From left: Mark Heywood, social activist and parkrunner | Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE, founder of parkrun, author of One Small Step | Bruce Fordyce, Columnist, ultramarathon athlete. (Photos: Supplied) 
10 takeaways from the webinar:
- Genesis and growth: The webinar celebrated Paul Sinton-Hewitt’s new book, One Small Step, The Definitive Account of a Run that Became a Global Movement, detailing parkrun’s origins and its fundamental values that have birthed a global social movement.
- Visionary voices: Moderator Mark Heywood highlighted the rare collaboration of Sinton-Hewitt, the visionary founder, and Fordyce, a nine-time Comrades Marathon winner and parkrun SA president.
- Explosive expansion: Beginning with just 13 runners in 2004, parkrun has exploded to more than 2,600 events in 25 countries, boasting 11+ million registered participants and nearly half a million weekly global attendees.
- Founder’s roots: Sinton-Hewitt revealed how his challenging childhood profoundly shaped parkrun’s core values: a run that will be free forever, an emphasis on fairness, and a commitment to building a sense of family.
- Fordyce’s pivotal role: Bruce Fordyce, initially a sceptic, became a passionate advocate after running the Bushy Park parkrun in London. He was instrumental in launching parkrun in South Africa in 2011, now with 1.6 million registered members.
- Inclusivity through slower paces: parkrun prides itself on its inclusivity; “slower” average finish times (eg, 43 minutes in SA) reflect greater participation by walkers and people of all abilities.
- The community’s heartbeat: Volunteers are the bedrock of parkrun’s operations. The discussion underscored the strong volunteer spirit in parkruns across the world, highlighting the reciprocal joy of giving back to the community.
- Charity, not competition: parkrun is fundamentally a health and wellbeing charity, not a competitive race. This mission guides decisions like removing public competitive stats, reinforcing its focus on participation, and social connection.
- Protecting core values: Sinton-Hewitt and Fordyce stressed the critical importance of safeguarding parkrun’s founding values: free forever, a volunteer-led structure, and resistance to commercialisation, essential for its continued global reach.
- A springboard: parkrun serves as a powerful catalyst for personal transformation, inspiring individuals from spectators to volunteers, walkers to runners, and ultimately fostering healthier, happier communities worldwide. DM
Paul Sinton-Hewitt’s inspiring book, One Small Step, a testament to hope and community, is a must-read. Find it now at the Daily Maverick Shop.
This summary was generated with the assistance of the Gemini AI language model.