James Cameron Hancock and Georgia Malir ran the fastest parkrun times in Ireland on Saturday 15th February

James Cameron Hancock made the most of his time in Ireland with this week’s fastest parkrun (15:49) less than 48 hours after clocking a new 5km PB of 15:08 in Armagh. It was an impressive double for the Croydon AC man who has started 2020 with a bang with back to back Surrey XC League Division two victories and an impressive 13th place finish at the competitive Surrey County XC Championships.

Another athlete on an extended visit to the emerald isle was GB international Georgia Malir who ran 17:52 at Belfast Victoria to finish as this weekend’s fastest woman. Malir ran an impressive 9:38 at Armagh 3km to finish 24th, an identical time and position to her 2019 performance! Amongst many excellent performances in 2019 Malir ran a big 5km PB of 16:23 at Ipswich Twilight 5km. She finished 5th at last month’s Yorkshire XC Champs.

A more familiar name in the Irish top 10 is Robert Frewen who, despite windy conditions, managed to clock a new parkrun PB of 16:26 at Malahide and finish with this week’s 2nd fastest time. Frewen ran 2:46:47 at Dublin Marathon in October, 58:56 at the AAI 10 mile championship in July and 28:04 at the Irish Runner 5 mile in June.

Kirsti Foster was another athlete competing in Armagh and was 2nd fastest woman at parkrun with 18:27 at Belfast Victoria this weekend. The under 17 athlete ran a fantastic 10:00 on Thursday to lead her age category and run 23 seconds faster than her track 3000m best. In winning the Northern Ireland & Ulster Age Group Championship 1500m this month Foster also moved to 3rd u/17 in the UK with her time of 4:40.20.

Orienteering specialist Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan was the third fastest man this weekend with 16:28 at Ormeau. Josh was a member of the Donore team who picked up a gold medal at the National Intermediate XC last weekend where he finished 7th overall.

Rounding off a trio of women who raced in Armagh, Rachel Friend was the third fastest woman at parkrun with 18:43 at Waterworks. Friend finished 38th on Thursday night clocking 9:50 and was a bronze medallist at the recent England Athletics 5-Mile Championships at Alsager.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
James Cameron Hancock, 15:49, Croydon
2) parkrun: Malahide
Robert Frewen, 16:26, Raheny Shamrock AC
3) parkrun: Ormeau
Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan, 16:28, Donore Harriers
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Alex Penfold, 16:31, Croydon Harriers
5) parkrun: Poolbeg
Damian Bourke, 16:55
6) parkrun: Antrim
David Coniffe, 17:03, Pace Running Club
7) parkrun: Waterworks
Matthew Ian Lockyer, 17:06, Leeds City AC
8) parkrun: Ormeau
Dylan MxBride, 17:15, City of Lisburn AC
9) parkrun: Antrim
Chris Hopkins, 17:19, County Antrim Harriers
10) parkrun: Bekfast Victoria
Christopher Moren, 17:21, Willowfield Harriers

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Georgia Malir, 17:52, Ilkley Harriers AC
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Kirsti Foster, 18:27, Willowfield Harriers
3) parkrun: Waterworks
Rachel Friend, 18:43, Leeds City AC
4) parkrun: Ormeau
Sarah Mackness, 19:03, Notts AC
5) parkrun: Castlewellan
Sarah Graham, 19:37, Mourne Runners
=6) parkrun: Castlewellan
Izzy Coomber, 19:41, Haywards Heath Harriers
=6) parkrun: Ormeau
Claire Tonry, 19:41, Dub Runners of Belfast
8) parkrun: Castlewellan
Lauren Madine, 19:50
9) parkrun: Castlewellan
Anna Gardiner, 19:53, East Down AC
10) parkrun: Malahide
Sarah Hawkshaw, 19:58, Portmarnock Athletic Club

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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