Episode 438 - Lota Love to Give

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

Welcome

00:00:21Sarah Jefferson: Welcome to episode 438 of the parkrun adventurers podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. My name is Sarah Jefferson, joining you from Noongar Boodja, Noongar Country.

00:00:34Simon Mackley: I'm Simon Mackley, joining you from Quandamooka Yarrabingera, Quandamooka Sea Country. Cooee Sarah.

00:00:42Sarah Jefferson: Cooee, Simon. Ooh, you've mixed up your podcast welcome in the local Indigenous language. How lovely that is to hear.

00:00:50Simon Mackley: Yes, I saw it on the side of a building the other day in the council chambers. So I made sure that that's what it was. It was like your Noongar Boodja. And yeah, I was very happy to see it.

00:01:03Sarah Jefferson: Sea country. Yeah, beautiful. Yeah.

00:01:06Simon Mackley: Let's jump into it. How was your trip across the ditch?

00:01:09Sarah Jefferson: We certainly are getting straight into it. I did have a great time over in New Zealand for a family holiday recently. Unfortunately, it's the last overseas trip of my maternity leave. Boo. But anyway, we did have a great adventure on the North Island of New Zealand after travelling the South Island last year. So in terms of parkruns, we headed to the 47th event of South End Reserve parkrun on the 25th of October. We hadn't realised, but we were actually there for the long weekend. It was the Labor Day weekend. So the town of Pawanui normally gets really small numbers. Alison King had informed me of this. So the week before we went there, the event had only 17 finishes. And then the week after we were there, clocked 21 finishes. However, the week that we were in town, there were 102 people there. So it was quite a lot busier than usual. There was a car assignment there with a sauna in a trailer. That was pretty exciting. And it was pulled up right next to the beach, which looked absolutely amazing you know that I love the beach and I love saunas but unfortunately we didn't have time to check this one out but I really loved loved the look of that yeah so you didn't get in the sauna but did you get into the water Unfortunately, we didn't. The parkrun wasn't even on the beach. It was up on, I guess, like the grassy bit kind of adjacent to the beach. So, no, I didn't even really get my feet in the sand either. So, no, that was a bit disappointing. But we did have to go race back to check out of our Airbnb. But we spent the rest of the week, we were there for nine days. We spent the rest of the week exploring places, including Rotorua, where we did catch up with Alison King, which was lovely. Now, Rotorua is one really cool place and we really need to head back there. We did manage to get in the mud bath. Do the Volcanic Rim Walk and Wai-O-Tapu. Hopefully I said that right. But there was so much left to see and do here. We explored caves. We saw some glow worms and we went to Hobbiton, which was another incredible place, thought it'd be all right but it was actually even better than I expected so I recommend that if anyone heads to the North Island um in terms of our last parkrun we ticked off, um, Orakei, I think it's Orakei Bay parkrun, before we headed back to the airport just a quick few notes about this parkrun there seem to be lots and lots of volunteers Sorry, I looked at their website this weekend and there were actually 25 volunteers acknowledged on the website. Had a really great feel, had some really lovely views on course. And I'm going to call this course undulating. I guess some people would call it hilly, but undulating.

00:04:14Simon Mackley: Good enough.

00:04:15Sarah Jefferson: Okay.

00:04:16Simon Mackley: So, yeah, I'm glad you caught up with Alison and knowing her, there was ice cream involved. Sounds like you did a lot of exploring. Do you know why there's so many volunteers at Orakei Bay?

00:04:28Sarah Jefferson: First of all, there definitely was ice cream. They forced me into getting a two scoop ice cream. I was full from dinner. But anyway, Matt was really happy to finish my ice cream. So he technically got a three scoop. So he did not complain. Volunteers. Well, it is run on part like a bridge that goes over some, I don't know if it's like a bay or something like that. So I wonder if they are required to have so many volunteers because they did keep actually telling people to keep, keep left, keep left. So I'm just wondering if they are required to have that many volunteers or if they did, I don't know, just had, you know, so many, there actually seems to be quite a few young people as well. So I don't know if there's a uni around that area or if it just happened to be the week that I was there, that it was a really young volunteer base. I'm not really sure. Maybe those two are factors in that.

00:05:23Simon Mackley: Okay. Fair enough. And where were you the last weekend? Yeah.

00:05:28Sarah Jefferson: Yes, so I was back home, which was really lovely to get back home. It was just Hadley and myself and we headed to Shelley parkrun for their 448th event. There were 271 finishes on the morning and I decided to push Hadley in the pram and call a dear friend from high school. As I actually hadn't been able to get in touch with her due to the three hour time change and she's got two children. So it's just been a little bit tricky. So we had a lovely chat while I walked along the Swan River and then had a little picnic in the park with Hadley afterwards. So very simple morning, but it was, it was a really lovely morning here.

00:06:09Simon Mackley: That was a very grounding weekend after your busy trip to New Zealand. Yeah.

00:06:15Sarah Jefferson: Definitely, and it was certainly needed. Travelling with kids or one child, it's crazy. It's so hard.

00:06:24Simon Mackley: It is.

00:06:25Sarah Jefferson: Social media does not like, it looked great, it was great, but it was really hard as well. Yeah. Anyway, where have you been since we last caught up, Simon?

00:06:38Simon Mackley: As I mentioned on the last pod, I was going to be going to Logan River with Jackson and Jasper. But Logan River was my first ever DNF. So after 400 and something parkruns, it was the first time that I actually didn't finish. But it was for a good reason. So I got Jasper along to parkrun, but I totally underestimated how hot it was actually going to be. He really struggled in the heat of Queensland morning for a 7am start. Uh, we managed to walk about two kilometres before he decided he was going to cool off by going all Portuguese chicken on the grass, meaning like he was all splayed out, um, trying to cool down. Uh, then we slowly made our way back to the start line and pulled out. So it was for a good reason, but, uh, yeah, first time I've DNF'd and yeah, we'll leave it at that. Then I did an early start the next weekend and went to Glass House Mountains Conservation parkrun, where I coincidentally ran into Sarah Jantscher. And we had a good chat. I had seen that she was there the previous week. So I was like, oh, I'm going to miss her. But yeah, surprisingly, we, yeah, she was there. Then two weeks ago, I went to Sirromet. And this was because the planets had aligned for me for my first intentional match of the day. So it was actually my eighth overall. So the last time I completed Match of the Day, exactly, was 2018 when I ran my 150th parkrun at Bega's 150th event and I was there with Mel. Yeah, exactly. So the first time I actually got Match of the Day was my very first parkrun because it was a launch, which was St Peters. So I unintentionally had done it seven times and then intentionally two weekends ago. And then last weekend, I finally got to St. Lucia for my second time and fastest parkrun of the year. It's a really busy and fast course along the banks of the Brisbane River and next to the University of Queensland. And coincidentally, I ran into one of the former RDs from Mossman, who also lives in Brisbane, and I occasionally bump into at parkruns all over Brisbane.

