Episode 435 - The Restructure

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:23Tony O'Connell: And welcome to episode 435 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. My name is Toc and I'm coming to you from the lands of the Boon Wurrung, hang on Mel, I'm not coming to you from the Boon Wurrung lands this week, I'm coming from the Wirra Wurrung people's lands at Cowra. How are you?

00:00:45Melissa Ellis: Well my name is Melissa Ellis and I'm I'm coming to you from Wurundjeri Country. And, yeah, I'm same old, same old. No change here.

00:00:55Tony O'Connell: That's good, Mel. We're currently travelling, so the viewers might notice the Wi-Fi is a little scratchy. The viewers, what am I thinking? The listeners might find that the Wi-Fi is a little scratchy. We're piggybacking off some motel Wi-Fi, some cheap Wi-Fi. So let's see how we go.

00:01:13Melissa Ellis: Well, why not? And just glad you could make it with me. So thank you. We will have a little look back towards last episode, with Simon and Sarah, and they snuck in a little announcement at the end of the podcast, Tony.

00:01:29Tony O'Connell: Yeah, well, I'm wondering how many people got to the music at the end and hit stop and didn't get the little last gasp of information there.

00:01:38Melissa Ellis: I won't insert a drumroll and make my life any more difficult than it needs to be, but it was announced that palm26 will indeed be held on the 7th of March. So we have identified the weekend that we are going to hold next year's event. It is a long weekend in the greater state. I'm not sure if it's a long weekend anywhere else.

00:02:03Tony O'Connell: Mel, I think it may also be a public holiday in South Australia and maybe one or two of the other states because a lot of them are starting to align. I notice that Western Australia has changed some of their public holidays to align with the eastern states, proving that east is best, not west is best.

00:02:19Melissa Ellis: Ooh, shots fired. Anyway, coming up later in the podcast will be an announcement of the location, so don't go away. We are going to make you keep listening. But there was more news.

00:02:33Tony O'Connell: There was, Mel. And in sensational news, the OG Office Lady is back.

00:02:40Melissa Ellis: Did anybody pick it up? Has anybody noticed a little subtle change in the socials? The tone, the difference in the commenting?

00:02:51Tony O'Connell: The fact that it's based on Eastern Seaboard time and it's coming out a lot earlier on a Friday morning, people might have noticed that. Yeah, Mel, so I was lucky enough to have dinner on Saturday night with the Office Lady and she's very happy to be back.

00:03:07Melissa Ellis: Now, we should make a little bit of an announcement as to why the Equal Opportunity employees had the... boot from the socials. He hasn't actually had the boot at all. He's been promoted. He is the chief editor. We've got a producer.

00:03:26Tony O'Connell: We do, Mel. I think he's gone from the equal opportunity employee to the editing opportunity employee. Yes, he has.

00:03:34Melissa Ellis: So anyway, we thank David Bravos very much for stepping up, and he is going to be taking over from me in the editing department, although not this week because he's flitted off to Japan, but So I've got to edit this one myself.

00:03:48Tony O'Connell: Mel, how about you give us a bit of an idea of what you've been up to in your last month since you and I last recorded?

00:03:54Melissa Ellis: Okay, well, the month of September has been a quiet month for me, adventure-wise, with three repeats and one new event. I began the month with a local trip to re-index Bannockburn Bush, which was a new event for Dave, where I bumped into a travelling Phil Gore who was visiting to record an ultra podcast with some local runners. The next week saw us spending the weekend in a very cool converted Bedford bus in Tullarook, so we took the opportunity to return to Puckapunyal, which is close by. Incidentally, I hadn't been up to Pucka since last December. The third week in September, I had a girlfriend from the UK visiting me and the plan was to head back to Pucka with her. But as we all know, life doesn't always go to plan. Getting onto a closed facility isn't straightforward. It requires two crucial things. Number one, I need to show my pass. And number two, the person I'm escorting needs to have an Australian government issued photo identification. So about halfway on our morning journey, I reached for my small handbag to reassure myself that my pass was there. And this, by the way, is a one and a half hour drive. To my horror, my pass was not in my bag. And the dread flooded through my body as the realisation dawned that we would not be able to get onto the base. Goulburn River Trail parkrun in nearby Seymour was our plan B, so I decided rather than stopping at a closer course, we'd continue on. We arrived at Goulburn a few minutes shy of 7.30 and I turned to discover my pass had fallen from my bag to the floor. So I turned the car around and headed out to Pucka, which is roughly 10 minutes away. Well, I needn't have bothered though, as we were soon back in Seymour again, where we enjoyed a lovely run chat along the Goulburn River Trail. What happened at the base? Well, while Rachel does have an Australian passport, she left it behind with some of her luggage at her son's place in Melbourne before travelling out to visit me. Despite having a photo of the passport, it was not sufficient to gain access. So that brings us to the weekend just gone, which was the Australian Rules football grand final long weekend in Melbourne. Dave and I took advantage of the Friday public holiday to book a trip across Bass Strait for a Tasmanian parkrun adventure. We flew in and out of Launceston and ran at Port Sorell parkrun, which is on the north central coast on the lands of the Penillapanna people. Port Sorell is a 20 minute drive from Devonport and a little over an hour from Lonnie. The course is out and back along the foreshore starting at the Surf Lifesaving Club. It was event 359 with 70 finishes on the day which seems pretty standard for this time of year. A little look at the event history shows that the event swells over the Christmas period with their attendance record being set on January the 4th this year at 233. The small crowd was embracing the footy theme with many club colours represented, with a small contingent of tourists as well. I was happy with my quickest time for months, which I'll put down to a flat course and clean air. Oh, and joining in on the watching the stopwatch bingo of Melissa Ellis, the last two weeks of September bought me a 12 and an 8. Unfortunately, not what I need. That's it for my September wrap. Questions, queries, doubtful points.

00:07:20Tony O'Connell: Mel, you're getting so close to your stopwatch bingo, but it still eludes you. I'm starting to wonder whether we should be running a bit of a sweep as to how long you can actually go before you get that zero zero.

00:07:27[crosstalk]

00:07:33Melissa Ellis: Oh, good luck with that, because I've been waiting years. It's been years since I got my last second penultimate stopwatch bingo number, so... Anyway, enough about me. Tell me, tell me what you've been up to.

00:07:49Tony O'Connell: Well, Mel, my September has been a lot of travelling. We've travelled three out of the four weeks, so we've done quite a bit of touristing for September. Week one was a flying visit to Point Hut Pond, and that was recapped in the last pod where I submitted a roving report. Great event, really enjoyed it. It's just a great vibe, great coffee afterwards. One of those events you just really go to and really enjoy. Week two, I was at home at Inverloch for our 11th anniversary, and yes, we had cake. There's always cake for an anniversary where I'm concerned, and we had quite a large cake delivered by our friend and supporter, Paul the Pyman, who gives our volunteers coffees each week. So that was a... Yeah, great little event. The following week, which was only two weeks ago, we visited the Greater States' newest event, or it was the newest event at the time. We've had another one since, and we'll hear about that a little bit later. We went to Red Hill Rail Trail parkrun, and it was a rainy, muddy slush fest. It's a 2.5km down the hill, and then 2.5km back up. It rained, and it actually hailed on us halfway through parkrun. So we had a little bit of everything there, Crack of a course. I'd love to go back and do it. I love running on the trail runs. Much prefer them to anything else. We were lucky Dano came down from Melbourne and caught up with us. And we just, so many people there that we caught up with. There's Nadine, Sarah, Shelley, Chantelle, Oren and Parth, Cheryl and Mark, Sam, Dawn and the Blacks. So there were just people that we knew everywhere. One of those great little parkruns, you turn up and you just know half the crowd. There was 147 there for their third week, and that jumped to 212 for their fourth week. So one of those events that's going to be a little bit challenging with the car parking, and I'm not sure how the extra 60 or 70 people from last week to this week, how that's actually going to cope with it with their car parking. But... Moving on, on the Saturday just gone, we came back to Canberra, and it was to complete our Capitalist Challenge, so doing all the parkruns in the ACT. So we went and visited Coombs parkrun. Andrew Smith was running the show as RD, and Andrew's an event ambassador who I've known for some time, so it was great to catch up with Andrew. And Yvette and Bill Turner came out and caught up with us. That was really great. Yvette's running that as part of one of her... 2025 challenges of volunteering and running at all the Canberra events plus the two just over in Queanbeyan we went out and had breakfast with them as well and spent a fair while talking and then we went into Floriade Mall in Canberra itself and I know you went to it I think last year or the year before it was a great day just a huge flower and garden show in Canberra got to personally meet Floyd the gnome who sits there and has a lot of photos taken with people And then, as I said earlier, we went out for tea with the Office Lady and Luke. So a really big weekend in Canberra. So that pretty well wraps up my September. So a few things to unpick from that.

00:11:06Melissa Ellis: Yes, I have probably spent the last three or four grand final long weekends in Canberra, which is why on more than one occasion I have located Floyd. Now, Floyd is a very large... hot pink garden gnome that is sort of the face of the floriade festival I think you'd say and I know Sarah was there a couple weeks ago and she also spotted floyd so I love floyd love getting a selfie with floyd every time I visit now um one other thing I wanted to ask you though TOC when you were at red hill you just ran through all those names of all the people I thought I saw you with Eric Banner

00:11:49Tony O'Connell: Eric was there as well. Certainly was, Mel. I completely missed Eric. And that is always a danger when you scroll through a whole heap of names is that there's going to be people that you miss. But there was a photo with Eric and a large group of us with the Red Hill sign.

