donald.

00:32:23Donald Scott: Yes, thank you. Yeah, I think for me the situation was that I was already into the ultra running. What triggered me to running was really I was overweight and high cholesterol and eventually the bug bit so got involved with that and now a double two oceans ultra and green number comrades. But for me parkrun was a situation where what could I do actually for the community and how can I get back give back to the community and really parkrun was the answer to that getting people off the couch and as an ultra runner five kilometres never meant much but just seeing a growing community at the parkrun where we are currently has just showed me that there is reward for anybody and everybody and all things are possible thank you very much guys and I'm just wanting to say a listener it's good to be one in a million

00:33:10[background music]

00:33:25Simon Mackley: And we're back from our roving reports where we heard from Lyndell at Meadowbrook who was talking to Dan the Motivator with his spray pack. And I was only talking about Dan the Motivator, not knowing his name, at Calamvale on the weekend. I liked his little shout out to a 6% being a good volunteer ratio to aspire to as well. I thought that was quite good. And I loved how he had pushed for a 40-minute or longer pacer. So with the pacer shirts, he had someone come up to him and say, I want a pacer at 40 minutes, you know, that sort of thing. So, yeah, I thought that was a very good thing instigated by him. We also heard from Ruth Perkins back in the UK at Harrogate's 600th event. And following the international theme, we had Johan at Big Bay parkrun, and he was talking all about Vitality, the Vitality Centurions, and South Africa having their one millionth different parkrun on the weekend. So that is phenomenal. It is. As Johan said, one in a million years. So that's, yeah.

00:34:36Sarah Jefferson: Great way of looking at it. That's for sure.

00:34:38Simon Mackley: Exactly right.

Dazza's

00:34:40Simon Mackley: So moving on to Dazza's. This week Dazza has said, it's dear Santa letter week. Found that I imagine in a time when the post to the North Pole was very slow. It's a good time to reflect on what we have and what we wish for. Did you wish for sunshine and got rain? Wish for a nice easy Saturday but it accidentally went on a tough trail run or maybe it panned out better than you hoped. Whatever happened, come on in to Dazza's and tell us about your Saturday morning. And with Dazza's, so as the podcast was released on Sunday evening this week, there wasn't the opportunity for listeners to participate in the challenge. However, the challenge that is included in the pod last week will continue this week. So stay tuned for what that is later in the podcast.

00:35:28Sarah Jefferson: So first of all, we heard from Ingrid Paris or Ingrid Botha. And Ingrid said, I celebrated a 50 milestone of a different sort at Dolls Point parkrun. So there was a photo of Ingrid laying down on the path with her red parkrun shirt on, wearing a tutu next to lots of chalk saying, our stats queen is 50, with lots of 50s in circles. Now, we believe this is for Ingrid's 50th birthday. So happy, happy birthday, Ingrid. We hope that you had a really great day celebrating.

00:36:00Simon Mackley: Happy birthday, Ingrid. We heard from Andy Airey from the UK who said, ninth alphabet completed with a Y in Wales. So 70 of our group helped them get their second highest attendance on their 25th event. A lovely day and it didn't rain. So there was a photo of Andy looking very rugged, sorry, looking very rugged up with a parkrun pop-up for Y Promenâd. Congrats, Andy.

00:36:26Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, ninth alphabet, Simon. That's pretty impressive. Yeah, I'm hoping to get my second alphabet one day. Not sure about where you're up to with that.

00:36:35Simon Mackley: Yeah, I don't think I'm close to a second alphabet yet. I've got enough Cs though. Yeah, plenty of Cs.

00:36:40Sarah Jefferson: Plenty of Cs for days. We heard from Helen Davis and Helen said, I did my 200th different event, 315 total runs at Emerald Lake parkrun this morning. Victoria's newest event. Lovely and would recommend. Sorry, there's a collage of four pictures of Helen, Steve and some friends around the lake at this event. And it looks like a really great morning there for the second event. Congratulations on your 200th different event, Helen.

00:37:12Simon Mackley: Yeah, that is huge. We heard from Dave Bravos from the West Side. So he wrote, I wished for Lucy to run a bit and she did. Went to Lake Joondalup parkrun with Lucy whilst Chloe maintained her rage at a UK meeting. There's a pic of Dave and Lucy donning their adventurous shirts with big smiles.