00:08:48Sarah Jefferson: Wow, that's a lot. Firstly, congrats on your fastest parkrun of the year.

00:08:53Simon Mackley: Thanks. Wasn't that quick, but yeah.

00:08:55Sarah Jefferson: That's all right. It's your fastest this year. Amazing. And if you weren't that proud, well, maybe you shouldn't have mentioned it.

00:09:01Simon Mackley: Yeah, you're true. Yeah, you're right.

00:09:04Sarah Jefferson: Because I wouldn't have known otherwise. What a shame to hear about Jasper.

00:09:10Simon Mackley: Yeah.

00:09:10Sarah Jefferson: Wow. So that doesn't sound like a good morning for him or you, to be honest. So I guess the win was that he wasn't car sick this time.

00:09:20Simon Mackley: Exactly.

00:09:21Sarah Jefferson: Yep. But yeah, the effects of the heat don't sound good for him at all. It sounds like travelling with a child for me is hard, but maybe travelling to Parkrum with Jasper's a little hard too.

00:09:33Simon Mackley: Yeah, I think it is. Yeah, I think he might be retiring now. He's tried three and we've had three different fails.

00:09:41Sarah Jefferson: Yeah. So his retirement is looming, you think?

00:09:46Simon Mackley: I think that he won't be coming to parkruns unless it's cooler or, yeah, I don't know, unless he has to, I guess. Because when I took him to Central Lakes, the family were away and I took him because I didn't want to leave him alone in the house for four or five hours or whatever it would have been. So we will see. But yeah, I don't think he's going to be coming to parkruns intentionally.

00:10:08Sarah Jefferson: Because there are reasons why you don't like to leave him at home, aren't there? That he needs to be... He does get a little bit anxious at home on his own.

00:10:19Simon Mackley: He's anxious in general. He's not a fan of other people. He's so calm and cool with us, but other people he just... Yeah. I mean, he's a rescue dog, so something has happened in his early life that sets him off. But that's, like I said, he's all good with us, so it's all good.

00:10:36Sarah Jefferson: Yeah. Well, he's lucky he found you, but I just also wanted to make sure the listeners didn't think you were just dragging him along. There was a reason why you generally take him to parkrun if you have to take him. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Now, how is your P index going too?

00:10:55Simon Mackley: So I'm two off getting my nine. So I get two at Logan River to get my nine. So that missed step was, yeah, would have got me one closer, but that's all good. I set myself a target of eight for the year and I'm almost to nine. So I am ahead of that anyway.

00:11:14Sarah Jefferson: Okay, that's good. Because I know this year was all about the P index for you. So just checking in to make sure that that's going okay.

00:11:22Simon Mackley: Okay, I'm really glad to hear that we haven't repped Ryan Stoddart's plans. And in fact, we may have even accidentally aligned with his 600th parkrun pending nothing happening in between.

00:11:34Sarah Jefferson: Phew.

00:11:36Simon Mackley: Exactly.

00:11:37Sarah Jefferson: Exactly. Will be another reason to celebrate on the morning and maybe we'll have to have cake, Simon.

00:11:44Simon Mackley: Are you organising that?

00:11:45Sarah Jefferson: No, maybe Ryan is.

00:11:48Simon Mackley: Ryan again. Fair enough.

00:11:50Sarah Jefferson: Just put it out there, Ryan.

00:11:52Simon Mackley: All right, shall we move on to watching the stopwatch bingo of Melissa Ellis? Has it happened? So she's still not there. She finished the last two parkruns two weeks ago was 30 seconds. And last weekend, she was so close with 59 seconds. And if you're trying to remember what it is, she's trying to get a zero zero. So she was literally one second away on the finishing stopwatch bingo. So we're feeling for you, Mel.

00:12:23Sarah Jefferson: I wonder how many people do this in the law school assignment. They just constantly just get so close. I remember as a child, I'd be like, mom, I've scratched two of the scratchies said 20,000, but you need three, right? To get the 20,000 on a scratchy. They'd always scratch a scratchy and it would be like two 20,000s or two 10,000s. And you were so close to winning it, but you never did. So I wonder how many people with lotto numbers too. Yeah, exactly. You've got this Mel. Won't be long. Okay, moving on.

parkrun news bulletin

00:12:51Sarah Jefferson: So we have some news on the Junior parkrun front in the state of Victoria. There has been a change with Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun. So before I get into that news, I would like to take a moment to celebrate some of the achievements of this parkrun. There has been 206 events, over 630 PBs and 3,317 finishes. However, on the 26th of October, the last parkrun was held at its original location. There have been trials over the past two Saturdays, being the first two Saturdays in November at 10 a.m., As it is being put on socials of Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun page, this is just a sideways wave and not a goodbye as this junior event will be moved to the Aintree Reserve parkrun site and renamed Aintree Reserve Junior parkrun. So as I'm not familiar with the area of Victoria personally, on Google Maps, it's telling me that it's approximately a 25 minute move from its current location in a north easterly direction. So this new event will be launched on the 16th of November, a Sunday, with a start time of 8am. A huge shout out to the original team behind this junior parkrun. Without naming names, you have played a pivotal role in many children's lives and enhanced their health and social wellbeing for the better. The impact that you have had on these children will never be known and cannot be measured. Thank you for this. It also mentions that the team holds hope that the move of this parkrun is the right thing to do, that they hope that the move provides the team with less volunteer requirements and no cancellations for flooding or extreme fire days. It also states that this move is better than a complete closure. So we wish this new or renamed Junior parkrun all the very best for the future and look forward to hearing how it goes.

00:14:42Simon Mackley: Yeah, definitely echo that. It's been an interesting situation to have to move it. So yeah, rolling on to another news item. So ANZAC Day. So looking to April 25th, 2026 in Australia, ANZAC Day is going to fall on a Saturday. So from what we've been told, parkrun will go ahead as normal, as long as the event is not impeding a March or service or isn't affected by an earlier service, etc., So if you're touring in Australia, please be respectful of this. We know that there'll be many different views on this, and we personally have mixed feelings about the parkrun on Anzac Day.

00:15:21Sarah Jefferson: People are definitely starting to talk about Anzac Day and parkrun, aren't they, Simon?

00:15:26Simon Mackley: They are. They definitely are. I've heard people talking about it. I've seen things on Facebook in groups and things. So yes, people are preparing for it.

