October 21, 2025 • 32 mins
Dan talks about being a parkrun Statesman, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "And sometimes like we'll have a parkrun coffee. And you go, okay, I've had coffee and then suddenly it's morning tea. And then after morning tea, suddenly, lunches come out. And then it's like after lunch we've left coffee. Right? So at times we up to, sometimes I've had parkrun coffees that have gone for say, five hours, and you can talk a lot about parkrun in five hours, but at the same time, we all walk her away with a smile on our face. So, which is great."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to Forrest.Chat where wetalk about individual endeavor in
Western Australia, what it takes,what it means, and how you do it.
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey, and intoday's episode, we are talking with Dan
Baldwin about being a parkrun statesman.
Dan started parkrun in June, 2013 andhas since become a parkrun statesman.
(00:31):
Welcome to Forrest.Chat Dan.
Oh, thanks Paul, for theopportunity to talk on your pod.
Pleasure to have you here, Dan.
Dan.
What is a parkrun States person?
Okay, so parkrun, as people may beaware, is a free five kilometer timed
run that's held every Saturday morning.
(00:53):
A states person is someone thathas completed all of the events
in a, a state or territory.
So in, say for instance in SouthAustralia, if you're to complete
all of the 52 parkruns there,you'd be called a crow eater.
Uh, if you're in WesternAustralia, if you complete all 56
runs, you're called a sand grr.
(01:14):
So essentially a states person is someonethat's completed all the different
parkrun events in that state or territory.
And how many parkruns arethere in Western Australia?
I think there's 56 in Western Australia.
and say for instance, south Australia,there's 52, and if you're lucky
to be in the Northern Territory,there's only six to complete
(01:37):
with one a week.
That makes Northern Territorymuch, easier to achieve.
Doesn.
Definitely, but you still need togo for a bit of a serious drive.
So the distance between, say, AliceSprings and Darwin is 1500 kilometers.
So if you wanna drive from Darwinto Alice Springs, there's a, there's
a, at least a three day drive
that's quite a bit of effort.
(01:58):
How do you know whenyou are a states person?
Is there some sort of system for that?
Yeah, so the thing about parkrunis there's this app called the
parkrun 5K app, and that actuallytracks, all your, your running
achievements with respect to parkrun.
So as you completedifferent events around.
(02:22):
Your state, Australia or even the world,you can actually see a little green tick.
And that green tick will donate thatyou've completed a run at that location.
there's also another, app calledRunning Achievements, and that'll
actually tell you what states, howmany runs you've completed in each
state within a specific country.
(02:44):
So yeah, so that you cantrack those on different apps.
And is it a fixed targetor a moving target?
Oh, it's definitely a moving target.
so I've been fortunate to have been astatesman in Western Australia before,
and, Sandy and I, we moved across toSouth Australia for a period of time and
only recently come back here for somework purposes, and in doing so, we were
(03:09):
statesmen when we left Western Australia.
And 12 months later, when we returned,we still had quite a number to complete
in order to achieve that milestone again.
So it's a moving target.
And the thing is, is as, as theparkrun community grows, some events
get quite busy and then extra eventspop up around those events in order
(03:32):
to spread the load, but also createopportunities for new entrants to parkrun.
So there's always new parkrunspopping up around the state.
We've seen that around herewith, Ridley Place, foreshore,
parkrun, and, not too far away.
We've got Black Swan parkrun that's poppedup, in the last about eight weeks or so.
(03:52):
I think they've done eight and today,next week will be nine, I think.
Yeah.
So the, the good thing about,being a Park parkrun states person.
Which is essentially a parkrun touristis you get to travel to all these really
unique locations and uh, and some placesyou've been to before, but suddenly you've
(04:13):
arrived in this parkrun location witha, with a different set of eyes, right?
So instead of just going, oh,this is a nice spot, you go,
this is a nice spot for a run.
And gee, you've got somegreat people here as well.
parkrun is full of great people.
That's, one of the best things about it.
Oh, definitely.
Uh, the, the sense of communityin parkrun is and is amazing.
(04:34):
And the thing is, is you go say forinstance within Perth, there's so many
people that I've met through parkrunand uh, and consider friends and,
but then at the same time as I travelinterstate, my brothers live in Victoria
and New South Wales and because theyparkrun they meet all these other
(04:54):
people, which then when I go to run.
With my brothers, they go,oh, you are Tim's brother, or
You are Kingsley's brother.
And in doing so, you, you create newfriends all around the country and then.
More recently, Sandy and I havetraveled abroad to do parkrun in Europe.
(05:15):
And you know, we've gone to somelocations and we've met, um, fellow
Australians and it was like, I've ranwith you in Kangaroo Island, or, oh, you
know, my brother or, so it's, so whathappens is you find that the world is
very small when you do parkrun becauseyou've got that sense of community,
but also you'll know people who.
(05:38):
You know, or you actually know peopledirectly and you can travel all around
the world and see people that, you know.
So fortunately we were in Denmark, earlierin the year, and Sam Farman, who runs
at Clays, Brook Cove, she was there.
It was like, Sam, what are you doing here?
So, so the thing is, is that sometimes,you know, if you, if you're feeling lonely
(06:00):
and abroad, just turn up, go to a parkrunand you may meet people that you know of.
But irrespective, if you go and have acoffee or, or share a run with someone
you know, you may create lifelong friends.
That's a fantastic benefitof being a part of parkrun.
So Dan, what does it take youto be a parkrun statesman?
(06:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
With respect to being a parkrunstatesman, especially within wa, it
actually takes quite a lot of commitment,because in order to complete the 56
events you need to travel a long way.
So say for instance, if you want todrive from Perth to ra, so Kona is
the furthest away event from Perth.
(06:43):
To do so, you need to travelvia car for 3,300 kilometers.
Which is, you know, it's, it'sthree and a half days drive.
Some people it may take longer, butat the same time, or, you know, a,
a, you know, a three hour flight.
So the thing is, is you need tohave that commitment to travel, but
(07:05):
you also, you need that spirit ofadventure, to explore, but also to go
to places that you wouldn't normallyconsider as a tourist destination.
But at the same time, what it does,it creates an opportunity for you to
meet members of the local community.
But at the same time, they'll tellyou about the locations within that
(07:27):
region that you should go and visit.
And sometimes you find theselittle hidden gems in places that
you wouldn't necessarily considerbeing on the tourist circuit.
So yeah, so we love doing that.
We love traveling.
We love exploring and we love parkrun.
So yeah, it's a, it's a, it isa win-win in all situations.
(07:47):
Brings everything together, doesn't it?
Oh, definitely.
I'll, I'll give you an example.
Uh, Berwick in eastern east ofMelbourne is a suburb as a kid
that we used to drive through.
