<p>Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun, was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa at the age of five, where he was brought up in care with his two siblings. Always a keen middle distance runner, he was a second for a friend in one of South Africa's most gruelling road races. Eventually he moved to the UK to work in IT and raise a family. </p><p>After a perfect storm of redundancy, marriage breakdown and an injury which prevented him from running with his own club, he decided he'd start a time trial in a local park, for his running club pals. The only proviso that they had to have coffee and cake with him afterwards. </p><p>Twenty years later, that timed run that he started has outpaced anything he could have envisaged and turned into parkrun. The 5k run around local parks on a Saturday morning, has gone global and the parkrun community has hundreds of thousands of people running or volunteering as stewards every week. Stephen Smith finds out what makes Paul Sinton-Hewitt run. </p><p>PRESENTER: Stephen Smith</p><p>PRODUCTION TEAM</p><p>Producers: Julie Ball, Natasha Fernandes, Farhana Haider Editor: Tom Bigwood Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Sound: Neil Churchill</p><p>CONTRIBUTORS</p><p>Roun Barry, School friend Hugh Brasher, Director, London Marathon Bruce Fordyce, Marathon runner Duncan Gaskell, parkrunner and friend Russ Jeffereys - CEO, parkrun Eileen Jones, Author and parkrunner Joanne Sinton-Hewitt, Wife</p>

Profile

BBC Radio 4

Paul Sinton-Hewitt

APR 20, 202414 MIN
Profile

Paul Sinton-Hewitt

APR 20, 202414 MIN

Description

<p>Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun, was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa at the age of five, where he was brought up in care with his two siblings. Always a keen middle distance runner, he was a second for a friend in one of South Africa's most gruelling road races. Eventually he moved to the UK to work in IT and raise a family. </p><p>After a perfect storm of redundancy, marriage breakdown and an injury which prevented him from running with his own club, he decided he'd start a time trial in a local park, for his running club pals. The only proviso that they had to have coffee and cake with him afterwards. </p><p>Twenty years later, that timed run that he started has outpaced anything he could have envisaged and turned into parkrun. The 5k run around local parks on a Saturday morning, has gone global and the parkrun community has hundreds of thousands of people running or volunteering as stewards every week. Stephen Smith finds out what makes Paul Sinton-Hewitt run. </p><p>PRESENTER: Stephen Smith</p><p>PRODUCTION TEAM</p><p>Producers: Julie Ball, Natasha Fernandes, Farhana Haider Editor: Tom Bigwood Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Sound: Neil Churchill</p><p>CONTRIBUTORS</p><p>Roun Barry, School friend Hugh Brasher, Director, London Marathon Bruce Fordyce, Marathon runner Duncan Gaskell, parkrunner and friend Russ Jeffereys - CEO, parkrun Eileen Jones, Author and parkrunner Joanne Sinton-Hewitt, Wife</p>