Simon Nott and Phillipa Williams ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this weekend (14th December).

After clocking 17:26 to finish 2nd on last week’s list Philippa Williams tops the women’s times this week with 17:36 at Sheffield Hallam. 2019 has been a great year for the Sheffield RC athlete with a clean sweep of PBs from 5km up to half marathon and wins at Sunderland City and Sheffield Half Marathons. Williams is in excellent form clocking 34:59 to finish 3rd at the Percy Pud 10km two weeks ago.

Simon Nott is another athlete who has set impressive PBs in 2019 and the Calne RC man tops this week’s list of parkrun times with his 15:13 at the undulating Old Showfield course in Frome, Somerset. His time took 74 seconds off England Athletics’ Richard Ayling’s previous course record. Nott is in a good vein of form with a 2nd place finish at the Tri-County Championships Xc in Bath and running 29:43 for a big PB at Telford last week.

After winning last week’s Scottish East District XC Championships Annabel Simpson ran the second fastest time this week with her 17:40 at Kirkcaldy. Simpson was one of the athletes to have a potentially big 10km PB scrubbed off due to the 23m short course at Leeds Abbey Dash where she ran 33:30 for 9th.

Serpentine stalwart Jonathan Poole ran the 2nd fastest men’s time this week with 15:22 at Gunnersbury. The winner of Abingdon Marathon in October Poole has also notched up wins at the Middlesex 20 mile champs and Ealing Half this year in addition to setting a half marathon PB of 66:20 at Wokingham.

Bushy parkrun is always likely to produce quick times and AFD’s under 23 athlete Nancy Scott ran a healthy parkrun PB of 17:48 there to finish as this week’s third fastest female athlete. Amongst several impressive performances in 2019 Scott’s 16:45 5,000m PB set at Hercules Wimbledon 5000m Track Festival and finishing in the top 10 in the u/20 race at the National Cross stand out. Scott was 3rd at the Oxford v Cambridge Varsity XC Match last week.

15:27 was a parkrun PB for Elisha De Mello and his fine run saw him finish 3rd fastest man on this week’s list. The Rugby & Northampton and Edinburgh Uni man has been mostly racing XC this year including a 30th placed finish at the Scottish National Champs and 29th at the Short Course Champs last month. A 52:05 clocking at the Irish Runner 10 Mile in July was one of his road highlights of the year.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: The Old Showfield
Simon Nott, 15:13, Calne RC
2) parkrun: Gunnersbury
Jonathan Poole, 15:22, Serpentine RC
3) parkrun: Northampton
Elisha De Mello, 15:27, Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds
4) parkrun: Bushy
Harvey Dixon, 15:34, Aldershot, Farnham & District AC
5) parkrun: Hackney Marshes
Seyfu Jamaal, 15:35, London Heathside
=6) parkrun: Shrewsbury
Liam Rawlings, 15:37, Oswestry Olympians
=6) parkrun: Northampton
Dominic Jones, 15:37, Rugby & Northampton AC
=8) parkrun: Worthing
Sam Charig, 15:38, City of Portsmouth AC
=8) parkrun: Alexandra, Moss Side
Karl Darcy, 15:38, Salford Harriers and AC
=8) parkrun: Camperdown
Jamie Crowe, 15:38
=8) parkrun: Shrewsbury
Jack Wood, 15:38, Ilkley Harriers AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Sheffield Hallam
Phillipa Williams, 17:39, Elswick Harriers
2) parkrun: Kirkcaldy
Annabel Simpson, 17:40, Haraka Kasi
3) parkrun: Bushy
Nancy Scott, 17:48, Aldershot, Farnham & District AC
4) parkrun: Raphael
Emma Prideaux, 17:58, Billericay Striders RC
5) parkrun: Cambridge
Holly Alexandra Archer, 18:02, Cambridge and Coleridge AC
6) parkrun: Sewerby
Lauren Heyes, 18:04, Leigh Harriers & AC
7) parkrun: Millhouses
Sophie Wood, 18:08, Sale Harriers Manchester
8) parkrun: Dalby Forest
Caroline Lambert, 18:11
9) parkrun: Longrun Meadow
Hannah Taunton, 18:11, Taunton AC
10) parkrun: Stratford-upon-Avon
Georgie Campbell, 18:12, Stratford-upon-Avon AC

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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