Episode 442 - A Lil Bit of Hope

Episode details · 241 speaker turns · sound cues from audio analysis

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

00:00:31Sarah Jefferson: Welcome to episode 442 of the parkrun Adventurers podcast, a podcast about life, if your life is all about parkrun. My name is Sarah Jefferson, coming to you from Noongar Boodja, Noongar Country.

00:00:43Simon Mackley: And I'm Simon Mackley, joining you from Kondamooka Yarra Bindra, Kondamooka Sea Country.

00:00:50Sarah Jefferson: Kui Simon!

00:00:52Simon Mackley: Kui Sarah!

00:00:54Sarah Jefferson: It's our first show back for the new year. It's very good to be back. Are you feeling refreshed, Simon?

00:01:02Simon Mackley: Yes and no. I've been back at work for two weeks and I'm still writing 2025 when I'm writing dates. So I don't know if I feel refreshed or not. I mean, I had a good break, but yeah, I am back at work and it's been full on.

00:01:18Sarah Jefferson: It goes quickly, doesn't it, that break with Christmas and New Year in there?

00:01:22Simon Mackley: Sure does. Sure does indeed.

00:01:25Sarah Jefferson: Is Jackson back at school yet? Surely it won't be too long until he's back.

00:01:29Simon Mackley: Well, we're recording Monday night. He's actually back tomorrow after seven and a half weeks off. I don't know whether he's looking forward to it or not. He's going into year nine, so he got to choose his electives for the year. So we'll see how that all goes. When are you back at work?

00:01:45Sarah Jefferson: Unfortunately, I'm actually back at work this week. So my maternity leave has come to an end. Boo. So when you were talking about that you were still writing 2025, I wonder if I'm still going to be writing 2024 when I go back this week. But my daughter is now one. Can you believe that? Gone so quickly. So we celebrated her first birthday in style last weekend with a big party that I feel like we'll only do once for the first child's first birthday, right? It was lovely, but it was a lot of effort for sure. And it's about us, you know, surviving the first year. It's so hard.

00:02:23Simon Mackley: A hundred percent. I could not agree more. Yeah, the first birthday, yeah, Jackson's first birthday was definitely about us and the people that helped us get through it.

00:02:32Sarah Jefferson: Definitely.

00:02:33Simon Mackley: It's so amazing, but yeah. Yeah, exactly. I can't believe you're back at work this week. Like, that time has flown. Like, I know we talked about it when we were at Lota, but it has come around. And a massive happy birthday to Hadley as well for her first birthday. But time has certainly flown. Have you set yourself some goals for 2026? Like, I'm wondering whether our listeners have goals as well that they want to share with us. So, like, email in and let us know. But yeah, what are your goals?

00:02:58Sarah Jefferson: Oh, firstly, yes, please email in and let us know your goals. I love hearing other people's goals. I am definitely a goal setter. I actually write a bucket list every year, Simon. It's not because I feel like I'm going to fall off the perch. It's just because it's something exciting that I like to do. And I actually break it down into different categories. I'm not sure if you want to hear about this though. I don't know.

00:03:20Simon Mackley: Yeah, go for it. I definitely want to hear it.

00:03:22Sarah Jefferson: Yeah. Okay. So I actually split my goals into travel, parkrun goals, restaurants I'd like to try, fitness goals, things I'd like to do around the house and books that I'd like to read. So I won't bore you with all of the details on the other ones. However, my parkrun goals this year are not really too adventurous. as they were considering what they've been like in the past few years. The last three years, I have wanted to complete the single ton at home, being 100 events at my home event. So it's on the list again, and I'm really hoping that I'll be able to tick that one off. I'd like to regain my statesmanship, so I've still got one left to tick off, and I'm hearing rumours about a couple of potential launches later on in the year, and they are nowhere near where I live. No way. It's really exciting that we have launches. But anyway, we'll just have to see how that goes. And I would like to complete my first parkrun overseas special day.

00:04:22Simon Mackley: Okay.

00:04:22Sarah Jefferson: So that's.

00:04:23Simon Mackley: So, okay. The question I was going to have was, you know, like how many to regain statesmanship that one is currently what it is. And where are you going to do your special parkrun day? Do you have a plan?

00:04:35Sarah Jefferson: I do have a plan. I don't have an actual parkrun yet because, obviously, we don't know which events are running on the day, but I'm off to Japan. So, yeah, be there for about three weeks and able to take off four parkruns. So Matt and I sat down earlier today. Normally I will have accommodation booked. We had flights booked quite a while ago, but I haven't even booked all of our accommodation and it's about three months away and that's secretly freaking me out that – Yes, we haven't booked all of that yet, but we're getting there. So we are off to Japan.

00:05:07Simon Mackley: So you're going to be there on the 4th of May for Greenery Day or Golden Week or I think that's what it is.

00:05:14Sarah Jefferson: Yes, it's in that Golden Week. Apparently they're all on holidays for a week or something and all of the. Yes. Yes, everyone goes traveling. So it's going to be hectic. Yeah. That's why I'm freaking out about accommodation.

00:05:25Simon Mackley: I can imagine. Yeah.

00:05:26Sarah Jefferson: Everyone's on holidays. But anyway, that's part of the fun, right?

00:05:30Simon Mackley: Yeah, it is. Yeah.

00:05:32Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, so that should be really good. I'm looking forward to that. I know some adventurers are heading over there. Not sure that our locations will line up, but I'm very excited to head there. And what about me, Simon? What about your 2026 goals? Enlighten me, please.

00:05:48Simon Mackley: Well, mine are going to be only parkrun related as well. So every year I set myself a goal of doing 10 new events. So I've knocked one off already, as I will talk about in a little while when we do a recap. So this past year, so 2025, I literally did my 10th one on the 27th of December. So I scraped it in. I did really well the early part of the year and then I scraped it in. So yeah. Even on the edge, hey? I know, exactly. It's getting harder and harder because obviously the circle is getting bigger and bigger to knock that 10 off. But Clare for PALM will be one of them. So that's a good thing. I'm going to reach 250 volunteers before the end of the year. So I'm really looking forward to that. So yeah, that's a pretty big achievement.

00:06:30Sarah Jefferson: Certainly.

00:06:31Simon Mackley: And then I've thrown a time-based one in that I missed last year. So I want to reduce my average parkrun time. So I know what it was at the start of the year, so a couple of weeks ago. So I just want to get it below that. And so far, all but one of my parkruns have been under that average time. And I'm going to blame the course being long for me missing one of them. I know the course has been measured with a wheel and all that sort of thing, but I didn't pace it well enough to actually, like I'd forgotten that the course measures long on my watch. Anyway, we'll see how that goes.

00:07:06Sarah Jefferson: So, you know, at Palm, when people want to be more social, lots of people elect to walk the course on the day, right?

00:07:13Simon Mackley: Yeah.

00:07:14Sarah Jefferson: Does that mean you're going to be antisocial and head out for a run? Or are you going to, you know, walk around a bit slower and have a chat? What are your thoughts?

00:07:24Simon Mackley: Well, seeing as though Jackson's coming as well, and I know he's not at my pace, I have already factored in the fact that it's going to be a calmer parkrun than normal.

00:07:35Sarah Jefferson: Lovely.

00:07:35Simon Mackley: Yes, I am already, it is already in the plan. I can't have too many of these things, too many of these. And the other thing, because I'm up to 420 parkruns, the average is harder to budge because of the amount of parkruns I've done as well. So, yeah, we will see. Like, it's a goal. You don't have to hit it. But if you don't aim for it, you don't hit it, right?

00:07:57Sarah Jefferson: And I think it's good. That's right. Like an A kind of goal. This, you know, if everything goes to plan, this is what I would achieve. So exactly right.

00:08:04Simon Mackley: And I'm not a tail walking kind of volunteer either. So I don't think I'm going to hit it with that.

00:08:11Sarah Jefferson: So have you never tail walked?

00:08:13Simon Mackley: I've done it once.

00:08:14Sarah Jefferson: Once? Wow.

00:08:15Simon Mackley: Just once. Yeah. I've done park walker as well. But yeah, tail walker, I've only done once. I think I did it with someone else. That was the whole reason why I did it.

00:08:26Sarah Jefferson: Have you paced? Have you been a pacer?

00:08:28Simon Mackley: I don't think I have.

00:08:29Sarah Jefferson: I was going to ask what your time was with that.

00:08:32Simon Mackley: Sorry, I haven't paced at parkrun. I've paced at a local event in Brisbane, like as in a paid event. Yeah. Actually, yeah, I don't think I have paced at parkrun.

