Paul Sinton-Hewitt

Paul is the parkrun founder. It is his desire that every town in the UK should have at least one parkrun. He believes that no one should ever have to pay to run a 5km event. When designing the first parkrun, Paul decided that these events would always be free to the runner and that there would be no barrier to entry, making it possible for everyone in the local community to take part.

Paul is actively involved in the day to day management of parkrun, the setup of new events and the training of volunteers and staff.

Paul is responsible for the franchise agreements across countries and for the sponsorship agreements in the UK.

Paul can be contacted at (paul@parkrun.com)

Chris Wright

As General Manager, Chris is responsible for managing the parkrun operations and is focused on the development of the parkrun organisation. Chris first ran at Bushy Park in 2005 but went on to be a key volunteer at that event. He then led the committee for over a year. Having spent a year managing the operations of a large homeless charity, Chris brought his skills home when he joined parkrun in January 2008.

Since joining parkrun, Chris has been instrumental in forging excellent relations with councils, set out clear processes for new our events and delivered a brilliant user experience on the website. He continues to focus on improving the lives of everyone involved by delivering incremental improvements to all that we offer.

Contact Chris if you have a question about the operations at parkrun. (chris@parkrun.com)

Anita Afonso

Anita joined parkrun on the 1st April 2009 and as an activator, has the responsibility of working with Paul to bring new parkruns into the family. Anita joins us from Nike where she worked in a marketing capacity focused mainly on football. However, Anita’s main claim to fame is that she was instrumental in the organisation of the Rugby World Cup in France in 2007 and has been involved in organising other sporting events across Europe.

Anita is a member of the Queens Park Rangers ladies football team.

Contact Anita if you are interested in starting a new parkrun. (anita@parkrun.com)

Roger Wilson

Roger is a parkrun founding member and is actively involved in the growth of parkrun. Roger and Paul consult on all sponsorship and government opportunities.

Roger can be contacted at (roger@parkrun.com)

 

 

Many folks do many things in their spare time for parkrun: It is impossible to profile all the volunteers on this page. We are very grateful to the many folks who have invested heavily in the success of parkrun over the years and we are indebted to them for their generosity.