— open the full-size coverEpisode 420 - No Indeed. Indeed, No
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Episode 420 - No Indeed. Indeed, No · 2025-04-25
Enhanced transcript — Produced by an automated editing pass — speakers named, sound described, segments marked. NOT yet checked by a person.
Speaker names appear only where they could be established with confidence; others are shown as “Unidentified speaker”. Non-speech sound is in [square brackets].
Source: https://log.5kadventures.net/transcripts/ep420.html · The Adventurers Log · An independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by parkrun.
[intro theme playing]
Welcome
Sarah Jefferson: Welcome to episode 420 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life if your life is all about parkrun. I'm Sarah Jefferson coming to you from Noongar Boodja. Boodja is our local Noongar word for country. [Noongar: "country"]
Simon Mackley: And I'm Simon Mackley coming to you as always from Quandamooka Country. So it's our first studio episode since Palm. How are you doing, Sarah? And where have you been since we last recorded?
Sarah Jefferson: Hey Simon, great to be back. Well, I have been busy and I did travel east since we last spoken, but I didn't travel far enough east to get me over the ditch to Queenstown. I headed to the supposed second greatest state of New South Wales. I ventured to North Wollongong parkrun and met up with Bec Bailey, which was really lovely. The following weekend, I headed to Cooks River parkrun. And I do actually owe one of the adventurers an apology. So, Paul Rainbow, I'm sorry that I didn't let you know that I was coming. Paul, actually, I was looking out for him, but he headed off to Macquarie Uni parkrun, I believe. This week, however, Simon and I was back home on the West Side and I did head to Cottesloe parkrun for their 10th birthday. However, this wasn't planned, eh? Plan A was actually to catch the Prospector train to Merredin Peak parkrun for their seventh event. So the Prospector is the train that travels from Perth to Kalgoorlie, stopping halfway in Merredin. As I was booking the train, I discovered that the return train was actually down for maintenance. So rather than a bus replacing the train, it would have taken a lot longer. I thought, that's okay. We can drive. So we were planning to drive out there, organised accommodation, only to realise that the event was cancelled due to a lack of volunteers. But anyway, things do happen for a reason. It was a lovely morning down at Cottesloe filled with some cake, Easter eggs and 186 finishes. Amanda Maloney, the original Event Director, did a spiel all about the setup and inspiration behind Cottesloe parkrun. And Amanda was actually interviewed on this podcast in episode 257, talking all about the events set up, et cetera, if you'd like to hear all about it. So a very social and fun-filled sugary morning was had on Saturday before we headed into the city to check out some exhibitions at the WA Boola Bardip Museum. And Boola Bardip meaning many stories in our local indigenous language. So a busy weekend. How about you, Simon? How has the past few parkrun days been for you? [Noongar: "many stories"]
Simon Mackley: Interesting that you're using a lot of Aboriginal words here. That's really cool. So yeah, we're definitely getting educated there in your local language. So yeah, whilst we haven't been recording, I have done a couple of different parkruns. So I've done Sirromet parkrun twice, which took my P index up to eight, which was a goal for 2025. I went to S.S. Koopa Trail, which was my NENDY, so I knocked that off. And I realised that the NENDYs are as the crow flies because I passed other parkruns that I haven't done before on the way to S.S. Koopa Trail. And then last Saturday I was at Gainsborough parkrun, sorry, Gainsborough Parklands to meet up with Rory and Hillary, which I'd been trying to do for the last couple of weeks. So yeah, that was my parkrun last three or four parkrun weekends. And some feedback from the pod last week. I have to give a very special thanks to Lyndell for stepping in and delivering the quiz again. She did a wonderful job and making up a question on the fly when no one knew who Colin Thorne was, or they knew who he was but didn't know his name. So thank you, Lyndell, for doing it on the fly there. So just to peek behind the curtain, when I write the questions, I have absolutely no idea who's going to be the contestant on the day. So I try and make the topics broad and not biased. So I wrote a lot of them when we had no power during the cyclone, so Cyclone Alfred, which never actually arrived. So, yeah, once I'd written the questions, I had to wait until we had power again so I could actually look for the answers afterwards. So, yeah, I had no way of researching that I actually knew that I had the right answer.
Sarah Jefferson: Love that. Well, you did well.