00:12:05Melissa Ellis: Uh-huh. So there you go. All righty.

00:12:08Tony O'Connell: Unfortunately, Mel, I didn't see Eric's name in the results. I flicked through the results. Oh, that's why. That's it. He must have forgot his barcode again.

00:12:17Melissa Ellis: Right. Well, that makes sense. I understand. But, okay, there's been some happening since the last pod was recorded, TOC, and it does relate to one of our very favourite apps.

00:12:31Tony O'Connell: Certainly does, Mel. The Purple app, as everyone knows it as, the 5K app, has been brought into the parkrun fold. Michael Clayton, who developed the app, is coming on board as a parkrun employee as of the 1st of December. There's been talk of parkrun working with the 5K app for probably... I've probably heard it for 18 months. So in my opinion, it's actually probably good that it's official and it's going to evolve. And I believe that there's going to be a number of changes to the app in how volunteering is managed potentially. That'll be a lot easier on the app. You know, trying to get on through the websites of the events can be very clunky. Everyone's familiar with apps. You tap a thing on the phone, comes up. Lots of other little changes, but parkrun have committed to not doing any wholesale changes without consultation, without talking to people. And I certainly think after a couple of the gates that we've had over the last few years, I certainly hope that they've learnt from that and that the consultation will be fairly meaningful as they've promised and that it'll progress and move on and further evolve.

00:13:47Melissa Ellis: There's already been one new challenge added. Now, it was actually Dave that alerted me to this, Toc. Are you aware of this new challenge?

00:13:55Tony O'Connell: I am, Mel, and I'm just trying to think of what that new challenge is called.

00:13:58Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so am I. I just reached for my phone.

00:14:03Tony O'Connell: It's funny. It's one of the first things you do after parkrun now is you'll be sitting around. Someone will say, what about this? And everyone reaches their phone and goes for the purple app. Yeah.

00:14:13Melissa Ellis: So it's called Match of the Day, and the idea of that challenge is to attend a parkrun with the same event number as your personal parkrun total. Correct. So we had a bit of a look at my numbers. I ran my 507th on Saturday, and there is nothing in the whole wide world on the same number as me.

00:14:41Tony O'Connell: So you don't have that one at all, Mel? No, I do not. I open it up and I've actually already got it twice.

00:14:46Melissa Ellis: Of course you do.

00:14:49Tony O'Connell: So I got it in Inverloch really early days, event 29 of Inverloch, and it was my 29th run. And almost with a bit of symmetry, event 229, so 200 runs later, I got it at Paradise Point on the day that the world shut down. So I'd probably rather not remember that horrible day where the little bat disease shut the parkrun world down as we knew it for some time.

00:15:16Melissa Ellis: Wow. Well, good job. Go you.

00:15:20Tony O'Connell: But yeah, I'm going to have to find some events up in the mid 400s now to, like you, the higher number of events to try and go for another one.

00:15:29Melissa Ellis: Yeah. So anyway, my take on this change is one of nervous hope.

00:15:38Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:15:40Melissa Ellis: I hope it doesn't change too much because I fear the fallout. If it does, I think that perhaps it's likely that parkrun want control because they want to make some changes. That's the sceptic in me. But also I'm... I haven't been involved in reading and listening all the comments because I think I just want to back away from controversy and I just want to see what happens and try not to get too wound up about it. And I might encourage everybody, like, life changes, life evolves. Maybe it will go through a bit of a metamorphosis. Not much we can do about it. So let's not get too stressed over what may or may not happen.

00:16:29Tony O'Connell: Yeah, Mel, I'd have to say I've been a little bit disappointed. I've seen some comments online where people have said, oh, they've already started deleting challenges. And that's simply not true. When I've challenged the people to tell me which challenge is it that's been deleted, they say, I've just heard one. Well, the fear-mongering in that isn't serving any purpose. I think, let's see what happens to it. And the simple fact is, parkrun had an app years ago, and it was the worst thing in the world. It was the worst app ever. Every time you opened it, basically you had to reinstall it. If you tried to open it a second time in the day, you had to delete the app and reinstall it because it was so clunky and horrible. The 5K app... It's everyone's friend. Everyone loves it. I don't know anyone that doesn't like the app. Everyone seems to spend half their Saturday morning looking up bits and pieces on it. So let's see what happens. I think we give it a go and see what happens.

00:17:27Melissa Ellis: Isn't it funny? Because you know what? I actually don't use it very much. I did use it um when I was scanning my token at the end of my run on Saturday there was a gentleman standing there with his token just what do I do with this and I said well have you got a barcode and he said well I do but I didn't bring it and he was he literally was happy to throw it in I went no no no no I can fix this for you and you know as we do I quickly searched him on the 5k app and so he could scan his result but I have to say I might be a bit of a an anomaly as an adventurer and as a tourist but I don't really look at the app very often unless I want to use The event map. And that's what I find the biggest benefit for me is opening the map to see all the green ticks and identify the closest events that I can potentially do that I haven't done before.

00:18:31Tony O'Connell: Yep. And look, I enjoy looking at things like that, you know, bring up the Voronoi map and I actually like trying to fill in gaps and holes and that sort of thing. And I actually do enjoy having a look at, you know, my runs my my all that that get listed in there so I actually use the 5k quite a bit yeah look let's let's see where it ends up and let's see what happens change is inevitable but as long as they don't make wholesale changes um I think yeah the reality is at some point parkrun could have probably just pulled the plug on the data going into it knowing it have anything so let's let's see where we go

00:19:10Melissa Ellis: Now, we've got another topic to raise with our community, and that is the Christmas compendium. It's not out yet, parkrun, I don't think has even thought about it yet, guys. It's only September. I know, I know. We are all planning because that's what we do. We plan our adventures. But we are going to offer some advice, aren't we, TOC?

00:19:32Tony O'Connell: We are, Mel. And look, this is coming from me as someone who's involved on both an event team and as an ambassador that sees other event teams as well that I assist and help. And some of the event teams are starting to get regular requests already. Are you running on this date? Are you running on that date? Why not? Sort of requests. It's only September. parkrun haven't even sent out the request of the events yet to start considering the compendium. And when they do, I believe they've actually got, it's normally about mid-December they have to make a decision by. So I know we love planning. I love planning myself. The best way you can do planning at this stage is pick some parkruns in the area you're going, have a look at their history. It'll give you a little bit of an idea as to whether it's going to be on or not, but it doesn't guarantee it. I know Inverloch, for example, we've never run New Year's Day and I can't see us ever running a New Year's Day. Yeah, just please don't message events because I know a couple of my events have already started to get three or four messages a week asking about Christmas compendiums. We're only in September.

00:20:40Melissa Ellis: Alrighty, so be good little adventurers and be patient. That's what the message is there. That is, Mel. But some stats. Let's change the subject.

00:20:50Tony O'Connell: Rightio, let's kick across the ditch. And once again, thanks to Alison. On the last parkrun day, which was Saturday the 27th of September, across the ditch in New Zealand, there were 64 parkruns. They had 10,869 finishes. And that's a big jump. And I believe that's their biggest one, weekly total since about middle of March and they were supported by 1015 volunteers biggest New Zealand parkruns were Millwater with 357 were tangy with 487 and Hagley of course with 699 the smallest New Zealand parkruns Lost Lagoon had 37 Mangawhero River Walk had 29 and East Otago High School had 25 and Caroline Bay set an attendance record which I believe was only stood for a couple of weeks. So that is New Zealand in a nutshell.

00:21:48Melissa Ellis: but back on the mainland in Australia we had 515 5k events with 79 381 finishes and 6248 volunteers in the junior events we conducted four events with 316 Little Legends and 87 volunteers the

00:21:58[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:22:11Melissa Ellis: Attendance has spiked this week, possibly due to school holidays, with attendance records set at Cooks River and North Sydney in New South Wales, Umbagong in the ACT, Red Hill in Victoria, Black Swan in WA, Kewarra Beach and Coolum Eco in Queensland and Mawson Lakes and Yeldulknie Weir Trail in South Australia. Of interest, Yeldulknie's record was last set 335 weeks ago in April 2019 at their launch. And that was 296 events ago. Now, on the 20th of September, the smallest parkrun was Surat Memorial. Surat Memorial Park in Queensland, they had four, and the largest was the Ponds with 764. Last weekend, on the 27th, the smallest parkrun was Waterloo Plains in Queensland with six, and the largest event was Albert Melbourne in the Greater State with 833. That is it for all our stats.

00:23:10[background music]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:23:14Melissa Ellis: So I think, Tony, it might be time to listen to some of our roving reports.

Roving report Ali Sheppard — East Brighton parkrun

00:23:26Ali Sheppard: G'day adventurers, Ali from the UK here and I am currently sitting outside a cafe outside East Brighton parkrun and I am here with the two co-EDs of East Brighton parkrun and they are...

00:23:42Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: It's a good day.

00:23:42Ali Sheppard: Ruth Farnell and Buff Forbestone. Fantastic. And it's a lovely day. We've had a wonderful parkrun today. Tell us a little bit about East Brighton. Because there's a number of parkruns in Brighton area, aren't there?

00:23:58Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Yeah, we're one of five. And we are the second smallest. We started in 2017. And we're in this lovely park in East Brighton. What do you want to know exactly?