00:08:42Sarah Jefferson: Interesting. All right. While we are talking about goals, did you get to go on any adventures? I know you mentioned one new course that you –

00:08:50Simon Mackley: headed off to but it's been a while since we've spoken I think early December yeah but yeah what's what's the time away from the podcast look like for you okay so it started off the first weekend I actually went to Berrumbach which was a spur of the moment decision I literally made the decision on Saturday morning and that was for Lyndell's 100th different event run steak now the reason I say steak is because every time she wrote streak in Facebook it always changed it back to steak How funny. She had this little steak icon on the back of her shirt on the day. So it was quite funny. I had no idea what she was talking about until she explained it. But I did that on the first weekend. Then the next weekend, I went quite local to Cleveland. I met up with a friend who's coming back from injury. We had a run and a chat together before Christmas. I went and hit North Harbour and that was my Nendi. And that was the last one I did, 27 December of the 10th for the year. And that completed Moreton Bay Council area for me. So, yeah, now my Nendi is on the Sunshine Coast. When I pass about five parkruns I haven't done because the Nendi mack goes as the crow flies as opposed to the distance travelling. So, anyway, I have a new Nendi. There, when did I go? Okay, New Year's Day, Redland Bay because I don't run on Christmas Day. Then I went to Capalaba because I needed to stay local again. And I ran into a former ED that I knew. So that was Leah. who used to be the ED of Cowra in Western New South Wales. And I met her quite a few years ago. And I actually rate Cowra as my equal number one parkrun I've ever done. And partially that's because of Leah, because I rate them based on the course itself, the breakfast, the people, and how I ran, and just the way that it's all sort of come out, power comes up equal first.

00:09:18[crosstalk]

00:10:43Sarah Jefferson: Wow. Equal first with Walsh.

00:10:44Simon Mackley: Well, it was a little bit biased, but equal first with Mossman.

00:10:48Sarah Jefferson: Oh, surprise, surprise. Oh, I know. Exactly.

00:10:51Simon Mackley: Fair. At least it's equal first. So, yeah, I met up with Leah and her partner, Andrew. And then a couple of weekends ago, I went to Ballina Coast and it was ridiculously humid, but wonderful. So, there's lots of tourists there and first timers because it was very early in the year. Yeah. And then... Was it two weekends ago, I went to Fodder Forest as I needed to stay close to home and I wanted something shadier and flat. And the weekend just gone, I went to Kelvin Grove, which is just north of the CBD in Brisbane. And that was the second time I've done it. And I was trying to up my re-index. So when you do a parkrun more than once. So I've now done that at 43 events. And that's another one of my goals is to hit 50 by the end of the year. So what about you? What did you do? Did you head away?

00:11:41Sarah Jefferson: I did head away. I went, travelled to South Australia on the 26th of December for eight days. We enjoyed Victor Harbour parkrun, the first of the 27th of December. We caught up with Ryan Stoddart down there too, which was great. We then caught an early flight across to Port Lincoln. did the parkrun there on new year's day we did i think i mentioned this in the last pod where we spoke matt was heading over to do the great white shark dive well he did do the great white shark dive but he didn't see any great white sharks so he now has a voucher for two years to head back to do it all again if he wishes so anyway he did say it was still pretty epic and and quite amazing but it's a really long way out there but anyway That was lovely, really nice community feel. And then we jumped straight into the Southern Ocean afterwards, which was lovely. Actually, two locals. It was really nice when we were waiting there to jump in the ocean. When you have a baby, everyone talks to you, right? Like I do feel like I was invisible before I had a child. But anyway, this lady was talking to me about my daughter and whatever. And then she's like, oh, here's these two felt love hearts that I've actually sewn. And it's for the... Oh, I'm going to get this wrong now, but it's something about like the hundred or the thousand something kindness. And basically she, she's made all these love hearts and gives them out to spread kindness. So yeah, that was really quite nice. Matt got a blue one. I got a red one. Not sure that they're gendered, but anyway, we both have tan coloured ones. Yeah, that was really nice in the conversation. And she's like, oh, you know, this is just, I guess, a conversation starter and a way to spread kindness. So that was really lovely. And I guess that's kind of the vibe we got of the community after parkrun. So it was quite beautiful. And then the final parkrun of our trip, we ended with Torrens parkrun. I did volunteer to walk someone's dog. They actually put a shout, like, over the microphone that was like, oh, does anyone want to walk a dog? And I was like, sure, I love dogs. I'll go walk a dog. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the dog's name's Lenny, but my memory is definitely not as great these days as it used to be. And I ended up talking to his owner, Matt, for the whole course, and he gave me the rundown on everything that we'd walked past, which was great. So, yeah, he'd rocked up to parkrun. He had an injury. He had two dogs. So, yeah. Yeah, volunteered to walk one of his dogs. We had an 11am flight. Matt, my partner, wasn't super thrilled when I volunteered to walk the whole time walking a little dog. But anyway, I did it. We caught our flight. We got there on time. So that was good. And I really rate Torrens parkrun. It's really easy to get to. It's incredibly scenic. And it really does take in all of the sights of Adelaide. I know I had a, you know, tour guide with me for most of the The walk. Have you done Torrens, Simon?

00:14:26Simon Mackley: No, I haven't been to South Australia at all. So my Claire trip is going to be my South Australia. Yeah.

00:14:32Sarah Jefferson: Popping that cherry.

00:14:33Simon Mackley: Exactly. That's exciting. So, yeah, like I haven't done Tassie. I haven't done SAWA or Northern Territory.

00:14:42Sarah Jefferson: Wow, you used to work for an airline.

00:14:44Simon Mackley: Yeah, I know. But we used to fly overseas more than we did anything else.

00:14:48Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, wow. I'm so surprised. There you go. Well, that's very exciting.

00:14:53Simon Mackley: I said to you a couple of days ago that I haven't been to Perth in 30 years. So, yes, it's been, yeah.

00:14:59Sarah Jefferson: But you have been to Perth. A lot of people haven't been to Perth because it's so far away from the East Coast. It's not that far. Well, it is when you're like, you know, it's cheaper for people to go to Bali or other countries than it is to go to New Zealand and to come to Perth.

00:15:10[crosstalk]

00:15:14Simon Mackley: Totally agree. Totally agree. So, yes. Well, yeah, that sounds like a great adventure. I like that. Yeah, it's a lot of fun there and a lot of parkruns.

00:15:16[crosstalk]

00:15:25Sarah Jefferson: Well, Simon, we have something really special for the listeners. We have the privilege of bringing you an interview with Elizabeth Lil Duggan. So that's right, everyone. It's the parkrun Global CEO. So thank you to Johan for sharing this insightful chat with us. It's a real treat for the listeners and we are really appreciative of the effort that you went to to share this with our community. So here it is, everyone. Enjoy this interview with Lil Duggan.

00:15:45[background music]

00:16:00Johan Duvenhage: Good day, parkrun Adventures. It's Johan checking in from South Africa for the first time in a while. But I have a bit of a treat for you today. I have the absolute honour to have with me Lil Duggan, the recently appointed CEO of parkrun Global. Good evening, Lil. Welcome to South Africa.

00:16:18Lil Duggan: Thank you. It's fantastic to be here.

00:16:21Johan Duvenhage: So you've been with parkrun just about nine months now, initially as the interim CEO and then beginning of October you've been appointed in the full-time capacity. So can you share a bit with us how you came to join parkrun as an organisation and also as a parkrun participant?

00:16:36Lil Duggan: Yeah, so they both happened at the same time, which is quite exciting. So I was working, I spent about the first 15 years of my life in the commercial sector and then had a bit of a moment where I wanted to do something that I was more passionate about. And I moved into the physical activity sector. And I was CEO of a organisation called Active Surrey for about five years, felt like I was ready for a new challenge and was taking some time out to work out what that challenge was. When this opportunity landed in my lap, I was contacted about it. I interviewed competitively in fact I was on holiday and I had an interview every day for about five days culminating in an interview with Paul Sinton Hewitt which was probably one of my more nerve-wracking experiences to meet the great man himself and then was so delighted to be offered the job but I had this guilty secret well in fact it wasn't a secret I'd been quite open and honest about it but I had never been a parkrunner I am a very active person I love going for walks with my dog I love taking my children to play football and hockey, but I had never done a parkrun. And so I went along incognito the first time, didn't let anyone know who I was so I could get my first one under the belt. But I happened to, it was around the time in the UK where we had a record breaking opportunity for park walk. And our sponsor Vitality were bringing out their ambassadors to support us. I've always had a bit of a thing for Jonny Wilkinson, the rugby player, probably not so popular in Australia because he helped us win the World Cup. But he was actually doing park walk at the time. So he he he walked alongside me for my first park walk. And since then, I've been absolutely loving it. I've had the opportunity now. to parkrun in Germany and also I am going tomorrow in South Africa for the first time to Delta parkrun.

00:18:32Johan Duvenhage: All right. So what has been the most rewarding aspect of your journey and your time at parkrun South for?