00:37:33Sarah Jefferson: Lovely to see their big smiles. It's nice when Lucy's smiling after parkrun. That's for sure. We heard from Janet Reid in SA. Janet mentioned, hi, Dazza. It was a hot one aboard the mothership Lochiel today. We had our two little ones with us. It was a very special day for our little miss as she completed her first big 5K parkrun and her first volunteer, helping Papa with event setup. Little man walked slash ran the entire way. on his three-and-a-half-year-old legs. No complaints from either of them. Two ice creams and two iced coffees for us, please, Dazza. I hope everyone had a very happy run day. And there's a photo of Janet, her hubby Jeff, and her two beautiful grandchildren. And it sounds like a lovely family morning, Janet. It's always great when we can rope in the next generation for a parkrun, especially if there aren't any tears or tantrums, I say.

00:38:33Simon Mackley: And then we heard from Johan from South Africa. So he said, couldn't have wished for a more beautiful morning at Big Bay parkrun South Africa as parkrun South Africa celebrated one million participants all over the country. Sponsor Discovery Vitality was there with hashtags and prizes, and it was an honour to meet two of the other Vitality centurions in the top ten countrywide, Donald Scott and Brian Arnitson. Sorry, Arnitson. both avid parkrunners. So Brian kept me company during the run. Turning around to the start, you have what must be one of the most spectacular two and a half K runs in the world. Hashtag I am one in a million. Hashtag love parkrun. Hashtag live life with vitality. So there was a photo of Johan and Brian on the beach together. And that was shared in Dazza's as well as a beautiful photo view of, oh my gosh, I've been stitched up here. Bloubergstrand and Table Mountain on after the turnaround. Looks like a beautiful parkrun from one and one for the list, Johan.

00:39:42Sarah Jefferson: I did not stitch you up there. It was in the comment, Simon. That's the name of the mountain. But I'm glad you're saying it for the first time right now. Yeah, thanks. The teacher says do your homework.

00:39:55Simon Mackley: Yeah, you're right.

00:39:58Sarah Jefferson: Moving on to the ACT. We heard from Vicky Smith, beautiful morning's walk at Ginninderra parkrun. There was a photo of Vicky and John Smith both wearing Tail Walker vests in the parkrun frame with the lake in the background.

00:40:13Simon Mackley: We heard from Neil Clayton from Queensland. Better than expected, the rain held off and Chloe and Chelsea got to experience their first parkrun, Sandgate. And there was a photo attached in a collage of Mill with her two pets. Now, as I look further at these pets in a pram, it appears that they are chickens. The silky chicken breed. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a chicken taken to parkrun. I guess there's a first for everything. Maybe they will become regulars.

00:40:43Sarah Jefferson: Yes, I've certainly never seen a chicken or two at a parkrun. But it sounds like it went well and maybe they will become regulars if it was better than expected in Neil's comments. Indeed. We heard from Alison Fraser-King across the ditch. Hey, Dazza. I was in Auckland for Coldplay and visited Southern Path parkrun, which was launching today. I wished for clear skies and we've had lots of rain the past few days. It was a bit cloudy but no rain. Last woman standing at park faff with fellow adventurer Andrew Capple finally set off home At 12.30, there's a photo of Alison and Andrew, and it looks to me like Andrew is wearing his blue 500th shirt. So well done on that. Whenever you achieve that, Andrew, sounds like a lovely morning.

00:41:40Simon Mackley: 12.30, wow, that is a good park faff. And lastly, from the Apple Isle, we heard from Bernadette Bennett. Dear Santa, I wish to progress my pioneer challenge and was delivered a beautiful morning at Launceston parkrun with around 2K on the levee bank and 3K on tree-lined path on a loop. The cookies and carrots await you. There was a photo attached of Bernadette and David Bennett wearing their Wooters shirts in the Launceston parkrun frame with the stadium in the background.

the Obi Award — Neil Clayton

00:42:10Simon Mackley: Now, Sarah, do you have the Obilope?

00:42:14Sarah Jefferson: I do have the Obilope. So this week, the Obi goes to... Neil Clayton. Well done, Neil. I love that you've got all of your pets involved. That's something different and, yeah, great to see.

00:42:39Simon Mackley: Indeed.