00:24:13[crosstalk]

00:24:14Ali Sheppard: It's a little gem, isn't it? It is a little gem, yeah. Because I think some of the other ones in Brighton get lots of people.

00:24:24Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: We've got some of the fastest courses in the UK in Brighton. But this one is more of a training route, isn't it? It's three lovely loops on grass, on beautiful grass. Victorian terraces. These were built for promenading on. Oh, were they? Yeah, at the turn of the century. And now we run on them. I quite like when I'm doing it, thinking about that history.

00:24:37[crosstalk]

00:24:46Ali Sheppard: So there's three, just to picture it, there's three terraces and they're at slightly different levels.

00:24:50[crosstalk]

00:24:50Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Yeah, that's right.

00:24:52Ali Sheppard: And the course runs along each of the levels.

00:24:56Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: On each of the three loops, we do one of the levels. Which is amazing.

00:25:00Ali Sheppard: Now, There's something very unusual about East Brighton parkrun which is given in a warning beforehand in the run briefing which is about the helicopter.

00:25:09[crosstalk]

00:25:13Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Yes, we're very near the local hospital which has helicopter service and if necessary the helicopter may well land in the middle of our course so the course is actually the landing place and taking off for the air ambulance that's right and if that happens um well obviously we can't be running around a helicopter so if that happens in the middle of the event um we do have to cancel it. I mean, we have actually had it land all three or four times and we've only actually had to cancel twice, haven't we? But Most people are quite jolly about it and get a bit of a story out of it afterwards. And on a more serious note, we've actually had people here approach them after they've delivered the patient to thank them because they've used the service. And they are here at parkrun and that really brings it home to you, doesn't it?

00:25:32[crosstalk]

00:26:13[crosstalk]

00:26:17Ali Sheppard: Yes, it really does.

00:26:19Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: And I know I've heard people at other parkruns dine out on it, that they were here the week that it landed.

00:26:24Ali Sheppard: I mean, I'm assuming you don't just see it approaching.

00:26:28[crosstalk]

00:26:28Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: No, you hear it in the sky. But do you get any notice? No, not really. It's an emergency. No, so you don't.

00:26:33[crosstalk]

00:26:35Ali Sheppard: So they don't ring up? No, they haven't time. They're getting on with it, aren't they? No, I thought you might have a radio that they might radio through and say we're going to be landing. You just look up and you see it coming.

00:26:43[crosstalk]

00:26:46Buff - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Really?

00:26:46Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: You just look up and hear it coming. Although the last time it landed was at about five to nine o'clock. Lord ran over spanked the pilot and I said to the pilot I'm obviously not getting away um yeah he said I'm just picking up staff oh my goodness we're holding up parkrun get on the phone to the hospital no way get here quick lads we're holding up parkrun and we just delayed the start by a few minutes and yeah the ambulance came to drop these people off and off they went so that is amazing it is yeah it is and it is good when it lands I mean

00:27:03[crosstalk]

00:27:17Ali Sheppard: Yeah.

00:27:18Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: And I think people are grateful because, you know, there's somebody's family in there. Absolutely.

00:27:22[crosstalk]

00:27:25Ali Sheppard: I mean, I know it caused a little bit of anxiety to one of my friends who was coming, who was, oh, what happens if it lands and it gets cancelled?

00:27:35Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: I mean, we've done nearly 300 events now, coming up to 300 events. Yeah.

00:27:40Ali Sheppard: two and even they weren't yeah one was fully cancelled yeah and we've had it land four times and twice just delays the start yeah I think it's I mean that's really unique I don't know of any other parkrun in the world where they have a course on their helicopter landing course I mean adventurers if you know of somewhere in Australia that has a similar thing then uh then let us know but um yeah I think it's really well the hospital lovers and they know about us but yeah Yeah. So you're both co-EDs. Yeah, that's right. And you've been involved. Have you been involved since the start?

00:28:19Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: I certainly was here. Buff is a new committee. Yeah. I've certainly been. I was here at the first inaugural in 2017. So I was, you know, I've been a regular since then and I've just gradually, as you do.

00:28:31Ali Sheppard: And have you gone and done other parkruns around?

00:28:34[crosstalk]

00:28:34Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: I've done one in Australia, actually. Have you?

00:28:36Ali Sheppard: I've done Centennial in Sydney. Oh, in Sydney? Yeah, in Sydney. Have you been there? So you've done other countries as well?

00:28:42Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Certainly, I've been...

00:28:44Ali Sheppard: crossing off the italian ones myself I'm marvellous I've done half the italian one so thinking putting you on the spot if this is your home parkrun you can't have this one but can you name your top three not necessarily your top three as in the three most beautiful or whatever but three parkruns that you were particularly memorable or that you'd recommend or um you see one that I did was in Australia isn't there anymore that was Lorne, Lorne, yeah, on the great, on the Great Ocean

00:29:13Ruth - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: of the road on the bottom. Anyway, it stopped. It's not running anymore. And that was spectacular. Absolutely beautiful. We'll have that one. Australia will have that one. But you know, I think what is wonderful about parkrun is you can turn up at some scruffy little suburban park and meet the most fabulous people. Absolutely. Which make it. So I'm never like naming them because you get that experience, your heart's lifted on a Saturday morning. Absolutely. And how about you?

00:29:19[crosstalk]

00:29:32[crosstalk]

00:29:39[crosstalk]

00:29:43Buff - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: I think running on Guernsey was great, particularly because I fell over being a twit and they were really nice to me. So I think, again, that's all about the parkrun ethos. You know, the biggest damage was to my dignity. And again, it's that thing of I turn up, I know what's going to happen. I know there's going to be people twerking me. I know it doesn't matter how fast or slow I am. And I absolutely love that. So I've done a few northern parks. Okay. Particularly up in Northumberland, really love that. Yes. Favourite ever is Newbiggin up there, give them a shout.

00:29:46[crosstalk]

00:30:00[crosstalk]

00:30:11[crosstalk]

00:30:11Ali Sheppard: Newbiggin, by the sea. By the sea, who are fabulous.

00:30:14Buff - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: One I really want to do. And they've got a really naughty sense of humour. Yeah, yes, absolutely. So they would be, yeah, they're on my top of the tree for me. Fantastic.

00:30:23Ali Sheppard: Well, I think you've got a wonderful community here. I mean, I was timekeeping today. I was welcomed. Thank you. You know, I think you've got a really lovely park around here. And I can't wait to come back and try and walk it the next time.

00:30:35[crosstalk]

00:30:38Buff - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Great, we'd love that. Yeah, please do. Thank you very much.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Pallara parkrun

00:30:41Buff - Co-Event Director, East Brighton parkrun: Thank you.

00:30:42Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers. It's Lyndell and today I am coming to you from the traditional lands of the Yuggera people. I'm at Pallara parkrun, which is in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, probably about 20 minutes south of the Brisbane CBD. And I've tracked down Brian, who is today's Run Director and also the Event Director. How are you today, Brian?

00:31:07Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Good, thanks, Lyndell.

00:31:08Lyndell Murray: And how was the event today?

00:31:10Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yeah, no incidents, so that's always a good thing.

00:31:13Lyndell Murray: Yep, absolutely. Now tell us a little bit about Pallara parkrun. Can you give us a little bit of a description of the course?

00:31:22Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yes, it's a flat course, sort of double out and back course, fairly typical of parkrun. You know, it's nice and flat. It's got some varying surfaces, concrete paths, gravel paths and some grass. We have to cross an oval a couple of times.

00:31:42[crosstalk]

00:31:43Lyndell Murray: Yep, across a lovely little bridge.

00:31:44Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yes.

00:31:45Lyndell Murray: And you also get a rousing bit of encouragement from the dogs in the dog park.

00:31:51Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yes. Yes. We have some interesting times. Firstly, on that bridge, we're forever getting council to repair it. Yep. So one day they'll knock it down and build a new one, I hope. Yeah.

00:32:06Lyndell Murray: I'm sure they will. And you've got some lovely facilities here at the start-finish area. Barbecues, chairs and tables and a fabulous-looking playground. Are they a new addition or have they been here for a little while?

00:32:19Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Well, I suppose they've been here a few years now, but like that first event that you came to, there was nothing.

00:32:26Lyndell Murray: Yep.

00:32:26Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: We had to go across the road to the display home.

00:32:30Lyndell Murray: Yep.

00:32:31Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: If we had to go to the toilet.

00:32:32Lyndell Murray: Yeah. That was my recollection. When I arrived this morning, I thought, gee, this has changed. I remember it being a bit barren when I came to the launch back in 2018. So I was right. Yep.

00:32:44Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: That's right, yeah. And then we had construction, so we had fences up and constrained sort of course, which had to change. The course is actually different from when you would have done it the first time.

00:32:58Lyndell Murray: Yeah.

00:33:00Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Most people think of it as a good course. Yep. Yeah, no hills.

00:33:04Lyndell Murray: Yep. And even with all those challenges, you've kept it running. Pallara has been running through all those course changes. Is that just a sign of the really great volunteers that you've got here and the great community?

00:33:17Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Well, yeah, I suppose. You know, it was very small when I first came here. I think the smallest number I... was involved in was 12 runners.

00:33:31Lyndell Murray: Wow.

00:33:32Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: And I still didn't get on the podium.

00:33:36Lyndell Murray: And how many volunteers were there for 12 runners?