00:18:40Lil Duggan: I love going to the ambassador conferences and ambassador events. I think it's so special to spend time with people that are so passionate about parkrun and They remind me what a privilege it is to do the job I do, to be paid to do the job I do, the passion that they share, the commitment to developing parkrun. So it's always very humbling. And so I went to a regional event call very early on in my career and got absolutely grilled. But it gives me a sense of what feedback looks like and how people are experiencing it. And so I really enjoy that.

00:19:21Johan Duvenhage: All right. So last year when you started, I remember in one of the news group events that you mentioned the priorities for parkrun to be revenue generation, governance and technology. And that's closely related to the five-year strategy. Has there been any fine-tuning and changes to this and how is parkrun progressing with that? And maybe also what has been the key challenges keeping you busy as CEO at the moment?

00:19:48Lil Duggan: One thing's for sure is parkrun always keeps you very busy, really good busy. But I see a global movement that has grown so organically. And we have had a culture of saying yes and going where the energy is and finding new countries, finding new events. And that's been absolutely fantastic. But what I see now is we are in a place of slight tension with that. In North America, we've got about 150 events. Until very recently, we've only had one member of paid staff there. And it gets to a place where it becomes unmanageable for us to oversee these countries. So we are really having to focus on consolidating where we are now and those kind of foundational principles. So That's why governance is so important. We need to get the right governance in first so we can get some revenue streams in, which will enable us to bring in more paid staff, which will enable us to continue with our growth agenda. But sitting alongside that is technology and the role that that can play in making us more efficient, but also making us more engaging for our participants. And I think the 5K app is a really great example of where we've moved forward in that space. But finally, and probably most importantly, we are a health and wellbeing charity and that really matters. And so I am particularly passionate about ensuring that parkrun is able to be accessible to more and different communities. And so that means that we need to be more intentional about where our parkruns are and how we reach out to communities that aren't currently enjoying it.

00:21:21Johan Duvenhage: Awesome. So in terms of the continued growth with parkrun, would that then be one of the greatest opportunities we'll have in growing in the coming years?

00:21:32Lil Duggan: So we're continuing to grow. Absolutely. So I see there's a real opportunity for us to grow in the countries where we are. The UK, we've just done some analysis of where we think we can get to by about 2030 across the globe. And we hope that we might be able to reach an ambitious target of about 800,000 weekly participants by 2030, which is a lot.

00:21:56Johan Duvenhage: 800,000. Yes.

00:21:58Lil Duggan: But that relies on us continuing to grow really strongly in the UK and our other major countries. So South Africa, Ireland, Australia, but also really bringing on these emerging countries like Poland, like Germany. North America, where we see potential for there to be even more growth. New Zealand, another really great example of where parkrun has been growing really fast.

00:22:25Johan Duvenhage: So the digital world is really increasing exponentially at the moment. Do you think parkrun is ready for what's coming our way in terms of our technology? The 5K app has created quite a lot of buzz, but I think it's probably not just about having an app. in keeping the wheels turning in terms of technology?

00:22:46Lil Duggan: Yeah, so our business as usual for our tech team is around 450,000 results every weekend. It's a lot, just keeping us going as business as usual. But we also know that we need to transform our digital and data capabilities and infrastructure. We have recruited a new head of digital and data who is very much up to that challenge. We are exploring what avenues we can do to really bring that on stream. We think that it offers us so much potential, but we need to be able to unlock funding to be able to unlock that opportunity. We think that that will probably give us a return on investment over time. But yeah, absolutely. We see it as critical to our growth.

00:23:29Johan Duvenhage: I think you've touched on that now. In the call with the South African ambassadors, you talked about the four enablers for growth, which one was the technological side, and I think you touched on the funding as well. Can you maybe just talk shortly about the other two?

00:23:45Lil Duggan: yeah so um so the four enablers for growth uh that we have are governance which we talked about already digital and data and obviously we've covered that the next one is enabling a motivated and impactful workforce and i deliberately use the word workforce because we are obviously part paid staff but also a huge amount is done via our volunteer networks and so it's about creating a culture where we can really value and support our volunteer network as well as bring on our staff. And what I notice is that there are real cultural differences between our offices, which is great, but we also need to all hang together and be working for the same objectives. So I think there is some work that we need to do there from the one or two staff in North America to the team in APAC that sits on a largely different time zone to us. It's about kind of tying us all together. then the final um enabler for growth is brilliant basics it's kind of pulling it back to what is the essence of parkrun it's about bringing communities together it's about us enjoying coming together and being active um so how do we create that culture well and sort of continue to grow that culture whilst at the back end doing being as efficient as we can with the results processing with the the way that we uh process new event inquiries and support teams so That's about us kind of scrutinising the way that we work to enable parkrun to be as impactful as possible.

00:25:14Johan Duvenhage: Thanks. I think that the use of the word workforce is very interesting to me. We've also seen that with James Kemp, our head of event delivery, retiring soon that you've appointed Ali MacArthur and the job title has now changed to event delivery and volunteering. So that was deliberate. And what is the intention behind that?

00:25:34Lil Duggan: So firstly, we're delighted to welcome Ali MacArthur to the team and he is one of our ambassador team in the UK and he has a very, very deep seated understanding of the parkrun world. That was really intentional for us because we wanted to know that that role of all roles was really kind of had this really thorough understanding of what parkrun means. We also did some engagement with the staff team around what they wanted from that role with the departure of James. It gave us an opportunity and a kind of a bit of a runway to think about it and plan it properly. What we heard was actually people really enjoyed the days of old when we had a really strong voice in our ops team. They felt a little bit that the voice of the event delivery and volunteer world was slightly lost from our leadership team. And so we wanted to make it really intentional to have that event delivery and volunteering voice really strong and have our leadership team really grounded in what we are, which is this event delivery and volunteering workforce.

00:26:38Johan Duvenhage: Thanks, that sounds awesome. Now let's get back to your visit to South Africa. You've had quite an eventful attempt of getting here twice. You had technical problems. What were your main objectives of this visit and how has your experience of the little bit you've seen of South Africa been so far?

00:26:53Lil Duggan: Oh, so it's been absolutely wonderful to be here. I left behind really rainy England. And so I've come to beautiful sunshine. I feel it's so important to get to know people in person. It's all well and good speaking on teams, but until you've met them face to face, you don't really know people. And for me, understanding how it feels to be here, to meet some of the regional and ambassadors here, and also to experience a parkrun has felt really important. What I've been doing is refreshing our global strategy, but I've also been asking all our major territories to create their own local plans up to 2030. So I've been listening to the team here and tomorrow we're going to have a really, after Delta parkrun, we're going to have a really good working session to kind of flesh out some of the early thinking from the team here around where we want to go in South Africa and what does ambition start to look like for us.

00:27:45Johan Duvenhage: Thank you very much. Lil, thank you very much for your time. I so appreciate it. We're looking forward to see you tomorrow at Delta. Any last words for the South African parkrunners and for the parkrun Adventure listeners?

00:27:57Lil Duggan: Well, thanks for all your support. Keep enjoying parkrun and maybe I'll see you in Australia at some point soon. But bye. Thank you, South Africa.

00:28:00[background music]

00:28:07Johan Duvenhage: Thank you very much.

00:28:15Simon Mackley: what an absolute scoop johan that is yeah that that's amazing that you got got to spend some time with the ceo of parkrun and to be able to share it with the adventurers is is absolutely huge so Yeah, that's amazing. Thanks, Johan.

00:28:29Sarah Jefferson: Thank you, Johan. I'm not sure if Johan actually did a lot of preparation before that, but his questions were really outstanding and I feel like they were really targeted and he did really well with that. So it was incredibly informative.

00:28:42Simon Mackley: Whether there was research or not, yeah, the questions were amazing. And to get some of those answers were quite insightful as well, which is really good.

00:28:52Sarah Jefferson: I think it's very optimistic for the future and great to hear that Liz embracing parkruns now.

00:28:59Simon Mackley: Exactly. Yeah. Well, we might jump into feedback from the last episode. So in the last episode, Toc mentioned that Albert Melbourne set a new Australian record of 1,570. And he said that that was up from about 1,180. So I had to, like, I was listening and I was yelling at the radio when I was listening back in the car. It was actually, in fact, up from 1,316 to 1,570. And he also said that there's probably half a dozen events that have gone over 1,000. I'd be very interested to know that there's actually only 30. three events in Australia that have actually gone over 1,000. Albert Melbourne's gone over a couple of times, but there's Albert Melbourne in Victoria, Parramatta in New South Wales, and South Bank in Brisbane are the only three to do it, which is very rare. And there's no events that have done the 900s, and then only six events with records in the 800s. So to get that many people is pretty rare across Australia when we've got, what, 500 and events or something 529 I want to say yeah something yeah 520 something I'm sure that's huge well done on finding that out Simon that's all right it's one thing when we're

Feedback from the last episode

00:30:02[crosstalk]

00:30:13Sarah Jefferson: you know, doing the podcast is that people definitely keep us accountable, don't they? Exactly.

