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Speaker 1: Well, the Santa Fun Run, it is coming back up.

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Speaker 1: It's happening on the twenty sixth, as I understand it,

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Speaker 1: of November. And joining me on the line to tell

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Speaker 1: us more about the Santa Fun Run and what we

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Speaker 1: can expect it is Donna Rusham from Well, she's the

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Speaker 1: founder of the Starfish Swim program. Good morning to you, Donna.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Cady, Good morning to your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now Donna again, back again. It is such a wonderful event.

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Speaker 1: So it's happening on the twenty six this.

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Speaker 2: Match, yes, so give us a little bit of leeway,

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Speaker 2: not this weekend, not this Sunday, the following Sunday.

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Speaker 1: I was getting excited, Donna. I was thinking, oh, well

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Speaker 1: that's the way.

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Speaker 2: That's what we want people to get excited. So, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you could be the forerunner of it.

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Speaker 1: I can just go and run this weekend on my

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Speaker 1: own in a Santa outfit. I'm unfortunately going to be

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Speaker 1: away for it this year, which.

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Speaker 2: I'm a good timing Cady.

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Speaker 1: No, it's not good timing. But Donna, it is a

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Speaker 1: wonderful event. Tell us how the preparations coming along.

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Speaker 2: Yes, they're coming along. Well, we are looking for more

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Speaker 2: registrations as we do. At this time. It was, you know,

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Speaker 2: two weeks out looking for more people to register. Naturally,

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Speaker 2: it's Darwin. As we all know, people leave it till

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Speaker 2: the last minute. They're waiting to see how hot it's

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Speaker 2: going to be or whether it's going to rain or whatever.

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Speaker 2: We say, okay, we're only ten days now, hit it.

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Speaker 2: It's time to come in. Don't miss don't miss out.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, all the preparations Variety Children Charity are organizing

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Speaker 2: at all that. As you said before, all the funds

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Speaker 2: come to my staff is Shwim Group, which is fantastic.

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Speaker 2: There's a great it's Katie. I just can't explain the

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Speaker 2: spectacles that when you walk in there and you see

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Speaker 2: all the Santa Clauses, and it's not only the little kids,

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Speaker 2: it's the big kid all dressed up in their outfits

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Speaker 2: as well. It's just amazing with you know, everything going

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Speaker 2: on around and people, you know, the troubles are around.

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Speaker 2: You walk in for that one day and it's just

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Speaker 2: for a couple of hours. So it's six thirty. Six

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Speaker 2: thirty is the gates open, and then there's the zoomber

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Speaker 2: which they have and then the run, walk, stroll whatever

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Speaker 2: starts at seven point thirty, so to see all the

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Speaker 2: Sandy's in the standus doing the zomber and then off

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Speaker 2: they go on the run and see the kids, the

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Speaker 2: smiles on the kid's faces. It's priceles. They love it.

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Speaker 1: They absolutely love it. Donna tell us, you know, to

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Speaker 1: those who've never taken part before, explain to them exactly

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Speaker 1: you know what it's all about, and well and you

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Speaker 1: know what the all like what they sort of do

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Speaker 1: in the morning. They get their Santa outfit. But that's

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Speaker 1: part of your registration, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: That's right when you register it you get and there's

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Speaker 2: different if you go online, they'll have like a fora

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Speaker 2: an adult, it's thirty dollars to register and you get

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Speaker 2: a Sanda suit. If it's a child up to eighteen,

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Speaker 2: it's ten dollars. But they don't have any Sandy suits

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Speaker 2: of the kid's sizes anymore. But you can wear your

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Speaker 2: own clothes dress up for it. If there's a family

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Speaker 2: of two and three kids, that's the seventy dollars, team

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Speaker 2: of five adults one hundred and twenty five, or a

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Speaker 2: team of ten two hundred dollars. So it's yes, as

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Speaker 2: I said six point thirty, the doors open to the

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Speaker 2: Convention Center car park. YEP. Seven fifteen is the warm

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Speaker 2: up for the zumba. The fun starts the race. Well,

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Speaker 2: it's not a race, as we said, it's walk, run,

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Speaker 2: how stroll, dance however you want to do. At seven

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Speaker 2: point thirty. And at eight o'clock they've got the Darwin

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Speaker 2: City Brass bands and kids entertainment. At nine o'clock you've

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Speaker 2: got your Lucky Bib draw and your Raffle Tickets draw. Now,

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Speaker 2: when you get your Santa suit, you get a bib

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Speaker 2: to put.

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Speaker 3: On it with a number, and that number all those

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Speaker 3: bibs then numbers go into the draw and the Air

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Speaker 3: North has been wonderful once again in giving sponsoring.

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Speaker 2: I think it's travel vouchers for the lucky for the

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Speaker 2: Lucky Bib draw, and then you've got raffle tickets. Wonderful

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Speaker 2: raffle tickets. Now that'll be water. There's a barbecue after

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Speaker 2: pigg and stay and buy, buy sausages and whatever. Everybody.

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Speaker 2: Each participant will get a water bottle, one freach participant

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Speaker 2: and then the power and water trailer. Water trailer will

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Speaker 2: be there so you can keep filling your bottles, so

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Speaker 2: we're making sure everyone stays hydra.

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Speaker 1: We don't want them to dehydrate, Donna, No, not, we

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Speaker 1: don't at all.