00:33:39Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Actually, there was probably only about four, the very barest minimum, you know, essential roles only.

00:33:48Lyndell Murray: Excellent. So how was it that you got involved in parkrun then? You started running?

00:33:54Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: actually I used to ride push bikes. Yeah. But then one day I thought I might go for a run for some reason and I enjoyed it so I sort of kept going at it and now I hardly ride bikes and run whereas it used to be the other way around.

00:34:13Lyndell Murray: Yeah, yeah. So you started running here at Pallara before you started volunteering?

00:34:18Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: I actually started running at a different parkrun.

00:34:20Lyndell Murray: Yeah.

00:34:20Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Rocks Riverside.

00:34:21Lyndell Murray: Yep.

00:34:22Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: But it was just too big yeah they get four or five hundred they do yeah I've been there with over 600 yep and I didn't enjoy it so I was just touristing and came to palara which is only a 15 20 minute drive from where I live and the people were friendly and the course was nice So I ended up staying, you know, making it my home parkrun.

00:34:27[crosstalk]

00:34:52Lyndell Murray: Fabulous.

00:34:53Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: And because I'm retired, I've got plenty of spare time. The Event Director at the time was changing jobs and snowed under and asked if I could be Co-Event Director. So I did. And then from there I went to Run Director and Peter, who was one of the original founder of the run, he ended up moving and dropping out of the event team.

00:35:24Lyndell Murray: And so here you are.

00:35:25Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yeah. I've sort of inherited Event Director of him.

00:35:28Lyndell Murray: Yeah, brilliant. That's fabulous. Now, you mentioned the magic word of touristing, and do you have a particular favourite parkrun that you've touristed to outside of Rocks Riverside and Pallara?

00:35:42Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Oh, well, I've probably only been to about... It's just under 50, I suppose. Yep. But I've been to some interesting ones overseas. Austria probably comes to mind. Yep. Where it had snowed the night before, so there was snow on the surrounding mountains.

00:36:05Alice - lead vocalist on the "parkrun Party" song: Yeah.

00:36:07Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: And it wasn't too bad. It was about three degrees.

00:36:10Lyndell Murray: Yep. How majestic.

00:36:12Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yeah, and it was just different.

00:36:14Lyndell Murray: Really different. It's always worth it, isn't it, when you make the effort to get to a parkrun somewhere away from home, isn't it?

00:36:21Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yeah, and New Zealand, there's some interesting parkruns in New Zealand as well. I couldn't just pick one.

00:36:28Lyndell Murray: No, that's okay. Before we wrap up, what is it that parkrun means to you, Brian?

00:36:34Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Well, it's my social event of the week, I suppose. Yep. You know, volunteering is the best way to meet people other parkrunners I've found. I've done about 30 parkruns at Rocks Riverside and didn't know anyone.

00:36:52Lyndell Murray: Yeah.

00:36:54[crosstalk]

00:36:54Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: And now everyone knows you here, don't they? Yeah, now I know normally half the parkrunners here. Of course, it's a small parkrun, of course. Yeah.

00:37:04[crosstalk]

00:37:05[background music]

00:37:05Lyndell Murray: So it's become a big part of your life.

00:37:07Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: Yeah, and it's also exercise. My running week revolves around parkrun.

00:37:13Lyndell Murray: Yeah. It's the best way to be.

00:37:16Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: That's right. I don't do a run on Friday. I always rest up for parkrun.

00:37:21Lyndell Murray: For parkrun, yeah. All right.

00:37:24Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: So, yeah, it's important to me. And when I go on holiday, you plan it. You find a parkrun. Yeah, you go from parkrun to parkrun.

00:37:35Lyndell Murray: Absolutely. All righty. Now, before we wrap up, is there anything else that you would like the parkrun adventurers to know about Pallara parkrun?

00:37:45Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: You're welcome to come. Come any time.

00:37:48Lyndell Murray: Every Saturday, 7am. Yep. Look out for Brian.

00:37:52Brian - Run Director and Event Director, Pallara parkrun: That's right.

00:37:53Lyndell Murray: Thanks so much, Brian. Thank you for talking to me and for everything that you do for your community here at Pallara.

00:37:59David Messenger: No worries. Hello, parkrun adventurers. This is David from the West Side. I've driven today three hours east of Perth, halfway to Kalgoorlie, to visit Merredin for Merredin Peak parkrun, their event 27, where I'll be tailwalking. This is my third NENDY. I walked the course the afternoon before, and despite the name Merredin Peak, it is a very flat course. The course skirts around the edge of the local golf course and the greens, and also a very large granite outcrop, called Merredin Peak. The course is very well marked with signs at both the turnaround point along the way and ample ribbons marking the course. They normally get around 20 parkrunners attending and their inaugural event had 44 but their highest ever was for their event six which was 45. So we'll see how many people attend today and who we can get to talk to. So we've finished our run and I'm here with Sue who's one of the Run Directors at Merredin Peak. How are you going Sue?

00:38:49Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Hi David, thank you very much for coming along to Merredin Peak parkrun. It's very good to have you come.

00:38:54David Messenger: It's a very nice course, very scenic. It's nice and flat and massive big rock and lots of trees.

00:39:00Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Yes, yes, lots of trees. So we run on a golf course and there's a little bit of undulation, but not a great deal. I think. But yes, so we've just had our 27th parkrun today for Merredin Peak parkrun. So we'd love you all to come. So please come and visit us. That would be awesome. I've got a lovely course. It was set up by Kerry Roach for us earlier this year. And she's a health promotion officer as well. And so she did a lot of this in her spare time. And so we're forever grateful for her for helping us get set up.

00:39:28David Messenger: How long did it take to set up? How many months did you go through council processes?

00:39:32Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Yes, there was council processes to get approval and there was also fundraising.

00:39:36David Messenger: For the defib you said?

00:39:37Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Yes, yep, yep. So Colgar Wind Farm sponsored us with a defib and Merredin Council also helped us and the health department also gave us some time with Kerry doing a little bit of the set up during work time. So it was months, probably six months at least, and there was pre-checks that we had to go through as well to make sure that we could all do the volunteer stuff before we could actually start a parkrun. And they did what's called a soft launch as well, where we weren't allowed to advertise. It was just like word of mouth for people to come in, because they said we'd be inundated. And we were actually, for us, like I said, 44 to 45 people on the first day. We were like, whoa!

00:40:15David Messenger: but um but we've since heard that it can be thousand people so yes our little group sounds just fine yes I think the university of wa advertised and they got like 540 so that would be very unmanageable for your your area yes yes so yeah because we're just a little cruise so we've we've learned a lot as we've gone along there's plenty of accommodation options for people as they come as well so you stayed yeah we stayed at the tourist park there's a couple of hotels in town and you said there was free camping nearby as well so there's plenty of options

00:40:43Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Yes, so we're only 270 kilometres from Perth, so people come up overnight. So we have had people drive up sort of like 4am in the morning to come up for parkrun, which is very early, but good on them for coming.

00:40:57David Messenger: I've learnt my lesson doing that. I've hit two kangaroos previously, so I've learnt my lesson about doing early morning starts.

00:41:00[crosstalk]

00:41:03Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Yes, it can be a high risk of wildlife moving around.

00:41:08David Messenger: Did you have much challenge trying to find a course?

00:41:10Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: It did take Kerry a few different options to sort of try and find a course that's suitable because it's not allowed to go across roads. And she was looking for it to have some shade as well for summer because it gets hot out here in summertime. And also to be out in nature. So, yes, she really enjoyed. Kerry's from Queensland, so she's done a few parkruns other places. So she really enjoyed coming to Merredin Golf Course.

00:41:32David Messenger: Well, you've come up with a very good course and we really enjoyed it. So well worth coming to for people. So thank you very much for your time.

00:41:37Sue - Run Director, Merredin Peak parkrun: Thanks very much, David, for interviewing and coming to see us.

00:41:39David Messenger: Thank you. I'm here with Grant today, who is one of the turnaround marshals at Merredin Peak parkrun.

00:41:44Grant - turnaround marshal, Merredin Peak parkrun: Have you done lots of roles at Merredin Peak parkrun? I've done a number of roles, so mainly photographer, but today I did the Marshal and I've done a few little bits and pieces here and there, pre-course checks and things like that.

00:41:57David Messenger: Have you managed to get a sort of core team of people or is it a variety of people all the time?

00:42:02Grant - turnaround marshal, Merredin Peak parkrun: There are a variety. There are like a core few people like Suzanne and Leon. They're the main ones. But yeah, there's a range of people that get involved and help out.

00:42:11David Messenger: And if you haven't participated in parkrun before, Merredin, so is that the first thing you heard about? You're a runner normally or...?

00:42:18Grant - turnaround marshal, Merredin Peak parkrun: I normally go for walks around town, but when I heard that parkrun was on, I thought, oh, I'll join in that. Good reason to get up early on a Saturday morning and join in with other people and just enjoy myself.

00:42:29David Messenger: Yeah, well, it certainly does bring people to the town. So we had people from London today, so as well as people from Perth, you get international people coming occasionally too, which is good to see.

00:42:38Grant - turnaround marshal, Merredin Peak parkrun: Yeah, we get quite a variety of people from internationally and also all over Australia. And yeah, just loads of people. And of course, there's the core locals as well.

00:42:49David Messenger: I'm here with Sarah. Sarah, tell me about your parkrun journey.

