Paul Sinton-Hewitt

‘It was the bonds I made with people through running that helped me to feel like I belonged.’From childhood, Paul Sinton-Hewitt understood the intrinsic need for connection and belonging. After navigating the care system of South Africa in his childhood and enduring both his career and marriage breaking down years later, he turned to running as a lifeline. Longing for community and purpose, he had one simple idea: he would start a weekly run every Saturday morning in his local park. No prizes, no pressure, no fee. His only rule: he would always be there, whether anyone showed up or not. From the thirteen runners who joined that first weekend, Paul created parkrun, which has grown into a truly global community over twenty years and united millions of people from all walks of life. One Small Step is more than Paul’s inspiring memoir; it’s a blueprint for how coming together in simple ways can improve the health and happiness of millions worldwide.

This is the story of a simple idea that turned into a global movement. This is the story of parkrun, told for the very first time from the man who started it all.Growing up in the brutal care system of South Africa, Paul Sinton-Hewitt had a lonely, difficult childhood. Yet he found solace in running – a simple pleasure that taught him resilience and offered a young boy a sense of self-worth.With dogged determination, Paul built a stable family life for himself and eventually settled in the UK. But by 2004 he was struggling to hold it all together. He’d lost the successful career he’d worked so hard for, his marriage had broken down, and now a devastating injury threatened to cut him off from the running club which had been a lifeline.In search of connection and purpose, Paul came up with a simple idea. He would start a weekly time trial run every Saturday morning in his local park. There would be no winners or losers, it would always be free and Paul would be there every week – even on Christmas Day – whether or not anyone else came. Little did he know that from just thirteen runners on that first Saturday, parkrun would grow into a 10 million strong community across five continents. Twenty years on parkrun continues to grow, bringing together people from all walks of life in search of health, happiness and community.Filled with hope and optimism, One Small Step is a powerful affirmation of how coming together in simple ways can change our own lives and might even change the world.