From a small meetup to global phenomenon: How parkrun got 10 million people obsessed with running

On a crisp autumn morning in 2004, 13 runners gathered in London's Bushy Park for an informal 5 kilometre run, unknowingly setting the stage for what would grow into a global fitness phenomenon.

“I didn’t know who was going to join me on that day,” says Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun (yes, it's all lowercase). “I didn’t care how many people came. I would be on the start line every single week for the rest of my life and I would help people to run.”

What began as a local, weekly gathering soon transformed into something far beyond what Sinton-Hewitt, a software developer who grew up in South Africa, had ever imagined.

Two decades later, parkrun celebrates its 20th anniversary, with over 2,500 events taking place across more than 20 countries, including in 25 prisons. With more than 10 million participants and over 100 million recorded finishes, parkrun has become a worldwide movement.

What is the concept of parkrun?

For the uninitiated, parkrun is an organised weekly 5-kilometre (3.1 mile) fun run, held in local parks around the world. It was started by Sinton-Hewitt with the goal of providing an accessible, inclusive, and non-competitive running event for people of all ages and abilities.

The volunteer-run meetups are open to anyone and everyone, and even better, are completely free! Attendees are encourage to walk, jog or run at their own pace. Each participant's time is recorded, allowing them to track their progress over time.

“I never wanted to sell the concept of, ‘Here’s something that you should come and do,’” Sinton-Hewitt said. “I wanted it to sell itself, and it did that because people inherently felt it was good.”

The health benefits of parkrun

Unsurprisingly, taking part in a parkrun can be very good for your health...

The World Health Organization has endorsed the fun run for offering an accessible way to be physically active and more than 2,000 doctor’s offices have partnerships with the organisation to promote its health benefits.

And according to a study in PLOS Global Public Health, more than 45,000 people who registered for parkrun this year in the UK reported having been completely inactive before signing up.

“All of us say it’s changed our lives,” said Caroline Noon, who started running around age 50 and has completed more than 320 Parkruns.

Dr Naushin Hossain, another runner, says "It has increased my confidence because running makes me feel stronger. I'm happy, healthier and it brings me close to other runners and mountaineers as well. And they really are happy confident people. So it has helped me with my confidence massively."

A growing community

According to Sinton-Hewitt, the organisation shows no sign of slowing down in its race to making running accessible to all.

Lithuania recently became the 23rd country to offer parkrun in its capital, Vilnius. Uganda, Portugal and Switzerland are likely to be next. Ireland currently leads globally in parkrun participation, with 8-9% of its population registered.

“We’re the smallest that we will ever be,” states Sinton-Hewitt. “In 20 years time when we come back and have this chat again those numbers are going to be minuscule. So it’s a bizarre thing.”