00:15:36Sarah Jefferson: I personally, like I have no idea about any of or how the teams are going to manage this, but I can't see how it will not affect them. Like you've got Queensland that have their parkruns at 7am, most Dawn services just wrapping up by then. There's also going to be teams that... people will maybe volunteer on the morning, but then they will go to a dawn service. I know at our parkrun, we start setting up about quarter past seven. So our team wouldn't be ready if they're electing to go to a dawn service. So I guess maybe it is fair to say that there may be cancellations. And as you're saying there, be respectful of that, but certainly do your research around this because I would expect that there will be cancellations, maybe Tasmania where there's a 9am start, but then maybe you've got the March as well. So I can't see how it can't impact, like it's definitely going to impact, right? Yeah. Yeah. parkruns. So, all right. So moving on to a special congratulations to an adventurer. So Eman Vergara, we would like to congratulate you on your recent New York marathon finish. So this is Eman's fifth official world major finish. It was his fastest world major finish yet. We thought he was fast before, but he just keeps on getting faster, Simon. His finish time for a marathon was two hours, 49 minutes and 22 seconds. He also completed a parkrun in the US the day before his marathon in a time of 17 minutes and 55 seconds. Phenomenal results once again, Eman. And a shout out to any other adventurers who completed the New York marathon this year. And if this is you, write in and let us know so that we know you completed a world major.

00:17:20Simon Mackley: Yeah, that's amazing, Eman. But yeah, we'd really love to hear anyone else who went over to New York, whether you were cheering someone on or whether you actually ran it yourself. So yeah, a little bit on Palm. So we're really suggesting that people get their accommodation, their flights, their cars and all that sort of thing booked because we are hearing things are starting to fill up and it's really not that far away, early March is going to be here before we know it, with Christmas in between. So we're hearing that there's people are booking the caravan park across the road. We are still going to talk, like there's still things we need to release about dinners and themes and all that sort of thing. But we are working behind the scenes on that currently. And we're trying to get that out as quickly as possible so that you can all plan. But yeah, try and get that, at least get your flights in and try and get accommodation booked as quickly as possible.

00:18:18Sarah Jefferson: And just to add to the accommodation, it is just a reminder, it is a public holiday in South Australia with the Monday being a public holiday. So I know that some people have commented that some places have got a minimum stay as well. So don't leave it too long so that you're stuck and need to stay longer or pay more than what you need to pay. So definitely get yourself organised if you can. Okay, but what's sooner than Palm, Simon, is Christmas and New Year. That is sneaking up really, really quickly. So I know that events are starting to put in whether they'll be hosting Christmas Day or New Year's Day special events. Just a reminder to be respectful of the teams and events. They are actually not required to put those in cancellations or whether they will not hold an event until Monday the 15th of December. So just a reminder, teams do have until the 15th of December to declare whether they will be hosting an event or not. So please be mindful of that. I know the events, I won't name the event, but the event that I'm hoping to do on New Year's Day, there is actually not going to be an event today, close by to that it historically has hosted or held events the last you know four to five years so I've booked a trip hoping that it actually goes ahead but I mean if it doesn't go ahead it's on us and it's fine I'll secretly be very disappointed but You know, it's, I needed to book it because it gets, flights and things get really expensive from Perth. And I guess any, any flights around that time of year are expensive, but hopefully, fingers crossed, they do hold their event.

00:20:00Simon Mackley: I'm very cryptic there. I don't know what you're talking about, but I might be asking you that once we stop recording.

00:20:09Alice - lead vocalist on the "parkrun Party" song: Sure.

00:20:09Simon Mackley: Alrighty, let's jump on over to the stats. So I will talk about New Zealand. So parkrun New Zealand attendance and milestone stats for the 1st of November. There were 60 parkruns with 9,500 parkrunners and almost 1,000 volunteers, plus impending results. The largest parkrun on the 1st of November was Hagley, no surprise, with 591. Waitangi had 416 and Cornwall Park had 371. And then the smallest was Mangawhero River Walk, 16. South End Reserve with 21, which I'm sure was one of the ones that you were talking about before. And Moana Point Reserve with 28. And then on the 8th of November, so the weekend just gone, there were 62 parkruns, 10,750 parkrunners, and 995 volunteers, plus any pending results. The largest was Hagley again, then Palmerston North, then Lower Hutt. And Lower Hutt actually had an attendance record. So they got 415, which was up on their previous record. And then the smallest was South End Reserve, with 29, Mangawhero River Walk with 30, and Oroua River Walkway with 31. Probably murdered the name of that, but yeah.

00:21:29Sarah Jefferson: Heading back to Australia on the 1st of November, there were 71,367 active participants who took a token, 6,564 volunteers at 522 events with 2,859 first-timers. The smallest events were Railway Park with three, Waterloo Plains had six, and Zeehan Golf Club and Jamestown Golf Course each welcomed seven. Albert Melbourne took the largest parkrun with 858, followed by South Bank and The Ponds. On the 8th of November, there were 71,000 visitors. 237 active participants at 516 events with over 6,500 volunteers. The smallest parkruns were Bourke Racecourse, Cloncurry and Waterloo Plains with three. The largest parkrun was Rhodes with 743 participants.

00:22:26Simon Mackley: I think that it was Rhodes and it wasn't Albert Park.

00:22:29Sarah Jefferson: I wonder what was happening at Rhodes.

00:22:30[background music]

00:22:31Simon Mackley: Yeah, I don't know. Who knows?

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

00:22:34Simon Mackley: Okay. Why don't we throw to Roving Reports?

Roving report Tracey Wood — Bowen parkrun

00:22:44Tracey Wood: Good morning parkrunners, it's Tracey in a Tutu and guess where I am? I've headed north to Bowen parkrun and I've arrived and the lovely Michael has offered to have a chat with me. Good morning, Michael.

00:22:58Michael - Bowen parkrun co-founder and volunteer: Good morning. Tracy hello thank you for coming to Bowen hope you enjoy our beautiful city it's not a city yet it's a town but yeah now so we love Bowen and as you can understand and we started the Bowen parkrun in on the 4th of June 2016 so we've been going for a bit over nine years and we've got a beautiful parkrun family here that we really appreciate and There are courses we think is one of the best we've ever seen and I think Tracy's going to love it. She hasn't done it yet, but she will love it.

00:23:38Tracey Wood: Awful views here. I mean, gee, who'd want to walk on a course looking out to the beautiful ocean? I mean, wow.

00:23:46Michael - Bowen parkrun co-founder and volunteer: Yeah, you know, we're very lucky. It's a gorgeous view nearly the whole course. Almost the sea view the whole way and absolutely gorgeous. And we've got a beautiful day today, a nice little breeze blowing. It can get a bit warmer in the summertime as everywhere else up north does. So yeah, hopefully we'll have a really great day today. We have a coffee van arriving shortly, so yeah we have a coffee van comes every week and beautiful coffee lovely Diane and David run it here they are now with their dog Missy everyone gives her a pat nah it's a beautiful place

00:24:26Tracey Wood: Excellent. Thank you, Tracy.