00:30:18Simon Mackley: I mean, most of it's unscripted. So yeah, when things come out of our mouths, we're on the spot trying to remember these figures and that sort of thing. So like, I'm not calling TOC out on this, but it made me think, hang on a second. I, yeah, I wonder how many there are and that sort of thing. So.

00:30:32Sarah Jefferson: Yeah, that's really interesting. And, you know, half the time too, I don't know about you, Simon, but sometimes I get off recording and I'm like, oh my goodness, I can't believe I just said this. Like you say things and you're like, oh my goodness, I would never say that or why did I say that? So it doesn't really matter. But that's interesting. You know, it's now brought up the things that you have mentioned, which, yeah, is definitely quite interesting.

00:30:52Simon Mackley: I noticed one of those 800s as well was St Lucia, which is the one that launched in Brisbane. that caused the whole idea about people not going to launches because like their record i think it is bang on 800 as well is their record from their launch they haven't ever gone over that again so it says a lot about the fact that launch was a massive launch and it was

parkrun news bulletin

00:31:17Sarah Jefferson: think it's more than 10 years ago like actually it has to be more than 10 years ago as well so it's just it's amazing that record has stood for so long all right moving on to some news in parkrun world so as simon mentioned earlier we are recording on a public holiday australia so it is australia day and with that we often see some australia day awards so I know I'm starting to see some parkrun community awards coming up on socials. So congratulations to all of the teams who continue to work tirelessly, often without any kudos, to establish, maintain and sustain these events. We sincerely thank you. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise my home event and one that I am proudly a parkrun run director of, Cottesloe parkrun. This event won the Cottesloe Active Citizenship Award this morning. which is given to groups that make a real difference to the community through their dedication, leadership and positive contribution. This award is, though, for all of the volunteers who do make this event possible.

00:32:14Simon Mackley: Yeah, that's an amazing accolade and recognition. That's, yeah, fantastic. And I'm sure there's lots of parkruns that are going unnoticed, so it's nice to get that, yeah.

00:32:24Sarah Jefferson: Absolutely.

00:32:24Simon Mackley: Recognition, as I say. So another thing, like I can't remember when I predicted this on the pod, when it would happen, but Colin Thorne, from Whangarei parkrun in New Zealand, has now become the world's oldest parkrunner to reach 250 parkruns. He completed the feat at home at Whangarei in mid-December in just over an hour, but he still finished 15 minutes before the tail walker. So I don't know if everyone remembers this, but he is over 100 and he has actually just celebrated his 102nd birthday since the last pod. So a 102-year-old with over 250 parkruns is just phenomenal.

00:33:06Sarah Jefferson: Wow. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is, Simon. That's amazing. Exactly. Congratulations, Colin. Hopefully we get to this 300. That's a long way. But you never know, there's no stopping Colin, right?

00:33:20Simon Mackley: Exactly.

00:33:20Sarah Jefferson: All right. Heading to South Australia now. A few little things about Palm. I know that Toc mentioned a little bit about getting the numbers in last pod. But we just want to reiterate that it is really important for venues that we are giving them accurate numbers. So if you are intending to come, please jump onto our Facebook page and say, yes, I'll be attending Friday dinner, Saturday dinner, recording, et cetera. Likewise, if your plans are changing and you might be getting in late Friday and you can't make it if you're RSVP, can please reflect whether you're coming or not. We're really appreciative of the venues. We know that, you know, we don't, you know, pay ahead for these things. Everyone pays for their meal as they get there. So I guess it is a bit of a risk for them as well. So a little reminder about jumping on there. Simon, how are you going in the costume department though?

00:34:12Simon Mackley: Yeah, I've been doing some research. gone down the track of a very simple one but in looking up for that simple one i've actually found something that might actually work better so yeah i'm gonna need to talk to jackson about it and whether he will actually wear what my idea is so uh yeah it could be a little bit of craft work going on over the next five weeks i think we're that close and i've got to remember to get the quiz get all the quiz questions going. So we will be looking for volunteers on the day. So I'm not going to stand up there and do a quiz with no one participating. So get your hand up when I ask for volunteers. That would be wonderful.

00:34:56Sarah Jefferson: How many volunteers are you looking for to participate on the day, Simon?

00:35:00Simon Mackley: I'm going to say three to four. I think we normally have four. I think so. Yeah. If we have three, we have three and there's a better chance of winning then. So yeah.

00:35:10Sarah Jefferson: Are there any hints or like if people should, you know, research specific things or are we a closed book?

00:35:17Simon Mackley: I do normally try to base it around the state or parkrun where it's going on. If you've listened to the recordings previously, I do have a formula. Like there's two particular questions that I ask every single time, but they are specific. There's always a who am I and there's always a where am I. So, yeah, like it's going to depend on who's there, I guess, as to how easy or hard the questions are. Because sometimes I write questions and think, oh, is this too hard? And sometimes I write questions and think this is too easy and then I make it too hard. So. Yeah, there's a bit that goes into it.

00:35:55Sarah Jefferson: So people might need to listen back to previous episodes, right? Just get their head around the format. Maybe that's a little hint.

00:36:03Simon Mackley: They could, they could, yes. Like if you were to do that, the two questions I always ask, you will absolutely nail those, but you're going to have to remember the numbers. That's all I'm going to say.

00:36:14Sarah Jefferson: Interesting. I might have to listen back now too. Okay.

00:36:17Simon Mackley: Fair enough.

00:36:18Sarah Jefferson: And costume hints, while we're giving hints, is there any little hint that you're going to drop?

00:36:23Simon Mackley: No, it's colourful. It's rainbow. Yeah. What about you? Have you got yours planned or at least, or actually, have you got it ready?

00:36:32Sarah Jefferson: Simon, you know me. Of course I'm ready. I was ready ages ago.

00:36:37Johan Duvenhage: You're already done.

00:36:37[crosstalk]

00:36:38Sarah Jefferson: I told you. I don't do things at the last minute.

00:36:42Johan Duvenhage: You do.

00:36:42Sarah Jefferson: I'm ready. Costume's ready. Look, I've nearly packed my bag to Claire, to be honest. Oh. I'm nearly out the door ready to go. Not quite. I haven't packed my bag. But, no, my costume is ready to go. Might I say, I've planned my partners. I've planned my daughters. Like, I planned three costumes. Of course. So, yeah, I'm very excited. I feel like the idea – it took me a while. So, my – I kind of research, research, research, go down, you know, the typical, yeah, the typical, I feel like I go kind of easy first and then I kind of, yes, go down the rabbit hole and then I got my idea and then, yeah, it's done. So, yeah, I'm excited.

00:37:17[crosstalk]

00:37:19Simon Mackley: Oh, I'm not packed yet. I'll tell you right now, I'm not packed up. I've got a trip to Sydney for work in between. So I think I'll come back on the Friday and then I fly the next Friday to Clare. So, yeah, I can't even think about it.

00:37:32[crosstalk]

00:37:32Sarah Jefferson: Is that Adventurous Simon?

00:37:34Simon Mackley: Adventurous Simon will not be in Sydney for a Saturday, though. That's the problem.

00:37:36[crosstalk]

00:37:38Sarah Jefferson: No, that is a problem.

00:37:40Simon Mackley: I'm down there Wednesday to Friday, unfortunately.

00:37:43Sarah Jefferson: That is unfortunate. But it means you're not working on your weekend or you're not cutting into your weekend getting home. Correct, yeah.

Attendance and milestone stats

00:37:49Simon Mackley: positive oh yes okay let's jump into the stats so we might go across the pond first as we normally do so parkrun new zealand attendance and milestone stats for january 17th 2026 in new zealand there were 66 parkruns with exactly 13 900 parkrunners and 1097 volunteers then last weekend on the 24th of january there were 64 parkruns with 11,747 parkruns and 1,070 volunteers, plus any pending results. The largest parkruns on the 17th was, as it always is, Hagley with 733. Now I'm seeing Waitangi and Whangarei as 497, and I don't know, yeah I'm not Up to date here, are they the same place or is it that they are two different parkruns and had the same number? I don't know.

00:38:46Sarah Jefferson: Two different parkruns and they have the same number.

00:38:48Simon Mackley: Which, yeah, that seems very coincidental. Anyway, 497 for either Waitangi or Whangarei. And then Cornwall Park had 494. The smallest New Zealand parkrun on the 17th was East Otago High School, 28. Hamilton Park had one more on 29. And... Mungawarra Riverwalk had 30. And then last weekend, the biggest was Hagley again with 861, which was a jump of about 128. Whangarei with 495 and Millwater with 459. And smallest was again East Otago High School with 15. Hamilton Park with 21 and Moana Point Reserve with 29.