00:42:51Sarah - Merredin Peak parkrunner and Tail Walker: I started parkrun back in 2018. My mum got me into it. I started at Canning River and I've just kept going from there. I've done a few parkruns around WA such as 2J and then I started Merredin when that started up. I've also got my daughter into it. She's done her seventh parkrun now. I've done 46 and yeah, it's just a good family community.

00:43:15David Messenger: Yeah, it was good seeing you encourage your daughter today to run to the next flag, run to the next flag, run to the next flag, get her to progressively do it.

00:43:22Sarah - Merredin Peak parkrunner and Tail Walker: Yeah, she did very well. Does better than me sometimes.

00:43:25David Messenger: Are you going to plan anything special for your 50th or you don't know exactly when that's going to be? You said you broke your ankle.

00:43:30Sarah - Merredin Peak parkrunner and Tail Walker: Yeah, so I fractured my foot a few back in July and today was my first one since... doing that yeah I'd like to do a little event for my 50th because it's been a long time coming like before meriden started the only time I was doing parkrun was when I went to Perth so obviously not very regular well at least now that your foot's on the mend and you know you can manage to do the walk you might better actually plan now because in three weeks time you can you can do your 50th exactly I'll be in Perth then as well for my 50th so that'll be good being with mum for my 50th because she's the one who got me started

00:43:52[crosstalk]

00:44:01David Messenger: Which event do you think you'd want to go to? Is it the same, you want to go back to Canning River?

00:44:03Sarah - Merredin Peak parkrunner and Tail Walker: I probably want to, yeah, back to Canning River because obviously that was the original one I started at.

00:44:08David Messenger: Alright, well thank you for today. I really enjoyed it and thanks for walking with me as Tail Walker today.

00:44:12Sarah - Merredin Peak parkrunner and Tail Walker: You're welcome, thank you.

00:44:14David Messenger: I'm here with Sue who's a visitor to Merredin today from Geraldton. So Sue, tell me about your parkrun adventures.

00:44:20Sue - visiting parkrunner from Geraldton: Okay, well, we mostly do country parkruns because we tow a caravan and it's harder for us to get into the city. But I like the personalised touch of the country parkruns. Being a little bit smaller, they're probably wrong to say more friendly, but they've got more time to sit and have a coffee and a chat afterwards and a laugh about what's gone on at the events.

00:44:40David Messenger: So you've been mostly in Australia in your caravan. You've got a few states still to go.

00:44:44Sue - visiting parkrunner from Geraldton: We've still got two states to go, the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Tasmania is going to be a bit more of a challenge having to get a caravan on the boat and get over there. But the Territory is definitely on the cards for this coming year and probably go up Stuart Highway and do Coober Pedy on the way.

00:45:00David Messenger: Yes, well, the Territory's had a few more parkruns opened up recently. So you've got more choice. You've got the one at Alice Springs and there's Katherine and there's also Tennant Creek or something, I think now.

00:45:10Sue - visiting parkrunner from Geraldton: Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And you can bet that I'll time our weekends to get to each of those ones and try and get them all done.

00:45:16David Messenger: Well, I think there's five you need in Northern Territory now to be a statesman. So maybe that can be a challenge for next year.

00:45:21Sue - visiting parkrunner from Geraldton: I hadn't even thought of the statesman challenge. I'm more thinking how I'm going to knock them all off.

00:45:27David Messenger: Okay. And how about Tasmania? Would you take the caravan on the boat? How big's your caravan?

00:45:31Sue - visiting parkrunner from Geraldton: Our caravan is a hybrid. So it's a 15 foot that comes out to 17 foot towed with an Everest. So we've downsized from our bigger van and bigger truck, hoping to economise and get on the ferry a little bit cheaper. We will spend probably six months over there.

00:45:48David Messenger: because it's the way to go and see a country is to go slow you're living my dream by the sound of it because that's the plan I've had talking about about getting a van and spending one or two years just travelling Australia it's a hard life but somebody's got to do it and the parkruns are there and it's one way to see the country go parkrun to parkrun apart from the number one choice of Zeehan parkrun which we just talked about earlier what else would you like to do in Tasmania

00:46:11Sue - visiting parkrunner from Geraldton: Nothing in particular. Just get around and see the sights. It's very historical and I dare say the parkruns are in those areas. Meet the people, get a feel for the country and enjoy ourselves.

00:46:20[background music]

00:46:25David Messenger: And that's David signing out from Merredin Peak parkrun. Happy adventuring.

00:46:36Tony O'Connell: Rightio, Mel, and we're back from our roving reports and three very different parkruns there. It was interesting listening to Ruth and Buff, and they're describing at East Brighton the possibility of an air ambulance landing in the middle of the course and the event having to be called off. Now, it's only happened a couple of times in their history, but imagine, I'm not sure how you go about writing that into your risk assessment, yeah, air ambulance landing on parkrun course. stop the runs. I'm sure they handle it, and they handle it quite well. It has happened a few times over the course that they've been there. We had Lyndell at Pallara, and she was talking to Brian, who was the Run Director on the day, and we had David at Merredin, and he was talking to Sue and the RD, and They're talking about how something called Merredin Peak is actually a flat course. And I guess, like a lot of our Victorian events, Dave did the three-hour drive to get out there basically on the day. So...

00:47:34Melissa Ellis: Yeah, another long day for Dave. And thank you for those roving reports.

Dazza's

00:47:38Melissa Ellis: Now, turning to Dazza's, we have chosen five comments from each of the last two weeks' Dazza posts. And on the 20th of the 9th, Dazza said, it's World Wellness Weekend. I feel there's not much better for wellness than getting outdoors, moving, seeing people and doing something you enjoy. And parkrun ticks all those boxes perfectly. Whether it was a chill Saturday morning or your heart got racing, come into Dazza's and tell us all about it. Now, the first in the door was Val Warwick from WA. And Val said it was a catch up with Chloe and Lucy Day at Sir James Mitchell parkrun along a sparkling Swan River, river this morning but Chloe bravas also commented and she said Timekeeper duties at Sir James Mitchell this morning as an excuse to see Stephen Val Warwick lucy's wellness activity was doing some colouring in with an all right view had a lovely brekkie after with team Warwick and two of the rds wellness all around and there was a few a couple of pictures shared Val shared a picture of herself and Steve with Chloe and Lucy, and then Chloe shared a photo of little Lucy enjoying that beautiful view of the Swan River.

00:48:51Tony O'Connell: Mel, moving across to Singapore, and we don't often get a Dazza's call-in from Singapore. I guess it's probably because it's too hot over there for a hot coffee, but there's plenty of other beverage options. We heard from Yvette Turner saying, And Yvette said, Hi Dazza, today we celebrated Bill's 200th parkrun at East Coast parkrun in Singapore. It was so hot today with blue skies and full sun, so we were soaked through with sweat by the end. We had a great park bath with new friends and icy cold drinks at Starbucks, with lots of parkrunning adventuring chat before catching the subway back home. parkrun has provided such an opportunity for both our physical and mental wellness and celebrating milestones and meeting new friends just adds that extra enjoyment. And there was a couple of photos of Bill and Yvette with the selfie frame and a 200 milestone cutout.

00:49:44Melissa Ellis: Next, we heard from Ali Sheppard, and she was coming to us from Italy. She said, She was coming to us from Italy. She said, well, Dazza, excuse the pun, it was highly appropriate for it to be wellness weekend for me, as after four months of chemotherapy, and the last six weeks being too weak to even walk around a parkrun, I finally felt well enough to complete a parkrun today And not just any old parkrun, I managed to complete a bucket list destination parkrun of Mura di Lucca parkrun in Tuscany, Italy. The course is one lap on top of the ancient walls, Mura di Lucca, which is the second largest intact example of a fully walled Renaissance city after Nicosia, Cyprus, Nicosia? I don't know. They also have an amazing selfie frame, which is a geographical representation of the course, Ibalissimo. And Ali shared a picture of herself and the pop-up. And we are glad to hear that the chemo has come to an end and that you got to walk parkrun, Ali. Wishing you all the best with your recovery.

00:50:49Tony O'Connell: Yep, we certainly do, Mel. It's great to see Ali out and actually completing a parkrun again. Even all the way through, she's still been fairly heavily involved with parkrun, with timekeeping and things, so she's kept herself involved, which is great to see. Righto, we're going to head to WA and we've got Sharon Lark. Wellness is having a friend to travel and do parkrun with, also an adventurer. We've travelled from Newcastle, New South Wales to Esperance WA and did their beautiful parkrun. And the photo was Sharon, a friend and a parkrunner in the event core flute, also featuring an adventurous top. And it might be time for another run of shirts, I think.

00:51:27Melissa Ellis: I think that might be a good idea. See if we can look into that and let us know if you are keen for a new shirt. Now, next we heard from Sarah Maas. I did ask her which it was and I can't remember what she told me. Anyway, she came to us from Queensland. I think it was Queensland. My geography is not very good. Sarah's post says I rose with the sun soft skies turning gold a hint of spring warmth not too hot not too cold shoes laced with purpose a smile on my face off to the foreshore my favourite place the chatter the cheer the welcoming crew a sea of bright shirts in every hue some come to run some come to walk all came for more than a time on the clock The path winds gently by water and trees. The breeze at my back, the scent of the sea. One foot, then the next, steady and strong. With every step, I felt I belong. No medals, no pressure, just joy on display as we move together at Redland Bay. A morning well spent, heart full and light. What better way to start the day right? So here's to the moments that help us feel whole. To moving with purpose and feeding the soul. Not just a run, but a ritual true. A gift to my body, my mind and my shoe. And it ends with thanks to the Vollies for putting on a spectacular event. And there was a photo attached of the gorgeous Sarah zooming with an insert of the selfie frame photo. And TOC, I think it's time to bring the Poem Zone back.