00:24:28Michael - Bowen parkrun co-founder and volunteer: And how long have you been doing this? Forever. Nine years since it first started. And I was lucky enough to be able to set up the whole course as well, put all the markers in, and that was during COVID, which was a big benefit to us in the long run because it saves us all having to carry all the bollards everywhere. And we have now permanent markers right along the whole course and all the kilometre markers. Yeah, fantastic. You'll enjoy those ones. You know we are all the time on the course. And yeah, it makes it much nicer for everybody.

00:25:02Tracey Wood: Yeah, excellent. All right, thanks again, Michael.

00:25:04Michael - Bowen parkrun co-founder and volunteer: No worries, Tracy.

00:25:06Tracey Wood: All right, it's Tracy doing a quick report from Bowen parkrun. We're at Horseshoe Bay on the traditional lands of the Juru people. And it's a cracker of a morning here. A little bit of a breeze blowing. A beautiful day. Bye.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Wynnum parkrun

00:25:22Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and today I have ventured probably 20 to 30 minutes south-southeast, east-southeast probably, of the Brisbane CBD to the lands of the Quandamooka people and I'm at Wynnum parkrun Now, Wynnum parkrun, we all know friends of the podcast, Alan and Rasheed Bowell, they are not here today. Instead, I have found Michelle, someone even better, I'm sure. How are you today, Michelle? I'm good, thanks.

00:25:51Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: And how was your run today? Oh, it was a hard, hot one today. It was windy one way and hot the other, so good challenge, that's what you get here at Wynnum isn't it now that's because it's quite an exposed course it's here on the shores of Moreton Bay tell me a little bit about the course here the course is really lovely you're running along the water and it's out one and a half k one way and a turn and then out back the other way but it's a flat course and it's just really really lovely when the breeze is blowing the right way it's one of those ones where you have to run past the finish line though Oh yeah, that's not too bad though. It's better than doing circuits.

00:26:30Lyndell Murray: Indeed, indeed. And there's a lot of people here. I was like the 300 and something person across the line. So you get a bit of a crowd here.

00:26:36Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: Yeah, it's normally about 350, 400. It's always pretty busy here. And I think that's why they opened Lota down the road to try and take some of the pressure off with them. but it hasn't really worked that well.

00:26:47Lyndell Murray: Lota is a nice little course too. Check that out as well adventurers.

00:26:52Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: Yeah, Lota is nice if you don't mind off-trail running. It's half on concrete and half off-trail but it's a bit more sheltered than Wynnum but it's a good change up. Indeed.

00:27:04Lyndell Murray: Now, Michelle, tell me a little bit about your parkrun history and adventures. How did you get into parkrun? What's your involvement here at Wynnum?

00:27:13Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: We moved house and when we moved house, we were on the parkrun course. So we were starting to feel guilty watching everyone running past our house. But three, probably three and a half years ago, we started running parkrun. And it's just a really good community. It's friendly. You can come along on your own and chat to various people. It's just a really friendly place. But then I find every tourist parkrun we've been to is the same. You chat to anybody and everyone's really friendly.

00:27:40Lyndell Murray: Yeah. I think that's one of the really lovely things about parkrun, particularly in today's society where there's a lot of people feeling disconnected. parkrun is somewhere where you can always connect.

00:27:50Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, you can come along and just randomly chat to everybody. Yeah, it's a good free event and it's run by volunteers, so everyone's just really happy and helpful. Yeah.

00:28:03Lyndell Murray: And you do your fair share of volunteering, Michelle? Yeah, I think today was my 90th volunteer.

00:28:09Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: And I've done about 360 run part runs now, so I've been involved for quite a number of years.

00:28:14Lyndell Murray: And you said that you were going to wash all the vests and sort the tokens. I hope you get a credit for that as well. No, not really.

00:28:22Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: I parted as the Run Director, so I get to help him out unofficially.

00:28:26Lyndell Murray: Such as doing this interview. He dumped you in for this too, didn't he? I know, yes, he did. I don't mind, no. No. Now you've done a bit of tourism, can you just maybe run through a top three maximum of your favourite experiences at a parkrun that doesn't include Wynnum?

00:28:47Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: Last week we were at Elliott Heads and that was lovely, it's an out and back course along the foreshore and it was just absolutely beautiful. I think we've done it. We've done about 36. Newseville is always a good one. Again, that's an out and back one. It's got a slight hill at the end. Yes.

00:29:06Lyndell Murray: And through the trees there.

00:29:08Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Not a big fan of doing circuits. I much prefer an out and back. So Cleveland's another good one. That's an out and back one. And also Kingscliff. I enjoy that one because you can't see the sea, but you know, you're running alongside it. So anything that's an out and a back and you're near the water is pretty nice. Yes.

00:29:24Lyndell Murray: Indeed. All right. Now, Michelle, before we wrap up, is there anything else that you would like the listeners of this podcast who are avid adventurers, what would you like, is there anything else that you'd like them to know about Wynnum parkrun?

00:29:38Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: All the parkruns are run by volunteers and each week, even though there's 400 here, we just struggle to get volunteers, so it would be nice if people would step up a little bit more and at least do three volunteers a year, that'd be great.

00:29:52Lyndell Murray: What do you think stops people? What do you think their biggest concern is? I sometimes wonder whether they think it's going to be too hard or they might stuff it up or something, but that's not really something they should worry about, right?

00:30:04Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: No, all the volunteer roles are really easy. I think everyone's scared of doing the Timekeeper, think they're gonna mess it up, but it's a free volunteered event and you know things happen so it's it's it's just life so yeah you just jump in and volunteer and enjoy it gets you to talk to people a bit more too when you volunteer yeah definitely you get to meet a lot more people when you're handing the tokens out or timekeeping or barcode scanning it is a really good way to just do three a year and just get involved brilliant all right well thank you for your time today Michelle thank you for everything you and your partner

00:30:40Lyndell Murray: have done for the Wynnum community here in volunteering and helping to run parkrun here at Wynnum.

00:30:46Michelle - Wynnum parkrun volunteer: That's no problem, thanks a lot.

Roving report Alison Fraser (King) — Parrs Park parkrun

00:30:48Alison Fraser (King): Kia ora koutou, it's Alison here reporting in from across the ditch for the parkrun adventurers and today I have driven north and west to do West is Best parkrun in West Auckland, Parrs Park parkrun and with me is Co-Event Director David. So welcome to the pod David and welcome to parkrun. [Te Reo Maori: ""Hello / greetings to you all" (koutou addresses three or more people)."]

00:31:10David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, Alison.

00:31:12Alison Fraser (King): So can you tell me what was the impetus behind Parrs Park? How did West Auckland finally get a parkrun?