Simon Mackley: I mean, I had all these ideas and then I was like, oh, are they going to work? So some of the questions didn't make it to the quiz. And there was a tie-breaking question, which I'm glad we didn't have to go to. Yeah, and thank you to the contestants as well, because I know it's hard standing up there and knowing the answer to questions and not being able to think about it on the fly as well. Definitely.
Sarah Jefferson: And how long does it normally take you to think of them, Simon? Sorry, I'm just asking you off the cuff now.
Simon Mackley: No, no, it's all good. So, like, I start thinking about it about three months before Palm. And then I actually sit down and start writing them probably a month before. And then the answers, depending on, you know, how things are going as to whether I have the answers there and then. But I did get these ones to Lyndell probably two weeks before Palm. Normally, I am absolutely rushing to get the thing across. I keep on saying to whoever's going to be presenting it that I'll get them across, I'll get them across, and then I do it very late. But I made sure this time I was okay with getting it across to Lyndell. The only question she actually asked me to change a little bit was the Colin Thorne one. She actually said it was a little bit too obvious. Ah, interesting. So, yeah, it was interesting that, yeah, we moved one part around to make it less obvious and nobody got it anyway.
[crosstalk]
Sarah Jefferson: Well, it worked. Made it very less obvious.
Simon Mackley: Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Oh, awesome. Awesome.
[crosstalk]
Sarah Jefferson: Well, I always really enjoy that. So yeah, well done though. Thank you. Great questions. It's good to listen and not be yes in the firing line. I agree.
Simon Mackley: Yeah, exactly.
Sarah Jefferson: Hard being a contestant for sure. All right. Well, we might head across the ditch to discuss some stats in New Zealand this week. There were 57 events hosting 10,652 finishes facilitated by 935 volunteers, four events actually set an attendance record while Hamilton Park was the intimate parkrun with only 23 finishes.
Simon Mackley: 10,000 finishes and that one only had 23. That's cool. And jumping back over to this side of the ditch, Australia had 499 events running with 88,515 finishes supported by 6,275 volunteers. This was an Australian attendance record. There were 11,858 PB set, and we had 5,133 genuine first timers do their first parkrun this past weekend. Attendance records were set at 47, sorry, new attendance records were set at 47 events. Wow. Seven of those were in W, exactly, huge. Back to sort of New Year's time again. So seven in WA, 13 in New South Wales and Victoria, eight in Queensland, five in, oh, I'm not sure this is correct. It says five in Tassie and one in Tassie. So there must be five somewhere else.
Sarah Jefferson: Northern Territory maybe? One in Northern Territory?
Simon Mackley: Oh, yeah, maybe one in, yeah. Anyway, I don't know where it is. Oh, yeah, maybe it's five in SA and one in Tassie. Anyway, we'll move on. So the longest standing record was Mudgee, which stood for 423 weeks, which was since the 11th of March 2017. Bright in Victoria saw a jump from 279 to 431. So that must have been a big Easter weekend in Bright. They ran out of finish tokens at 350 apparently and had to write the last 81 down manually, and New South Wales, SA and Victoria all set all-time attendance records for the states.
Sarah Jefferson: Wow. These records are just keeping on going this year, aren't they?
Simon Mackley: They are. I mean, Easter is normally a big weekend, but it's not normally this big.
Sarah Jefferson: And even every week since the start of the year, as you said, like New Year, we normally hit these records, but they've just kept rolling.
Bob Turner: Yeah.
Sarah Jefferson: So, amazing. So some news and discussion that we have. Former and founding host Scott Trickett completed his 500th parkrun this past parkrun day, at Wimmera River Horsham. In his 500 runs, he has done this at 136 different locations in Australia and England, and has volunteered 193 times in 17 locations. He's currently on a tourist streak of 19, which is his longest in his parkrun career, and has not missed a parkrun since late 2021, which could have been because of the COVID shutdown. A huge congrats to Scotty and enjoy wearing the blue shirt.
Simon Mackley: Yeah, that's an amazing achievement, Scotty, and especially when he's done so many volunteers as well. So I went back through the stats to look at when was the last time he missed one. And he's volunteered, like he's been at parkruns, as you said, since late 2021. He hasn't missed one yet, whether that's volunteering, volunteering, running or running. So yeah.
[background music]
Sarah Jefferson: Amazing. Well done. All right.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew
Sarah Jefferson: We've got a few roving reports for you, so we'll throw to those now.
