Both male and female top spots go to South African runners this weekend. Here are the fastest parkrun times in the world on Saturday (September 22).

Thando Hlatshwayo now holds the parkrun course record of 16:56 for Winterton parkrun in South Africa.

Searching for results for Hlatshwayo has proved difficult with only one run of 38:02 this year attached to the name at the Umtshezi Wembezi 10k, but this is for a junior male.

If anyone has any information on the athlete than please do get in touch. With the pedigree of distance running in South Africa it is no surprise that someone might just rock up at their local parkrun and run such a quick time.

Michael Pienaar of Boksburg AC has featured in the global top 10 previously on the first of September this month. That week we said that “Michael Pienaar has a 5000m personal best of 14:17.48 so could well feature atop the list in future weeks.”

The prophecy has been fulfilled by the University of Pretoria student, although his time was 10 seconds slower than at the beginning of the month, Adam Hickey was not around to keep him from the top spot.

Allan Stewart and Isabel Clark, the two fastest British parkrunners both ran quickly enough to secure the second spot in the global rankings. This also means that the Bushy park event is the fastest parkrun in the world this week by featuring twice.

Another South African in the mix was Aswell Clooco of Worcester AC. The South African athlete actually has a nice video talking about his motivations for running and his aspirations for the future. We might also see Aswell climb the rankings in future weeks too.

Catherina McKiernan, running at Shanganagh in Ireland, was the only other runner outside of UK parkruns to feature in the top 10 this week. The Irish international competed at the 10,000m and marathon for her country but enjoyed most of hersuccess as a cross country runner.

Evan Cooper and Michael Daly, of New Zealand and Australia respectively, both featured in the top 10 males this week. Just one second apart with 15:39 and 15:40 they were eighth and ninth. Four runners globally ran 15:40 this week so all made the ninth spot.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Boksburg, South Africa
Michael Pienaar, 15:11, Boksburg AC
2) parkrun: Bushy, UK
Allan Stewart, 15:24, Chiltern Harriers
3) parkrun: MUSA Cookstown, UK
Eoin Hughes, 15:29, Acorns AC
4) parkrun: Breede Valley, South Africa
Ashwell Clooco, 15:34, Worcester AC
5) parkrun: Greenock, UK
Ryan Thomson, 15:34, Cambuslang Harriers
6) parkrun: Raphael, UK
Grant Twist, 15:35, Chelmsford AC
7) parkrun: Hackney Marshes, UK
Euan Brown, 15:37, East London Runners
8) parkrun: Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Evan Cooper, 15:39, Wellington Scottish Athletics Club Inc
9=) parkrun: Nonsuch
Ollie Garrod, 15:40, Epsom & Ewell Harriers
9=) parkrun: Dalby Forest
James Kraft, 15:40, Scarborough AC
9=) parkrun: Braidwood Showgrounds, Australia
Michael Daly, 15:40, Bankstown Sports Senior Athletic Club
9=) parkrun: Stretford
Callum Rawlinson, 15:40, Sale Harriers Manchester

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Winterton, South Africa
Thando Hlatshwayo, 16:56
2) parkrun: Bushy, UK
Isabel Clark, 17:04, Serpentine AC
3) parkrun: St. Andrews, UK
Anna Hedley, 17:10, Fife AC
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria, UK
Rachel Gibson, 17:27, North Down AC
5) parkrun: Houghton Hall, UK
Rosie McNabola, 17:39, Luton AC
6=) parkrun: Armlet, UK
Hannah Oldroyd, 17:43, Airedale Dodgers
6=) parkrun: MUSA Cooktown, UK
Grace Carson, 17:43
8) parkrun: Shanganagh, Ireland
Catherina McKiernan, 17:47
9) parkrun: Forest of Dean, UK
Ashleigh Bailey, 17:49
10) parkrun: Longrun Meadow, UK
Hannah Taunton, 17:50, Taunton AC

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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