Photo: Paul Stillman

Kieran Clements and Lauren Heyes ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (7th March).

It was a fast week for parkrun with three women under 17 minutes and two men under 15. Considering Inter-Counties cross country is on the same day we normally see slower times, but such is the growing depth in British endurance running we’re seeing more and more strong performances.

International Women’s Day was certainly celebrated by fast ladies this week, but well done to all who made it out and ran or volunteered at parkrun this weekend.

Lauren Heyes was the quickest lady with an excellent 16:41 at Warrington parkrun in the north west of England. The Leigh Harrier has been in flying form in 2020 with a fifth place finish in the Northern XC Champs and eighth at the National a couple of weeks ago. After finishing 2019 with a 34:19 for second at the Percy Pud 10k we’re excited to see what the year holds for the Paul Roden coached athlete.

Kieran Clements is another athlete who we love to see running fast. With a 14:38 at Felixstowe parkrun in the south east just a week after just breaking 70 minutes at the Big Half in London, one wonders if that was just a training effort or pacing someone. The sub 14 minute 5k runner has been at the Ipswich Building Society Twilight 5K the last few years so expect another fast time there for the Shaftesbury Barnet man.

Lucy Reid is Tonbridge AC athlete and regularly breaks 17 minutes at parkrun, so no surprise to see a 16:49 run at Dulwich this morning. Reid was also in action at the Vitality Big Half in London last weekend and ran 72:49 for sixth in a really high quality British domestic field, which was also nearly a 60 second PB.

Edgar Sumskis was in action at Ferry Meadows parkrun and normally a 14:44 is quick enough for the top spot in our weekly rankings. The Latvian runner is a 3:55 1500m speedster so has some quick legs underneath him. It seems Sumskis had a tough day out at the National XC a couple of weeks back, finishing 56th after placing 23rd in 2019, but the year is young and the Newham & Essex Beagle had the whole year ahead.

Third placed female was household name Jo Pavey. The 46 year old is targeting her sixth Olympic games in Tokyo and a 16:57 at parkrun is a parkrun PB for Pavey, who looks to have just jogged any previous morning 5k outings at the popular initiative. It’s worth adding that Pavey’s 5000m PB is actually quicker than 14:39 so around the same time that was top of the men’s rankings this week. It’s great to see a world class athlete like Pavey inspiring others by speeding around parkrun on a Saturday morning too.

After a while searching for which Dominic Jones was most likely to have run a 15:05 parkrun this weekend in Berkeley Green, a second (or maybe about 30th) glance at the results showed it to be Dominic James who had run the quick time. Thankfully we can now report than James, not Jones, is having a monster 2020 already. This parkrun best comes on the back of a 14:30 5k PB in Armagh and a 29:44 at Speedway 10k. Bravo.

Dulwich parkrun is once again our quickest event with three runners making the top ten, with a nice sprint finish for Joe Croft and Nick Torry in 15:15 and 15:16 respectively.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Felixstowe

Kieran Clements, 14:38, Shaftesbury Barnet

2) parkrun: Ferry Meadows

Edgar Sumskis, 14:44, Newham and Essex Beagles

3) parkrun: Berkeley Green

Dominic James, 15:05, Cheltenham & County Harriers

4) parkrun: Alexandra, Moss Side

Arlo Ludewick, 15:08, Herne Hill Harriers

5) parkrun: Morecombe

Chris Richards, 15:14, Helm Hill Harriers

6) parkrun: Dulwich

Joe Croft, 15:15

7) parkrun: Dulwich

Nick Torry, 15:16, Serpentine RC

8) parkrun: Hove Prom

Finn McNally, 15:18, Brighton Phoenix

9) parkrun: Telford

Dylan Gillett, 15:21, Telford AC

10) parkrun: Bushy

Kurtis Gibson, 15:26

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Warrington

Lauren Heyes, 16:41, Leigh Harriers & AC

2) parkrun: Dulwich

Lucy Reid, 16:49, Tonbridge AC

3) parkrun: Exmouth

Jo Pavey, 16:57, Exeter Harriers

4) parkrun: Oxford

Eleanor Bolton, 17:20, Robbie Valley Harriers

5) parkrun: Walsall Arboretum

Kelly Butler, 17:23, Birchfield Harriers

6) parkrun: Beeston

Lauren McNeil, 17:24, Buxton AC

7) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham

Bryony Haines, 17:34, Birchfield Harriers

8) parkrun: Burnley

Laura Hesketh, 17:44, Clayton-le-Moors Harriers

9) parkrun: Burnham and Highbridge

Kate Drew, 17:45, Taunton AC

10) parkrun: Southampton

Ellie Marie Monks, 17:48, Southampton AC

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

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