00:31:18David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Well, the lady Katina who did the briefing earlier, she lives very close to the park and she's an amazing runner. She's an ultra runner and she likes all sorts of running. And one day she was training in the park here and thought, hey, hang on, this could be a great place for a parkrun. So she got a group together. People walked it, people ran it. She got a Facebook page going, a Facebook group going. And it grew from that. That was probably seven or eight months ago. And then once the momentum was set and we thought, ah, there's enough people here to actually do this. There are enough people interested to keep it running, make it sustainable. I came on board and helped to do all the admin stuff to get the council permission and talk to the marae, talk to the landowners and everything, which was actually, you know, surprisingly easy because everyone was so positive. That was a bit of a surprise to me that every stakeholder we talked to was kind of, Hey, yeah, that's an amazing thing. Yeah, we're behind you. We'll do that. So that's how it started. [Te Reo Maori: "A marae is the communal meeting ground and complex of a Maori tribal group, and here also the landowning body next to the Parrs Park course."]

00:32:14Alison Fraser (King): One thing that did surprise me was that you do have a marae right by your start. And I've been to pretty much every parkrun in New Zealand and I can't recall any other marae being so close. So, yeah, it's a good point of difference to have more of them come along.

00:32:31David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: And in fact, where we're standing right now by this pou, that's the boundary of the marae land is over there. Even though the council run the park, the council own this bit, I understand, and the marae actually own right up to here. So when we went to see them to explain what we're doing, they were really supportive and really positive and said, yep, that sounds like a great thing, a wonderful thing to do.

00:32:48Alison Fraser (King): Yeah, so can you just give a quick description of the course for listeners? I have just done it, so it's great.

00:32:56David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: It's a bit trail-y, so it's a hard pack surface which is a bit loose in places. There's a few bits of boardwalk, a few bits of concrete, but essentially it's a kind of U-shaped out and back twice course. So that means the finish is actually very close to the start, but through some houses. So you can actually get to the finish in about 300 metres if you need to run out there with the defibrillator or change the signs or something or replace the comb. So essentially you start, you go out round the U, turn around, come back again, do the same thing again. And then on the end of the second leg, you turn round the start one more time and the finish is just off on the left there. A nice big flat piece of ground in the sun, surrounded by trees and bush, which is great.

00:33:35Alison Fraser (King): And you get to see lots of people, so it's quite a sociable course.

00:33:38David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: It is, yeah. There's a few dog walkers out early in the morning, a few walkers and things. But it's quite a nice course because it's different, very terrain. We're on a big open piece at the minute, which is flat with trees surrounding us. But further in, there's little bits of bush, there are streams. It's really nice, really different.

00:33:54Alison Fraser (King): Now, what's your parkrun story? I understand your home parkrun is Bournemouth, which is not in the same hemisphere as us.

00:34:02David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: No, that's right. Well, I started volunteering at Bournemouth about 10 years ago because we lived in Bournemouth and my partner and I ran it and volunteered it many times. She's now got 350 volunteers and over 300 runs. I'm not quite there yet. But she's a Kiwi. So we came out to live here. We've actually lived here a few times over the years because her family are here. Her friends are in the UK. My family are in the UK. My friends are in both places. So it's quite an interesting sort of, quite an interesting journey. But when we came out here a couple of years ago, we thought, right, we must get involved in parkrun. And we are. So she's now an RD at Owairaka and I'm an RD here. So, yeah, it's worked really well.

00:34:42Alison Fraser (King): Fantastic. So have you been to quite a few different parkruns?

00:34:46David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: 98.

00:34:47Alison Fraser (King): 98. Wow. Have you chosen where you're going to do your 100th for your Cowell?

00:34:51David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Well, hopefully, because I only volunteered here today, although this is my 99th, it's not my 99th run. So I've run at 98, I've volunteered at quite a few of them, but hopefully I can swing it so that I can do a run somewhere else in the next few weeks, come back here, run this, and this could be my 100th.

00:35:08Alison Fraser (King): Have you ever done Tauranga parkrun?

00:35:10David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: No.

00:35:10Alison Fraser (King): Oh, you should maybe do that as your flake 99 run and then you can do Parrs Park.

00:35:14[crosstalk]

00:35:14David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: How far is it from here? Oh, well, we've driven this morning and it was two and three quarter hours. Oh, I see. I can do that. No problem. Yeah.

00:35:22Alison Fraser (King): Yeah. So out of the 98 that you have run, what three parkruns stand out to you for whatever reason?

00:35:28David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Well, I like Poole in the UK because it's fast and flat and get about 800 people there. So the start's a bit gnarly, but after you get going, it's all right. I like Durlston in the UK because it's mad. I was about six minutes slower than I expected to be because it's so hilly. Absolutely, absolutely mad. And then over here, I mean, I have to say, I quite like Owairaka because of the bridge over the motorway and the long out and back. You know, it's not four laps around a sports field. Nothing wrong with that, but it's quite nice to go out and back and across the bridge.

00:35:59Alison Fraser (King): Has the running history as well, Owairaka, with Arthur Lydiard's house on the course?

00:36:03David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Absolutely, yeah, and it's still there. I see there's a house next to it that they knocked down one day. One weekend we were there and we were thinking, that state house is still there. The next week it had gone, but Arthur Lydiard's house is still there. It would be great if they could preserve it, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not.

00:36:19Alison Fraser (King): And listeners to this pod and also With Me Now pod will probably recognise Durlston Country Park. I know the presenter of With Me Now, Danny, that's the most beautiful parkrun he's ever run. He says he calls it brutiful.

00:36:32[crosstalk]

00:36:32David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Yes, that's a really good description.

00:36:35Alison Fraser (King): Well, thank you so much for your time, David. And congratulations on another wonderful parkrun to our parkrun whanau here in New Zealand. [Te Reo Maori: "Whanau means family or extended family, so "our parkrun whanau" is "our parkrun family"."]

00:36:40[background music]

00:36:43David - Co-Event Director, Parrs Park parkrun: Fantastic. Thanks very much, Alison.

00:36:44[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:36:57Sarah Jefferson: We are back from our roving reports where we heard from Tracy visiting Bowen parkrun, having a chat to Michael. We heard from Lyndell at Wynnum parkrun who spoke to Michelle about the course and all things Wynnum. I might just take your advice there, Lyndell, and try Lota parkrun in a few weeks' time when I visit the Sunshine State. I also loved hearing about how Michelle got into parkrun. And last but not least, we heard from Alison, who was talking about the parkrun, Parrs Park parkrun, and the parkrun bordering Maori land, which refers to the Maori land in New Zealand. Now, this is a land that belongs to the Maori people and is a unique land tenure system. So this land can be collectively owned by tribes, sub-tribes or families, which is managed through trusts and incorporations for the benefits of its owners, known as beneficiaries. So this certainly is a point of difference and thank you for sharing this.