00:39:30Sarah Jefferson: In Australia, on the 17th of January, 92,950 people participated in parkrun. There were 6,666 volunteers at 515 events with 5,039 first-timers. The smallest parkruns on the 17th of the 1st were Baxter in WA with two, Pyramid Hill Golf Trail, Victoria with three and Jake's Point, Western Australia with five. The largest were Southbank in Queensland with 766, Parkville, Victoria with 811 and Albert, Melbourne in Victoria with 1,246. So still getting quite big numbers at Albert, Melbourne. On the 24th of January, there were 97,001 participants at 506 five-kilometre events, including 6,681 volunteers with 5,097 first-timers. Still getting really good numbers with the first-timers this time of year. The smallest parkruns were, again, Baxter with six, and Cloncurry, Queensland, and Cobar, New South Wales, both with 10. The largest were Southbank, with 753. The Ponds, with 756. And again, Albert Melbourne, with 1,287.

00:41:01Simon Mackley: Albert must be getting that Australian Open influx of people as well as the first-timers, I guess. All right, it is time to throw to the roving reporters.

00:41:05[background music]

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:41:19Calum Burrell: Okay, part two of parkrun Adventurers Morning at Browley Forest. So today I'm now with the event director and today's run director of, was it event 388? 388 today. Browley Forest parkrun. So introduce yourself and tell us about yourself.

00:41:37Michael Woods: Yeah. Hi, Michael Woods. I am the co-event director of Briley Forest parkrun, which is obviously the best parkrun in the East Midlands.

00:41:46Calum Burrell: Okay. And East Midlands, we're kind of, is it not how far from Nottingham roughly?

00:41:51Michael Woods: Yeah. We're about 15-20 miles north of Nottingham and but we're in the middle of like quite a lot of cities so Sheffield probably 20 miles to the north, Derby 20 miles to south so and we're near the M1 motorway which is like a big sort of trunk road so we get a lot of visitors and tourists because you know heading here there and everywhere and they'll call in and get their part run fixed while they're on the way somewhere.

00:42:16Calum Burrell: So how was today's event?

00:42:18Michael Woods: It was good. It went really well. A little bit wet, a little bit muddy. We had some rain this week. We're a part run that struggles a little bit with water and drainage. So it's a little bit like we're always moving things around and trying to adapt and trying to make things better to get around the the conditions which, you know, the last few years I've noticed have been wetter and wetter. So we are nine years old, an event just over nine years old. We've noticed that the weather has changed over those nine years, definitely got wetter. But we've got a lot more popular. So we've gone from a 100, 150 part run every week to now 250 to 300. So we definitely have to sort of move things around and just to make things better for everybody you kind of extended where the finish was today i believe yeah we moved so we moved the start sort of up 100 yards and move the finish 100 yards just to sort of get round where we normally finish on the grass because it was just so wet and i think last week people were sort of like slipping in the finish area so again we just just making like adaptions to be better for everyone and know part run partners changed you know like we get a lot more walkers you've probably seen today we have you you've been part walk today we have loads of walkers we're very very inclusive community part run um and we want to improve things and make things really good every week for everybody not just the speedy people at the front

00:43:06[crosstalk]

00:43:35[crosstalk]

00:43:50Calum Burrell: So tell us a bit about your course.

00:43:53Michael Woods: So yeah, we're a two lapper sort of mixed terrain run round. I'd call it a lake, but it's more of a more of a pond. And we sort of run up past the cafe and then do do a second lap. We're really lucky that we've got a free car parking. We've got really mega supportive cafe who are. opening on new year's day solely for us um so they've agreed to open on new year's day so we've got caffeine toilets available so put an extra run on on new year's day um yeah we're really it's a really nice mixed terrain course and you had a bit of a new toy today i believe Yeah, we had a new speaker, so my pet hate is people talking in the run brief, which if people know me, I'm quite a loud person, so I don't normally struggle, but some of the other run directors have been getting a bit frustrated with people chatting in the run brief, and we get it because we're a very, very community-based parkrun and people see their friends and want to chat and stuff, but we've been getting other people saying that they've not heard the run brief, so Yeah, you certainly grabbed our attention today. So we had a bit of a louder speaker today and I think it went really well and I had a few compliments from people afterwards saying, thank you. You know, I really, really heard the run brief and it was really good.

00:45:01[crosstalk]

00:45:15Calum Burrell: So tell us a bit about yourself and your journey and if you can sum up what either parkrun meets you or some moments in your parkrun world.

00:45:23Michael Woods: Well, I'm a bit of a broken footballer, really. A rubbish, broken footballer. And somebody, you know, like everybody really, somebody said, oh, do you want to come parkrun tomorrow? And my reply was, what's parkrun? And went on the website, got registered and met him at Sherwood Pines parkrun. And so I did my first parkrun at Sherwood Pines and sort of just did it a little bit just to keep fit. And then someone said to me, oh, there's a new parkrun starting at Briley Forest. And my reply was, where's that? I think I came to Briley on event number three and then was doing it intermittently to keep fit while still playing football. During lockdown, I was waiting for a knee operation. Thank you, football. And when we were coming back after the COVID lockdowns, the parkrun was looking for, you know, a new sort of event director to sort of get things back up and running again. And I just thought, well, I'm injured. I can't run at the minute, although I was walking. You know, I'm happy to do that. So then I sort of... you know, became part of the core team, really. So I'd run directed a little bit before, but then really got involved with that sort of more behind the scenes kind of thing.

00:46:39Calum Burrell: So quickly, what would be your top three part runs?

00:46:42Michael Woods: Top three part runs? Well, not to be controversial, so I'll side with Nicola Forward and no favourites. And I know Danny won't like this. I suppose I'll go with that. You know, we haven't all got favourites or we shouldn't, but there are some you do like better than others. There really are. I think if we're talking UK, I think my favourite UK parkrun is, I think Trentham Gardens takes some beating. It really, really does. I think that special memory would be my wife and daughter. I tricked them into doing their first ever parkrun at Eden Project. So Eden Project's got some real lovely memories. And I would say, like, real special, and not just special because of where it is or bragging that I've been to a parkrun that's far away, but just an amazing community, amazing atmosphere was... Whedon Island Preserve in Florida near St. Petersburg in Florida is just the Hart family who set that parkrun up after they found parkrun in Australia actually and then when they moved back home to Florida set up Whedon parkrun and just the setting on the boardwalks and obviously the weather although it's brutal in August

00:48:05Calum Burrell: and just the atmosphere and the setting and the just the little community they've built it's just unbelievable so i'd say they're my top three all right well thank you for today it was an awesome day i've really enjoyed um the day around briley forest and thank you for everything you do for parkrun yeah thank you

00:48:20Ali Sheppard: G'day Adventurers, Ali from the UK here and I am currently sat in a car on a very, very cold day at Brooklands parkrun near Weybridge in Surrey and I am with one of the co-EDs for Brooklands parkrun and that's Timo. Hi Timo. Hello. Welcome to the Adventurers.

00:48:41Timo Thornton: Thank you.

00:48:42Ali Sheppard: So the reason we've just finished the parkrun, which is actually a really unusual parkrun because it's not in a park, really.

00:48:52Timo Thornton: Well, it is a park now, but it historically wasn't a park. It was historically an airfield and a motor racing circuit.

00:48:59Ali Sheppard: Yeah, historically is the word because this is an incredibly historic setting for a parkrun. So, have you been involved since the start?

00:49:08Timo Thornton: I've been involved in the parkrun since the beginning. I was injured at the time we started and I'd been helping out at another local parkrun, which is actually more local to me than this one, but some of the people at that parkrun wanted to start the parkrun event here and asked if I'd be interested in being on the core team.

00:49:28Ali Sheppard: Because this runs along part of an old runway for...

00:49:34Timo Thornton: Yes, so this was historically an airfield, but before that it was actually the first purpose-built motor racing circuit in the world.

00:49:42Ali Sheppard: In the world. And it had the British Grand Prix and...

00:49:46Timo Thornton: Yes, yes, the first Formula One Grand Prix was here. You can see the historic banking just ahead of us there. Obviously, that doesn't... Oh, is that... So that banking over there is actually the banking where the bend is on the circuit. So they used to run up on that banking right ahead of us there.

00:50:00[crosstalk]

00:50:07Ali Sheppard: And some of the pioneers of air history. I mean, Sopwith, you've got Barnes Wallace, the dam busters. You've got so many different things. And there's a museum here. If you come here, you can go and have a look around the museum. They've also got a Concorde.