00:53:00Tony O'Connell: Well, I agree. That was pretty amazing. And I think that would take some beating. That was a great effort by Sarah. I'm not sure how long it took to put together. I reckon if I tried to be creative like that, I'd still be going in four weeks and I'd have a headache.

00:53:14Melissa Ellis: I still remember there was a young lady from Kawana. That was my Poem Zone contribution all the way back years and years ago.

00:53:26Tony O'Connell: Anyway. Well, moving along. This week with Dazza is on the 27th and the 9th. This week, Dazza said, and we had a train emoji. 200 years ago today, the modern railway era emerged with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in North East England. Train emoji again. Dazza is celebrating today with railway themed snacks and a big pot of tea.

00:53:49Melissa Ellis: railway train emoji was there a train connection for you at parkrun today come on in and tell us all about it and first in the door was Debbie jessup coming to us from the Greater State she said yes with choo choo choosing a parkrun related to trains a visit to Red Hill Rail Trail and Debbie shared a photo of herself with the old red hill railway station platform sign

00:54:13Tony O'Connell: That was a great photo. Mel moving across to the UK and we had Andy Poole. Couldn't resist a train ride after Kettering parkrun when Wendella completed her Caspatia, which is six alphabets, and I completed a Golden Caspatia, which apparently is six alphabets and 150 parkruns and venues. So he's done 150 runs. All have been at completely different venues. And he's got the A to Z six times without the X, of course. And the photo was a post-parkrun photo with the train that they went for a ride on.

00:54:48Melissa Ellis: Next, we heard from Gareth Arnold coming to us from WA. Around a year ago, I ran along the Wynyard Woodland parkrun course as a Freedom Run, which is just outside Stockton in the UK, which is along an old section of track and has a cafe in an old railway station with wonderful scones. But this weekend, I was at Kadina Trail parkrun, which includes the site of the Poison Gully train crash in 1904. No crashes today, but I did get swooped. And Gareth shared a big jump shot photo over the finish line.

00:55:22Tony O'Connell: Mel, I thought that one was worthy of an entry into the Dazza's because of the swoopy. We haven't had too many swoopy September references this year. But we're going to head up to Queensland now and we're going to hear from a bloke that I think we all know. He's named Simon Mackley. Who? Some bloke that we know. One of the kids with the keys to the Ferrari. Let's just say I should have trained harder for Nambour parkrun. In my defence, I was going to the very flat Birtinya until plans changed on Friday. And there was a photo of Simon crossing over the Nambour finish line.

00:55:58Melissa Ellis: Aha, so now he's done the second hardest parkrun in Australia. Next, we heard from Johan Duvenhage coming to us from Sudafrique. Our long road trip went without a hitch and our digs in the Lowveld is lovely. With our planned Hoedspruit parkrun cancelled, we decided on the closest alternative and went north to... to Tzaneen parkrun in South Africa where the team was delightful the course very scenic and their overcast weather perfect for running of course the long downhill at the start translates into a long uphill at the end and I huffed and puffed like the little engine that could at the end Levi and I did take a break mid-run to take a selfie although to be honest it was the perfect excuse to take a breather and there was a great picture of Johan and Levi

00:56:51Tony O'Connell: And that photo was taken midway along the course, of course. And I did see that Johan had posted earlier and said that the event had been cancelled and he wasn't sure whether he'd actually have time to get to another event just with the distances. Great to see that he managed to get to parkrun even if it was a fairly long road trip. Well done, Johan.

00:57:11Melissa Ellis: Well done. And nice to hear from you.

Emails

00:57:14Melissa Ellis: Now, Toc, we've got emails.

00:57:16Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III: You've got mail.

00:57:18Melissa Ellis: Now, first, we've got an email that is titled, adult and in need of aid. Is it adult, Tony?

00:57:25Tony O'Connell: It was adult. Yes, it was.

00:57:26Melissa Ellis: Okay. Dear Mel, Toc, Simon and Sarah and the whole team of adventurers, I had a fascinating conversation today which has left me with many unanswered questions I'm hoping you can help me with. While volunteering today at Boultham Park juniors, pronounced Bootum, okay, I didn't do too bad, in Lincoln in the UK, I met a lady who was fascinated by Junior parkrun. She told me it's because she is heavily involved in parkrun back home in Adelaide, South Australia. Her story was fascinating. A Brit that was sent to Australia as a baby where she was adopted, she eventually tracked down her birth family in Lincoln and now visits regularly. So during our short conversation, she left me a breadcrumb trail that has left me wanting more info. She said her involvement in parkrun was working with a major health sponsor. Who might that be? She said that the parkrun is along the beach and that they give free t-shirts for attending. By her admission, the t-shirts aren't very nice, but she said runners go crazy for them. So which parkrun might this be? She didn't know there was a podcast dedicated to parkrun Australia. She does now. Since she visits Lincoln regularly, she might return, but who knows if our paths will cross again. I'm so curious about what she told me because it's so different to things over here, where t-shirts are no longer free. I know her t-shirts were not for milestones. She did admit to not doing the 5k because she said doing parkrun feels like work. She also said there was an obesity crisis in young children out there, which left me shocked because I know that so many people migrated to Australia from the UK because the quality of life and exercise is better for kids. Hoping you guys may be able to shed further light on this conversation or is that a convo? Thanks so much. Sunil, A6362130.

00:59:18Tony O'Connell: Mel, there's so much to unpack there, isn't there?

00:59:21Melissa Ellis: There is a lot. There is a lot. You go first, Tony, because I need to take a breath.

00:59:26Tony O'Connell: I'm going to start with the potential location because there are a number in Adelaide that run along the beach. So the lady in question might have been referring to Largs Bay, to West Beach, to Seacliff, to Christies Beach, to Moana, Aldinga Beach. There's a whole heap in the Adelaide region that actually follow the coastline. So... So now we're not going to be able to shed a lot of light on that point. It could be any one of several, and they're all very close to the Adelaide central area. So it could be any one of those. As far as the major health sponsor, Mel, I'm going to guess that it's Medibank that she works for. I would say so. Yeah, given they're the major health sponsor. And I think there might be a little bit of a conversational thing there where it's not so much... that they give away t-shirts every week to runners or anything. I know Medibank occasionally do a day where they turn up and they hand out some shirts at certain events. And I think they do a couple of events in Australia each week and it moves around all the time. So it might be just a little bit of a mix-up of a couple of different ideas there that if not an every week at that parkrun thing, there's certainly no sponsors or no arrangements to do that in Australia. But... There are t-shirts handed out every week at different places. And I know the runners go nuts from people love the red Medibank t-shirts with the logo and the colours on them. I know people that'll change their parkruns and travel to try and get hold of one.

01:00:59Melissa Ellis: They do. I was at North Sydney parkrun for a Medibank event. I remember attending that and getting a very oversized Medibank t-shirt and And they are a little bit scratchy. So yeah, the material isn't quite the quality that our Milestone shirts are, but they're for free, so we can't complain.

01:01:21Tony O'Connell: And they certainly bring the people and get people involved. And Medibank have been a really good sponsor over the years. So I know certainly when they first came on board, they funded 40 new parkruns to launch, which was a great thing. And that was all around Australia. They made sure that they got events in every state and territory. to spread it out. Yes.

01:01:42Melissa Ellis: Now, referencing the obesity crisis, yes, it is definitely something that I think health authorities are mindful of trying to get children active. I wouldn't say that every child in Australia is overweight and struggling, and I think that it can be sometimes localised to certain areas. Sometimes the lower socioeconomic areas have more trouble with children that type of thing that's a generalization of course but it does tend to be a trend and like most governments our government is always looking for ways to get children more active and that's why junior parkrun is so good and parkrun Australia needs to get more happening

01:02:25Tony O'Connell: And now on that front, I know parkrun certainly are talking about launching another group next year. So that's certainly going to happen. Junior parkrun Australia will be expanding. And there's also a parkrun in Schools initiative that's coming up as well to try and get some schools involved in parkrun. And I know that kicked off in the UK, I believe, a week or two ago. And that's coming to Australia as well.

01:02:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, OK. They're very good. That might help Eynesbury juniors if the local Eynesbury primary school gets involved. They might realise we're there.

01:02:58Tony O'Connell: It'd be good if they did a little bit of promotion about it and actually told the kids that, yes, it's on and it's free and it's a great way to get involved. And mum and dad can get coffee.

01:03:07Melissa Ellis: Absolutely. But there was more in the inbox, wasn't there, TOC?

01:03:11Tony O'Connell: There was. We have another email here and I'm going to read this out. From Australia, event 521. Just out walking today post-launch and come across this new art installation at Shell Cove, right near our parkrun neighbour, Shellharbour parkrun. Oh, we've heard of that. Yes, we've got Voldemort parkruns back. Got me thinking, is there a better phrase than Ooroo when saying farewell to our parkrun adventurers friends? Love your work. Keep adventuring. Ooroo. Brendan Scholarly, Event Director, a 784840 of Reddall Reserve parkrun. And Brendan sent us a photo and it's a massive big sign with a jumping kangaroo and across the bottom it's got Ooroo. So I'm assuming that's at the exit to a park somewhere.