00:42:40[background music]

Emails

00:42:41Simon Mackley: We had no emails this week. None at all. What's happening, guys?

Club Corner

00:42:45Simon Mackley: So it must be time to throw to Reginald.

00:42:56Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III: This is Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III, with Club Corner, where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs, and I am coming to you from Arrernte Country. Today is simple, a quick jaunt through Warm-up Leader and Run Director. Warm-up Leader is a role specific to junior parkrun, and is certainly one of the more fun roles, assuming that you are an extrovert. The role involves taking everyone through a short predefined warm-up routine. It is an opportunity to not only warm up the participants but to help foster a fun environment. parkrun has developed a warm-up routine that should be used. The routine may be performed in any order, but the sheet is ordered as gorilla stomp, sun jump, swimming, backstroke, hip circles, ankle circles, high knees on the spot, bum kicks on the spot, and then the cheer routine. Please note, to lead a warm-up at a 5K parkrun event, a volunteer would be required to have sufficient qualifications. Therefore, due to the level of administration involved to monitor this across the thousands of parkrun events globally, parkrun HQ does not allow warm-ups at 5K events unless delivered by official parkrun partners. If you are an old hand at parkrun, you will remember doing a sanctioned warm up at parkrun, but never more. And onto Run Director, it is exactly what it sounds like, except that parkrun is more than a run, but not a race dot dot dot, more of an event type thing. If parkrun were to begin now, this role would be called Event Director, but that would mean that the Event Director role would need to be called something else. But I promised myself that I would keep my droning on to a minimum, and here I am, less than a page in and already on a diversion. Back to Run Director, this role has the overall responsibility for event safety and oversees proceedings during the event and at the finish line. Accepting an emergency, they must be near the start and or finish area at all times. On event day, the Run Director has the ultimate authority to decide whether the event should be cancelled or postponed or if an adjustment to the course is required. You can see why many times the Run Director is the person who also performs the Event Day Course Check role. On the extrovert side, the Run Director is the person who welcomes all parkrunners to the event via the pre-event brief and communicates all important messages prior to the event start. They recognise the contributions of the volunteers, acknowledge visitors, first timers and ensures everyone understands the event and stays safe for the duration. The Run Director must not participate in the event or perform any other volunteer role whilst the event is taking place. So, no doubling up as Timekeeper or marshal, etc. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future Club Corners.

00:46:02Sarah Jefferson: We are back from Club Corner. So, thank you, Reginald, for this information once again. But Simon, I'm not sure about Reginald's comment about the role of Run Director being fun for extroverts. So I'm certainly not an extrovert, but I do believe that the role of Run Director has been really helpful for me in terms of developing my confidence and speaking in front of masses of people about a passion of mine. So I feel since taking on the role of Run Director, I have become more willing to take on public speaking roles and And I guess that I'm less fussed by this. So I agree that certainly at first it isn't comfortable, but I would like to encourage those people out there who do love parkrun not to be deterred by this and rather look at what it is that you can gain by this really safe experience of run directing. Simon, I'm not sure that you fit into the extrovert category. I could be wrong. But what are your thoughts on this?

00:47:04Simon Mackley: No, I'm definitely not an extrovert. I, yeah, I agree with this entirely. Like we had a Run Director when I was at Mossman who wanted to step up to improve her skills at public speaking and that sort of thing. At the time, I don't think we had the welcome brief as a separate thing, but I always find that a good gateway for people to sort of judge whether they're okay with talking to a Yeah, expanding out to that bigger group as a Run Director. But yeah, it's a great role. I love doing it.

00:47:38Ted Welton: Definitely.

Consolidated Club Report

00:47:40Simon Mackley: Rolling on to the Consolidated Club Report. So we have a big thank you to Belinda who got this up after a weekend away. She literally did it about an hour before we did the pod tonight. So the adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, 16 November 2024. Of a total of 714 members... We had 534 take part on this date in nine countries across 257 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 41 events. South Africa had seven. There were four in the USA, two in the Netherlands and Canada, and Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Lithuania each had one. Locally, we had adventurers at 51 events in New South Wales. 47 events in Queensland, 42 events in Victoria, 20 events in Western Australia, South Australia and Tassie each had 11, the ACT had 7, the North Island had 6 and the South Island had 3. And noticeable Northern Territory isn't in there. As you were saying with the wet season, dry season thing, no one was actually there this weekend.