00:50:22Timo Thornton: The area was taken over by Elmbridge Council as a park, so it's like Brooklyn's community park now. And when we asked about starting an event here, we didn't have any problems. The council helped us to raise the money through the local sports funding. We did originally want to run along the bottom of the banked part of the circuit, so that we were actually on the historic race course, but that is actually owned by Mercedes, the banking is. They said they couldn't give us permission to run on there because it's a historic monument, etc. Oh, really? Which was a shame, but yeah, we run just in front of it now instead. So it's still really nice to be able to see it and for people to appreciate the history of the site.

00:50:26[crosstalk]

00:51:12Ali Sheppard: Yeah. So this was a really successful parkrun today. One of the other reasons we came here is my friend was doing her 50th milestone and you have some capes that people can wear. Yes. And that's very popular. There was, I saw somebody also wearing a hundred one today. Yes.

00:51:27Timo Thornton: Yeah, the capes have been a really popular thing. We freely admit that we stole that from another event that stole the idea. And Woking have since, which is the other local parkrun in the area, have recently came and said, where do you get your capes from? Because we want to get them too because everyone loves them.

00:51:44[crosstalk]

00:51:46Ali Sheppard: Yeah. So you look like a superhero.

00:51:48Timo Thornton: Yes, I know. It's a bit of fun. Some people go, oh, no, I don't want a cape. But other people absolutely love it and come here specially.

00:51:54[crosstalk]

00:51:57Ali Sheppard: We came here specially so that Sarah could have a 50 cape for her milestone. So what's your history? Had you done much parkrunning before setting up this this one?

00:52:08Timo Thornton: So I've run at Woking probably, I think about 116 times. I think it was before I got injured. And then while I was injured, I started volunteering there. And it was then that some of the team over there said, we really want to start one in this area. One of the regular parkrunners that helped set up the event and in fact she was a co-event director when we started she used to be the green green spaces um manager for uh the local council here so that's why there was no resistance to setting up because she was a keen parkrunner and she wanted to do it and yeah so um and you know was able to help us find the funding as well

00:52:43[crosstalk]

00:52:55Ali Sheppard: And we had, I don't know if you know how many people we had today.

00:52:58Timo Thornton: It seemed to be 100. It was well over 600. So, yeah, we normally hit around 600, 700, sometimes get up to 800, particularly in January, usually. Yeah, after the New Year resolutions. So it was a fairly normal number for us today. Yeah.

00:52:59[crosstalk]

00:53:11[crosstalk]

00:53:18Ali Sheppard: And all very well managed and, you know, wonderful. Many thanks to all the volunteers for that. Have you done much adventuring, as we call it? Touring to other places?

00:53:27[crosstalk]

00:53:30Timo Thornton: Yes, I've...

00:53:32Ali Sheppard: Other countries?

00:53:33Timo Thornton: Yeah, I think I'm on about... I'm about halfway through all the countries. Wow. I've never made it across to Australia yet, but I will do because I now need to do Sydney Marathon because I've done all the world majors. Oh, you've done all the world... And Sydney's now become a world major, so now I haven't done all the world majors, so...

00:53:39[crosstalk]

00:53:45[crosstalk]

00:53:52Ali Sheppard: And that looks amazing, going across the Sydney Harbour Ridge.

00:53:54Timo Thornton: Yeah. But, yeah, in terms of parkruns, I've done most of the European countries and I'll be ticking off Finland and Sweden for Ascension Day this year.

00:54:09[crosstalk]

00:54:11Ali Sheppard: Yeah, I'm hoping to do Finland.

00:54:13Timo Thornton: Yeah, we went over to Germany for Unity Day, my wife and I did, so... And we visited quite a lot of the other ones, obviously. We've also done a couple in the US. So I've done one near Boston and one near New York.

00:54:27[crosstalk]

00:54:28Ali Sheppard: Was that Jamaica Pond?

00:54:30Timo Thornton: Yeah, Jamaica Pond.

00:54:31Ali Sheppard: I think it was the event number three.

00:54:34Timo Thornton: three when I did that. So that was a new one. That was really good. And we did Delaware and Raritan Canal when we were over for New York Marathon. Amazing.

00:54:50Ali Sheppard: And out of all of those, so difficult, I know. But can you think of your top three or maybe just a memorable three?

00:54:59Timo Thornton: I think in terms of memorable ones i think well dulston um in the uk is is absolutely stunning along the uh clifftop paths and i mean it was a beautiful day when we did it as well so it was it was and dulston looks out over the sea yes it was it's very very tough yeah it's very hilly yes i think there's 200 meters of elevation in the 5k event there so yeah that was a pretty pretty good one i think um The Japanese ones we did were very memorable just because they got so overexcited about having the tourists there. They just absolutely love having tourists. We'd flown over there, obviously, because I was running Tokyo Marathon. But we went to one in Osaka. And they were very excited. And then the day before the marathon, we went and did one in Tokyo. And there were obviously a lot of tourists there, but they wanted to take lots of photos. And they made me run across the finish line several times so they could take extra photos. It was so nice. Yeah, it was fantastic. They made you feel like a celebrity over there. So they were pretty amazing. I mean, that...

00:55:07[crosstalk]

00:55:17[crosstalk]

00:55:24[crosstalk]

00:56:02[crosstalk]

00:56:11[crosstalk]

00:56:22Ali Sheppard: They're all amazing, aren't they?

00:56:22[crosstalk]

00:56:23Timo Thornton: All amazing in their own ways. I've never been to a parkrun that I thought, oh, that one was a bit rubbish.

00:56:29Ali Sheppard: Well, that's absolutely brilliant. So thank you so much, Timo. We've had a ball here at Brooklands.

00:56:36[crosstalk]

00:56:37Timo Thornton: Oh, I'm very glad to hear it.

00:56:38Ali Sheppard: Yeah, and we're not that far from Bushy. So I know a lot of Australians come over and they want to do the pilgrimage to go to Bushy, which I completely get. But if you've got a bit of time... and you're coming over, you're doing a trip around, you're doing your pilgrimage, and you've got another Saturday, come out to Brooklands. It's near Weybridge, and it's a fantastic event, and you are running or walking along a piece of history. So thank you so much, Timo. Thank you. That's a wrap.

00:57:00[background music]

00:57:16Sarah Jefferson: heard from Callum who spoke to the co-ed at Briley Forest parkrun and it sounds like Michael has a fabulous team at this event but it was really great to hear that the team have really noticed the increase in walkers in more recent times and as we know that that's been a bit of a push from parkrun and I mean we all say it about the weather but it really sounds like this is one of the courses that does feel the impacts of the more crazy weather patterns that we are seeing today and i totally agree with you michael my pet peeve is people chatting through the run briefing too and way to go getting a speaker set up to try to tackle that problem we also heard from Ali Sheppard at Brooklands parkrun who spoke to the co-ed Timo Thornton. I loved hearing about the history of this course Simon it sounds like such a great area to explore and it sounds like there is so much to see and do. Ali if I was in the UK or headed to the UK after completing Bushy of course I would certainly be taking you up on the advice to check out this parkrun. Thank you for bringing us all of this information with lots of history behind it and hopefully we see Timo down in Australia soon completing the Sydney Marathon.

00:58:35Simon Mackley: Yeah, I echo what you're saying. It sounds like a great event there at Brooklands. I knew a little bit about the race course before Ali gave us a lot more information. But yeah, looking forward to hearing. Hopefully Timo writes in after he has been down the Sydney Marathon. And just an FYI as well, we only have four in the backlog for Raving Reports going forward. So if you are out there and you want to record at a parkrun and you have an interesting story to tell, or finds them with an interesting story to tell, that would be great if you could send in a raving report to us. We are going to roll onto Dazza's. We've chosen five comments from each of the last two weeks of Dazza's posts. So on the 17th of January, Dazza said, it's use your gift card day. Dazza rolled his eyes when the office lady picked this from the list, but it's actually a good reminder to pop those gift cards you got for Christmas somewhere sensible, like your car, and actually use them. Retailers make so much money from unused cards every year.

Dazza's

00:59:35Sarah Jefferson: Great advice, office lady. The first person that we heard from in Daz's this week was Cathy Mudge at the Terrace parkrun. Cathy shared, I got the best gift of all today. After 10 years of parkrun, I finally got 30 and completed my stopwatch bingo at the Terrace parkrun. I was a little envious of Mel a few weeks ago, but I finally did it. So happy. and lots of celebratory emojis were included. Cathy proudly shared a screenshot of her Stopwatch Bingo achievement in her 5K app. Now, we have done a little sneaky peek at Cathy's profile, and we did notice that she has completed Stopwatch Bingo much quicker than Mel. Let's say around 150 events quicker. And unlike Mel, to achieve the next stopwatch bingo, Cathy needs to finish with another 30 second plus a 53 second finish. This aside, congratulations, Cathy. It is a great feeling to see the challenge 100% completed on the 5K app, isn't it? Well done.