Roving report Lyndell Murray — Warrandyte River Reserve parkrun
Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I'm at a parkrun that acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I am at Warrandyte River Reserve parkrun in the outer suburbs of Melbourne and I'm with today's Run Director. What's your name?
David McKay: David McKay.
Lyndell Murray: David, how did today go at Warrandyte River Reserve?
David McKay: Today went great. It went very smoothly, which is good because we had the Warrandyte Festival is on today, so some changes to car parking and logistics. But it's all run very smoothly, which is fantastic.
Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. I will just touch on the festival. Does the festival happen at the same time each year, like late March?
David McKay: Yes, late March every year and a quite significant event, especially for all the local community groups and schools. Yep.
Lyndell Murray: All right, so adventurers, if you're looking for one of those parkruns that you can do in conjunction with a local festival, put it on your calendar for next year. Now, Warrandyte River Reserve parkrun, this is amazing. What a beautiful little parkrun you have.
David McKay: It's a beautiful place, right along the river, multiple out-and-back course, so plenty of opportunities for high-fives, lots of dogs, friendly dog walkers, etc., Once a month, the first Saturday of every month, we have a market down here as well. So you can come down, do parkrun and stay and visit the market afterwards.
Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. And there's all the amenities here. There is a playground that even I reckon I could have a go at. It looks incredible. A wonderful playground. There's toilets close by. So everything that you could want here. Now, David, this podcast is for people who like to adventure to other parkruns. Have you done much adventuring? Is there something... Choose your own adventure here. Do you want to tell us about a particular parkrun that you've done that has a special place in your heart? Or would you like to nominate a top three, not including your home parkrun?
David McKay: Well, I've done 39 different parkruns. So I've done Bushy Park, and two others in the UK. I've done a number around Tasmania. I lived in Sydney for a while. I've done around six up in and around Sydney and all around Victoria as well. Oh, shout outs. Wallaby Track in Ballarat is a great parkrun. I do like Warringal Park, which is quite close to here. And I've done 60 or 70 odd parkruns at Westerfolds, which is very close to Warrandyte River Reserve as well.
Lyndell Murray: All right, so there's a theme here. If you were at a parkrun, if your home parkrun starts with W, expect David on your doorstep any moment now.
David McKay: Yeah, well, I mean, if you need a W for your alphabet, then northeast suburbs of Melbourne is where to go because we have three Ws out here.
Lyndell Murray: Alrighty. Thank you. A lot to pick from there from Bushy to Victoria and all over the place for you, David. Now, before we wrap up, I just do want to go back to your course description here and your community here. We had a first-timers briefing. You need just a handful of volunteers here and they're all really friendly. How's the community here?
David McKay: Fantastic. We have a great small group of Run Directors, always looking to recruit more, of course. But it's a really good relationship with the local community. And, yeah, we average probably around about 100 parkrunners, so it's a nice, small, tight-knit one. And our record's 150. And I think that's what makes it really attractive, is it's not that some of those... maybe a little bit daunting parkruns where you get lots and lots of runners.
[background music]
Lyndell Murray: And did I mention beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I stopped a few times and took photos and I had a moment's thought that maybe I could see a platypus if I was really lucky.
David McKay: Yes, if you get here before parkrun starts, that's when you're most likely to see a platypus. But yeah, we have regular platypus sightings in the river.
Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. All right. Is there anything else that you would like the parkrun adventurers to know about Warrandyte River Reserve parkrun?
[background music]
David McKay: Well, I think it's just one of the most picturesque parkruns. We've got a coffee van at the finish line. We have all the amenities and facilities. And, yeah, everyone who comes here just loves it.
Lyndell Murray: And bagpipes on festival day.
David McKay: Bagpipes on festival day. Yeah.
Lyndell Murray: Brilliant. Well, thank you for your time. Thank you for everything that you do for parkrun and your community here in Warrandyte.
David McKay: Thanks very much and great to host you here.
Roving report Ruth Perkins — Shrewsbury parkrun
Ruth Perkins: Good morning parkrun adventurers! This is Ruth Perkins and I'm coming to you from the UK as usual but this time I have come to Shrewsbury parkrun and I am having a lovely walk with the Tail Walkers who also are sometimes Run Directors here as well. So next to me I have got Bob Turner. Hi! And how long have you been involved with Shrewsbury parkrun?
