Eoin Hughes and Elaine McGuckin ran the fastest parkrun times in Ireland this weekend

In advance of their attempt at the father-son half marathon world record Eoin and Tommy Hughes were both out running fast times at parkrun this weekend. It was son Eoin who ran the fastest parkrun in Ireland this weekend with a fantastic 15:26 at MUSA Cookstown, just nine seconds outside his own course record.

July was a busy month of racing for the Acorns AC man as he won the Northern Ireland & Ulster 10,000m Championships, clocked 53:24 at the Irish Runner 10 Mile and finished 2nd at the Great Rossa Run Half Marathon.

Eoin is of course the son of Irish distance running legend Tommy Hughes who finished 3rd on the list this week with 16:22 at MUSA Cookstown. Tommy Hughes competed at the 1992 Olympic Games, has a marathon PB of 2:13:59 and is the Irish over 55s 5km national record holder.

Sandwiched between the father-son duo on the top 10 was Matthew Neill who ran 15:54 at Omagh. The under 17 athlete has had a fine year so far running PBs at 800m, 1500m, and 3000m.

Windy conditions hit times

Elaine McGuckin was the fastest female runner with 19:02 at MUSA Cookstown in what was her first parkrun. McGuckin was 18th at this year’s Belfast City Marathon and her time represented a fine performance on a week when times were significantly slower, likely because of the windy conditions.

After finishing 2nd on the list last week East Down’s speedy Kirsti Foster was again 2nd this week running 19:10 at Belfast Victoria. Under 15 Foster is in good form after a big 800m PB last week of 2:17.78 set at the Belfast International.

Fresh off the back of an excellent new 5km PB of 18:37 set last week Collette McCourt ran 19:20 at Belfast Victoria to finish as 3rd fastest this week. McCourt, who finished four places behind McGuckin at the Belfast Marathon, was also 4th at the Felie 5 last Sunday.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: MUSA Cookstown
Eoin Hughes, 15:26, Acorns AC
2) parkrun: Omagh
Matthew Neill, 15:54
3) parkrun: MUSA Cookstown
Tommy Hughes, 16:22, Termoneeny Running Club
4) parkrun: Porterstown
John Courell, 16:27, Ballina A.C.
5) parkrun: Sligo
Seamus Somers, 16:30, Sligo AC
6) parkrun: Ormeau
Stephen Connolly, 16:39, Annadale Striders
7) parkrun: Ardgillan
Gavin O’Rourke, 16:42, Skerries AC
8) parkrun: Ballincollig
Kevin O’Brien, 16:43
9) parkrun: Waterworks
Dominic McAllister, 16:50
10) parkrun: Porterstown
Thomas Sherlock, 16:52, Clonliffe Harriers A.C.

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: MUSA Cookstown
Elaine McGuckin, 19:02
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Kirsti Foster, 19:10, East Down AC
3) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Collette McCourt, 19:20, Dub Runners of Belfast
=4) parkrun: City Park
Gillian McCrory, 19:32, St Peters AC
=4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Lucy Foster, 19:32, East Down AC
6) parkrun: Westport
Sarah Byrne, 19:46
7) parkrun: Poppintree
Sorcha Loughnane, 19:51
8) parkrun: Ormeau
Maeve Haigney, 20:04, Beechmount Harriers
9) parkrun: Malahide
Jenny Johnston, 20:05, Portmarnock Athletic Club
10) parkrun: Portrush
Leann Gibson, 20:11, Victoria Park and Connswater AC

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

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

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