Lauren Heyes and Luke Duffy ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (9th October).

The fastest female this week is a familiar name in Lauren Heyes, who has run for Great Britain on multiple occasions. Having not been far off her 5k PB with a 15:48 for second place at the Mid-Cheshire 5k in August it’s no surprise to see the Leigh Harrier break 17 minutes this Saturday.

2021 has already seen a half marathon PB of 73:33 at the Great North Run only a few weeks ago, it’s exciting to see what might be on the cards this Autumn.

Luke Duffy was our fastest male with a 14:51 at Storey’s Field, one of two chaps under 15 minutes this week. In a year in which the Loughborough student ran 14 minutes flat at Podium 5k in April, Duffy ran a PB at every track distance from 800 up to 5000m, breaking 1:50 for the first time in July.

PBs for everyone

Louise Hackett of Wolverhampton & Bilston AC clocked 16:59 as Belfast Victoria parkrun featured once again in out top 10. It’s starting to feel like I’m writing this for every athlete but Hackett is another who has rewritten her PBs in 2021. The U20 coached by Gareth Briggs has been flying towards under 17 minutes over five kilometres and parkrun is as good a place as any to start.

Impressively it was sixth to second for, the other man under 15 minutes, Jordan Skelly with a whole 30 seconds faster with the move across from Doddington Hall to Market Rasen Racecourse. Well under 15 minutes with 14:55 on the faster course.

Now Skelly is another athlete rolling around in PBs this year, but they go above and beyond what we were expecting with a nice 50 mile PB (and win) at the Centurion Running North Downs Way 50 miles in 7:20:25, only a short time after an excellent PB of 2:25 at the Uk’s Boston marathon.

Fastest course of the week?

It seems to me that it’s one result per course, with 20 different parkruns featuring in our rankings this week. That might just be the tiredness though. Everyone wins this week. Or it’s a joint first for Storey’s Field and Roberts Park. Whichever feels right to the reader.

A nice note is the women’s 6th through to 10th somehow managed to run a second slower than the person ahead. Very neat and tidy, either by pure chance or some strange conspiracy. Now it’s definitely the tiredness.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Storeys Field 
Luke Duffy, 14:51, Mansfield Harriers & AC
2) parkrun: Market Rasen Racecourse 
Jordan Skelly, 14:55, Gainsborough & Morton Striders AC
3) parkrun: Abingdon
Rowan Miell-Ingram, 15:12, Radley AC
4) parkrun: Keswick
Sam Stevens, 15:13, Leicester Coritanian AC
5=) parkrun: Jersey
Eliot Dorey, 15:19
5=) parkrun: Ormeau
Andrew Milligan, 15:19, North Belfast Harriers
7) parkrun: Cardiff
Ellis Garamszegi, 15:20.
8) parkrun: Poole
Niall Caley, 15:23, Bristol and West AC
9) parkrun: Elgin
Sean Chalmers, 15:30, Inverness Harriers AAC
10) parkrun: Telford
Matt Costello, 15:36, Telford AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Roberts Park
Lauren Heyes, 16:57, Leigh Harriers & AC
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Louise Hackett, 16:59, Wolverhampton & Bilston AC
3) parkrun: Stratford-upon-Avon
Sophie Birtles, 17:06, Bristol Uni AC
4) parkrun: Bushy
Helen Hall, 17:07, Winchester & District AC
5) parkrun: Walsall Arboretum
Amelia Samuels, 17:13, olverhampton & Bilston AC
6) parkrun: Long Eaton
Sonia Samuels, 17:18, Salford Harriers and AC
7) parkrun: Prospect
Jessica Gibbon, 17:19, Reading AC
8) parkrun: Mile End
Beth Hawling, 17:20, Cheltenham & County Harriers
9) parkrun: Penallta
Lauren Cooper, 17:21, Parc Bryn Bach Running Club
10) parkrun: Pontypridd
Olivia Dyer, 17:22, Cardiff AAC

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