00:38:08Simon Mackley: It was very interesting to hear about that. I'm glad you looked up what Maori land was because it was interesting. It sparked my interest there as well.

Dazza's

00:38:19Simon Mackley: I think we should jump into Dazza's. So yeah, we've got five comments from each of the last two weeks of Dazza's posts.

00:38:28Sarah Jefferson: On the 1st of November, Dazza said, today is World Vegan Day, but you probably already knew that if you know a vegan. Dazza has whipped up some delicious vegan treats and welcomes you in for a chat about all things vegan and parkrun.

00:38:44Simon Mackley: He is Alison Fraser, who was at Te Awa parkrun. And she said, Hi Dazza, I was pumpkin today. Is that vegan enough? Except I was about to be carved up on the course at Te Awa parkrun. My first proper dress up and it won't be my last. And there was a picture of Alison dressed up in an inflatable parkrun, sorry, inflatable pumpkin suit with a guy dressed up as a chef looking as though he was ready to carve her up. Great to hear that you popped your parkrun dress up cherry, Alison. We can't wait to see future installments.

00:39:16Sarah Jefferson: We heard from Paul Whelan at Rex Jackson Oval parkrun in New South Wales. Paul stated, the Viking done it, tick. Milestone 150th volley done, tick. Just before the rain came through. Love Rex Jackson Oval parkrun. with two green love hearts. There's a photo of Paul with his Viking hat on, wearing the Tail Walker's vest with his thumbs up. Sounds like a win, just beating the rain, Paul, and congratulations on your 150 volunteers.

00:39:49Simon Mackley: Next, we heard from Rodney Glossop, who was at Faelledparken parkrun in Denmark. Rodney wrote, I'm so excited. I don't know where to begin. Spell vegan. This morning, I added another country to my parkrun passport and ticked off the letter F for my alphabet challenge in completing Faelledparken parkrun, Copenhagen, Denmark. And there was a picture of Rodney with the event pop up with Velkommen sign in his hand. Donning a very large grin, we can see that Rodney was actually the Report Writer for this event this week too. How fabulous it is when work takes you to a new country to park from, especially when you live in Perth, the most isolated city in the world. I wonder who wrote that. [Danish: "Velkommen means "Welcome"."]

00:40:32Sarah Jefferson: Certainly me, Simon, someone who lives in the most isolated city in the world, who wishes that my work would take me to another country like Denmark.

00:40:41Simon Mackley: Sure.

00:40:42Sarah Jefferson: We heard from... Sam Esmore at Maria Creek Reserve parkrun in South Australia. Sam shared, number two on NENDY list, Maria Creek Reserve parkrun walk with mum. Smiley face. There was a photo with Sam and his mum in the selfie frame. I love it when my mum comes along to parkrun with me as well. So I hope that this is a regular occurrence for you. How lovely, Sam. Thank you for sharing.

00:41:09Simon Mackley: Next, we heard from Yvette Turner at Tuggeranong parkrun. Yvette said, this year on my travels, I met the most lovely vegan parkrunner in Malaysia. We ran together at the parkrun there and then caught up a week later in Singapore to run again. Paul Moss, have you added the parkrun adventurers to your parkrun profile yet? She's really calling Paul out there. Today, I adventured down to Tuggeranong parkrun where after 68 volunteer credits, I finally did the first-timers briefing. There was nothing to be nervous about, even though I was. It was just passing on parkrun information and my enthusiasm for this wonderful event. The weather was perfect and the lake looked like a painting. Breakfast after with friends made this the perfect start to the weekend. And there was a photo of Yvette wearing a red parkrun vest with the first-timer sign. Great to hear that First Timers Welcome wasn't too scary at all, And it's always rewarding to try new things we think. And we can confirm that Paul is a vegan running club member, but we can't see that he's an adventurer yet. But with 29 locations, six country flags, 138 parkruns to his name, we could certainly fit him into the adventurers nicely.

00:42:18Sarah Jefferson: Sounds like a lovely morning of it and sounds like the pressure needs to be put back on pole. That's right, to join the adventurers. Moving on to the 8th of November, Dazza said, it's International Cappuccino Day. Dazza is ready with every kind of milk ever invented. Have a seat and tell us your parkrun story. Now, Simon, I'm not really a cappuccino kind of girl. My warm drink of choice at the moment is an almond chai latte, which I actually looked up and it has its own day on the 21st of September. Fun fact. So there really is a day for everything. I know and I've missed it, but there's always next year. So before we move into Dazza's, Simon, what is your coffee or warm drink of choice at the moment?

00:43:03Simon Mackley: Because it's been so warm here, I'm not drinking warm drinks much at all. I am an iced latte kind of guy. And that pretty much lasts most of the year, to be fair. Living in Queensland, it sometimes doesn't get cold enough to have a warm drink. Sometimes it does. And if I was to have a hot drink, it would be a latte.

00:43:22Sarah Jefferson: So, yeah.

00:43:23Simon Mackley: All right, let's jump into our five from last week. So we have Maria Wicks, who was at Shibamata koen kadan parkrun. Maria said, I didn't drink coffee, but I'd love a soy matcha, please, Dazza. I was at Shibamata koen kadan parkrun in Tokyo today after arriving late last night. It was so friendly and welcoming. Definitely glad I went after three hours of sleep.

00:43:48Unidentified speaker: What

00:43:49Simon Mackley: There was a photo of Maria wearing her 250th parkrun shirt, standing next to the parkrun sign in Japanese. So Maria, you don't look tired at all, but I'd certainly need something stronger than a matcha with only three hours. And I must say, you never regret getting up for a parkrun, that's for sure. Especially when visiting another country. We hope you have a great holiday in Japan.

00:44:10Sarah Jefferson: We do hope you have a great holiday and hopefully you get some lovely matcha there too in Japan. Okay, we heard from David Bravos at Altona Beach parkrun in Victoria. David shared, flew into Melbourne this morning and given it was a windy 12 degrees, we of course headed to the beach. Altona Beach parkrun thankfully kept the rain away, though the one issue was that in my rush to pack, I hastily grabbed one of the six Adventurers shirts floating around at home. Let's just say I hope Chloe isn't planning to wear hers today. Though I fancy it's easy for her to wear one of mine than it was for me to wear one of hers. And there was a photo of David in the selfie frame looking incredibly slim and rocking his, shall I say, wife's adventurer shirt and his buff. I guess it could have been worse and you could have picked up your daughter Lucy's shirt instead of your wives. We hope that you had a great adventure to Victoria from the West Side. I also love that you both have more than one adventurer's shirt each. I will need to order myself another one when the next order is out.