01:00:39Simon Mackley: Definitely. And next we heard from Rodney Glossop from Kadena Trail parkrun. Rodney shared, I was a special guest run director at Kadena Trail parkrun today, volunteering with my daughter Ruby, left, and mum Janice, right. I've now volunteered as run director at eight different parkruns. Today I was even wearing my new parkrun socks for the first time, which I bought using a voucher I got for Christmas. And there was a photo of Rodney donning the RD vest, his daughter and his mum. I love that the whole family gets involved. And how can we not forget, sorry, how can we forget to mention his new parkrun socks? Is the goal to keep volunteering your way around WA, Rodney?

01:01:21Sarah Jefferson: Now, how cool would that be, Simon, to actually run directed or parkruns in a state or territory? Actually, has this been done? Do you know if we can find out about this?

01:01:32Simon Mackley: I don't know. We used to have an informant that used to look at this sort of stuff and we used to have

01:01:38Sarah Jefferson: stats in the haystack but yeah I don't know if there's any listeners that know of someone that'd be good to to email in hint hint absolutely it would be interesting to find out and it wouldn't surprise me about Rodney Rodney is very good with his parkrun volunteering and he does like to do things a little bit differently and um things that people haven't done so okay um Yeah, well done, Rodney, on volunteering or Safari Run directing at your eighth different event in the state. We also heard from Michael Little at Coombs parkrun. Michael said, today was the start of our big parkrun adventure. The adventure will take us through South Australia, including PALM, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Friday morning, we set off from Kingsland for Canberra. First stop, Coombs parkrun. Next stop, Mount Gambier for the Australian Day. weekend. Michael shared a photo of himself in the frame with his family with Lake Western in the background. We're excited to hear that you'll be joining us in the Clare Valley for Palm. What an incredible trip you have ahead of you. Very, very pleased to hear that you are headed over to the best coast as well, Michael.

01:02:48Simon Mackley: Next we heard from Lee Cabarita. Yes, that's her porn name apparently and she was at Parramatta parkrun. So Lee wrote, I got my hair straightened last night for a function today. So I was slightly disappointed when it started pelting down with rain at Parramatta parkrun. Then all of a sudden I started laughing to myself because the parkrun Adventurers podcast came in my ear and I saw it had 37 minutes left. I made up a little game called Beat the Tock. I wanted to finish my run before Tock finished talking, but didn't. I kept running all the way to the end of the song though, which I'm happy about. Maybe next time. Mokka at Salt and Butter for me. Thanks, Dazza. I forgot all about my pretty hair.

01:03:31Sarah Jefferson: All right. And we heard from Sonja Pohlman at the Beaches parkrun. Sonia shared, thanks to injury, it's been two years since I have completed parkrun at home at the Beaches. Even with high tide and soft sand, stoked to be able to complete it as tail walker today. Sonia shared a photo of herself wearing the tail walker vest and that big smile. Says it all. We hope this is the beginning of many, many more parkruns back at home for you, Sonia. It sounds like you have been very patient, for sure. For those who don't know, Sonia's home parkrun is the beaches. And as the name suggests, the 5K is completed completely on the beach. So, I mean, this is actually on my list to do for 2026. So, I hope to actually get there in a few months' time.

01:04:20Simon Mackley: Okay. You haven't done the beaches.

01:04:22Sarah Jefferson: I haven't done the beaches. I wasn't when I lived on the beach. East Coast in Sydney, I wasn't really parkour and adventuring. So, yeah, I'm heading back to Newcastle to see some family and friends. So, thinking I might tick that one off.

01:04:35Simon Mackley: Wonderful.

01:04:36Sarah Jefferson: Okay, and headed over to the 24th of January. Dazza said, Dazza has to be the perfect mascot for Global Belly Laugh Day today. Did you get the chance to belly laugh today? Come on in and tell us all about it.

01:04:52Simon Mackley: And first off, we heard from... David Westerway at Westerfolds parkrun. David shared, trundled down the Western Freeway around to Westerfolds parkrun to complete my compass club. They had a photographer-shaped hole in the volunteer roster, which I filled. What a beautiful course, but being one lap, I might have scared the camera-shy participants into PBs as they raced off to escape my paparazzo efforts. By the way, here's my joke. What do sprinters eat before a race? Nothing. They fast. And David shared a picture of the Westerfolds Park sign in Dazza's as well.

01:05:27Sarah Jefferson: We heard from Michael Sharp at San Remo parkrun. Michael shared, barefoot at San Remo parkrun. It was their eighth birthday. I picked up a Wilson number and a position bingo number. Why wear shoes when your feet don't touch the ground? And back to the cafe with the team for breakfast. Fun morning. There was, in fact, photographic evidence of Michael jumping for joy. getting some air and wearing no shoes. That's quite impressive. I think that my feet are too precious for this these days, Simon. I mean, the beaches parkrun, maybe I would consider wearing no shoes for 5K, given it's all on sand. But I feel like this is probably the only event that I could do this. Not sure if it's a regular thing for you, not wearing shoes during a parkrun on the path. But even so, doing it once is quite impressive.

01:06:17Simon Mackley: Yeah, Michael is actually from the beaches. So he's... If he's not the co-ED, he's definitely one of the RDs.

01:06:24Sarah Jefferson: So maybe it's his norm doing a parkrun with no shoes.

01:06:28Simon Mackley: Quite possibly.

01:06:28Sarah Jefferson: There you go.

01:06:29Simon Mackley: Next, we heard from Glenn Chalmers from Nan Link's parkrun. Glenn wrote him to say, a visit to the fastest town in Scotland for me today. I'm the one in the yellow cap. If you say Nan really fast and in the sound of the car speeding past, you'll maybe work out why it's the fastest town in Scotland. It's a well-known Scottish joke that gets some belly laughs, but probably lost on others. There's a photo of Glenn and two others looking rugged up, beanies and all, and let's not forget the event pop-up too.

01:06:59Sarah Jefferson: Oh, that wasn't fun. I wanted you to read it again. Thanks, I did need a belly laugh. Thank you for that. We heard from Xavier E. Sanchez at Barclay parkrun. Xavier shared, I've told my tourist group that we need to up our game for our pop-up photos, but they didn't follow my lead at Barclay. In Hertfordshire? Help me, Simon. Is that right? Hertfordshire, just north of London.

01:07:31Simon Mackley: I know it says Hertfordshire, but it's Hertfordshire.

01:07:34Sarah Jefferson: Hertfordshire. I know. I knew it was wrong. Thank you for that. On a side note, I've finally finished the Adventurers back catalogue and I'm up to date. Thanks for the mention. Xavier shared a photo of himself with three others alongside the event pop-up wearing puffer jackets and all. It looked incredibly fresh there. One thing I know that can warm you up is including lots of jump shots and then they can share them in Daz's. We hope that the back catalogue has kept you busy and good to hear that people still go back and listen to them.

01:08:04Simon Mackley: I remember Xavier actually writing into us, maybe it was a year or so ago, he was trying to get some tips because he was going from memory from Cairns to Melbourne or Melbourne to Cairns and I think he was asking which way he should do it. So I know Mel and I had a discussion and we actually disagreed on which way we should do it. So anyway. So I think Xavier might have been, I don't know whether he's been down to Australia yet, but it was definitely a plan. Anyway, we'll move on to Joe McLean, who was at Whalen Reserve parkrun. Joe said, avoided the red-bellied black snake sunning itself off the path at Whalen Reserve parkrun. Haven't been to this one for ages. Oh, exactly. Haven't been to this one for ages and really enjoyed the flat outland back and small numbers. Only 75 finishes this morning. A nice latte for me, Dazza. It was heating up out there by the end. My joke, what do you call a fly without wings? A walk. That fly would always be welcome at parkrun. And Jo shared a photo with two friends in the Whalen Reserve parkrun frame.

01:09:08Sarah Jefferson: I have just jumped on and I can't see that Xavier has the Australia flag. So he hasn't been out here as yet.

01:09:16Simon Mackley: Okay, there you go. Have we got an Obie?

the Obi Award — Sonja Pohlman

01:09:19Sarah Jefferson: We do have an obi that's not in an envelope. It is being delivered in a very modern way, I hear. This week, our obi goes to Sonja Pohlman. Kudos on your parkrun participant return, completing your home course. Onwards and upwards, Sonia. Something we do need to mention, Simon, is that Sonia has volunteered a whopping 299 times. Congrats in advance on your 300th volunteer, and thank you for your dedication to the parkrun community, Sonia.