And when my brother said, let's goto Berwick and run Wilson Botanic
parkrun, I was just like, really?
(08:08):
We you wanna go to Berwick?
And he's like, yeah, we do.
And I went, okay.
So I turn up to Berwick and suddenlywe're in this beautiful botanic garden
with a, an amphitheater, Japanesemaples, a beautiful boardwalk, a
run up a gravel path to the top ofthe hill, and suddenly there's a
stunning vista of the Melbourne CB, D.
(08:29):
And you go, am I baric?
And in so what it did is it, it.
Provides you with a completelydifferent outlook on locations.
That you wouldn't consider to be abeautiful spot, but no matter what,
you can find beauty in every location.
But for me, what it did is itcompletely changed my view of the
(08:51):
suburb that we used to pass through,as young kids, you know, in the car.
And ironically enough, uh, with that onelocation, Sandy and I, we were traveling
up to Cape York and we met a couple.
From Berwick and I said,oh, I've been to Berwick.
And they looked at me like, yeah,you're from Western Australia.
And I said, we used to travel throughBerwick as kids and we never used to
(09:14):
stop there, but we went and did thisparkrun in the Wilson Botanic Gardens.
And I said, I absolutely loved it.
And I explained, you know, my viewof the park and what I got out of it.
and both Kim and Darren looked at me withthis, this beautiful smile and they said.
We got married in that park and if itwasn't for parkrun, we would not have
(09:36):
had that connection with those guys.
And uh, yeah, it was just turnedout to be, you know, quite
a, quite a beautiful story.
So all from parkrun,
incredible that you meet people allover the world, but the world is
a smaller place than people think.
Oh, definitely.
Yeah, definitely.
I know, say for instance, I happenedto be on Kangaroo Island, around the
(09:57):
marathon time last year, and I met a, afellow parkrun tourist and this fellow
loves traveling him and his wife, and,I happened to be in Canada, earlier
this year, and I was at a parkrun onCanada today, which is a special event.
So it's a parkrun that's heldoutside of the normal Saturday.
(10:17):
And I walked straight upthere and I said, get hey.
And he goes, what are you doing here?
It's just like, uh.
parkrun.
So, so here I'm on the other side, inthe Northern hemisphere, other side of
the world, and meeting people that Iphysically can go up and say, I know
who you are, and they know who I am.
And it's all because of parkrun.
(10:38):
So, yeah, the parkrun world is, isvery small, so yeah, it's amazing.
And how much traveling do youactually do for all of this?
Uh, a lot.
the thing is, is that.
We just love jumping in the carand going for a drive, right?
So, and be it in South Australia orVictoria or New South Wales, or even even
Queensland wa, we've done a lot of drivingin and say, for instance, I, I'll give
(11:03):
you another example of just traveling.
You know, the thing is, is we travelall these major highways and now some
of these major highways in small ruraltowns, it wouldn't typically stop in.
Have park a certain example of, sayNhill in Western Victoria, you know,
we stayed in Nhill and the hotel westayed at had a pinball museum, right.
(11:28):
And they had pinballs dating back to theseventies and I think even the sixties,
and then some of the modern ones.
So here we go.
We're playing pinballs in a pinballmuseum, in a motel we're staying at.
And then the fellow.
had rocks for sale and I'm a geologist, soautomatically I'll go up to the rocks and
start going and saying, oh, look at that.
And the, and because I've named themineral, the fellows looked at me like,
(11:52):
how come you know any about rocks?
And I'm like, that's my job, right?
So already we've created a connectionof playing this fellow's pinball
machines, but at the same time,uh, looking at his rocks and then,
then that, uh, after parkrun.
We had breakfast with this, with these,uh, Nhill's got a excellent community,
(12:13):
of older generation, volunteers.
So there's one lady there thatactually has, a book, right?
And it's almost like a, a logbook of who, of all the visitors
that have turned up, right?
So.
We arrived and she goes,you have to sign our book.
And I'm like, oh, okay.
I said, gimme a second.
And I went back to the insidecover and flicked a few pages.
(12:35):
I see.
See those two names?
There's my brothers.
Right.
So my brothers had actually run thatparkrun a a few years before, but
then after, uh, having breakfast.
with the, the, one of the localblokes there, he said, you've gotta
go to the Nhill Aviation Museum.
And so we had a great time.
There's, they've got four planes inthis museum and, and a lot of, you know,
(12:58):
memorabilia, with respect to the war.
And, so what it's done is here'sthis tiny little community that
you'd normally pass through, andsuddenly the experiences we've had
in a wheat belt town within Victoria.
Very unique, and we would not havedone that without parkrun, and we
would not have had these excellentconversations with people that we
(13:20):
probably wouldn't have generally.
And again, it's all becauseof the sense of community and
being in a locality for parkrun.
So, yeah.
So yeah.
So it, so to become a parkrun touristor a statesman, it takes quite a
bit of travel, but at the, at thesame time, the spirit of adventure.
(13:42):
But the want and needto just go and explore.
And Australia's an amazingplace to explore and do free
5K runs every Saturday morning.
And there's about, well there's over500 actually in, in Australia, so I.
That's like 10 years worth of parkrunningif you're, if you're right into it.
(14:02):
Yeah.
And you know, I've done a few events,in my 12 years of parkrun and yeah,
there, there's still a lot of eventsin Australia that I would love to do.
It just comes down to time andmaybe a little bit of money.
Yeah, the traveling is a, is a bigpart of that and you've gotta be
available, I guess, for that and,willing to do it and able to achieve it.
(14:24):
So,
yeah, definitely.
And the, I'm quite lucky 'cause I've,and my brothers, they love to parkrun and
they're in Victoria and New South Wales.
So what it does is it, and alsoSandy's sisters are in New Zealand and.
When we travel to go and see family it,we always make sure we do a parkrun.
(14:45):
And by doing a parkrun with familymembers, it creates a shared experience.
And I think having a shared experiencewith, um, family members around a,
a common interest, it means thatyou can talk about it for years and
sometimes you get adverse weather aswell, like where it gets really hot.
So I did Night Cliff Park around withmy brother and it was that hot that
(15:06):
I had sweat running outta my hands.
And it was like, are you okay?
And I'm like, yeah, I think I'm okay.
But it was just super hot.
And then other times we'vejust been rained on like crazy.
So, but the thing is, is that.
It's those sort of of times thatcreate memories that will last forever.
Talking about that, we'llmove on to the next question.
(15:27):
We've heard what it takes,Dan to be a parkrun statesman.
Now we'll have a break, and after thebreak we'll have a look at what it means.
We've heard what it takes,Dan to be a parkrun statesman.
(15:47):
Now let's have a look at what does itmean, Dan, what does it mean to you,
your family or the community that youare able to be a parkrun statesman?