Bob Turner: Oh, I think I first did it in 2017, but I only did it once that year, and then didn't do it again until 2018. Okay, and you regularly come to this one? Yeah, this is our baby.
Ruth Perkins: Oh, lovely. Okay, and also with me, I have got Debbie Armstrong. Morning Ruth, good morning. Morning. And how about you, how long have you been involved with Shrewsbury parkrun?
Debbie Armstrong: Oh, did my first one here in 2017 and have been pretty much volunteering, I think, since 2018.
Ruth Perkins: Excellent. Wow. So good, good history with Shrewsbury parkrun. And then you're a very generous parkrun because you don't just have two Tail Walkers. You've got three Tail Walkers today. So also we have Gary.
Gary Jones: Gary Jones.
Ruth Perkins: Lovely, Gary.
Gary Jones: And how long have you been involved with Shrewsbury? Right from the beginning, 2013. So, yeah, event number one.
Ruth Perkins: Oh wow, so are you Event Director then?
Gary Jones: I never have been there, occasional volunteer, frequent tourist but always come back to Shrewsbury.
Ruth Perkins: Brilliant. Now, this is going to be a hard question for you, all three of you. I don't know who wants to take this. What do people need to know about Shrewsbury? Because it's pretty fabulous, isn't it? What do they need to know?
Bob Turner: Hills. It's completely flat. There are no hills. No hills. If anybody tells you hills, they're lying.
Ruth Perkins: Yeah, there's some, what do we call it? Upward inclines? I don't know.
Bob Turner: There's definitely no hills.
[crosstalk]
Ruth Perkins: And what's the history of this bit of Shrewsbury, this park?
Debbie Armstrong: Oh, good question. Sorry. So the quarry park was actually designed. It was originally a quarry. Yeah, I do tend to talk. It was originally a quarry. We've turned the quarry part into a nice little garden called the Dingle. And this was essentially the route we're walking was designed by a famous gardener called Percy Thrower, who used to work for Blue Peter on the BBC. So he actually designed this park, well redesigned it because it was originally designed for the Victorian era um but he redesigned it so we've got all of these fabulous trees that surround them and it's just beautiful it really is isn't it the um the dingle is absolutely jam-packed with flowers isn't it yes Yeah, our horticultural society is actually very proud of that dingle. They put a lot of effort into it.
Ruth Perkins: Now, I have to admit, because we were chatting at the start, I might have missed a bit of the first-timers' briefing, but my husband on the run gave me a little bit of a taster. He said that I should ask about Hercules, the statue of Hercules, some kind of issue. Got a little leaf to hide his dignity.
Debbie Armstrong: So we're actually approaching Hercules now. And it's essentially a statue that was outside our railway station in the Victorian era. Then it was brought to the top of the hill that does not exist. But it was moved to protect the Victorian lady's modesty. And he had to have a leaf installed for his modesty as well. But we'll show you when we pass him.
Ruth Perkins: Yes, I heard that things had been chopped off. Yes.
Debbie Armstrong: Things have been chopped off and a leaf has been placed there to protect his modesty.
Ruth Perkins: Wow. Yes, the bit we're doing right now is we're walking along the river and we've got some interesting bridges as well. Lots of interesting bridges. Yes.
Debbie Armstrong: So this is Kingsland Bridge. This is a toll bridge. It used to be referred to as the Penny Bridge because it would cost you one penny to cross it. yeah it's now 30 pence um but yeah you can drive run walk cycle across it but this is contention about the price yeah it's gone it's gone from 20 pence to 30 pence first price rise in decades is there a little booth somewhere then with someone it's now contactless they've gone contactless for the first time it used to be uh 20 you know coinage but now yeah about three weeks ago oh oh so really new modernisation yes
[crosstalk]
Ruth Perkins: Well done, everyone.
Bob Turner: Well done, Gary.
Ruth Perkins: Now, the tricky question comes. I warned you I might ask this about which... If you had to pick a favourite parkrun... Beyond this one. Beyond this one. You can't pick Shrewsbury. It is stunning. I can see why you would, but other than Shrewsbury. Bob, Quakers?
Debbie Armstrong: We're Quakers or... I think it's going to be Quakers Walk. Quaker's Walk? Going for Quaker's Walk. What would be your favourite parkrun?
Bob Turner: Either Quakers Walk or the Barmouth one, whose name I can't remember, that begins with an A. A Y. It's a Welsh one, but it's Barmouth.
