By Mitch Phillips
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) – The cake and balloons will be out again at Bushy Park in south-west London on Saturday as the phenomenon that is parkrun marks yet another milestone, this one surely the most incredible of all along its 22-year journey – the millionth event.
That is not the one millionth individual run – there have been almost 140 million of those – but, including junior 2km versions, the one millionth free, timed, 5km run organised and delivered by an army of volunteers.
The origin story is as well-trodden as Bushy Park’s lush turf at 9am every Saturday, but never loses anything in the retelling. In October 2004 Zimbabwe-born, South Africa-raised Paul Sinton-Hewitt organised a time trial in his local park for fellow club runners.
Thirteen people took part, with another five helping out from the sidelines in what came to be called the Bushy Park Time Trial.
Within a few years the concept had spread to other U.K. locations and took on the new name of parkrun. Then came the explosion into the astonishing movement it has become today.
There are no entry fees or race numbers. People register once and get given a bar code which is scanned by a volunteer at the finish. A few hours later an email with their finishing position, time and age-grading drops into their inbox.
More than 12 million people are registered and there are 2,800 parkruns across 23 countries. Every week around a quarter of a million people take part – some busting their lungs in search of a personal best, others enjoying a leisurely walk or a run with dogs, children or buggies.
Some events have a handful of runners, others have several hundred. When Bushy celebrated its 1,000th event two years ago more than 6,000 turned up.
What Sinton-Hewitt is most proud of, however, is not the run but everything that comes with it – which is why he is delighted that the average finishing time continues to drop every year, showing that parkrun is reaching way beyond the traditional running community.
More than 30,000 people volunteer every week, with the post-race coffee and chat an essential part of the morning for many of them.
More than 2,200 GP surgeries in the U.K. are twinned with a parkrun as part of the parkrun practice programme which see doctors socially prescribe parkrun to help patients with a range of mental health conditions.
Similarly over 2,000 schools have signed up for parkrun primary, an initiative which links primary schools to junior parkrun events to help get children more active and in their local communities.
There are also parkruns held in 25 prisons and young offenders’ institutions, impacting the lives of more than 12,000 of those in custody.
Sinton-Hewitt will be back where it all started on Saturday as part of parkrun’s “Thanks a Million” celebration and, just as he does at every landmark, finds himself shaking his head in disbelief at the monster he inadvertently created.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the first event here at Bushy Park would be the first of one million parkruns across the world,” he said.
“It has been an incredible journey of lives changed and communities built by people from all backgrounds coming together every weekend to run, walk and volunteer,” he said. “One million events later, the best part of parkrun is still the community.”
Sinton-Hewitt told the story in his 2024 book “One Small Step – the definitive account of a run that became a global movement”, which became a huge bestseller, with all profits going to the parkrun charity.
“Whether you volunteer or you run or you walk, it’s all the same,” he said. “It’s about three key things – being outdoors, being active and being social – a time to be with friends and my family.”
“I have lost count of the number of times people have said it not only changed their lives but in some cases saved their lives.”
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Clare Fallon)
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