Holly Archer and Matthew Bowser ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (4th September).

Rumour has it that Holly Archer so enjoyed being top of our parkrun rankings the other week it was only a matter of time before she graced Storey’s Field with her flying stride to once again conquer all. The Cambridge and Coleridge athlete clocked 16:23 to finish first and once again take the fought after honours.

Men’s faster athlete was Matthew Bowser, who was apparently coached by Alberto Salazar in 2020 to a fine 118th place at the Inter-Counties Cross country. This may or not be true, but if so Salazar likely ranks this as one of greater coaching achievements.

The 14:03 5000m man ran 14:40 at Market Rasen Racecourse this weekend, not long after an excellent 10,000m PB of 29:57.57, which is great to see as the last time the Lincoln Wellington runner broke 30 min was in 2012.

Second fastest lady was also at Market Rasen racecourse with Sophie Wallis breaking 17 minutes with a 16:54. Fresh from a 27:54 win at the Bassingham 5 last weekend, which you can read about here, Wallis brings her parkrun PB closer to her new 2021 PB of 16:50.

Something in the water up in Scotland

Daryl Reid, second fastest after Bowser, leads a Scottish trio in the next three spots. The East Kilbride athlete has run 14:35 this year and might be targeting a shiny new marathon PB this autumn, given how well he is running of late.

The only other runner to break 15 minutes was Myles Edwards of Aberdeen AAC, with a 14:57 in his home town, with Ross Gollan just over in 15:02 in Alness.

Lily Hawkins of Southampton AC was the third female with 17:08. Weymouth parkrun often sees some fast times and this weekend was no different. The middle distance runner is another who has seen a host of PBs over 2021, with highlights including 59.53 for the 400, 2:04.83 for the 800 and 4:15.63 over 1500m.

The fastest parkrun of the week?

Seeing as this is once again tied by two events, thanks to a rather close finish at Cardiff parkrun by Daniel Hamilton and Ben Miles, 15:05 and 15:06 respectively, it goes down to the jury’s decision and, with Market Rasen racecourse seeing a 1st and 2nd in the rankings, it is the clear winner.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Market Rasen Racecourse
Matthew Bowser, 14:40, Lincoln Wellington
2) parkrun: Strathclyde
Daryl Reid, 14:47, East Kilbride AC
3) parkrun: Aberdeen
Myles Edwards, 14:57, Aberdeen AAC
4) parkrun: Alness
Ross Gollan, 15:02, Shettleston Harriers
5) parkrun:Cardiff
Daneil Hamilton, 15:05, Abingdon AC
6) parkrun:Cardiff
Ben Miles, 15:06, Pont-y-pwl and District Runners
7) parkrun: Hyde
David Barratt, 15:14
8) parkrun: Hartlepool
Kieran Walker, 15:16, Sedgefield Harriers
9) parkrun: Elgin
Max Abernethy, 15:17, Fraserburgh RC
10) parkrun: Fleetwood Promenade
Chris Livesey, 15:19, Salford Harriers and AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun:  Storeys Field
Holly Archer,16:23, Cambridge & Coleridge AC
2) parkrun: Market Rasen Racecourse
Sophie Wallis, 16:54, Lincoln Wellington
3) parkrun: Weymouth
Lily Hawkins, 17:08, Wells City Harriers
4) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham 
Bryony Haines, 17:19, Birchfield Harriers
5) parkrun: Alvaston
Lisa Palmer-Blount, 17:26, Heanor RC
6) parkrun: Highbury Fields
Beth Hawling, 17:30, Cheltenham & County Harriers
7) parkrun: Citypark, Craigavon
Robun McKee, 17:43
3) parkrun: Salisbury
Daisy Baker, 17:43
9) parkrun: Bushy
Kate Brown, 17:45, St Mary’s Richmond AC
10) parkrun: Wimbledon Common
Ellen Weir, 17:45, Hercules Wimbledon

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