Debbie Armstrong: Yeah, Barmouth. It's a recent new one. Oh, you... Oh, yeah.
Bob Turner: Barmouth.
Debbie Armstrong: out and back brilliant great and have you done much parkrun abroad have you been to any so I've done I've done one in Montreal last year went for the Canadian Grand Prix so all the practice and qualifying started late so I went and did I think it's called Frédéric Back parkrun and it's round an old quarry beautiful quarry connection as well then yeah
Bob Turner: Does Wales count as abroad?
Ruth Perkins: It is another country, isn't it? Yeah. How about Gary?
Gary Jones: Only one. I went to Poland to do Zielony Jar, just to get that Z.
Ruth Perkins: Nice. Yes, I've done Zielony Jar. So when you went, was it when they were doing a Zumba warm-up?
Gary Jones: It was, yeah, it was indeed. And I got a squirrel biscuit as well, randomly, given to me at the end. Did you see any of the red squirrels? We did, yeah. Oh. Oh, that's so perfect. Only one of two places I've seen. The other place was Southport. So only two places I've ever seen a red squirrel.
[crosstalk]
Ruth Perkins: Oh, you're very lucky. Well, it's been lovely chatting with you. And we're on the, I guess, the final loop now, aren't we, of the parkrun?
Debbie Armstrong: We have one more hill to do.
Ruth Perkins: Although it is flat.
Debbie Armstrong: We have one more hill to do and then just a quick 500 yards to the finish line.
Ruth Perkins: Great. So any last things that people need to know when they're thinking about coming to Shrewsbury Park?
Debbie Armstrong: We have the best breakfasts. There are so many cafes to choose from, but we have the best breakfast.
Ruth Perkins: Is there one in particular that you think people should head towards? Actually, the one at the top of the hill. Have we got a name for it?
Debbie Armstrong: It's actually our local swimming bath. It's actually called the Quarry Cafe. Quarry Cafe.
[crosstalk]
Ruth Perkins: There you go. Oh, cheeky. Cheeky fried bread. Well, thank you so much for chatting with us today. And thank you for volunteering as well. And I really appreciate the tail, by the way. There's a lovely stripy tiger tail. Oh, we've got Stanley with us as well. Can we hear from Stanley? Woof, woof, woof, woof. There you go. Thank you.
Interview Paul Sinton-Hewitt — Founder of parkrun
Calum Burrell: Good evening parkrun adventurers, it's Calum. It's not parkrun day, it's a Monday night and I'm here with, well you introduce yourself. I'm Paul Sinton-Hewitt. Okay and we are here because you're launching your book and what's your book? A single step, a small step. And we're here because Paul did a little chat with us earlier on, chatting about all things parkrun and what do you want to tell parkrun adventurers about your book?
[background music]
Paul Sinton-Hewitt: Well, it's a book that really describes why and how I came to create parkrun. So it talks a lot about me. It's a biographical. It's a great story and I hope you enjoy it.
[background music]
Calum Burrell: Yeah, and I think on behalf of myself, parkrun adventurers and everyone in parkrun World, I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for bringing this into our lives. We can't thank you enough for everything that you've done for us, everyone in parkrun world uh you know our lives have been so enriched you know we you know we can't think what else we'll be doing on a Saturday morning and some days for those as we do junior parkrun but uh yeah no very well just want to pass on our appreciation for for everything that you do and uh let's uh hope the the next 20 years go as well as the first 20 years thank you very much you're very welcome thank you
Simon Mackley: Okay, and we're back from our roving reports. So we heard from Lyndell, who was at Warrandyte River Reserve, and she spoke to RD David McKay. And it was great to hear bagpipes in the background at the end of that recording as well. We also heard from Ruth at Shrewsbury parkrun in Shropshire. She spoke to Debbie Armstrong, Bob Turner, and Gary Jones. And they were the Tail Walkers on the day and regularly volunteer as other roles, including Run Director. And a short little quick word with parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt that came to us from Calum, who went to Paul's book launch. And we have a little bit of follow-up from earlier. So the five parkruns that had records were in South Australia and there was one in Tasmania. So we found that over the break. Awesome.