It actually means a lot, Paul.
Uh, the thing is, is with respectto family, we love to travel, so we
create shared experience with familymembers and in doing so, we meet a lot
(16:11):
of really good people along the way.
And so.
You've actually by traveling with parkrun.
So what it means to me is that I'vecreated a lot, a lot more people
that I know around the world.
and quite a lot, I consider friends.
And at the same time, with respect tomy brothers, we've had some excellent
(16:32):
experiences, or with Sandy's sisterJoe, we've just, you know, we've
traveled, jumped in the car anddriven a thousand kilometers just to
go and do a free five kilometer run.
But I think what it does is it, it's thesense of community, which is what I love.
Right.
So you can, you can talk toanyone within the state about
(16:52):
parkrun in Western Australia.
And therefore you've already gotthat shared experience of loads.
You go to Kalgoorlie and there's a,there's a big hill in Kalgoorlie,
but you wouldn't expect that, right?
So you'll have a chat to someone andthey're like, I'm going to Kalgoorlie.
And you're like, oh, wow.
There's a hill there.
Like you think it's flat, but it's not.
And so you can actually talkabout locations and different
(17:15):
parkruns and connect withpeople that you don't even know.
And at the, at the end of it, we allwalk away with a smile on our face.
It's like.
Oh, that Black knows about my town.
Oh.
And he said that he, he'sdone this in my town.
And it's like, but noone goes to that town.
So, so at the same time, I, I, what itdoes is that it, it opens your eyes up
(17:37):
to, uh, to the state and the world, butalso it creates opportunity to, to, to
have discussion points with other people.
But at the same time, it's just, I justthink it's a beautiful thing, right?
That you can sit and chat to people thatyou don't even know know from a bath.
So, and then just have a sharedcommon interest and at the end of it.
(18:01):
And, And sometimes likewe'll have a parkrun coffee.
And you go, okay, I've had coffeeand then suddenly it's morning tea.
And then after morning tea,suddenly, lunches come out.
And then it's like afterlunch we've left coffee.
Right?
So at times we up to, sometimes I'vehad parkrun coffees that have gone
for say, five hours, and you cantalk a lot about parkrun in five
(18:23):
hours, but at the same time, we allwalk away with a smile on our face.
So, which is great.
Sometimes it sounds like, Nhill, wasit that, uh, that you talked about, you
come away with so much more than that.
Oh, definitely.
Yeah.
You, you just do.
So, so the thing about say with Nhillis it had a, a wonderful aircraft
(18:43):
museum that we wouldn't have been reallyaware of unless we had a chat to this,
this old fellow that was volunteering.
And, uh, So we love parkrun andwe love travel, but suddenly
we've gone to an aircraft museum.
It's like, this is really interesting.
And then in doing so, we've likestarted going to all these different
aircraft museums around Australialooking for F1 elevens, right?
(19:06):
So these classic jets outta theseventies and eighties and nineties.
I think they decommissionedin the early two thousands.
And, uh, so we've gone to Darwin andEvan's head and the Queensland Aircraft
Museum in, on the Sunshine Coastjust to see these magnificent jets.
Right?
So.
So what we do is we combine ourparkrun experience with a little
(19:30):
bit of tourism, but also our loveof looking at old planes, which
has been quite, quite amazing.
So it definitely enhancesyour tourism opportunities.
Oh, definitely.
Ah, yeah.
So, yeah, sometimes I'll go to alocation and I'll, I'll walk up to
people and go, I met you three orfour years ago at such and such.
(19:51):
And they'll go, oh, wow, you did too.
And then automatically we've got thatshared experience of we're at that
location together and now we're here.
And I think the thing about sometimeswhen you're running as a group, it's,
it's just really nice, but runningwith people that you know or, or
sort of even know of, it's, yeah.
Collectively, it's quite a lot of fun.
(20:12):
Definitely expands your social circles.
Yeah, somewhat.
Yeah.
It has.
So it.
It has.
Definitely.
So the thing is, is even, you know,for me, I've worked in the mining
industry and it was sort of, it isquite a relatively small industry.
But by doing parkrun, I've,I've actually got to meet
(20:34):
people outside of my discipline.
'cause, you know, most of my friends atthe time were all within my discipline.
And in doing so, it sort of opened my,it's broadened my horizons on, on what
other people do with respect to work or.
Things that they enjoy and soyeah, I think park run's well.
Actually, it's funny because early onwith parkrun, like I wasn't a runner
(21:00):
and there was in 20 13, 20 14, therewas all these people, there's there
were all new to running and they'relike, I might do a half marathon.
And I'm like, really?
And like, oh, I've neverdone a half marathon.
And like, come do it.
Like, oh, okay.
So suddenly what happened is early on thisparkrun community of people that I didn't
(21:23):
even know were suddenly running throughthe bush for 48 kilometers in Dwellingup
or running my first marathon or, uh, butthe thing is, is that it was all about
quite a number of these parkrunner saying.
I know you, you can do it.
So we had all these enablers in thereand there was this huge, um, sort of
(21:44):
explosion of running events at thetime and all these people that I knew,
and it was quite an exciting timeand that sort of led me onto running
with my brothers, for, you know,longer distance events, more than 5K.
But in reality it really started about.
A simple free five, five kilometerrun on a Saturday morning.
It's impressive.
(22:05):
The coverage.
And they say it's not about the run,it's about the coffee afterwards.
Oh, definitely.
Yeah.
As I said, like we've had, youknow, coffees that'll lasted for
five hours, say, and typically it'smore than one coffee, and then you
had more coffee and then you starttalking quicker and, oh, look out.
we've heard a lot about, Whatit means to Dan that he's able
(22:25):
to be a parkrun states person.
We'll have a break now, and after thebreak we'll have a look at how you do it,
We've had a look at what it means thatDan is able to be a parkrun statesman.
Now let's have a lookat how you do it, Dan.
(22:48):
If someone wanted tobecome a statesperson.
How would they go about it?
Well, first up, you need to registerfor parkrun, so you need to be,
have your own unique athletebarcode, which is essentially like
your runner identification number.
Then you need to look at the, the spread,the geographical spread of events.
(23:10):
And the best way to do it is tostart going to your local parkrun
and just, just going and enjoying it.
And, and then, you know, everyfew weeks just branch out and,
and go to a different one.
And there's, there's quitea number of different events
within the Perth, metro area.
The thing is, is that in order to toachieve a, a parkrun statesmanship
(23:32):
within a state or territory, itdoes require quite a bit of travel.
So what I would suggest isfind, some kindred spirits.
So find those people that.
