Chloe Sharp and Elliott McGaughran ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this weekend (7th December).

Chloe Sharp was taking no prisoners at Pegwell Bay this fine Saturday morning with a 16:52 and we even think there might have been family bragging rights at stake. Just behind Chloe was Craig Sharp, who we think could be her Dad. It was a parkrun PB for the Central Park Athletics athlete and also a fair bit quicker than her 5000m and 5k bests as well.

Sharp has spent the summer running mainly middle distance, with some 400m races in there too, but now it’s cross country season and the Kent U23 is running into some great form.

Australian youngster Elliott McGaughran was visiting Dulwich Park this morning and the middle distance talent ran a 15:03 for the 5k parkrun. This adds nicely to Elliott’s recent PBs back home in Australia with 1.54 over 800m and 4:06.57 for the mile in November.



Second lady was parkrun top 10 regular Philippa Williams who ran 17:26 on Hove Promenade, which was apparently quite windy this morning. The Elswick Harrier has seen personal bests over half marathon (76:40), 10k (34:59), 5 mile (29:44) and 5k (16:33) as well as a new parkrun best of 17:17 in 2019. It seems the year isn’t over yet though.

Daniel Dixon of Morpeth Harriers & AC had a bit of a ding-dong with team mate Ross Floyd at Blyth Links parkrun today. Dixon was the first finisher in 15:13, but Floyd wasn’t far behind in 15:28. Floyd still has the better PB of the the two over the 5k distance of 15:06 but Dixon is the faster parkrunner.

Just yesterday Dixon won the Blyth Sands 5 in 28:25 and probably just carried on running through until morning to grab a new parkrun PB by 25 seconds as well. One does wonder what the U20 athlete is up to on Sunday? Is there a Blyth Half or 10k this weekend?

Emily Talbot of Cambridge and Coleridge is only an U15 but that didn’t stop the young 1500m runner from finishing first at Wimpole Estate parkrun in a very good 17:34. Talbot ran 5:05.3 for 1500m this summer at the Eastern Young Athletes’ League, but now seems to be working on some cross country and endurance for the winter months.

Third fastest male this weekend was Ribble Valley Harrier Michael Cayton, who clocked 15:22 at Haigh Woodland parkrun, which doesn’t sound like a fast course. The V35 athlete has run 14:57 at a Sale Sizzler 5k this summer and was third at the Preston 10 a few weeks back, but it seems that course was a little bit short so his excellent 49:35 PB hasn’t counted.

Pan flat Dulwich Park is our fastest location this week with four finishers getting into the top rankings. Did you know that Sir Ernest Shackleton, who was famous for feats of endurance in Antarctica, rather than the park, went to nearby Dulwich College. Probably not a coincidence.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Dulwich

Elliot McGaughran, 15:03, Australia

2) parkrun: Blyth Links

Daniel Dixon, 15:13, Morpeth Harriers & AC

3) parkrun: Haigh Woodland

Michael Cayton, 15:22, Ribble Valley Harriers

4) parkrun: Coldham’s Common

Jonathan Escalante-Phillips, 15:27, Cambridge & Coldridge

5) parkrun: Blyth Links

Ross Floyd, 15:28, Morpeth Harriers & AC

6) parkrun: Sixfields Upton

Joshua Schofield, 15:35, Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC

7) parkrun: Shrewsbury

Liam Rawlings, 15:47, Oswestry Olympians

8) parkrun: Frimley Lodge

Kurt Taylor, 15:48, Bristol & West AC

9) parkrun: Lincoln

William Srangeway, 15:52, Lincoln Wellington AC

10) parkrun: Dulwich

Jonathan Tipper, 15:53, Kent AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Pegwell Bay

Chloe Sharp, 16:52, Central Park Athletics

2) parkrun: Hove Promenade

Philippa Williams, 17:26, Elswick Harriers

3) parkrun: Wimpole Estate

Emily Talbot, 17:34, Cambridge & Coleridge AC

4) parkrun: Greenock

Holly Thompson, 17:63, Kilbarchan AAC

5) parkrun: Dulwich

Amelia Pettitt, 17:48, Vale Royal AC

6) parkrun:Long Eaton

Isabel Rodriguez, 17:54, City of Norwich AC

7) parkrun: MUSA Cookstown

Natalie Hall, 17:55, Armagh AC

8) parkrun: Albert Park, Middlesborough

Chloe Louise Williams, 18:04, Gateshead Harriers & AC

9) parkrun: Dulwich

Georgina Wiley, 18:06, Melbourne Midday Milers

10) parkrun: Newbury

Georgia Hayes, 18:10, Reading AC

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you