Jonny Hay in the UK and Hayley Gustard in Australia are the fastest parkrunners this week. Here are the 10 fastest times in the world on Saturday (December 8th).
Hoka One One athlete Jonny Hay ran a superb 14:33 at Bushy parkrun this weekend and no one in the world was able to better it. Most recently, the Aldershot, Farnham and District runner finished in 16th place at the Liverpool Cross Challenge.
Young runner Hayley Gustard ran a big parkrun PB this weekend of 17:01. Formerly her best had been 18:09, ran in 2016, but this is her first of the year for 2018. The Australian ran 35:21 for 10,000m at the end of 2017 and seems to have taken that form into the shorter 5k format of parkrun events. It could be a good summer for Gustard.
Belinda Martin has finished second in our top top before and her daughter Imy Stewart has topped the rankings. The former youth sprinter ran 17:02 and has been running successfully over longer distances as a Masters athlete with Australian masters records at 1500m and 5000m.
Aidan Hobbs of InTraining ran 15:00 back in November to take the fastest parkrunner top spot, but this time his 15:07 was only good enough for second place. The middle distance runner is seemingly getting warmed up for a summer on the track.
19 year old Joshua Torley ran 15:08 at Goulburn parkrun in Australia. The youngster notched a 67:26 half marathon earlier this year in April and has hit 8:15 for 3000m on the track in November. Although both times are just of his PBs the speedster might just be warming up for the summer ahead.
The UK’s Georgia Hayes was top of the local list, but was only fast enough for fourth across the globe as Phoebe McKnight ran 17:32 in New Zealand. The 17 year old McKnight was fifth fastest back in October so has jumped up the rankings, although still a way back from her 5000m PB of 16:28.
No parkrun featured more than once this weekend and the UK only made six appearances, which is less than usual. With ten Australians on the lists you can tell that the Southern hemisphere is just warming up, whilst UK runners are more focused on the muddy hills of cross country.
Men’s top 10
1) parkrun: Bushy, UK
Jonny Hay, 14:33, Aldershot, Farnham & District
2) parkrun: South Bank, Australia
Aidan Hobbs, 15:07, InTraining
3) parkrun: Goulburn, Australia
Joshua Torley, 15:08, Distance Running Academy
4) parkrun: Bellville, South Africa
Andre Afrika, 15:09, Eersterivier AC
5) parkrun: Mudjimba Beach, Australia
Max Studer, 15:19
6) parkrun: Kedron, Australia
Nicholas Free, 15:26
7) parkrun: Rother Valley, UK
Tom Horton, 15:28
8) parkrun: Bedford, UK
Ben Davies, 15:33, Bedford & County AC
9) parkrun: Cambridge, UK
Thomas Keen, 15:35, Cambridge and Coleridge
10) parkrun: Minnippi, Australia
Kieren Perkins, 15:41, BERT Squad
Women’s top 10
1) parkrun: Newy, Australia
Hayley Gustard, 17:01, Macca’s Mob
2) parkrun: Cairns, Australia
Belinda Martin, 17:02
3) parkrun: Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Phoebe McNight, 17:32, Wellington Athletics Club
4) parkrun: Newbury
Georgia Hayes, 17:43, Reading AC
5) parkrun: Willoughby, Australia
Beth Croft, 17:48, Sydney University AC
6) parkrun: Coff Harbour, Australia
Michelle Pearson, 18:03
7) parkrun: Albert, Melbourne, Australia
Cats Mesta, 18:05
8=) parkrun: Luton Wardown, UK
Rebecca Murray, 18:08, Bedford & County AC
8=) parkrun: Heslington, UK
Emma Waudby, 18:08, Pocklington Runners
10) parkrun: Victoria, Kitchener, Canada
Laura Bernard, 18:10
If you enjoy running at parkrun but want to develop and get a bit faster then find a running club near you. Clubs have all the social aspects of parkrun and cater for all levels to help you progress. More information can be found here.
Also 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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