01:04:01Melissa Ellis: Yes. And is that something that you would use as a term of see you later, farewell, goodbye? Yeah.

01:04:08Tony O'Connell: quite often use it mal so that's one that yeah I do use quite often ah so my nana used to use that she used to say hooroo more with a h at the start but yeah it's very Aussie isn't it yeah we just shorten it down we shorten everything down take take the first couple letters off the start first couple or the last couple letters off the end and what's left we add no to the end and it's Australian so it seems like the perfect match for the cooee it is hmm

Club Corner

01:04:34Melissa Ellis: all righty well good to hear from you Brendan thanks for writing in and that's it for this section that's it for our news so let's throw over now to Reginald

01:04:40[background music]

01:04:52Reginald 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 I am going to talk about, sing it with me, O Canada. Please pretend in your head, each time I say words like out, about, house, or maybe we. Winky face. Seriously though. Canada began a parkrun in August 2016 with Okanagan parkrun and then a fortnight later at Nose Hill parkrun. Canada is broken into regions, including Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, with more than 20 events, Quebec, where I may break into a French accent if I am going to pretend to be a Francophone, and finally Saskatchewan. They have whole swathes of the country without a parkrun within cooee. Look at their map and you will see what I mean. Up the Yukon, Northwest Territories or Nunavut. But surely something will come of Prince Edward Island, eh? Aside from mussels. BTW their short name is PEI. PEI has something called the island walk, which is a walking and or cycling route that loops around PEI. The total distance of the island walk is currently 707 kilometres and it takes approximately 32 days to complete if you walk 20 to 25 kilometres per day. But back to parkrun, there was formerly a very, all caps, very quirky parkrun club called, Dateline Double. This was where you could earn the title, Time Traveller, by completing two parkruns in the same day, but on different sides of the world. The very few people to accomplish this typically did so out of Brisbane, Queensland, or Auckland, New Zealand, flying to Vancouver International Airport, where Richmond Olympic parkrun is a less than 10 minute drive away. This was last possible in 2020 when doubles were still allowed in the system. There were 56 events open in Canada at time of scripting, and their events are spread from each side of the map, but still with some impressive gaps. The drive from Churchill Parkway parkrun in Winnipeg to Bellevue parkrun in Marie, Ontario is just under 15 hours, if you stay on the Canadian side. Impressive even for Australian tourists. It is hard to highlight any individual events from Canada, as so many people are vociferous in their praise for the friendliness and beauty of so many events. So let me pick out Saint-Paulin, who close for four months each year from December to approximately April or May. They average about five attendees and five volunteers each week, from their small town in Quebec with a population of just over 1,500 people. No wonder they close for those months, as in January they have average lows of minus 21 degrees Celsius, and highs of minus 7 degrees. Summer is very pleasant with highs of 26 degrees. Be aware that you had best speak French to be there with ease, but irregardless, their Facebook page is full of some beautiful parkrun spirit. Beauty, eh. Canada celebrates their special day on the 1st of July for Canada Day and more than half of their events take part each year. What is Canada Day? On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of great. The anniversary of this date was called Dominion Day until 1982. Since 1983, July 1 has been officially known as Canada Day. What is next for Club Corner? Sweden, horror. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future Club Corners.

01:08:32Tony O'Connell: And Mel, coming back from Reginald, saying, I would have loved to have done the Dateline Double. I know it was early on in my tourism days. I quite often heard of people flying, and they're flying out of Brisbane, so doing a quick parkrun somewhere near the Brisbane airport, jumping on a plane to Canada, doing a second parkrun sort of 24 hours later but with time zone changes on the same day I know people used to have that really mad panic at the end where they basically got to the airport grabbed their suitcase and got attached to the parkrun and just dumped their suitcase at the start of the parkrun to make it work but yeah it would have been certainly an interesting thing to try and achieve Canada itself just has a massive land mass and it runs through a whole heap of climate zones they've got warm areas they've got a lot of cold snowy areas they've got some very I guess isolated areas there's a couple of countries there or a couple of their like what we call a state that don't have parkrun yet talking to Yvette Turner about this on Saturday and she said there's a few spots there that'd be great to get a parkrun and just spread out a little bit further but yeah certainly the dateline double would have been a great thing to have achieved

01:09:48Melissa Ellis: And pretty special for those people that managed. I actually know somebody that did it.

Consolidated Club Report

01:09:53Melissa Ellis: Alrighty, now the Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, the 27th of September, 2025. Of a total of 838 members, 605 took part on this date in 13 countries across 316 locations. Internationally, there were adventurers at 77 events in the UK, 9 events in South Africa, 4 events in the U.S., USA two events in Ireland and Italy and one event each in Canada Germany Japan Netherlands Poland and Sweden now just as an aside the week before there were 83 different UK parkrun events that were represented by an adventurer so that is creeping closer to the 100th all righty now locally there were adventurers at 54 events in New South Wales 52 in Queensland 46 in the Greater State 22 in west Australia 16 in South Australia act and Tasmania were equal on eight events North Island and South Island equal on five and none in the NT sad face

01:11:04Tony O'Connell: Now, it's interesting, the ACT had eight events there. They only have nine events in the ACT, so which of the parkruns isn't pulling their weight for the adventurers? We need to work that out. That's so close to a clean sweep in an entire state or territory.

01:11:20Melissa Ellis: Yes, yes. Actually, and that's good numbers for Tassie too, eight, I think. Yes.

the Frond

01:11:27Melissa Ellis: Yep.

01:11:28Tony O'Connell: Rightio, moving on to our international fronds. And on the... 20th of the 9th. We had two fronds of four at Meon Valley Trail, Wickham. We had Ian and Alexander Thompson, Rachel and Dale Morgan and at Whiteley we had Neil Catchlove, Chris and Karen Gore and Andy Simpson. Last week On the 27th of the 9th, we had a Frond of 14 at one event. That was Abbey Park in the UK. We had Matt Lovelock, Matthew Wateridge, Sunil Chamund, Lee Stott, Dave Wright, Gabby Lipsham, Claire Winsack, Amanda Murray-Hind, and I nearly kept going with the Murray-Hind, Hind-Hind. Well, you just did. Yeah. Andy and Debbie Airey, Jillian Howes, Jay Herr, Andy Wilkinson and Calum Burrell. And they were attending Cowfest, which is basically a tourism meetup type thing, similar to our, I guess, our Palm type things. They run a tourism meetup. So the cows, for those that are not familiar with them, We have our buffs in the UK. They have cowl buff that you can get when you've done 100 parkruns, and it's basically a meet-up of tourists. So there was four, I believe, in the UK on the weekend. There used to be just one location, but it started to get a little bit big, so they now have four of them, especially at the compass points. They had a north, south, east, and west. And that was a frond of 14 at one of those cows.

01:13:01Melissa Ellis: I think they just wanted a bit of palm fun, didn't they? They wanted to get in on the palm action. Good on them. Now, pilgrimage. On the 20th of September, we had one adventurer at Bushy. It was Alison Giblin. She finished in 36.02 in position 13.22 out of 15.96, was her third visit to bushy and on the 27th the weekend just gone out of 1532 finishes there were two adventurers one was Neil catchlove he finished 20th in a time of 1806 not a bad time Neil he was his third visit to bushy and we also had Lee Cabarita that's her poor name and she finished in 53 51 in position 14 60 and it was lee's first ever visit to bushy Now, back to Australia. The largest frond on the 20th was a frond of 14 at Reddall Reserve, New South Wales. There was Jason and Cherie Cottle, Dorota Asino, Darren Pead, Mark Hibbard, Mike Scott, Kristen and Delvene McKenzie, Ingrid Botha, Joanna Trimby, Melissa Coorey, Tyson Flynn, Paul Rainbow and Andrew Banner. Not Eric, but Andrew. And then on last weekend, there was a Frond of Nine in the Greater State at Red Hill Rail Trail. And it was Adrian Sell, Deborah Jessop, Andrew Reynolds, Joanne Blackbourn, Archer, Oliver, Felicity and Caitlin Castellan and Wendy Beckhouse. And... I might just add that those two events, it was event two at Reddall Reserve and it was event four at Red Hill Rail Trail. So big shout out to those adventurers who waited and didn't go to the launches. Thank you.

01:14:52Tony O'Connell: And Mel, just a reminder that you can add the Adventurers Club as one of your five affiliations on your parkrun profile. And let's see if we can get those numbers of different events represented increasing. If you have any troubles doing that, just reach out to us and we can talk you through either via Messenger or Carrier Pigeon or any way that you'd like. But we'd be able to talk you through getting the adventurers as one of your five affiliations.

01:15:16Melissa Ellis: Taking over the world one parkrun at a time.

01:15:19Tony O'Connell: That's right, Mel.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

01:15:21Tony O'Connell: And speaking of taking over the world one parkrun at a time, we have the launches. And Mel, it's interesting, globally so far this year, and we're at the end of September, so we're nine months in, parkrun globally have had 126 launches in 2025. Out of those, Australia has had 26, there's been eight in New Zealand, six in Japan, and there was a relaunch of one event, that was Bedok Reservoir in Singapore. Wow. And going on to the launches that we had in the last couple of weeks, on the 20th of September, we had Baylands Nature Preserve in the USA. This one's located in San Jose in the California area. Baylands is an out-and-back course along the San Francisco Trail. It had 208 finishers and 17 volunteers.

