One Small Step

The Sunday Times bestseller

You’ve seen them, haven’t you? Hundreds of smiling, slightly out-of-breath people running around your local park every Saturday morning. (You may even be one of them!) Well, this is the surprisingly heartwarming origin story of parkrun, told by the person who started it all – Paul Sinton-Hewitt.

Paul’s love affair with running started as a lifeline during a tough childhood, offering a taste of freedom. Years later, sidelined by injury and feeling adrift, he had a simple idea: a free, weekly timed run for anyone who wanted to join. No pressure, no prizes, but guaranteed to happen every weekend come rain or shine (and yes, even on Christmas Day!).

From a humble group of thirteen slightly bewildered runners, parkrun exploded. Now, twenty years later, it’s a global community of over 10 million runners, walkers and enthusiastic cheerers. Proving that the simplest ideas can bring together people from every walk of life in pursuit of fitness, happiness and community spirit.

Whether you’re a seasoned marathoner, or someone who once thought about going for a jog, One Small Step reveals how something as easy as turning up in a park on a Saturday morning can change your life, start a global movement and maybe, just maybe, make the world a slightly better place.

Read a sample here