James Hansen of Australia and Clara Evans of Wales top the global parkrun rankings this week. Here are the top 10 times on Saturday (September 29).
In preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth Half Marathon Champs at Cardiff half this weekend Clara Evans, who features for Wales, had a great run out at Cardiff parkrun as part of training. The Welsh international ran 16:50 at the fast Welsh event.
Evans was not the only female athlete under 17 minutes as Ruth Barnes also dipped under with 16:57. The Avon Valley Runner was at Poole parkrun on the south coast, another quick parkrun course.
Nick Earl, of the City of Norwich AC, took it upon himself to help the UK males get back to the top of the global rankings by running under 15 minutes at Kingston parkrun in London. But Australian 1500m runner James Hansen was having none of it and posted 14:46 at Launceston parkrun in Tasmania.
Ironically Earl is based out in Australia and is deep in preparation for the Melbourne marathon in a few weeks and broke 30 minutes at the Launceston 10k earlier this year.
James Hansen broke the Tasmanian 1500m record holder with a 3:39.56 mark at Hunter Track Classic this January and went on to lower that record to 3:38.90 at the Sydney Athletics grand prix in March this year.
Emmett Dunleavy of Sligo AC was the fastest park runner in Ireland this weekend with 15:20 at Shanganagh parkrun. The time was good enough for fifth in the global rankings for the 37 year old who has run 14:46 for 5000m in 2018.
Michael Oleynik is the first Polish runner to feature in the top ten list with a 15:27 at Pabianice parkrun. Pabianice [pabʲaˈɲit͡sɛ] is a town in central Poland with 66,265 inhabitants. And a fast parkrun it seems.
Both Cardiff and Bushy parkrun feature in the top ten twice so share the honours for the fastest global parkrun event this week.
Men’s top 10
1) parkrun: Launceston, Australia
James Hansen, 14:46, UTAS Athletics club
2) parkrun: Kingston, UK
Nick Earl, 14:52, City of Norwich AC
3) parkrun: Bakewell, UK
Andy Coley-Maud, 15:06, Clapham Chasers RC
4) parkrun: Bushy, UK
Allan Stewart, 15:16, Chiltern Harriers
5) parkrun: Shanganagh, Ireland
Emmett Dunleavy, 15:20, Sligo AC
6) parkrun: Hampstead Heath, UK
Richard Goodman, 15:23, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers
7) parkrun: Belfast Victoria, UK
Neil McCartan, 15:26, East Down AC
8) parkrun: Pabianice, Poland
Michael Olejnik, 15:27, Olej Running Team
9) parkrun: Gardiners Creek, Australia
Jacob Cocks, 15:28, Team Tempo
10) parkrun: Cardiff, UK
Stephen Mitchell, 15:33, Bristol and West AC
Women’s top 10
1) parkrun: Cardiff, UK
Clara Evans, 16:50, Pontypridd Roadents
2) parkrun: Poole, UK
Ruth Barnes, 16:57, Avon Valley Runners
3) parkrun: Bath Skyline, UK
Jessica Gibbon, 17:09, Reading AC
4) parkrun: Rhodes, Australia
Belinda, Martin, 17:06
5) parkrun: Salisbury, UK
Beatrice Wood, 17:13, City of Salisbury A & RC
6) parkrun: Darlington South Park, UK
Holly Archer, 17:22, Cambridge and Coleridge AC
7) parkrun: Ormskirk, UK
Tiffany Penfold, 17:27, Copeland AC
8) parkrun: St. Andrews, UK
Anna Hedley, 17:29, Fife AC
9) parkrun: Bushy, UK
Isabel Brinsden, 17:31, Epsom & Ewell Harriers
10) parkrun: Heslington, UK
Emma Waudby, 17:33, Pocklington Runners
Would you like to run faster at parkrun? Top tips to help runners of all abilities hit a parkrun best can be found here.
RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun
RELATED: Top 10 global parkruns from last week
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