Wanna jump in the car and, and drive 800Ks to Carnarvon or, you know, 500 Ks to
Albany or whatever it is, or Kalgoorlie.
and share that experience and alsoshare the cost and, uh, and just,
(23:56):
just start traveling and startexploring, is much easier on a
plane, but that costs a bit more.
So you need a little bit of timeand you need a little bit of money,
but in reality, you need the, thecommitment and drive to achieve.
Achieve statesmanship,
and then you can keepa track of it somehow.
Yeah, there's a number of differentapps that can track your running events.
(24:19):
So the parkrun 5K app, which is like apurple background with a little white man.
That's a, that's an excellent app fortracking, uh, your progress against, uh.
The events within your state or territory.
And there's another app calledRunning Achievements, which is very
similar, but it'll actually sort ofbreak down the events state by state.
(24:39):
Uh, so yeah, that's, that's always ahelpful guide to try and understand
what you still need to do inorder to achieve a statesmanship.
And then from there, it's aboutwhat you can handle from a
travel perspective, isn't it?
Yeah, that's true, Paul.
So with respect to me sitting herein Perth now after completing all
(24:59):
the events within Western Australia,my ndi, which is my nearest
event, not done yet, is actually.
2010 kilometers away,which is Alice Springs.
So, but that's 2010kilometers as the crow flies.
And, uh, so it's from here it'sprobably a three day drive.
(25:20):
So that takes a little bit of, planningand effort to, to get there, obviously.
So.
Are you looking forward to that?
Oh, definitely.
Yeah, so I'd say so Sandy, and I'llprobably be, be in the car at the end of,
end of this month or actually next month.
And uh, and we'll actually drivethrough the Great Central Road.
(25:40):
So through, you know, there's a lotof flat country out there, but when
you're traveling through the centerof Australia, it is just got this.
Like an untamed beauty andendless skies of a nighttime.
you know, the colors are extraordinary andI think for me that has been one of the,
(26:00):
sort of the greatest joys of, of beinga parkrun tourist is actually going to
explore different parts of Australia andgoing to places that you wouldn't normally
go to just for a free five kilometer run.
So yeah, I think.
We're quite fortunate to be ableto just jump in the car and go for
a drive, and so yeah, it's great.
So Dan, is there anything else that youneed to become a parkrun states person?
(26:27):
Well, the thing about parkrun is you canrun or walk, parkrun is for everyone.
And I think that's what I loveabout it, is the inclusiveness.
So it doesn't matter how fastor how slow you go, you still
complete a five kilometer distance.
And really like the, the entry intoparkrun is you just need a pair
of sneakers and either a pair oftrack pants or shorts, a t-shirt
(26:50):
or a running top, which is actuallyrelatively, cheap to to purchase.
So like the.
There's no real barriers toentry for parkrun, and I think
that's what I love about it.
It is for everyone.
So as long as you've got a a, a pair ofshoes that you can move five kilometers
in and you can turn up on a Saturdaymorning at either eight o'clock,
(27:10):
it does change around the country.
And you've got a smile and your athleteid, then you are off and racing or
walking or whatever you want to do.
And I think that's what I loveabout parkrun is it's for everyone.
I like the, uh, conceptof bringing the smile.
Oh, I definitely, yeah.
I think the having a smilemeans you're enjoying yourself.
(27:34):
, the thing is, is you know, if youbring a smile to parkrun, it means that
people will want to talk to you, right?
Because you're having fun.
But at the same time, when you'vegot an excellent photographer around,
such as Paul here, then you cancapture lifelong memories that you
can share with friends and familyaround something that you enjoy.
(27:55):
And so that's why I love, runningwith friends and family is that
sometimes you can get those sort of.
Candid moments caught while you're allenjoying yourself, that you can, you
know, send home to mom and dad and they'relike, it puts a smile on their face even
though they can't actually do parkrun.
So I, I think that's what it does, is itis parkrun and having some great photos
(28:20):
around parkrun, it touches just more than.
You and the participants, it actually,it spreads its wings as probably to,
you know, another five to 10 times asmany people as what there is at parkrun.
And I think that's what I love as well.
And, and I'm, all you really wantis for someone to be inspired
to get up and give it a go.
(28:42):
And, uh, and that's, that's what I love.
So yeah.
Thank you for the complimenton my photography.
Really is the photos, uh, of you, butthey're for the people around you.
And I hope that everyone who has aphoto taken at parkrun takes that
photo and pops it into their stash ofphotos that, help describe their life.
(29:05):
Oh, definitely.
And I, I, I've got some cracker photosover the years of, of, and quite a lot
you've taken of jump shots, uh, arounddifferent locations or just me just
running with people and you just see thesheer joy of just being out there on a
Saturday morning just going for a jog.
And, uh, and that's, that's what I love.
(29:27):
Right.
And then, You'll send those photos.
We've, we've actually got a littleparkrun chat group, which is, you
know, involves people from the uk, uh,sometimes South Africa, Norway, Australia.
And we just, every, every weekendwe are pinging photos to each other.
Like, oh, have a look at this.
Oh, this is great.
Oh, we got rain on.
Oh, it's too hot.
(29:48):
Or, but, but the thing is, is.
But then sometimes we've gotphotos taken, saved by you,
Paul, and we'll send them out.
And people are like, wow, who took that?
And they're like, not me.
But at the same time, what it doesis it just captures the moment.
So, and I think that's important.
Yeah.
Photography is a big part ofwhat parkrun does as well.
(30:09):
So there's a whole group ofvery well accomplished photo
photographers out there.
And, uh, yeah, they, they do agreat job at, uh, at most events.
Yep.
And the thing is, is that, and it'snot just Australia, you know, um,
my, uh, sister-in-law, Joe, shewas just talking to me the other
day about the, uh, the fellow that.
(30:30):
inspires other people in New Zealandto take very good photos of parkrun.
Uh, I think it was a photo and videoambassador and uh, yeah, and she
was having a chat to this fellowand, and should have seen her.
She was like the joy in her, like justsay, oh, I met this guy and it was about
this and this, and it was just, andand I'm like, well we are very lucky
'cause we know Paul here, so it's great.
(30:52):
Thank you very much Danfor being on Forrest.Chat.
And all Forrest.Chat listeners, wish youall the best with your future endeavors.
Oh, thanks Paul.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Absolutely.
Thank you for coming on the show, Dan.
You've been listening to Forrest.Chatwhere we talk about individual endeavor
in Western Australia, what it takes,what it means, and how you do it.
(31:16):
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey, andin today's episode we talked with
Dan Baldwin about being a parkrun.
Statesman.
Remember, there are four ways toget involved with Forrest Chat.
Share the domain, Forrest Chat withyour friends and family and people
you meet when you sign up for theemails, you get notice of the episodes.
(31:37):
Listen to the episodes atForrest Chat slash episodes.
