Bryony Gunn-Haines and James Pettersson ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (11th September).

Bryony Gunn-Haines jumped from fourth last week to first this week with an excellent 16:48 at Cannon Hill parkrun in Birmingham. A decent six second parkrun PB, but also not a million miles away from the Birchfield Harrier’s 5000m best of 16:39.88.

That’s four weeks on the trot at parkrun too, with those the only events in 2021 listed on Power of 10, so we’re excited for what happens next week!

James Pettersson, Ipswich Harriers, was our fastest male and only athlete under 15 minutes this week. The U23 took three seconds off his parkrun best and it’s actually quicker than he’s gone over 5000m on the track too. So far in 2021 every race (or parkrun) Pettersson has done has led to a personal best, with 3000m Steeplechase, 5000m and 10k all seeing new marks.

Seeing double

Not only was Lauren Cooper second female in this week’s rankings, she was also first Lauren Cooper as well. The Bryn Bach runner clocked 16:52, joining Haines under 17 minutes, and was quicker than Lauren Cooper of Shrewsbury AC, who ran 17:30 for 7th at East Park parkrun.

William Strangeway was second quickest male with 15:09 and the Lincoln Wellington member is a regular in the top ten rankings. Another athlete overloaded with PBs in 2021, the V35 ran 2:22:45 to win Boston Marathon (the UK one) in May this year.

Georgina Weston was third by just one second this week, with 17:22 at Hull parkrun. This year Weston has ran seven 5k races, winning two of them, and seven parkruns, first female finisher at all of those. Clearly a popular distance for the Rotherham star.

Third and fourth fastest males were Joe Armstrong (15:10) and Andy Coley-Maud (15:11) and it’s particularly good to see Coley-Maud’s name crop up, seeing as his existence was called into question on a Facebook group not long ago. Thankfully the GB XC, track and road runner is still going strong and has been close to both his 5 and 10k PBs this year.

Fastest event?

Want to know where to go if you want a bit of competition to get a new personal best? Both Cannon Hill and Woodhouse Moor feature twice, but Bryony Gunn-Haines’ top of the podium performance clinches it this week. The imaginary trophy for fastest parkrun of the week shall be making it’s way to Birmingham.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Felixstowe
James Pettersson, 14:45, Ipswich Harriers
2) parkrun: Doddington Hall
William Strangeway, 15:09, Lincoln Wellington AC
3) parkrun: Albert, Middlesbrough 
Joe Armstrong, 15:10, Morpeth Harriers & AC
4) parkrun: Worthing
Andy Coley-Maud, 15:11, Guildford & Godalming AC
5) parkrun: Edinburgh 
Peter Avent, 15:17, Shettleston Harriers
6) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham 
Adam Peacock, 15:18, B.R.A.T.
7) parkrun: Long Eaton
Patrick Townsend, 15:20, Notts AC
8) parkrun: Selby
Joshua Paul Dickinson, 15:27, City of York AC
9) parkrun: Cardiff
Morgan James, 15:30, Cardiff AC
10) parkrun: Woodhouse Moor 
Mark Bostock, 15:31. Wakefield District Harriers AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham 
Bryony Gunn-Haines, 16:48, Birchfield Harriers
2) parkrun: Bryn Bach
Lauren Cooper, 16:52, Parc Bryn Bach Running Club
3) parkrun: Hull
Georgina Weston, 17:22, Rotherham
4) parkrun: Barrow
Jessica Bailey, 17:23, Leven Valley Athletics Club
5) parkrun: Woodhouse Moor
Katy Wood, 17:26, City of York AC
6) parkrun: Rothay Park
Scout Adkin, 17:28, Ambleside AC
7) parkrun: East Park
Lauren Cooper, 17:29, Shrewsbury AC
8=) parkrun: Congleton
Louise Hackett, 17:39, Wolverhampton & Bilston AC
8=) parkrun: Telford
Zoe Gilbody, 17:39, Chiltern Harriers AC
8=) parkrun: Wyecombe Rye
Alice Crane, 17:39
8=) parkrun: Didcot
Sonka Reimers, 17:39, Didcot Runners

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