00:48:58Sarah Jefferson: Yes, it's definitely quite hot and humid up there at this time of the year, that's for sure.

the Frond

00:49:04Sarah Jefferson: So our largest international frond this week, we had seven people at Y Promenâd, Abermaw. So we had Stuart Henderson, George Clark, James Avery, Mark Perkins, Debbie and Andy Airey and Nikki Orway.

00:49:21Simon Mackley: And on the pilgrimage front to Bushy, we had no one again, largest frond in Australia. We had a frond of seven at three different events. That was Emerald Lake, one of the new ones in Victoria, Inverloch, nobody's ever heard of that one, and Rex Jackson. So choosing from those three, we will look at Emerald Lake, where there was John Graham, Daryl Smith, Vincent Heng, Cindy Robins, Stephen and Helen Davis, and Chantelle Hosking.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:49:53Sarah Jefferson: All right, on the launches front, we had three launches this week, which is very exciting. So our first launch was in the UK. Clougha Pike parkrun, I think is how it's pronounced in the UK. So it could be in Lancashire. This is a closed event. It had 11 participants and six volunteers.

00:50:14Simon Mackley: Moving across into Europe, we have parkrun Nowy Park Solankowy in Poland, which is located west of Inowrocław. So they had 150 participants, including 38 first timers and 20 volunteers. The route is three laps through a park on cobblestones. The start and finish are in the same place near the parking lot. The gathering point for participants is near the start and finish. The profile of this route is not demanding. For most of the route, it runs on flat terrain with small elevations.

00:50:50Sarah Jefferson: And the third launch Australia missed out this week comes to us from New Zealand. So Southern Path parkrun in Takanini, Auckland. So 261 participants and of this, there were 51 first timers and 32 volunteers. So the course comprises of two out and back sections on a sealed surface along the southern path. The start finish area is just off the main path within the Conifer Grove Reserve on Walter Strevens Drive, head north to the first turnaround, then head south to the second turnaround point before returning back north to the finish.

00:51:32Simon Mackley: Okay. So yeah, congratulations to those three launches around the world. So just a reminder for the Dazza's comment this week, we're rolling over last week's challenge as the pod came out after the parkrun day. So add that poop emoji into your Dazza's post.

00:51:51Sarah Jefferson: I look forward to seeing those inspired by Abdul's suit from the week prior. Just as we're recording tonight, Simon, on a Monday night, we've just seen a post that has been put up online that this Saturday, the 23rd of November, there will be a worldwide memorial run for Christine Imbert. So this has been done with the permission of her family. And if you would like to participate, keep an eye on the socials. As we said, this has literally just come up in the last sort of 20 minutes. There are not too many details online at this point in time, but it might be something nice for some of our adventurers to participate in this weekend in honour of Christine.

00:52:35Simon Mackley: Definitely.

Sign-off

00:52:37Sarah Jefferson: So moving on to next parkrun day, Simon, where do you think you will be headed next?

00:52:42Simon Mackley: I am in two minds. So I may go to Harris Avenue, being one that I haven't done, or I may go and increase my re-index and do Minnippi. So I will work that out on Friday night as to where I head. How about you?

00:52:59Sarah Jefferson: So I'm actually going to be heading back to South Beach Recreation Reserve parkrun again this week for a different reason this time, to welcome home the first of the 10 boomerangs. So I know that the boomerangs have been spoken about on the pod in previous weeks or even multiple pods in previous weeks. So the first one is returning back to its original parkrun. And I believe there will be a large group of people there to welcome at home. So it's the fourth boomerang. It left this parkrun on the 21st of June. It was delivered to Victoria Dock in London. And supposedly it has visited 21 parkruns since. So I'm wondering if it's actually going to be another attendance record as they hit the record last week. Who knows? So it may well be.

00:53:51Simon Mackley: There you go. Well, we'll have to wait and see. Okay, so next week the potty-mouthed Victorians are coming back, Mel and TOC. So, yeah, you can look forward to that. As always, Adventurers, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or on our email address, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week. Thank you for joining me again, Sarah. Pleasure. And we will see you all next week for more adventures. Bye. Bye.

00:54:15[outro theme playing]

00:54:37Unidentified speaker: It's free. It's free.