00:45:20Simon Mackley: And next we heard from Chloe Bravos, who said, I enjoyed having extra room in my adventurer's shirt today. Popped down the road to Woodbridge Riverside to up my P index. It's been a long time between drinks for me. Three parkruns in as many months. And I couldn't hack the wait for coffee, so enjoyed a nice banana smoothie. And there was a photo of Chloe in her very roomy adventurer's shirt in the parkrun selfie frame. And it looked very sunny over on the West Side.

00:45:51Sarah Jefferson: Those comments did make me laugh this week, Simon.

00:45:54Simon Mackley: Hilarious.

00:45:56Sarah Jefferson: We heard from Fiona Mullen at Varsity Lakes parkrun in Queensland. Fiona wrote, I prefer a flat white on skim. Thanks, Dazza. I did get my sister to come with me to collect the elusive V at Varsity Lakes parkrun. Only one left now. And there was a photo of Fiona with her sister in the Varsity Lakes frame. Now, I've jumped on and had a look, Fiona, and it looks like you may need to head down south and visit that place that we don't hear anything about on this podcast at all that happens to have a large stump there for you to finish your alphabet. We hope that you have a fun adventure planned to whichever event, starting with an I, you choose to complete your alphabet at.

00:46:42Simon Mackley: There is also Ipswich, which you've done as well, Sarah. So we'll see where Fiona does get to. And lastly, we heard from Rebecca Gordon, who was at Presint 18 parkrun in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Rebecca shared, we had an international cappuccino following Presint 18 parkrun Putrajaya this morning. It was a beautiful morning with many parkrunners in costume to celebrate this seventh birthday. Casson, Christy and I loved it, even in the heat. And there was a photo of Casson, Christy and Rebecca in the Presint 18 parkrun Putrajaya selfie frame wearing their run-down undershirts. Well done to you all. It certainly is a steamy parkrun for sure.

the Obi Award — Sam Esmore

00:47:25Simon Mackley: And the Obi goes to Sam Esmore for taking his mum to parkrun. It sounds like he had a lovely morning.

00:47:32Sarah Jefferson: Well done, Sam.

Emails

00:47:34Sarah Jefferson: Okay, moving on to emails. Simon, we have an email. It says... Hi team adventurers. So I've been tuning into your podcast for a while now but because I usually do short runs I never make it to the end. Tragic I know. About a month ago I decided to shake things up and go for an 8k run which is basically an ultra marathon in my world just so I could finally hear an episode. A full episode. I'd been getting a bit bored of music Strange because I love sinking my pace to the beat, but I needed something fresh. And guess what? I made it to the end of the podcast. I was so thrilled. I couldn't wait for my next long run. Then came the episode where you mentioned Palm and I nearly tripped over my own feet from excitement. South Australia is my home state. So I jumped online faster than you could say barcode and booked flights and accommodation for me and Ian. Bonus, I'll get to catch up with my mum while I'm there. And who knows, maybe she'll come to Palm too. I also heard you haven't been getting many emails lately. So here's one to brighten your inbox. My very first email to you. I didn't have a long run scheduled this week, but then I saw that the latest podcast cover features me. Errol and Tracy. So guess what I'm doing on Thursday? Yep, long run time again. Your fortnightly episodes are now perfectly synced with my fortnightly long runs. Coincidence? I think not. Destiny? Probably. Thanks for keeping me company and for making running a whole lot more fun. Cheers, Sherry Martin.

00:49:08Simon Mackley: That is fantastic. Thanks for writing in, Cherie. Yes, I'm glad that our syncing up of the podcast and your fortnightly Lawrence is, yeah, he's aligning. That's fantastic.

Club Corner

00:49:23Simon Mackley: I think we should throw across to Reginald. What do you think? Sounds good.

00:49:33Reginald 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 we are learning about the next two countries on my list, Namibia and Eswatini. Both are in southern Africa, with Namibia on the West Side, that is the left side of the map, and Eswatini on the east side, the right side. And yes, I did need to re-read that several times and also fix it... Namibia is right on coast of the African continent, looking out to the southern Atlantic Ocean and Eswatini is landlocked, with borders to Mozambique on the northeast, and South Africa on all other sides. Older listeners may know Eswatini as the Kingdom of Eswatini, or Swaziland or the Kingdom of Swaziland. If you like your fun facts, do yourself a favour and read about why Namibia is shaped like it is, the spur on the northeast corner along the Zambezi River, short answer, imperialism, parkrun Namibia joined the parkrun family in April of 2017 with the launch of Swakopmund parkrun, followed by Walvis Bay the next year, and then the next year when Windhoek started. Windhoek is the capital of Namibia. Omeya parkrun also began in 2019, but they closed in 2022. From their photos, Swakopmund looks fabulous beside the ocean, and Walvis Bay similarly has a water aspect, with both being out and back courses. Windhoek is the exception as they go around a golf course, but they are also an out-and-back course. They are sometimes cancelled for golf events, so be sure to check their page if touring. Now, this has got me wondering, is there another country, that has more than one event, whose events are all the same shape question mark? parkrun Eswatini is our second country this pod, and they joined a month after Namibia in May 2017 with the launch of Mbabane, and their second event, Manzini, who started in July of 2022. Mbabane is the executive capital of Eswatini. Mbabane is billed as a single lap course around a golf course, but to my eye looks more like the shape of the Main Beach course, or maybe a hockey stick. Could this be a rogue Canadian event? Manzini is a two-lapper, and in a quirk, they're also around a golf course. Is there another country whose events are all at or around golf courses? Such questions are left to the avid listener who has the time or inclination to do that legwork, and then contact our beloved hosts via email. Maybe send them pictures also. That is the lot for the pod, and Namibia and Eswatini round out the non-Australian Southern Hemisphere park-run countries. We still have more countries to feature in this series, but they're all on the other side of the world. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

00:52:35[background music]

00:52:37Sarah Jefferson: We are back from Club Corner where Reginald shared all things Namibia and Eswatini. Thank you for sharing all of your expert knowledge once again, Reginald. I don't know that I have much more to add onto what Reginald had shared this week on these countries, Simon. I also didn't know much about these countries at all. So thank you for educating us once again. And I'm not sure if I'll ever get to these countries, but never say never.

00:53:06Simon Mackley: Exactly. It's very interesting to hear about both of those. And the great thing about Namibia and Eswatini separately is that you could ask anyone what their top three parkruns are and they would name all the same ones because there's only three in Namibia and only two in Eswatini. So, yeah, true.