Dazza's
Sarah Jefferson: All right. We might head into Dazza's Simon. This week, Dazza said, today is Sylvester the cat's birthday. Sylvester is famous for chasing Tweety Bird but never quite catching him. And sometimes parkrun can feel like you're chasing something you'll never quite get. Whether you got what you wanted this week or you simply lived to parkrun another day, come on in to Dazza's and tell us all about it. And Dazza will make sure you get exactly what you're after.
Simon Mackley: And firstly, we heard from Chris Gore in New Zealand. So Chris said, hey, Dazza. Well, after over 12 months of chasing her last position bingo number, Karen finally finished in position 111 to give her the long sought after number 11. We're still in New Zealand and took part in the University of Waikato parkrun today for the Yellow Theme 200th event and Easter special, four-lap course around the university grounds, one lap around the lake, two around the playing fields and one more around both Lakes. It's our fourth university parkrun. So congrats to Karen on chasing down that position bingo number. It's not an easy one to get and ticking off their fourth university parkrun is amazing. There was a photo of both Chris and Karen in the selfie frame wearing Easter headbands and yellow tutus.
Sarah Jefferson: Okay, in the ACT now we heard from Yvette Turner. Yvette wrote, Bill and I took Budgie to Umbagong District parkrun in the ACT, Budgie's first trip to Australia's capital. It was a chilly morning, so he wore a miniature woolly scarf while he helped me scan barcodes. A couple of people asked about the little plane, so a good opportunity to talk about the parkrun adventurers and the podcast. Next week I'm taking Budgie to an island he has not been to before. And there was a photo of Yvette with Budgie in the selfie frame. I had been wondering about where Budgie had actually been and where he was smuggled to next after he was handed over in New Zealand. So it's good to see that Budgie has made his way to the ACT after a long journey across to the UK and back to New Zealand. I did notice the miniature scarf around the cockpit of Budgie. And I do wonder where the island is that he hasn't visited. I'm going to say that he might be off to the North Island of New Zealand next week, but I guess we'll hear.
Simon Mackley: Yeah, I saw this and thought maybe Hamilton Island or maybe it's Kangaroo Island. But I guess we will see. I might have missed Singapore.
Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, maybe.
Simon Mackley: Okay, we will, I guess, know next week, as you say. Next we heard from Leanne Evans from Tasmania. So Leanne shared, hey Dazza, Disco and I returned to Kate Reed after a five-week break to assist with a Hoblers Bridge Reserve team. We completed the course check before running parkrun. Disco was very excited to be back and he certainly let people know with his excited bark and tail wag as we lined up to start. He loves to run hard for the first kilometre then settles with a more comfortable pace. Today, having already done the course check, I thought we would have a comfortable run until another dog ran past. Then the chase was on. The two dogs excitedly ran together and tag-teamed for a good 500 to 600 metres until fatigue won over their chase. And there was a photo of Leanne and Disco the greyhound enjoying their morning run together. And it sounds like a true Sylvester and Tweety bird chase.
Sarah Jefferson: It certainly does. All right, coming to us from New South Wales this week, we heard from Bernadette Bennett. Bernadette stated, event seven at Sky River Path parkrun, Coonabarabran, for three Bennett's this morning, where we made acquaintances with a giant kookaburra after our three lap out and back. There was a photo shared of the three Bennett's wearing rabbit ears next to the big kookaburra. So kookaburras are a local symbol for the area. And this large kookaburra in the photo was actually chainsaw carved from a single wood block, I believe, which is quite impressive.
Simon Mackley: That is very impressive. Next, we heard from Andrew Turner in WA. Andrew shared, finished the chase around the States to make it into the Peel Club at Centennial Park, Dunsborough. So congrats to Andrew and what a great achievement. Welcome to the Peel Club. Andrew posted a photo of his third position token next to his watch showing a cracking time of 17.46.
Sarah Jefferson: Very speedy indeed. We heard from Debbie Jessop in Victoria. Debbie said, hey Dazza, today was very special. Graduated from the black tee to the green tee. My 250th parkrun and three green love hearts. I visited the beautiful Studley. Coffee, friends, celebrations, Easter vibes. I caused BB. Oh, so happy. A huge congrats to you, Debbie, on your 250th parkrun. It sounds and looks like from your photo that you had a lovely morning celebrating and there was a photo of Debbie and three others as well as a doggo wearing tutus, bunny ears and a big smile.
