Peter Le Grice and Jessica Craig are the quickest two at parkrun in the UK. See who else made the top 10 this weekend (February 2).

Peter Le Grice is usually based down in Cornwall and earlier this year ran a fire cracking 14:48 at Penrose parkrun nearer to home.
This weekend the Mounts Bay Harrier tops the men’s rankings with a 15:10 at the quick Brighton & Hove parkrun.

Le Grice is in a situation which is becoming more and more common, where his parkrun PB of 14:38 is actually much quicker than his 5000m PB of  15:50, but the 2:21 marathoner did run PBs over half marathon (66:22) and 10k in 2018 (29:43).

Jessica Craig recorded the fastest women’s time on Saturday after a 17:14 run at the Belfast Victoria parkrun.

The North Down athlete will represent Northern Ireland at the Armagh International Road Races later this month.

Middle distance runner Matthew Edwards seems to have had a showdown with Luke Williams at Cardiff parkrun with the athletes second and third on this week’s rankings.

Edwards has a 14:37 5000m PB from 2018 and a very tidy 1500m PB of 3:51.98 so will likely always do well in a parkrun sprint. 2:37 marathoner Williams is more of a longer distance runner and is a Cardiff parkrun and racing regular.

Southampton AC’s Jen Elkins ran the second quickest women’s time after a 17:37 run at Whiteley parkrun in-between Southampton and Portsmouth on the south coast. The course record for the event is Elkin’s own 17:09.

Mara Yamauchi is the name that stands out in the women’s rankings this week and the former Olympic marathoner still races regularly at parkrun and cross country events. In 2017 and 2018 the 2:23:12 marathoner was even competing at the Lavaredo Cortina sky race in the Italian Dolomites, winning in 2017 and finishing fifth against a high quality American continent in 2018.

There were several parkruns that featured twice this week, with Wyre Forest making an appearance due to the Richardsons, William and Chloe, turning up at the same event again as they do on a regular basis. Cardiff had the second and third fastest males, Cannon Hill had a bit of a race between Mark Pearce and Ed Banks, whilst two Clapham Chasers, Eve Bugler and Laura Boehm were only 11 seconds apart at Burgess parkrun.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Brighton & Hove 
Peter Le Grice, 15:10, Mountas Bay Harriers
2) parkrun: Cardiff
Matthew Edwards, 15:17, Barry & Vale Harriers
3) parkrun: Cardiff
Luke Williams, 15:20, San Domenico RC
4) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham
Mark Pearce, 15:34
5) parkrun: Wyre Forest
Will Richardson, 15:35, Birchfield Harriers
6) parkrun: Isabel Trail
Ian Kimpton, 15:38, Team Kimpton
7) parkrun: Bushy
Sean Doyle, 15:39, An Brú AC
8) parkrun: Highbury Fields
Seyfu Jamaal, 15:50
9) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham
Ed Banks, 15:52, Birchfield Harriers
10) parkrun: Exeter Riverside
James McCrae, 15:56, Hallamshire Harriers Sheffield AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria 
Jessica Craig, 17:14, North Down AC
2) parkrun: Whiteley 
Jen Elkins, 17:37, Southampton AC
3) parkrun: Blackpool
Liz Abbott, 17:44, Lytham St. Annes RRC
4) parkrun: Lowestoft
Samantha Lines, 17:59, Waveney Valley AC
5) parkrun: Colby
Elizabeth Davies, 18:10, Springfield Striders
6) parkrun: Bushy
Mara Yamauchi, 18:17, Thames Hare & Hounds
7) parkrun: Exmouth
Scarlett Livingstone, 18:25, Exeter Harriers
8) parkrun: Wyre Forest
Chloe Richardson, 18:35, Birchfield Harriers
9) parkrun: Fulham Palace
Jess Saunders, 18:37, Fulham RC
10) parkrun: Burgess
Eve Bugler, 18:38, Clapham Chasers RC

If you enjoy running at parkrun but want to develop and get a bit faster then find a running club near you. Clubs have all the social aspects of parkrun and cater for all levels to help you progress. More information can be found here.

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

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

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