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Book an interview atForrest.Chat slash interview
if you wanna support a smallbusiness, book an advert at
Forrest.Chat slash advert.
I'm looking forward to joiningyou with our next guest.
(31:59):
Until then, enjoy making it happen.
Welcome to Forrest.Chat where wetalk about individual endeavor in
Western Australia, what it takes,what it means, and how you do it.
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey, and intoday's episode, we are talking with Dan
Baldwin about being a parkrun statesman.
Dan started parkrun in June, 2013 andhas since become a parkrun statesman.
(00:31):
Welcome to Forrest.Chat Dan.
Oh, thanks Paul, for theopportunity to talk on your pod.
Pleasure to have you here, Dan.
Dan.
What is a parkrun States person?
Okay, so parkrun, as people may beaware, is a free five kilometer timed
run that's held every Saturday morning.
(00:53):
A states person is someone thathas completed all of the events
in a, a state or territory.
So in, say for instance in SouthAustralia, if you're to complete
all of the 52 parkruns there,you'd be called a crow eater.
Uh, if you're in WesternAustralia, if you complete all 56
runs, you're called a sand grr.
(01:14):
So essentially a states person is someonethat's completed all the different
parkrun events in that state or territory.
And how many parkruns arethere in Western Australia?
I think there's 56 in Western Australia.
and say for instance, south Australia,there's 52, and if you're lucky
to be in the Northern Territory,there's only six to complete
(01:37):
with one a week.
That makes Northern Territorymuch, easier to achieve.
Doesn.
Definitely, but you still need togo for a bit of a serious drive.
So the distance between, say, AliceSprings and Darwin is 1500 kilometers.
So if you wanna drive from Darwinto Alice Springs, there's a, there's
a, at least a three day drive
that's quite a bit of effort.
(01:58):
How do you know whenyou are a states person?
Is there some sort of system for that?
Yeah, so the thing about parkrunis there's this app called the
parkrun 5K app, and that actuallytracks, all your, your running
achievements with respect to parkrun.
So as you completedifferent events around.
(02:22):
Your state, Australia or even the world,you can actually see a little green tick.
And that green tick will donate thatyou've completed a run at that location.
there's also another, app calledRunning Achievements, and that'll
actually tell you what states, howmany runs you've completed in each
state within a specific country.
(02:44):
So yeah, so that you cantrack those on different apps.
And is it a fixed targetor a moving target?
Oh, it's definitely a moving target.
so I've been fortunate to have been astatesman in Western Australia before,
and, Sandy and I, we moved across toSouth Australia for a period of time and
only recently come back here for somework purposes, and in doing so, we were
(03:09):
statesmen when we left Western Australia.
And 12 months later, when we returned,we still had quite a number to complete
in order to achieve that milestone again.
So it's a moving target.
And the thing is, is as, as theparkrun community grows, some events
get quite busy and then extra eventspop up around those events in order
(03:32):
to spread the load, but also createopportunities for new entrants to parkrun.
So there's always new parkrunspopping up around the state.
We've seen that around herewith, Ridley Place, foreshore,
parkrun, and, not too far away.
We've got Black Swan parkrun that's poppedup, in the last about eight weeks or so.
(03:52):
I think they've done eight and today,next week will be nine, I think.
Yeah.
So the, the good thing about,being a Park parkrun states person.
Which is essentially a parkrun touristis you get to travel to all these really
unique locations and uh, and some placesyou've been to before, but suddenly you've
(04:13):
arrived in this parkrun location witha, with a different set of eyes, right?
So instead of just going, oh,this is a nice spot, you go,
this is a nice spot for a run.
And gee, you've got somegreat people here as well.
parkrun is full of great people.
That's, one of the best things about it.
Oh, definitely.
Uh, the, the sense of communityin parkrun is and is amazing.
(04:34):
And the thing is, is you go say forinstance within Perth, there's so many
people that I've met through parkrunand uh, and consider friends and,
but then at the same time as I travelinterstate, my brothers live in Victoria
and New South Wales and because theyparkrun they meet all these other
(04:54):
people, which then when I go to run.
With my brothers, they go,oh, you are Tim's brother, or
You are Kingsley's brother.
And in doing so, you, you create newfriends all around the country and then.
More recently, Sandy and I havetraveled abroad to do parkrun in Europe.
(05:15):
And you know, we've gone to somelocations and we've met, um, fellow
Australians and it was like, I've ranwith you in Kangaroo Island, or, oh, you
know, my brother or, so it's, so whathappens is you find that the world is
very small when you do parkrun becauseyou've got that sense of community,
but also you'll know people who.
(05:38):
You know, or you actually know peopledirectly and you can travel all around
the world and see people that, you know.
So fortunately we were in Denmark, earlierin the year, and Sam Farman, who runs
at Clays, Brook Cove, she was there.
It was like, Sam, what are you doing here?
So, so the thing is, is that sometimes,you know, if you, if you're feeling lonely
(06:00):
and abroad, just turn up, go to a parkrunand you may meet people that you know of.
But irrespective, if you go and have acoffee or, or share a run with someone
you know, you may create lifelong friends.
That's a fantastic benefitof being a part of parkrun.
So Dan, what does it take youto be a parkrun statesman?
(06:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
With respect to being a parkrunstatesman, especially within wa, it
actually takes quite a lot of commitment,because in order to complete the 56
events you need to travel a long way.
So say for instance, if you want todrive from Perth to ra, so Kona is
the furthest away event from Perth.
(06:43):
To do so, you need to travelvia car for 3,300 kilometers.
Which is, you know, it's, it'sthree and a half days drive.
Some people it may take longer, butat the same time, or, you know, a,
a, you know, a three hour flight.
So the thing is, is you need tohave that commitment to travel, but
(07:05):
you also, you need that spirit ofadventure, to explore, but also to go
to places that you wouldn't normallyconsider as a tourist destination.
But at the same time, what it does,it creates an opportunity for you to
meet members of the local community.
But at the same time, they'll tellyou about the locations within that
(07:27):
region that you should go and visit.
And sometimes you find theselittle hidden gems in places that
you wouldn't necessarily considerbeing on the tourist circuit.
So yeah, so we love doing that.
We love traveling.
We love exploring and we love parkrun.
So yeah, it's a, it's a, it isa win-win in all situations.
(07:47):
Brings everything together, doesn't it?
Oh, definitely.
I'll, I'll give you an example.
Uh, Berwick in eastern east ofMelbourne is a suburb as a kid
that we used to drive through.
And when my brother said, let's goto Berwick and run Wilson Botanic
parkrun, I was just like, really?
(08:08):
We you wanna go to Berwick?
And he's like, yeah, we do.
And I went, okay.