Simon Mackley: Congrats on your 250, Debbie. Next we heard from David Bravos in Queensland. So David wrote, a quick change of accommodation so we could stop by Ocean View Park and enjoy the scenery whilst dodging cows and puddles. I'm just an F away from finishing the alphabet and Chloe's really supportive of that. She's told me just F off at least 10 times today.
Sarah Jefferson: I can't imagine Chloe saying that.
Simon Mackley: It sounds like they had a fantastic fun-filled farm faff. That was a lot of Fs. We can't wait to see where the F takes you on your next adventure to achieve your alphabet status. And I can imagine that Chloe probably did say F a lot at Ocean View because it is a very hilly course.
Sarah Jefferson: Thanks, Dave. We heard from Samantha Roberts, who was over in Japan this week. Samantha stated, Hattori Ryokuchi parkrun in Japan, it was lovely. And there was a photo of Sam with the parkrun sign filled with pictures of Easter eggs looking like a lovely spring morning over there.
Simon Mackley: I'm sure it was beautiful there in Osaka.
Sarah Jefferson: All right.
the Obi Award — Leanne Evans
Sarah Jefferson: Simon, can you find the Obilope under all of those Easter egg wrappers that are on your desk?
Simon Mackley: I don't know what you're talking about. There's no Easter eggs here.
Sarah Jefferson: Haven't made any Easter eggs?
Simon Mackley: No. So this week, the Obi goes to Leanne Evans. Congrats, Leanne.
[background music]
Sarah Jefferson: Congrats, Leanne. And disco.
Emails
Sarah Jefferson: All right. Our inbox in our emails this week is looking very empty. We didn't receive any emails this week at all, Simon.
[background music]
Simon Mackley: Not good, apart from our roving reports. But, yes, that was all that came in.
Club Corner
Simon Mackley: So I think it must be time that we need to throw to Reginald.
Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III: This is Club Corner, and I am Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III, coming to you from Arrernte Country. I would like to begin today with a quote from one of my favourite dolphins, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. Today's episode is the conclusion of our series about parkrun volunteer roles. We shall surely cover volunteering again, but today contains the final two slices of the volunteer pie, with two rare volunteer role titles, Other, and the Unregistered Volunteer. The other role is to recognise someone for doing anything that cannot be included in one of the other 20 plus parkrun roles. It may be someone who was broadly helpful and it is appropriate to recognise them, or they were helpful in a particular circumstance. I do know of a number of events that use the other role to recognise bakers and caterers for birthdays, now for the exciting corner case an unregistered volunteer it may be that these individuals are not registered parkrunners and slash or have not volunteered at a parkrun event before assuming that the volunteer does not want to register then the Run Director or Volunteer Coordinator completes a safeguarding declaration form and the volunteer signs the form for submission to parkrun hqasap then there are rules about which roles the unregistered person may perform e.g nothing isolated this form is especially important in the UK for junior parkrun and the form contains a declaration for the volunteer in Australia it is a flat no for unregistered to volunteer a junior parkrun you must produce your working with children check well that is the end of the 14 episodes of club corner where we highlighted the most immediate aspects about volunteer roles at parkrun If you have any volunteer-related topics you would like covered, then drop a line on parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.
Sarah Jefferson: We are back from Reginald. Thanks, Reginald, for sharing all the volunteer roles over the last month or so. I know that this week we actually had one of our Run Directors go collect and organise the 10th anniversary cake. So they were actually added in as other for a volunteer role. I know that some parkruns, particularly around summer, have the essential Zoopa Doopas, etc. So they might be put down as other as well. But I have heard, Simon, about some people sort of not liking using other as a volunteer role as they feel that it just doesn't justify the service well enough for the volunteers. But, I mean, I guess it's good that there's something to honour that someone's volunteered that might not quite fit into one of the roles specifically. that is mentioned in the system. And I guess this is, yeah, a reminder as well that if you have any other topics that you think Reginald could include, please feel free to write in to us and let us know. And I am excited for the Who Am I of parkruns that may be upcoming, hopefully, in this segment.
Simon Mackley: We will see.
Consolidated Club Report
Simon Mackley: Moving on to the adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday 19 April 2025. Of a total of 774 members, we had 604 taking part on this date in 13 countries across 301 locations. In the UK, there were adventurers at 58 events, 10 in South Africa. Germany had three. Canada, Italy, Japan, Norway and USA each had two. And Ireland, Lithuania and Singapore all had one. Locally, we had adventurers at 53 events in Victoria. 51 in Queensland, 45 in New South Wales. Both SA and WA tied with 20. The North Island had 10. Tassie had eight. ACT, seven. And the South Island had just three.