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Speaker 2: And it's over very quickly. By nine point thirty. Everything's done,

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Speaker 2: and because it's starting to get hot, people can take

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Speaker 2: their little kids home. They've been up early. They can

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Speaker 2: take the kids home, they can have a swim in

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Speaker 2: the waterfront there, whatever. So it's a nice quick morning

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Speaker 2: and all the fun happening in that short time.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, now, Donna tell us and look, I know

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Speaker 1: that some people, if they've listened to the show for

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Speaker 1: a while, they will know you. They'll know a bit

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Speaker 1: about the Starfish from school. But for those who don't,

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Speaker 1: explain to our listeners exactly what the Starfish Swimming program

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Speaker 1: is because it is a phenomenal thing that's helping some

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Speaker 1: wonderful kids in the community.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I started this in two thousand and that have

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Speaker 2: been going eighteen years. I started it basically because a

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Speaker 2: lot of people will know Tarani and you know she's

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Speaker 2: gone on to be a world champion swimmer. But those

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Speaker 2: opportunities aren't available, aren't as readily available to kids with disabilities,

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Speaker 2: and there's any of the families or other people that

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Speaker 2: have friends with kids with disabilities, it is very hard

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Speaker 2: for them to fit into a mainstream group. Families try.

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Speaker 2: I know I was one of those families. I've walked

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Speaker 2: this path as well, to fit into a mainstream group.

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Speaker 2: To get your child to sit there and wait while

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Speaker 2: it's their turn. There might be five or six kids

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Speaker 2: in the group. That's just really difficult. And so you know,

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Speaker 2: the kids, especially the kids that are coming through with

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Speaker 2: autism these days, that's just a real it's a trigger

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Speaker 2: for you know, things to come on after. So I

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Speaker 2: decided people coming to me and saying, oh, you're lucky

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Speaker 2: with Tarani, and I said, well, I'm not lucky. I've

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Speaker 2: got her settled. And I felt that I needed to

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Speaker 2: I had. I had some influence in the community. People

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Speaker 2: knew of me, and I thought, okay, I need to

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Speaker 2: do something. But the ironical thing is, and people will laugh,

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Speaker 2: I don't swim and I hate the water. How funny

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Speaker 2: is that?

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Speaker 1: So you've got a World champions for me in daughter.

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Speaker 2: So I started blind going well, what the hell do

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Speaker 2: I do? How do I do this? So we you know,

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Speaker 2: over the years, I'm not going to go how we've

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Speaker 2: gone through it, but over the years things have changed.

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Speaker 2: Till about maybe five years ago it came It was

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Speaker 2: very evident to me just from an observation, you know,

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Speaker 2: watching and monitoring the kids and seeing that we had

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Speaker 2: to get down to one on one the kids will learn.

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Speaker 2: So it's just the teacher and the child in the water.

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Speaker 2: It gives them that so much more opportunity, no distractions,

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Speaker 2: other kids in there, no other noises around, and the

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Speaker 2: learning just goes it just goes ahead, and they build

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Speaker 2: a relationship up really quickly. There's respect on both sides,

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Speaker 2: and I think that's what's been now the deciding factor

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Speaker 2: as to why we have been so successful. Eighty eight

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Speaker 2: kids in the program at the moment, Wow, that is phenomenal.

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Speaker 1: It is such a wonderful, wonderful program. I mean, look,

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Speaker 1: everybody knows I love sport. I love what it does

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Speaker 1: for kids, and then when I look at something like

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Speaker 1: this swimming program for our kids, I just think it's

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Speaker 1: phenomenal and exactly what we should be out there raising

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Speaker 1: money for in a couple of weekends time.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that's what I encourage everybody to come and

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Speaker 2: have fun and knowing that you know, it's a twofile

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Speaker 2: thing that you're having fun, your kids are having fun,

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Speaker 2: but it's going to a great cause in which I've

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Speaker 2: just explained to you. So get out there. It's a

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Speaker 2: santisational morning. We're calling it the Santa sac Santisational. I

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Speaker 2: love it.

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Speaker 1: Don't know where? Can people jump online if they want

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Speaker 1: to register to take part?

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Speaker 2: Okay, they can if they've seen a flyer. The flyers

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Speaker 2: are around, or they can ring the variety office, or

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Speaker 2: they can ring back at the Variety office. Do you

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Speaker 2: want me to give her No.

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Speaker 1: That's all right, we can just we can send people

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Speaker 1: to the to the Variety office. I think it's pretty

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Speaker 1: easy for them to jump online, Google it and I'll

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Speaker 1: be able to find it there.

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Speaker 2: And I think they go on ticket ticki bow is

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Speaker 2: it one Tickney Boobo Tickeny Boom. There you go there,

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Speaker 2: you go there and buy their tickets on there, and

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Speaker 2: there's more information on there as well. It's only a

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Speaker 2: two kilometer course around the waterfront. It's beautiful that time

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Speaker 2: of the morning, so no excuses if it's too hotter

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Speaker 2: or it's wet.

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Speaker 3: Just do it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, wonderful stuff. Well, Donna, it is always lovely to

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Speaker 1: talk to you. I appreciate your time this morning, and

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Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see all those photos of

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Speaker 1: everybody in their Santa outfits.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Katie for wries.

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Speaker 1: No worries at all. Thanks Donna, see y