01:09:25[background music]

01:09:52Simon Mackley: Definitely, yes. That is a lot of volunteering, and I know that Sonia used to be an ambassador as well, so she used to look after quite a few of them in the Newcastle area. Yeah, so that's an amazing achievement to hit 300. It must be next weekend. And we have some mail. You've got mail. We have heard from Andy and Wendella Poole. They said Mel TOC, and I'm guessing us as well. Thanks for the mention on the show about running in snow. We've actually run five times in snow, twice in Sweden, once in the USA, and once in Poland, although most of the paths have been cleared in Poland. You've said five times and you've given us four places where you've run in snow. So I'm a bit confused. So if you want to write in and tell us what we've missed. So it also says, as well as Bultofta on the 10th of January, we ran at Skartas on the 3rd of January, also in snow. Last Malmo on New Year's Day, but no snow. In previous years, we ran at Valaskogon in the snow. The following week, we ran Uppsala in the rain, which turned to snow. We ran ITC Community Sport in the USA previously on the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2024. Regards, Andy and Wendella.

You've got mail

01:11:08Sarah Jefferson: Interesting. Certainly some different parkrun experiences to what we have in Australia, that is for sure. And we might continue with the theme of snow, and you will all hear why soon. We're going to throw to Reginald.

01:11:20[background music]

Club Corner

01:11:25Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III (Club Corner persona: This is Reginald Yardley-Pomfrey, the third, with Club Corner, where we talk about the what and why of parkrun clubs, and I am coming to you from Aranda country. And now we say ku e question mark. Today we are in Finland, currently the home of the most northerly parkrun. Tampere parkrun began in October of 2017, with a solid number which is still their third highest attendance. Their number one attendance occurred on their first birthday smiley face. And speaking of smiley face, Finland is the world's happiest country open bracket as per the World Happiness Report close bracket. For the record, the top five countries in the 2024 report are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Netherlands, all are current or past parkrun countries exclamation point. Back to Finland, at time of writing they had nine events, the most recent of which was Pori Forest, and out-and-back course through Pori Forest. Those local naming conventions are really paying dividends. Winky face. Finland appears to have a great many picturesque courses, including Varksi Canal parkrun, which runs alongside the Varksi Canal, well duh. The canal connects Lake Pejan and Lake Vesejavi, and is in the Lakeland part of Finland. If you love bridges, then there is a course with 14 bridges on the route, one of which runs over a dam, which parkrun. Pokkanen parkrun, the aforementioned northernmost parkrun. This parkrun is in Ulu, which is Finland's fifth-largest city. Ulu has hosted the world-famous Air Guitar World Championship since 1996, so maybe 2026 is your time to attend and celebrate with them. And remember, in parkrun life, all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun, so stay tuned for our future club corners.

01:13:05[background music]

01:13:17Simon Mackley: A concise one from Reginald this time. Is Finland on your wish list, Sarah?

01:13:23Sarah Jefferson: I mean, I would love to do the world's most northerly parkrun. That would be pretty amazing to tick off. But it isn't on my 2026 bucket list. And I don't really see myself heading there anytime soon. What about yourself?

01:13:39Simon Mackley: Yeah, I won't be heading there anytime soon. But I would never knock back a parkrun anywhere in the world, to be fair. So, yeah, it would be on my wish list. I'd like to do Lithuania. I don't know why, but I'd really like to do that one. So, yes. So I shouldn't say that one. I mean that country. So there's now three there. Anyway, let's roll on to the Consolidated Club Report. So the Adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday, the 24th of January, 2026. Of a total of 865 members, we had 630 take part on this date in nine countries across 322 locations. Locally, there were Adventurers at 63 events in Queensland, 61 events in New South Wales, 53 events in Victoria, 17 in WA, 13 in SA, 10 in Tasmania, 7 in the ACT, 6 on the North Island, and 2 events in the South Island, and 1 in Northern Territory. Internationally, there were adventurers at 73 events in the UK, 7 in South Africa, 2 events in Japan, Poland, Sweden, and the USA. and a lonely person in Germany.

Consolidated Club Report

the Frond

01:14:56Sarah Jefferson: On the 17th of January, the largest international frond was of 12 people at Ushaw Historic House in the UK. Hopefully I pronounced that okay. It was James Newt, Helen and Andy Rutter, Denise Evans, Ellie Soper, Christopher Miles, Tina Durrie, Andy and Debbie Airey, Claire Winesich, Rhiannon Taylor, and Amanda Murray-Hind. On the 24th of January, the largest international front was in Poland at Zaluleg. Sorry, I did my best. Charlotte Minchell, Andy Airy, Colin Hare, Rhiannon Taylor, Wendy Pallant, Kim Leonard, and Tina Dorey. Sorry if I mispronounced anyone's names or the event.

01:15:53Simon Mackley: Well, you know, we're trying our best, aren't we?

01:15:56Sarah Jefferson: I know Toc thinks he mispronounces them the worst. I think that's me, Simon. I think I get the wooden spoon.

01:16:03Simon Mackley: I don't think it's a competition. We're trying our best and that's all we can do.

01:16:09Sarah Jefferson: That's really supportive. Thank you.

01:16:11Simon Mackley: That's okay. Okay. We'll roll on to pilgrimages. So on the 17th of January, we had no one go to Bushy. But on the 24th of January, we had Adrian Luscombe who went there for his 24th visit.

Pilgrimages

01:16:25Sarah Jefferson: On the 17th of January, the largest Aussie front was of 18 people at Redall Reserve. They included Lance, Scott, Andrew, Sue, Julie, Andrew, Catherine, Patrick, Mark, Sue and Luke, Lydia, Heather, Viking Whelan, Finn Sensko, Martine, Sue and Amanda. On the 24th of January, one of the largest fronds was of six at Bibra Lake in Western Australia. That was Chris and Karen Gore, John Percival, Brenton Panzich, Chloe Bravos and Amanda Mitchell. And remember, you can add the Adventurers Club as one of your five affiliations on your parkrun profile. And it's been great to see our members continuing to grow.

01:17:09Simon Mackley: Exactly. We're going to jump on to launches. So on the 17th of January, there were two launches.

Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")

01:17:16Sarah Jefferson: And the first one was in the US of A, Sunnyvale Bay Trail parkrun, located in Sunnyvale, California, located northwest of San Jose. So the launch saw 183 participants toe the line, 15 volunteers and 18 first-timers. The second week slipped back 16 to 167.

01:17:39Simon Mackley: And then the other launch on the 17th of January was at Lost Gardens of Heligan, a parkrun which is located in St Austell in Cornwall, UK. There were 222 at the launch, supported by 27 volunteers and joined by four first-timers. The second week went up slightly to 235.

01:17:56Sarah Jefferson: So not too many first-timers at both of those events.

01:18:00Simon Mackley: No.

01:18:01Sarah Jefferson: On the 24th of January, there was only one launch worldwide.

01:18:05Simon Mackley: And that was at Holywell King George V Plainfields parkrun, which is located in Watford, UK. There was only one first timer at the launch and the 26 volunteers worked with 205 other experienced parkrunners.

01:18:23Sarah Jefferson: Wonder when the next launch will be in Australia.

01:18:26Simon Mackley: Yeah. It sounds like Tok is alluding to something happening in Victoria. So hopefully we see something pop up soon.

01:18:34Sarah Jefferson: All right, Simon, given this has been a pretty long pod, everyone has done really well to get to this stage.

01:18:40Simon Mackley: They have indeed. Where are you heading on your next parkrun day, Sarah?

01:18:45Sarah Jefferson: I will probably be heading home to Cottesloe parkrun for their event 522. The swims in the crystal clear water, being about 30 steps from the finish line, are honestly too hard to beat at the moment. I'm really enjoying that. and continuing to add to my singleton, as I mentioned earlier. Then on the 7th of February, planning to head up to Quinns Rocks to meet up with some alphabet-chasing friends who might just happen to be adventurous.

01:19:13Simon Mackley: Okay. How far off your singleton are you? I forgot to ask that earlier.

01:19:18Sarah Jefferson: I think I am 17 now, so I'm not too far. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I feel like every year – You know, then I start chasing Wilsons or I start tracing something else. Sorry, 15. 15 off. It's definitely achievable.

01:19:36Simon Mackley: Yeah.

01:19:36Sarah Jefferson: I just need to head home more than I adventure, which as an adventurer at heart is not always the easy thing, is it?

01:19:42Simon Mackley: Very hard.

01:19:43Sarah Jefferson: What about yourself, Simon? Where will you be headed the next couple of weeks?

01:19:47Simon Mackley: Okay, this weekend I'm going to be volunteering at Sirromet as the barcode scanner. So I don't know if the pod will be out by then, but if anyone is there, come up and say hello. And then the week after, on the 7th, I'm going to be at Gainsborough Parklands chasing down a Wilson 52.

01:20:04Sarah Jefferson: An early one. All right, everyone. 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.

01:20:10[outro theme playing]