01:16:14Melissa Ellis: We also had Tuff Crater Reserve in New Zealand. 237 finishers, 27 volunteers participated in Auckland's newest parkrun. Tuff Crater is a volcanic crater that erupted 200,000 years ago and the parkrun is an out and back around the crater.

01:16:31Tony O'Connell: And the last one for the 20th of the 9th was in Lough Head in the UK. That was a two lapper in a figure of eight shape and it's in Northern Ireland. Week one was held with 76 finishers and 15 volunteers.

01:16:46Melissa Ellis: So coming on to this last week, I'm guessing, Toc, we had Victoria Park Newbury in the UK, a second parkrun for Newbury, a market town to the west of London. Victoria Park has been started by several of the core team from Newbury parkrun. And from next week, Newbury is changing its name to Greenham Common. The three lapper attracted 347 parkrunners to the launch, ably assisted by 33 volunteers.

01:17:12Tony O'Connell: And now I certainly know that one's created a little bit of a discussion about an event changing the name. But Victoria Park is actually right in the core, apparently, of Newbury. And the former Newbury parkrun was a little bit of a distance out of the town centre. So they're changing their name to reflect the, in line with the naming convention, the park lands that they run around.

01:17:35Melissa Ellis: Excellent. Making it easier for people to find.

01:17:38Tony O'Connell: Righty-o, Mel. Moving on. We had one in the Greater State. Again, another launch. Finally, we're getting a run of launches in the Greater State. And this one was Lake Colac. This is a personal interest of mine. As I started as the event ambassador of this event... before I passed it over to Kay, who as an EA was geographically much closer to the event that I am by about 300 kilometres. So it made a lot of sense for Kay to take that one on. The course is two laps of a botanical gardens and it runs around a road in the gardens, followed by an out and back along the lake edge. They had 52 finishers in the first week and they were helped by 10 volunteers. And Mel, I hear everyone ask what it runs around a road. Have no fear. The road is fully gated until 10 a.m. every week when they open up the botanical garden. So it's a beautiful little course to run around. Can't wait to visit that one.

01:18:36Melissa Ellis: Okay, next we had Porin Metsä in Finland, located in the town of Pori on the west coast of Finland. Metsä means forest and the course is an out and back through the forest. How surprising. 49 finishes were supported by 10 volunteers. [Finnish: "forest"]

01:18:52Tony O'Connell: And the last one for the last two weeks. So we've had quite a collection there of seven in two weeks again. Broadmeadow Linear parkrun in Ireland. This one's just north of Dublin. It's a three lapper around a park and a lake. And they had 153 finishes supported by 23 volunteers.

01:19:10Melissa Ellis: Fantastic. Very happy about a little run of Victorian launches.

Watching the numbers

01:19:16Melissa Ellis: now in this ongoing segment we are calling watching the numbers at Brooklyn Bridge parkrun it was event five and six so event five we saw 285 across the finish line supported by 18 volunteers and event six saw 240 supported by 16 volunteers so the numbers are trending down slightly but not a lot from the event one with 538 so dropped off from the 300 so interesting to see where it's gonna level off but we actually also had a message drop into our inbox and it was from one of our listeners and it said hi this is Mary DeLuna who visited the Brooklyn Bridge parkrun recently it is one of the picturesque for lack of words parkruns we visited around the world I can say it is comparable to running Pirrama parkrun in Sydney in terms of running while enjoying iconic views of big cities of the world getting there by public transport is easy though we drove to get there because our daughter lives in new York city The best part for me is being able to encourage our daughter's husband and parents-in-law who joined us for this event. Talk about promoting parkrun like most regular parkrunners do all the time. I did volunteer too as Tail Walker so I hit two birds in one. By the way, our daughter is originally a Ponds parkrunner like us. And yes, that was Mary DeLuna, who we know very well from the Ponds parkrun. And I've met Mary when I visited there. And she shared a fabulous photo of herself with her friends and the Brooklyn Bridge pop-up with the bridge behind. So it was great to see an adventurer made it there. I'm not sure if Mary was the first one. We may have had an adventurer there from the UK earlier, but I'm not really sure about that. But anyway, great. Thanks for dropping us a line, Mary.

the Obi Award — Mary DeLuna

01:21:20Tony O'Connell: Well, I've just had a thought. When we were talking about Dazza's, we didn't come up with our Obi. We didn't name our Obi. And I'm just thinking, how about we give it to Mary?

01:21:32Melissa Ellis: Oh, I like that idea. Let's give it to Mary. That's a pretty big adventure to get over to this iconic Brooklyn Bridge parkrun. Hooray. Hooray.

01:21:43Tony O'Connell: And it was a fabulous photo too. So well done, Mary.

01:21:47Melissa Ellis: All right. So looking forward, Toc, what have you got in your sights? What's coming up on the horizon or what are you most looking forward to?

01:21:56Tony O'Connell: Well, my next couple of weeks, we're on holidays at the moment, so I have a visit to Jerrabomberra next week planned on our way home, and that'll sort of complete that region for us. And for those little alphabet chasers like I am, it'll give us another J. I then have some good friends coming to stay at my place. They'll be the first people to stay in our new house, so I'm looking forward to having guests the week after. And then the week after that, I'm Run Director at Inverloch. So I'll be at Inverloch for a couple of weeks in a row. Then the week after that, I'm planning another adventure.

01:22:31Melissa Ellis: That's me. I'm coming to stay.

01:22:34Tony O'Connell: Dave does Inverloch.

01:22:37Melissa Ellis: Dave does Inverloch. Yes. And Mel checks out the new house, which I've been busting to see. Excellent. Thank you. Yes. In October, aside from my little side jaunt to Inverloch and Cape Paterson, I've got lots of catching up to do with three new Victorian events. So that's going to keep me busy and in my home state.

01:23:03Tony O'Connell: And the beauty of it is, Mel, a lot of the new Victorian events have been not too far from home. So they're drivable in the morning as opposed to those ones that are seven or eight hours drive.

01:23:14Melissa Ellis: That is correct. And if I'm honest, I am going to head out this coming Saturday to the new Phar Lap Track event.

01:23:23Tony O'Connell: Is that what it's called, isn't it? The Phar Lap Track parkrun, yes.

01:23:26Melissa Ellis: The Phar Lap Track parkrun.

01:23:27Tony O'Connell: parkrun, yep.

01:23:29Melissa Ellis: I think it might be up to event four or five now. So I've waited my sufficient time. And I'm very much looking forward to it. And then I am off to my grandson's first birthday.

01:23:42Tony O'Connell: How fast did that first year go? Wow. That sounds very quick, Mel, to when we were talking about scheduling recordings and that around the potential birth and other events around potential births. That year has gone very quickly.

01:23:56Melissa Ellis: It has. Now, it's probably time that we address this issue of a palm location, Tony.

01:24:05Tony O'Connell: Yeah, I think it's been teased out. There's been a lot of people I know who have contacted me during the week and said, TOC, where is it? Give us a heads up. No, we can't do that. You've got to wait for the podcast. You need to listen. And Mel, I think, is it fair to say that we're heading back to South Australia? Fair to say. Fair to say. We're heading up to the northern area. Not too far north, but we're heading to Clare for a beautiful little out and back course located in Clare.

01:24:37Melissa Ellis: Is it Clare Valley parkrun?

01:24:38Tony O'Connell: That is a very good question. I'm glad you've asked me at this point of the parkrun as I'm scrolling up my South Australian map. And I'm going to say it's Clare Valley parkrun. Yes. Yep. So Clare Valley parkrun on the 7th of March next year will be the Palm Weekend.

01:24:56Melissa Ellis: See if we can't drum up a few more listeners in South Australia.

01:25:00Tony O'Connell: That might be good. A couple of our regular people there have gone a little bit quiet, so it'll be good to have a couple more people over there.

01:25:07Melissa Ellis: It will. I do like a South Australian parkrun. I'm a bit partial to a South Australian parkrun, and it is worth noting this has been chosen via a very strict selection process between the four hosts, and it is an event that none of us have done.

01:25:24Tony O'Connell: And it'd be fair to say also, Clare Valley is a smaller parkrun. They sort of average probably around the 50 finishes. So, yeah, I guess we probably need to give them a little bit of a heads up that we're coming and that they might have a couple more than the 50 there on the weekend.

01:25:42Melissa Ellis: Yeah, you'd think we would have learnt after Queenstown. We're supposed to do that before we tell the world, aren't we?

01:25:48Tony O'Connell: Yeah, and not pick a weekend where all of the RDs, apart from one, have gone to another town to run a marathon.

01:25:56Melissa Ellis: Quick, send him an email before the pod comes out.

Sign-off

01:26:00Tony O'Connell: Righty-o, Mel. I think we've covered where we're at for the next week, next fortnight. We're back with Simon and Sarah. Oh, we're not back. Simon and Sarah are back in the hot seat. The office has been given a bit of a spruce up with the Office Lady back. No chocolate wrappers, no caramel wrappers left anywhere. It's been great talking again and look forward to our next catch up, which will probably be at Inverloch in a couple of weeks.

01:26:28Melissa Ellis: It will. Enjoy the rest of your holiday and I shall see you very shortly in Inverloch. All right. As everybody, as everybody, as always, you can contact us via the parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another episode. We'll see you all next time for more adventures.