Paul Sinton-Hewitt: ‘Running in the parks with the runners in this country is the best thing in the world’
Hi, Paul! What have you been up to recently? Before I answer that, I’ve realised I’ve probably seen you at Junior parkrun! It’s so fantastic to see kids enjoying parkrun so much – I think that’s probably the best thing that we ever did, the most special thing in the world. Forget the rest! That’s what it’s all about.
Anyway, I am actually training for the Two Oceans ultramarathon next year. I was born in Zimbabwe, brought up in South Africa and was very close to the Comrades marathon where I seconded Bruce Fordyce in my early 20s. But the Two Oceans has always seemed to me to be the most beautiful race in the world, so it has always been on my bucket list. But I’ve never run further than a marathon and I got injured, so I started parkrun. It didn’t occur to me that I would ever be in a position to run it. But we’re taking all the countries managers from around the world – we always have a conference and next year it’s in Cape Town, so a whole bunch of us are doing the 56k and the rest are doing the half marathon.
Hey, that’s nothing, just 11-and-a-bit parkruns right? [laughs] It’s going to be hard because the first 25km are dead flat – and the last 25k it’s just climb after climb. There’s one climb that’s 7km long and a thousand feet.
Ugh. Rather you than me! So, where is your favourite place to run? Well as the founder of parkrun I’m not allowed to tell you that!
You aren’t allowed to have favourites, like a parent with their children? Exactly! [laughs] The reality is that I love running in parks. I like the river, I like being off the road. Where I grew up, all my running was on the road; that’s all we ever did. But I suppose the last 10 or so years I’ve stuck to the grass wherever possible. So if I had to chose, I suppose maybe Bushy Park.
It must be amazing to go to some of the parkruns around the world and get that sense of how it’s spread? Yes, I did the Iceland one, in Reykjavik – that was very unusual. I’ve done New Zealand, Australia. I haven’t run one in America yet, but I am soon. I’m going to Palermo to run the Italian one. But, honestly, I like Britain more than any other country in the world. It’s the best country in the world. Running in the parks with the runners in this country is the best thing in the world.
Do you remember your first race? I do, it was at junior school. I think it was probably a fundraising event rather than a race, though. I was probably seven or eight and starting out on this event with a very daunting sense of: am I ever going to finish it? Probably walking, then jogging and then eventually running and even sprinting to the finish. I doubt I came first but I was probably in the front, and there was a sense of elation. A sense of, “I’m better than other people at this particular thing.” Of achievement, and accomplishment. And that stuck with me forever.
We are all competitive but I find that in my whole running career, I’ve never really wanted to be first, I’ve just wanted to be the best I can be. So I remember in my 20s, targeting the first lady. And if I could be better than the first lady, that would be enough for me. These days, of course, there are people around me who I have raced over the years and I don’t like to be beaten by them, but it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it would have 20 years ago!
What’s your top training tip? I tend not to give that sort of advice! If someone I know really well then I would give them the benefit of what I’ve learned, but these days my guidance is just be reasonable in everything. Don’t ever change too many things at one time: if you are going to change your distance, do not try and do faster runs at the same time. Just try and be reasonable because being unreasonable leads to injury and injury leads to such a disappointing time!
Did you ever struggle with motivation? Oh yeah. All the time. For the most part I don’t set myself goals at the moment, just try and enjoy my running, try not to race too much – parkrun is as close as I get to a race. So I don’t have a lot of negative feelings about going out running because most of my runs are quite short and enjoyable. Probably the longest is about six miles. Though for Two Oceans will have to up the distance! I do struggle with that. Anything longer than two hours: I struggle with the motivation, with getting started, I struggle out there … But, needs must!
Do you listen to music when you run? No. I don’t. Right from an early age, I realised the benefit of running for dealing with stress, mental issues, dealing with problems I have to solve – good or bad, it doesn’t matter. It might just be a challenge at work. But a run has always produced the goods. Nowadays, I just want to enjoy nature, I want to see people out on my run and communicate with them. I want to see the birds, the deer, the change of the seasons. So I’m not a good person for even listening to music on headphones at any time.
Do you like a gadget? Traditionally, I’ve always been a gadget man, I’ve always been ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile phones, smartphones and so on. I had an electronic diary in the 1980s! I’m curently using the Fitbit Surge HR. It’s just perfect for me now. I’m sure for those real stat-heads it’s not quite a fully functional training watch but, for me, it’s fun and exciting because you can challenge your friends and it records what I’m doing. It goes straight from Surge onto Strava – all my runs and cycle rides go on Strava.
What’s the worst thing about running? Long runs! Probably because I don’t run with other people. If I did all my long runs with other people I’d probably be ok but right now I just get really bored.
And the best thing? That sense of achievement that you get when you are done. And that doesn’t matter if it’s a race or just a run. There’s always a sense of elation at the end of any kind of exercise. I’ve done that, it’s in the bag, I feel good about myself. Now I can go and enjoy or eat what I want. Within reason of course!
Talking of eating, what would you eat for breakfast before a hard session or a race? I don’t! I’m terrible! I was in boarding school from the age of five, I don’t know why, but there’s something about that that means I can’t eat first thing in the morning. I need to fuel the night before. If I’m doing a long run, I might try and eat porridge or a banana or something. But it’s one of my downfalls right now. When I get beyond two hours now I start to get hungry and that’s a problem.
What would be your post-race indulgence? Mostly these days, I go for coffee and cake. A lemon drizzle, a croissant … something like that. Fruit cake is great.
Have you ever tried barefoot running? I run once a week in a flat shoe, just three miles. I find that completely gives my calves a massive workout. I’m not a toe runner, and so running on my toes once a week I believe has prevented a lot of injuries. I’ll do that on a Monday morning and probably feel that in my calves for the next three days, but that’s all I do.
Mo Farah or Usain Bolt? I think Mo. You get more for your money. I like them both: the explosive nature of the 100m is amazing, but at the same time I can appreciate what Mo does more because I’m more that kind of athlete.
Who is the greatest ever runner? I’ve got two. Emil Zatopek. His achievements at the 1952 Olympics where he won the 5k, the 10k, and then went and did the marathon and won that too. That’s really just outstanding as an achievement. But equally, Haile Gebrselassie. He was just amazing. Breaking 27 world records is quite something. And quite late on in life too. Just marvellous and such a nice person too.
[Friday Flyer and Paul start reminiscing about the Great Ethiopian Run and the post-race party at Haile’s house]
In the old days when you ordered parkrun barcodes, they came on a sheet of A4 and you had to break them out. I have two of those signed by Haile! I keep meaning to raffle them or something.
Fancy a Christmas Day parkrun? Check out the list to burn off a few of those mince pie calories here: parkrun.org.uk/christmas-compendium/
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