So I turn up to Berwick and suddenlywe're in this beautiful botanic garden
with a, an amphitheater, Japanesemaples, a beautiful boardwalk, a
run up a gravel path to the top ofthe hill, and suddenly there's a
stunning vista of the Melbourne CB, D.
(08:29):
And you go, am I baric?
And in so what it did is it, it.
Provides you with a completelydifferent outlook on locations.
That you wouldn't consider to be abeautiful spot, but no matter what,
you can find beauty in every location.
But for me, what it did is itcompletely changed my view of the
(08:51):
suburb that we used to pass through,as young kids, you know, in the car.
And ironically enough, uh, with that onelocation, Sandy and I, we were traveling
up to Cape York and we met a couple.
From Berwick and I said,oh, I've been to Berwick.
And they looked at me like, yeah,you're from Western Australia.
And I said, we used to travel throughBerwick as kids and we never used to
(09:14):
stop there, but we went and did thisparkrun in the Wilson Botanic Gardens.
And I said, I absolutely loved it.
And I explained, you know, my viewof the park and what I got out of it.
and both Kim and Darren looked at me withthis, this beautiful smile and they said.
We got married in that park and if itwasn't for parkrun, we would not have
(09:36):
had that connection with those guys.
And uh, yeah, it was just turnedout to be, you know, quite
a, quite a beautiful story.
So all from parkrun,
incredible that you meet people allover the world, but the world is
a smaller place than people think.
Oh, definitely.
Yeah, definitely.
I know, say for instance, I happenedto be on Kangaroo Island, around the
(09:57):
marathon time last year, and I met a, afellow parkrun tourist and this fellow
loves traveling him and his wife, and,I happened to be in Canada, earlier
this year, and I was at a parkrun onCanada today, which is a special event.
So it's a parkrun that's heldoutside of the normal Saturday.
(10:17):
And I walked straight upthere and I said, get hey.
And he goes, what are you doing here?
It's just like, uh.
parkrun.
So, so here I'm on the other side, inthe Northern hemisphere, other side of
the world, and meeting people that Iphysically can go up and say, I know
who you are, and they know who I am.
And it's all because of parkrun.
(10:38):
So, yeah, the parkrun world is, isvery small, so yeah, it's amazing.
And how much traveling do youactually do for all of this?
Uh, a lot.
the thing is, is that.
We just love jumping in the carand going for a drive, right?
So, and be it in South Australia orVictoria or New South Wales, or even even
Queensland wa, we've done a lot of drivingin and say, for instance, I, I'll give
(11:03):
you another example of just traveling.
You know, the thing is, is we travelall these major highways and now some
of these major highways in small ruraltowns, it wouldn't typically stop in.
Have park a certain example of, sayNhill in Western Victoria, you know,
we stayed in Nhill and the hotel westayed at had a pinball museum, right.
(11:28):
And they had pinballs dating back to theseventies and I think even the sixties,
and then some of the modern ones.
So here we go.
We're playing pinballs in a pinballmuseum, in a motel we're staying at.
And then the fellow.
had rocks for sale and I'm a geologist, soautomatically I'll go up to the rocks and
start going and saying, oh, look at that.
And the, and because I've named themineral, the fellows looked at me like,
(11:52):
how come you know any about rocks?
And I'm like, that's my job, right?
So already we've created a connectionof playing this fellow's pinball
machines, but at the same time,uh, looking at his rocks and then,
then that, uh, after parkrun.
We had breakfast with this, with these,uh, Nhill's got a excellent community,
(12:13):
of older generation, volunteers.
So there's one lady there thatactually has, a book, right?
And it's almost like a, a logbook of who, of all the visitors
that have turned up, right?
So.
We arrived and she goes,you have to sign our book.
And I'm like, oh, okay.
I said, gimme a second.
And I went back to the insidecover and flicked a few pages.
(12:35):
I see.
See those two names?
There's my brothers.
Right.
So my brothers had actually run thatparkrun a a few years before, but
then after, uh, having breakfast.
with the, the, one of the localblokes there, he said, you've gotta
go to the Nhill Aviation Museum.
And so we had a great time.
There's, they've got four planes inthis museum and, and a lot of, you know,
(12:58):
memorabilia, with respect to the war.
And, so what it's done is here'sthis tiny little community that
you'd normally pass through, andsuddenly the experiences we've had
in a wheat belt town within Victoria.
Very unique, and we would not havedone that without parkrun, and we
would not have had these excellentconversations with people that we
(13:20):
probably wouldn't have generally.
And again, it's all becauseof the sense of community and
being in a locality for parkrun.
So, yeah.
So yeah.
So it, so to become a parkrun touristor a statesman, it takes quite a
bit of travel, but at the, at thesame time, the spirit of adventure.
(13:42):
But the want and needto just go and explore.
And Australia's an amazingplace to explore and do free
5K runs every Saturday morning.
And there's about, well there's over500 actually in, in Australia, so I.
That's like 10 years worth of parkrunningif you're, if you're right into it.
(14:02):
Yeah.
And you know, I've done a few events,in my 12 years of parkrun and yeah,
there, there's still a lot of eventsin Australia that I would love to do.
It just comes down to time andmaybe a little bit of money.
Yeah, the traveling is a, is a bigpart of that and you've gotta be
available, I guess, for that and,willing to do it and able to achieve it.
(14:24):
So,
yeah, definitely.
And the, I'm quite lucky 'cause I've,and my brothers, they love to parkrun and
they're in Victoria and New South Wales.
So what it does is it, and alsoSandy's sisters are in New Zealand and.
When we travel to go and see family it,we always make sure we do a parkrun.
(14:45):
And by doing a parkrun with familymembers, it creates a shared experience.
And I think having a shared experiencewith, um, family members around a,
a common interest, it means thatyou can talk about it for years and
sometimes you get adverse weather aswell, like where it gets really hot.
So I did Night Cliff Park around withmy brother and it was that hot that
(15:06):
I had sweat running outta my hands.
And it was like, are you okay?
And I'm like, yeah, I think I'm okay.
But it was just super hot.
And then other times we'vejust been rained on like crazy.
So, but the thing is, is that.
It's those sort of of times thatcreate memories that will last forever.
Talking about that, we'llmove on to the next question.
(15:27):
We've heard what it takes,Dan to be a parkrun statesman.
Now we'll have a break, and after thebreak we'll have a look at what it means.
We've heard what it takes,Dan to be a parkrun statesman.
(15:47):
Now let's have a look at what does itmean, Dan, what does it mean to you,
your family or the community that youare able to be a parkrun statesman?
It actually means a lot, Paul.
Uh, the thing is, is with respectto family, we love to travel, so we
create shared experience with familymembers and in doing so, we meet a lot
(16:11):
of really good people along the way.
And so.
You've actually by traveling with parkrun.