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the Frond
Sarah Jefferson: The largest international frond. Well, we actually had two this week. Woodhouse Moor in the UK. There were four adventurers, Jane and Stephen Prost, Amanda Murray-Hind and Ali Sheppard. And the second one, Puarenga in New Zealand, Mickey Jarvis-Leanne and Miles Mansell.
Simon Mackley: And we had someone return for the 22nd time to Bushy. That was Adrian Luscombe.
Sarah Jefferson: All right, the largest fronds. Well, we're going to mention three this week. There was a frond of 15 at Shellharbour, a frond of 10 at Toowoomba and a frond of seven at Burley Griffin. Remember that you can add the Adventurers Club as one of your five affiliations on your parkrun profile.
Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"
Simon Mackley: And moving on to launches, while there were no launches this past weekend, I'm guessing because it was Easter, there were actually three that launched on Palm weekend. So the first one we have here is called Meon Valley Trail parkrun in Wickham in the UK. There were 388 finishes, 37 volunteers and 10 genuine first timers. So that was about 3.8%. The course is a flat out and back following the Meon Valley disused railway line starting 350 metres northeast from the Wickham Old Station car park. runs directly out for 2.5km before an about turn at a bridge heading back to the finish line.
Sarah Jefferson: We also had another launch in the UK, FeldyRoo Fitness Trail parkrun. So the launch saw 77 finishes with 11 first-time-evers, supported by 12 volunteers. The course is located in Aberfeldy, and there is three laps on a mixture of trail and grass, partly alongside a river. The start and finish are located beside the parking area.
Simon Mackley: And the last one that launched the previous weekend was Kovach parkrun in Canada. So there were 80 finishes, five volunteers and a whopping 39 genuine first timers or 49% of participants. It's located in Revelstoke, British Columbia. It's a flat course that runs out and back on a paved path from Kovach Park to Centennial Park. It starts close to the main parking lot, proceeding on path to the junction with Illa Silhouette Green Belt Path and then a turn right, continuing on to the main path until the turnaround point at Centennial Park and retracing the same route back to Kovach Park.
Sarah Jefferson: Nice pronunciation there, Simon.
Simon Mackley: No one can see what that Illa Silhouette actually looked like.
Sarah Jefferson: You did a great job.
parkrun adventure challengelistener challenge
Sarah Jefferson: All right, so looking forward, so in Australia this Friday is a national public holiday for ANZAC Day. So for the listener challenge, I know that there are some adventurers who are serving members of the Defence Force, reservists or are retired servicemen and women. So in honour of all of our defence personnel for this ANZAC Day, we would like you to incorporate something to represent the ANZAC spirit. So whether it's enjoying an Anzac biscuit, sharing a photo with friends, wearing a medal or a photo with an Australian flag. So this week, yeah, taking a photo of something that embraces the Anzac spirit. And for the listeners overseas, I'm sure you're familiar with it, but I will just restate the acronym. So Anzac being Australian New Zealand Army Corps.
Simon Mackley: I'm just going to jump in there. You said a photo with an Australian flag could be a New Zealand flag as well, because ANZAC is Australia and New Zealand.
Sign-off
Sarah Jefferson: Definitely could be, or an Indigenous flag. Sure. All right, Simon, where are you headed next parkrun Day?
Simon Mackley: I am unsure, but what I'm planning to do is volunteer somewhere close to home. So I'll have a look later in the week and see who needs a volunteer. What about you?
Sarah Jefferson: Well, I have plans to make plans. I am actually not 100% sure. I have an idea of where I would like to go, but my partner, Matt, would like to go somewhere else. So we'll just see as to where we end up. But it will be somewhere local. Matt is a reservist, so he'll be marching on Anzac Day.
Debbie Armstrong: So we'll be in Perth for Anzac Day.
Sarah Jefferson: All right, so next week we have Mel and TOC back from New Zealand and back from their adventures in the studio chairs. So I look forward to hearing all about their time away.
Simon Mackley: Yeah, I do too. As always, listeners, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email address, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another week. We will see you all next week for more adventures. See you later, Sarah. Bye. Bye.
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