Consolidated Club Report

00:53:26Sarah Jefferson: All righty, moving on to the Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, the 8th of November. Of a total of 848 members, 596 took part on this date in 14 countries across 330 locations. Locally, there are adventurers at 61 events in Queensland, 54 events in Victoria, 46 events in New South Wales, 25 events in Western Australia, 17 events in South Australia, 10 events in Tassie, 8 events in the ACT and on the North Island, three events on the South Island, and one event in Northern Territory. Internationally, there are adventurers at 75 events in the UK, eight events in South Africa, three in Japan, two in Ireland and the USA, and one event in Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, and Sweden.

the Frond

00:54:29Simon Mackley: And moving on to our international frond. So on the 1st of November, there was a frond of three at five events. Those events were Alice Holt, Cliffe Castle, Fordingbridge Recreation Ground, Harrow and Southampton. And then on the 8th of November, there was five people at Victoria Park Newbury and they were Matt Lovelock, Danny Norman, Wendy Feer, Debbie Airey and Rhiannon Taylor.

00:54:58Sarah Jefferson: On the 1st of November and the 8th of November, we did not have any adventurers at Bushy Park. So no one did their pilgrimage in the last fortnight.

00:55:09Simon Mackley: Oh, no. Largest frond in Australia. On the 1st of November, we had a frond of 11 at one event, and that was Phar Lap Track. There was Andrew Turner, Garth Dowling, Craig Ryan, Bill Lodwick Jr., Nathan Roos. TOC and Jacqui, Sam and Luke Schroder, Parth Bommakanti and Lauren Bartley. And then this past weekend, there was a frond of 17 at one event, and that was Auburn Botanic Gardens in Sydney for the new ones. There was Sheree and Jason Cottell, Bill Troy, Gustav Garbers, John Pointon, Louise Garbers, Jo McLean, Debbie Ho, Kim Mahoney, Natalie Wilson, Andrew Blanda, Jane Yates, Fiona Hinchliffe, Caro Vos, Shelia Sharma, Rosie Aloe and Catherine Pirotta.

00:56:03Sarah Jefferson: 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?"

00:56:11Simon Mackley: And moving over to launches. So in the past two weekends, we've had six launches on the 1st of November, and very surprisingly, no launches last weekend. So kicking off, we had Kanogawa kamishima koen parkrun in Japan, where there were 37 participants, 12 volunteers, and 12 first-timers.

00:56:33Sarah Jefferson: There was a launch in, so we had Cypress Creek Park at Timberlane Park in the U.S. of A. There were 26 participants, 12 volunteers, and three first-timers.

00:56:46Simon Mackley: Apologize for this next one. I'm going to try it. We had Djaekneberget parkrun in Sweden, where there were 66 participants, 15 volunteers, and 22 first-timers. That's 33% of the participants were first-timers.

00:57:02Sarah Jefferson: Barkly East Golf Club parkrun in South Africa. There were 54 participants, 16 volunteers and 11 first-timers.

00:57:13Simon Mackley: And then a big launch in the UK, Whitecliffe Lake parkrun, which is just outside London, where there were 471 participants, 50 volunteers and 22 first-timers.

00:57:26Sarah Jefferson: And the last launch was Pont De Val parkrun in South Africa. There were 232 participants, 24 volunteers with six first-timers.

Watching the numbers

00:57:38Simon Mackley: And in our segment called Watching the Numbers, we're going to park it until we find another event that we're eager to follow along. But just for your info, Sarah was talking in the previous pod about Brooklyn Bridge and how we're wondering if it was going to be hit with the New York Marathon the previous weekend. So Brooklyn Bridge last weekend just gone. They had 362 participants, which was up 10 from two weeks prior, which was already really quite high. So it was about 100 up on what they've normally been getting. But Branch Brook parkrun, which is the next closest to New York City, they had 14 last weekend and that was only down two from the previous week. So Branch Brook looks like it's one that's keeping very low profile. Maybe because Brooklyn Bridge did open, it's been able to keep to much smaller numbers.

Sign-off

00:58:32Sarah Jefferson: Thanks for that, Simon. Okay, moving or looking forward, Simon, where are you headed for parkrun Day?

00:58:42Simon Mackley: Well, that's going to depend on what we've got on this weekend. I honestly don't know where I'm going to head. I might go to South Bank, but yeah, we'll see what happens. Then the next weekend, I'm waiting to hear where the interstate visitors want to go to. I'm wondering who that could be.

00:58:58Sarah Jefferson: I wonder who you've got visiting. I'll be very intrigued to hear you've got coming to visit.

00:59:03Simon Mackley: Yeah. So where are you heading to?

00:59:05Sarah Jefferson: I am currently thinking that I'll be heading to Edinburgh Oval parkrun to celebrate the lovely Mark Kerr's 400th parkrun, which will actually take my p-index up to nine.

00:59:19Simon Mackley: Oh, very cool. I didn't realise you were that close to getting your nine. That's fantastic. But where will you be the weekend after, Sarah?

00:59:29Sarah Jefferson: So I'm thinking I might take Lyndell's advice and head to Lota the weekend after. So hopefully I will see you at Lota that weekend. We are coming across so that Hadley can meet her great-grandparents, which will be a very lovely time, I'm sure. I am really not keen for the humidity today. We don't have humidity on the West Coast and the rare days that we do, everyone knows about it. Is it weird that I'm already talking myself out of the humidity?

01:00:04Simon Mackley: You're not going to be able to avoid it in Queensland. I'm sorry. You're going to get frizzy hair. I already have frizzy hair.

01:00:13Sarah Jefferson: I'm going to have mosquito bites all over me.

01:00:17Simon Mackley: You probably are, yes.

01:00:20Sarah Jefferson: And bags under my eyes because I'm not going to be able to sleep because it's too hot. I'm very excited to come to Queensland. Yeah.

01:00:29Simon Mackley: Stop talking it up.

01:00:32Sarah Jefferson: And I hear that the closest place we could go for a swim is in the mangrove. So bring it on, hey?

01:00:38Simon Mackley: Yeah. Lota is definitely mangrove sort of area. So, yeah, we will not be going for a swim, Sarah. I'm sorry.

01:00:46Sarah Jefferson: It's okay. I just don't want to see any snakes either. Okay, Simon?

01:00:49Simon Mackley: Yeah, I can't say I've ever seen a snake there.

01:00:51Sarah Jefferson: Phew. I know it is a little bit off.

01:00:55Tracey Wood: Yes, it's not on the path completely.

01:00:56Sarah Jefferson: So anyway, in saying that, I'm really excited to see you. I really can't wait to see you in the flesh if you can't tell how excited I am.

01:01:05Simon Mackley: I'm looking forward to meeting Hadley. So I hope you do bring her along. Yeah, that will be nice.

01:01:11Sarah Jefferson: All right. So next fortnight, you're back with Mel and TOC. Don't have any more to say on that. No. You'll be back with Mel and TOC, whether you like it or not.

01:01:21Simon Mackley: And as always, you can contact us via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or our email address, which is parkrunadventurers at gmail.com. That's it for another episode. We'll see you all next time for more adventures. Bye.