Aoibhinn McGoldrick and Sean Carrigg are your quickest parkrunners in Ireland this weekend (June 22nd).

This weekend saw personal bests needed for the two athletes at the top of the male and female rankings. A bit of racing, although parkrun isn’t a race itself, might have seen one or two athletes get the best for themselves.

Sean Carrigg ran 16:21 at River Valley to finish as the fastest parkrunner in Ireland this week. The personal trainer from Clonliffe Harriers has a good junior pedigree as a middle distance runner and 16:21 was a new parkrun best for Carrigg. Third placed Ciaran McCarthy may have pushed the pace in the early or final stages as he was only just 16 seconds back. 

Sandwiched between the two runners at River Valley was Evan Fitzgerald. The Clonmel man was second fastest this week with 16:25 at his home parkrun, also clocking a PB.

Aoibhinn McGoldrick of Raheny Shamrock AC ran 18:06 to finish as this week’s fastest female runner. The under 20 athlete took over a minute off her previous best of 19:12. McGoldrick has stepped up from 400m to run solid junior times at 1500m (4:37) and 800m (2:12) and this PB will be particularly pleasing after a 2019 that has seen a few ups and downs with injury. 

It might have been the two other athletes at St. Annes, John Higgins and Martin McKenna, just ahead in 16:59 and 17:12 respectively, that could have dragged McGoldrick along to a new personal best. The pair also made our top ten this week.

Sarah Lavery was second fastest with 18:51. Lavery set a new 5km best in April clocking 17:06 at the North Ireland champs in April. 2019 has been a fine year so far for the Beechmount Harrier who also set PBs at 10km and 80:46 to finish second at Bohermeen Half Marathon.

Rounding off the top three was Orla Byrne, running 18:54 at Clonmel. A regular visitor to the top 10 Byrne was a little off her best time of 18:24 set in April on a week when all top 10 women ran inside 20 minutes.

It seems three parkruns featured three times this week, with Marlay Park, the start point for the Wicklow Way 127km ultra marathon a couple of weeks ago, seeing quick times, as well as Clonmel and St. Anne’s. If you fancy a quick time then it seems all three might be worth a visit.

Men’s top 10
1) parkrun: River Valley
Sean Carrigg, 16:21, Clonliffe Harriers A.C.
2) parkrun: Clonmel
Evan Fitzgerald, 16:25, Clonmel Athletic Club
3) parkrun: River Valley
Ciaran McCarthy, 16:37
4) parkrun: Marlay
James Kelly, 16:40, Castlecomer Athletics Club
5) parkrun: Dundalk
John Courell, 16:47, Ballina A.C.
6) parkrun: Marlay
Charlie McGowan, 16:58
7) parkrun: St Anne’s
John Higgins, 16:59, Mayo AC
8) parkrun: MUSA Cookstown
Paddy Corr, 17:05, Acorns AC
9) parkrun: Ormeau
Paul Carroll, 17:06, Annadale Striders
10) parkrun: St Anne’s
Martin McKenna, 17:12, Raheny Shamrock AC

Women’s top 10
1) parkrun: St Anne’s
Aoibhinn McGoldrick, 18:06, Raheny Shamrock AC
2) parkrun: Ormeau
Sarah Lavery, 18:51, Beechmount Harriers
3) parkrun: Clonmel
Orla Byrne, 18:54
4) parkrun: Ballincollig
Carol Finn, 19:28
5) parkrun: Clonmel
Alice Rudd, 19:34, Hardley Runners
6) parkrun: Cootehill
Lisa Clerkin, 19:41
7) parkrun: Queens
Mia Donnelly, 19:46
8) parkrun: Naas
Kana Akimoto, 19:47, North East Runners
9) parkrun: Queens
Amy Bulman, 19:48, Willowfield Harriers
10) parkrun: Marlay
Rachel Riordan, 19:55, Dundrum South Dublin Athletic Club

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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