Olivia Tsim and Aiden Lennan ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (4th December).

Our weekly parkrun top ten is sponsored by 1001 Running Tips by our editor Robbie Britton. Order your copy today.

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The fastest times of the week

Cardiff parkrun, often one of the fastest courses in the UK, didn’t disappoint this weekend. Olivia Tsim tops the parkrun rankings with a 17:02. The Cardiff AC runner has been clocking up some first finisher marks at several different parkruns recently and this run actually takes nearly two minutes off of her best for the Cardiff course. All this on top of a 8 minute half marathon PB of 76:14 in November at the Reading Half.

Aiden Lennan was the fastest male this week with 15:10 at Southampton parkrun. Lennan, coached by Steven Philipps, has been on a PB rampage in 2021. The track has seen new bests for 800, 1500, 3000 and 5000m, as well as 5k on the roads. Add on a parkrun PB, which this run equalled, and it really is quite the 12 months.

Everyone is clocking those PBs

Katie Brown, of Trent Park Running Club, is another who has clocked some new PBs in 2021.

Both 5k and parkrun bests of 16:51 and 17:29 have come this year, as well as an excellent performance of 34:34 at the short RunThrough Chase the Sun Olympic Park 10K. As it was nearly a 3 minute PB we’re pretty sure that Brown would have clocked a new one there, unless it was ridiculously short, but hopefully the win made the day feel worthwhile still.

Next up is Max Heyden, who ran 15:16 at Southwark parkrun. Another with some outstanding new times for a number of distances this year, with a highlight maybe being the the 14:18.48 for 5000m on the track in May.

Just last week the AFD talent was in action at the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Sefton Park, Liverpool.

Fastest course?

As hinted at in the intro, Cardiff parkrun was our fastest this week. Not only was Olivia Tsim the quickest of the bunch for the ladies, there was also a close run for first male finisher with Daniel Hamilton running 15:47 to beat Stephen Morris by just six seconds. Hopefully a great workout for both.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Southampton
Aiden Lennan, 15:10
2) parkrun: Southwark
Max Heyden, 15:16, Aldershot, Farnham & District AC
3) parkrun: Leicester Victoria
Simon Birch, 15:24, Hinckley RC
4) parkrun: York
Graham Rush, 15:40, Leeds City AC
5) parkrun: Cardiff
Daniel Hamilton, 15:47, Abingdon AC
6) parkrun: Telford
Matt Costello, 15:50, Shrewsbury AC
7) parkrun: Cardiff
Stephen Morris, 15:53, Cardiff AAC
8=) parkrun: St. Andrews
Kieran Cooper, 15:58
8=) parkrun: Southend
Ben Felton, 15:58, Chelmsford AC
10) parkrun: Tilgate
James Westlake, 15:59, Crawley AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Cardiff 
Olivia Tsim, 17:02, Cardiff AAC
2) parkrun: Grovelands, Enfield
Katie Brown, 17:36, Trent Park Running Club
3) parkrun: Long Eaton
Georgina Weston, 17:44, Notts AC
4) parkrun: Bushy
Kate Brown, 17:55, St. Mary’s Richmond AC
5) parkrun: Normanby Hall
Lindsay Skinner, 18:02
6) parkrun: Princes, Liverpool
Alex O’Brien, 18:03, Liverpool RC
7) parkrun: Levengrove
Jennifer Wetton, 18:07, Central AC
8=) parkrun: Alvaston
Sarah Dufour-Jackson, 18:10, Vale Royal AC
8=) parkrun: Braunstone
Claire Fitzpatrick, 18:11, West End Runners
10) parkrun: Hackney Marshes
Anna Hollingsworth, 18:14, Serpentine RC

If you would like to run faster at parkrun we highly recommend 1001 Running Tips by Robbie Britton, found here.