So what it means to me is that I'vecreated a lot, a lot more people
that I know around the world.
and quite a lot, I consider friends.
And at the same time, with respect tomy brothers, we've had some excellent
(16:32):
experiences, or with Sandy's sisterJoe, we've just, you know, we've
traveled, jumped in the car anddriven a thousand kilometers just to
go and do a free five kilometer run.
But I think what it does is it, it's thesense of community, which is what I love.
Right.
So you can, you can talk toanyone within the state about
(16:52):
parkrun in Western Australia.
And therefore you've already gotthat shared experience of loads.
You go to Kalgoorlie and there's a,there's a big hill in Kalgoorlie,
but you wouldn't expect that, right?
So you'll have a chat to someone andthey're like, I'm going to Kalgoorlie.
And you're like, oh, wow.
There's a hill there.
Like you think it's flat, but it's not.
And so you can actually talkabout locations and different
(17:15):
parkruns and connect withpeople that you don't even know.
And at the, at the end of it, we allwalk away with a smile on our face.
It's like.
Oh, that Black knows about my town.
Oh.
And he said that he, he'sdone this in my town.
And it's like, but noone goes to that town.
So, so at the same time, I, I, what itdoes is that it, it opens your eyes up
(17:37):
to, uh, to the state and the world, butalso it creates opportunity to, to, to
have discussion points with other people.
But at the same time, it's just, I justthink it's a beautiful thing, right?
That you can sit and chat to people thatyou don't even know know from a bath.
So, and then just have a sharedcommon interest and at the end of it.
(18:01):
And, And sometimes likewe'll have a parkrun coffee.
And you go, okay, I've had coffeeand then suddenly it's morning tea.
And then after morning tea,suddenly, lunches come out.
And then it's like afterlunch we've left coffee.
Right?
So at times we up to, sometimes I'vehad parkrun coffees that have gone
for say, five hours, and you cantalk a lot about parkrun in five
(18:23):
hours, but at the same time, we allwalk away with a smile on our face.
So, which is great.
Sometimes it sounds like, Nhill, wasit that, uh, that you talked about, you
come away with so much more than that.
Oh, definitely.
Yeah.
You, you just do.
So, so the thing about say with Nhillis it had a, a wonderful aircraft
(18:43):
museum that we wouldn't have been reallyaware of unless we had a chat to this,
this old fellow that was volunteering.
And, uh, So we love parkrun andwe love travel, but suddenly
we've gone to an aircraft museum.
It's like, this is really interesting.
And then in doing so, we've likestarted going to all these different
aircraft museums around Australialooking for F1 elevens, right?
(19:06):
So these classic jets outta theseventies and eighties and nineties.
I think they decommissionedin the early two thousands.
And, uh, so we've gone to Darwin andEvan's head and the Queensland Aircraft
Museum in, on the Sunshine Coastjust to see these magnificent jets.
Right?
So.
So what we do is we combine ourparkrun experience with a little
(19:30):
bit of tourism, but also our loveof looking at old planes, which
has been quite, quite amazing.
So it definitely enhancesyour tourism opportunities.
Oh, definitely.
Ah, yeah.
So, yeah, sometimes I'll go to alocation and I'll, I'll walk up to
people and go, I met you three orfour years ago at such and such.
(19:51):
And they'll go, oh, wow, you did too.
And then automatically we've got thatshared experience of we're at that
location together and now we're here.
And I think the thing about sometimeswhen you're running as a group, it's,
it's just really nice, but runningwith people that you know or, or
sort of even know of, it's, yeah.
Collectively, it's quite a lot of fun.
(20:12):
Definitely expands your social circles.
Yeah, somewhat.
Yeah.
It has.
So it.
It has.
Definitely.
So the thing is, is even, you know,for me, I've worked in the mining
industry and it was sort of, it isquite a relatively small industry.
But by doing parkrun, I've,I've actually got to meet
(20:34):
people outside of my discipline.
'cause, you know, most of my friends atthe time were all within my discipline.
And in doing so, it sort of opened my,it's broadened my horizons on, on what
other people do with respect to work or.
Things that they enjoy and soyeah, I think park run's well.
Actually, it's funny because early onwith parkrun, like I wasn't a runner
(21:00):
and there was in 20 13, 20 14, therewas all these people, there's there
were all new to running and they'relike, I might do a half marathon.
And I'm like, really?
And like, oh, I've neverdone a half marathon.
And like, come do it.
Like, oh, okay.
So suddenly what happened is early on thisparkrun community of people that I didn't
(21:23):
even know were suddenly running throughthe bush for 48 kilometers in Dwellingup
or running my first marathon or, uh, butthe thing is, is that it was all about
quite a number of these parkrunner saying.
I know you, you can do it.
So we had all these enablers in thereand there was this huge, um, sort of
(21:44):
explosion of running events at thetime and all these people that I knew,
and it was quite an exciting timeand that sort of led me onto running
with my brothers, for, you know,longer distance events, more than 5K.
But in reality it really started about.
A simple free five, five kilometerrun on a Saturday morning.
It's impressive.
(22:05):
The coverage.
And they say it's not about the run,it's about the coffee afterwards.
Oh, definitely.
Yeah.
As I said, like we've had, youknow, coffees that'll lasted for
five hours, say, and typically it'smore than one coffee, and then you
had more coffee and then you starttalking quicker and, oh, look out.
we've heard a lot about, Whatit means to Dan that he's able
(22:25):
to be a parkrun states person.
We'll have a break now, and after thebreak we'll have a look at how you do it,
We've had a look at what it means thatDan is able to be a parkrun statesman.
Now let's have a lookat how you do it, Dan.
(22:48):
If someone wanted tobecome a statesperson.
How would they go about it?
Well, first up, you need to registerfor parkrun, so you need to be,
have your own unique athletebarcode, which is essentially like
your runner identification number.
Then you need to look at the, the spread,the geographical spread of events.
(23:10):
And the best way to do it is tostart going to your local parkrun
and just, just going and enjoying it.
And, and then, you know, everyfew weeks just branch out and,
and go to a different one.
And there's, there's quitea number of different events
within the Perth, metro area.
The thing is, is that in order to toachieve a, a parkrun statesmanship
(23:32):
within a state or territory, itdoes require quite a bit of travel.
So what I would suggest isfind, some kindred spirits.
So find those people that.
Wanna jump in the car and, and drive 800Ks to Carnarvon or, you know, 500 Ks to
Albany or whatever it is, or Kalgoorlie.
and share that experience and alsoshare the cost and, uh, and just,
(23:56):
just start traveling and startexploring, is much easier on a
plane, but that costs a bit more.
So you need a little bit of timeand you need a little bit of money,
but in reality, you need the, thecommitment and drive to achieve.
