Joy - and a bit of rivalry - at millionth parkrun

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The one millionth parkrun has taken place at Bushy Park in south west London, where the community event’s founder praised “the benefit and the joy of taking part”.

It was there that the first parkrun was held 22 years ago when Paul Sinton-Hewitt organised “a little event” to see his friends on a Saturday morning.

He told BBC London: “Thirteen people plus five volunteers pitched up. We ran round the park, we went for coffee – and so it all began.”

Explaining why he thought parkrun’s weekly events had become such a phenomenon, he said: “There’s no cost to those taking part. We make it all about doing something physical in the park and then focusing on the social element.”

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That initial event has evolved into a global community of weekly timed 5km parkruns on Saturdays and 2km junior parkruns on Sundays, with more than 2,800 event locations in 23 countries.

Runners held cards to form a “thanks a million” sign at Bushy Park on Saturday.

They were joined by Dame Kelly Holmes, who won 800m and 1500m gold medals at the 2004 Olympics, to celebrate the one millionth event.

The landmark parkrun saw a large turnout, with runners queuing in finish funnels to get their times recorded on a sunny morning in the capital.

Sinton-Hewitt said: “All these people in the queue waiting to be scanned are having a chat with one another, they’re becoming friends and next week they’ll have a little bit of a rivalry with each other, it’s all part of the magic. And really anyone can take part.”

He added: “[There are] a lot of people who start parkrun in their 60s and 70s. There’s a group of 80-year-olds who celebrate here in this park in July every single year, and there’s over 100 of them.

“So yes, it’s not about the athletics. It’s not about that. It’s about getting out, doing a little bit of 5km walk or run or a 2km if you’re a child on a Sunday. And then it’s about what happens here, this melee of people just gelling, having such a great time.”

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Sinton-Hewitt also said parkrun had helped him deal with mental health issues.

“Parkrun for me is the moment that turns my week,” he said. “I go from being very introverted and not really wanting to engage to how I am now where I can actually talk to you and to the people at large. It’s a marvellous thing.”

Elizabeth Duggan, chief executive officer of parkrun Global, said hitting one million events was “just phenomenal”.

She said parkrun had “massive ambitions for the future”, including to increase the number of parkrun countries from 23 to 30 by 2030.

She said: “We have about half a million participants every single weekend globally and we believe by 2030 we will be hitting three quarters of a million.”

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