Hannah Irwin and Thomas Beasley ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (29th February).
Fast Running’s own Hannah Irwin was the fastest female parkrun athlete and we’re going to shout about it. This week the Guildford & Godalming athlete brought her parkrun PB a little closer to her excellent 5000m best of 16:24 that was run at the MK5000 PB Special last year.
Down on the south coast at Poole Irwin ran 16:46 and showed that the leg speed has benefitted from a strong XC season that saw Hannah finish second at the Essex Cross Country Champs and 13th at the BUCS Champs earlier in February.
For the men’s quickest time we needed only swap the name and deduct nine seconds from the time as venue and club were the same as last week. Thomas Beasley, a Birchfield Harrier, ran 15:11 at Cannon Hill Birmingham to take the top spot just as his club mate William Richardson did last week.
So far this season Beasley has been focusing on the XC and raced three times, with a 16th at the Midland Counties Champs possibly the highlight. Its done no harm to his road speed though and the 14:51 5k runner isn’t far off his best in an actual race.
Up in Scotland Kerry Prise was the second fastest female with a 17:35 in Aberdeen. A member of Metro Aberdeen RRC, Prise had already run a new parkrun best of 18:02 in 2020, but clearly wasn’t happy to sit on her laurels and smashed it out of the park this weekend. A 17:35 is nearly 30 seconds better and a great sign for things to come in 2020 for the Scot.
William Cork, a City of Norwich AC speedster, is fresh from a truly monumental PB of 14:39 at Armagh International Races earlier this month. We say monumental as his previous PB was nearly a minute slower in 15:29 (although Cork has a quicker 5000m best of 14:44). A 15:30 at Newcastle parkrun this weekend was probably just an easy run then….
Third fastest female this weekend was Lorna Russell at Whiteley parkrun in a time of 17:46. The Winchester and District AC senior had a quiet 2019 with just a run out for the road relays in September, but starts with a speedy parkrun blast on 29th February. Maybe it was the chance to run a parkrun date that won’t happen again until 2048.
Mark McKinstry of North Belfast Harriers is a regular in our Irish weekend round-up and posted a time of 15:38, quick enough for third fastest parkrun this week. A prolific racer and one of the best Masters XC athletes around, McKinstry has already won the Northern Ireland & Ulster Intermediate & Masters’ Championships in 2020 and finished third in the overall Northern Ireland & Ulster Senior Championships.
Men’s top 10
1) parkrun: Cannon Hill
Thomas Beasley, 15:11, Birchfield Harriers
2) parkrun: Newcastle
William Cork, 15:30, City of Norwich AC
3) parkrun: Sixmilewater
Mark McKinstry, 15:38, North Belfast Harriers
4) parkrun: Woodhouse Moor
Marcos Angel Valero Palacios, 15:40, Roundhay Runners
5) parkrun: South Manchester
Arlo Ludewick, 15:41, Herne Hill Harriers
6) parkrun: Berkeley Green
Adam Wilson, 15:46, Bristol and West AC
7) parkrun: Leazes
Callum Hanson, 15:47, Pudsey & Bramley AC
8) parkrun: Telford
Patrick Townsend, 15:47
9) parkrun: Fountains Abbey
Paul Martelletti, 15:53, Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets AC
=10) parkrun: Coldhams Common
Joseph Smith, 15:57, Cambridge and Coleridge AC
=10) parkrun: Riverfront
Christopher Carpanini, 15:57, Mickey Morris Racing Team
=10) parkrun: Grangemoor
Oliver Williams, 15:57, Pontypridd Roadents AC
Women’s top 10
1) parkrun: Poole
Hannah Irwin, 16:46, Guildford & Godalming AC
2) parkrun: Aberdeen
Kerry Prise, 17:35, Metro Aberdeen RRC
3) parkrun: Whiteley
Lorna Russell, 17:46, Winchester & District AC
4) parkrun: Wyecombe Rye
Jessica Gibbon, 17:49, Reading AC
5=) parkrun: Aberdeen
Hannah Cameron, 17:55, Edinburgh AC
5=) parkrun: Burnham and Highbridge
Hannah Taunton, 17:55, Taunton AC
7) parkrun: Doddington Hall
Sophie Walis, 17:57
8) parkrun: East Park
Lauren Cooper, 17:58, Bridgnorth Running Club
9) parkrun: East Park
Sara Willhoit, 18:05, Shrewsbury AC
10) parkrun: Cannon Hill
Bryony Haines, 18:06, Birchfield Harriers
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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