Achieve statesmanship,
and then you can keepa track of it somehow.
Yeah, there's a number of differentapps that can track your running events.
(24:19):
So the parkrun 5K app, which is like apurple background with a little white man.
That's a, that's an excellent app fortracking, uh, your progress against, uh.
The events within your state or territory.
And there's another app calledRunning Achievements, which is very
similar, but it'll actually sort ofbreak down the events state by state.
(24:39):
Uh, so yeah, that's, that's always ahelpful guide to try and understand
what you still need to do inorder to achieve a statesmanship.
And then from there, it's aboutwhat you can handle from a
travel perspective, isn't it?
Yeah, that's true, Paul.
So with respect to me sitting herein Perth now after completing all
(24:59):
the events within Western Australia,my ndi, which is my nearest
event, not done yet, is actually.
2010 kilometers away,which is Alice Springs.
So, but that's 2010kilometers as the crow flies.
And, uh, so it's from here it'sprobably a three day drive.
(25:20):
So that takes a little bit of, planningand effort to, to get there, obviously.
So.
Are you looking forward to that?
Oh, definitely.
Yeah, so I'd say so Sandy, and I'llprobably be, be in the car at the end of,
end of this month or actually next month.
And uh, and we'll actually drivethrough the Great Central Road.
(25:40):
So through, you know, there's a lotof flat country out there, but when
you're traveling through the centerof Australia, it is just got this.
Like an untamed beauty andendless skies of a nighttime.
you know, the colors are extraordinary andI think for me that has been one of the,
(26:00):
sort of the greatest joys of, of beinga parkrun tourist is actually going to
explore different parts of Australia andgoing to places that you wouldn't normally
go to just for a free five kilometer run.
So yeah, I think.
We're quite fortunate to be ableto just jump in the car and go for
a drive, and so yeah, it's great.
So Dan, is there anything else that youneed to become a parkrun states person?
(26:27):
Well, the thing about parkrun is you canrun or walk, parkrun is for everyone.
And I think that's what I loveabout it, is the inclusiveness.
So it doesn't matter how fastor how slow you go, you still
complete a five kilometer distance.
And really like the, the entry intoparkrun is you just need a pair
of sneakers and either a pair oftrack pants or shorts, a t-shirt
(26:50):
or a running top, which is actuallyrelatively, cheap to to purchase.
So like the.
There's no real barriers toentry for parkrun, and I think
that's what I love about it.
It is for everyone.
So as long as you've got a a, a pair ofshoes that you can move five kilometers
in and you can turn up on a Saturdaymorning at either eight o'clock,
(27:10):
it does change around the country.
And you've got a smile and your athleteid, then you are off and racing or
walking or whatever you want to do.
And I think that's what I loveabout parkrun is it's for everyone.
I like the, uh, conceptof bringing the smile.
Oh, I definitely, yeah.
I think the having a smilemeans you're enjoying yourself.
(27:34):
, the thing is, is you know, if youbring a smile to parkrun, it means that
people will want to talk to you, right?
Because you're having fun.
But at the same time, when you'vegot an excellent photographer around,
such as Paul here, then you cancapture lifelong memories that you
can share with friends and familyaround something that you enjoy.
(27:55):
And so that's why I love, runningwith friends and family is that
sometimes you can get those sort of.
Candid moments caught while you're allenjoying yourself, that you can, you
know, send home to mom and dad and they'relike, it puts a smile on their face even
though they can't actually do parkrun.
So I, I think that's what it does, is itis parkrun and having some great photos
(28:20):
around parkrun, it touches just more than.
You and the participants, it actually,it spreads its wings as probably to,
you know, another five to 10 times asmany people as what there is at parkrun.
And I think that's what I love as well.
And, and I'm, all you really wantis for someone to be inspired
to get up and give it a go.
(28:42):
And, uh, and that's, that's what I love.
So yeah.
Thank you for the complimenton my photography.
Really is the photos, uh, of you, butthey're for the people around you.
And I hope that everyone who has aphoto taken at parkrun takes that
photo and pops it into their stash ofphotos that, help describe their life.
(29:05):
Oh, definitely.
And I, I, I've got some cracker photosover the years of, of, and quite a lot
you've taken of jump shots, uh, arounddifferent locations or just me just
running with people and you just see thesheer joy of just being out there on a
Saturday morning just going for a jog.
And, uh, and that's, that's what I love.
(29:27):
Right.
And then, You'll send those photos.
We've, we've actually got a littleparkrun chat group, which is, you
know, involves people from the uk, uh,sometimes South Africa, Norway, Australia.
And we just, every, every weekendwe are pinging photos to each other.
Like, oh, have a look at this.
Oh, this is great.
Oh, we got rain on.
Oh, it's too hot.
(29:48):
Or, but, but the thing is, is.
But then sometimes we've gotphotos taken, saved by you,
Paul, and we'll send them out.
And people are like, wow, who took that?
And they're like, not me.
But at the same time, what it doesis it just captures the moment.
So, and I think that's important.
Yeah.
Photography is a big part ofwhat parkrun does as well.
(30:09):
So there's a whole group ofvery well accomplished photo
photographers out there.
And, uh, yeah, they, they do agreat job at, uh, at most events.
Yep.
And the thing is, is that, and it'snot just Australia, you know, um,
my, uh, sister-in-law, Joe, shewas just talking to me the other
day about the, uh, the fellow that.
(30:30):
inspires other people in New Zealandto take very good photos of parkrun.
Uh, I think it was a photo and videoambassador and uh, yeah, and she
was having a chat to this fellowand, and should have seen her.
She was like the joy in her, like justsay, oh, I met this guy and it was about
this and this, and it was just, andand I'm like, well we are very lucky
'cause we know Paul here, so it's great.
(30:52):
Thank you very much Danfor being on Forrest.Chat.
And all Forrest.Chat listeners, wish youall the best with your future endeavors.
Oh, thanks Paul.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Absolutely.
Thank you for coming on the show, Dan.
You've been listening to Forrest.Chatwhere we talk about individual endeavor
in Western Australia, what it takes,what it means, and how you do it.
(31:16):
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey, andin today's episode we talked with
Dan Baldwin about being a parkrun.
Statesman.
Remember, there are four ways toget involved with Forrest Chat.
Share the domain, Forrest Chat withyour friends and family and people
you meet when you sign up for theemails, you get notice of the episodes.
(31:37):
Listen to the episodes atForrest Chat slash episodes.
If you do something interesting and, otherpeople might find interesting as well.
Book an interview atForrest.Chat slash interview
if you wanna support a smallbusiness, book an advert at
Forrest.Chat slash advert.
I'm looking forward to joiningyou with our next guest.
(31:59):
Until then, enjoy making it happen.
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