With parkrun suspended in the UK this weekend, we thought a glance back at the 10 fastest parkruns of all time could be a good alternative to the weekly top ten. 

Now what on earth are we going to write about next weekend? Leave it with us, we’ll come up with something. Or tweet some ideas at us, that always helps.

Your fastest male and female parkrun athletes of all time are…. unnecessary drum roll…. Andy Baddeley (13:48) and Charlotte Arter (15:49).

So Andy Baddeley, a 1500m Olympian and 13:20.99 5000m runner, is still the quickest of all time, way back from 2012 at the home of parkrun, Bushy Park. Little interesting fact to go alongside is that the 3:49 miler also has a double-first in Engineering from Cambridge University. Speedy and smart.

Your ladies parkrun world record holder is none the than Charlotte Arter. The GB distance star was at the rapido Cardiff parkrun in south Wales, and has run a handful of times that would have made this top ten. According to Wikipedia the Welsh star is originally from Cumbria, but is now the Welsh record holder for half marathon with a 69:40 at Barcelona Half last year.

The runners up

Alex Yee is a runner that always gets people excited, possibly linked to the fact my laptop tries to autocorrect to “Alex Yeehaw”. When he ran 14:05 a couple of years ago at Dulwich parkrun it was the second quickest all time and people loved it. Then the triathlon pro went one better and ran 13:57 at the same park. Could Yee break Baddeley’s record in the future?

When Dr. Jess Piasecki ran 15:51 and captained GB at the World XC Champs you might have felt that the Stockport Harrier could have relaxed for the rest of 2019, content in the knowledge that the year had been smashed, but the Exercise physiologist went on to run one of the performances of the year, winning Florence Marathon in 2:25:29, the third fastest British marathoner of all time.

Completing the podium

When Adam Clarke goes for a run at parkrun you now it’s going to be speedy. Another effort from Dulwich and the 2019 Armagh International winner (in 13:52 no less) probably lists his 14:00 parkrun on a similar level of achievement… or maybe slightly less than his simply staggering 13:39 5000m PB. Who knows?

The third fastest lady was also at Cardiff parkrun and Jenny Nesbitt is actually one of our Fast10 for 2020. Clocking 15:54 already in 2020, Nesbitt is clearly in great form and also had a road 10k best of 32:42 from Valencia in January this year. Another one who might challenge her training partner Arter’s parkrun best in the future.

A shout out must go to Clara Evans, training partner of Arter and Nesbitt, for posting the only time in this top ten that didn’t even come with the sweet joy of being first finisher on the day. On 1st February this year the seventh quickest UK parkrun all time was second on the day to Arter’s world best.

The fastest events?

142 men have broken 15 minutes at parkrun as of last weekend, which is pretty much on par with a good year at Armagh 5k international, whereas 137 ladies have broken 17 minutes, which feels like our equivalent result in the round up each week, with the time difference for fastest in each category the same as well (15:49 & 13:48 both just over 70 seconds quicker).

In a veritable who’s who of speedy parkruns, which event features most as well? Unsurprisingly Cardiff and Dulwich pop up repeatedly and the old school Bushy Park still has enough marks in the rankings to feature as the quickest with six, but it’s only a matter of time before the others surpass the home of parkrun.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Bushy ’12
Andy Baddeley, 13:48, Harrow
2) parkrun: Dulwich ’18
Alex Yee, 13:57, Kent AC
3) parkrun: Dulwich ’19
Adam Clarke, 14:00, Aldershot,Farnham & District
4) parkrun: Llanelli Coast ’18
Dewi Griffiths, 14:12, Swansea
5) parkrun: Southend ’16
Adam Hickey, 14:15, Southend
6=) parkrun: Pegwell Bay ’18
Chris Olley, 14:17, Tonbridge AC
6=) parkrun: Bakewell ’19
Andrew Heyes, 14:17, Hallamshire
8) parkrun: Bushy ’10
Mark Draper, 14:20, Bedford & County
9) parkrun: Exmouth ’18
Jake Smith, 14:21, Cardiff AC
10=) parkrun: Bushy ’10
Benedict Whitby, 14:24, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow
10=) parkrun: Cardiff ’15
Ieuan Thomas, 14:24, Cardiff

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Cardiff ’20
Charlotte Arter, 15:49, Cardiff AC
2) parkrun: Long Eaton ’19
Jess Piasecki, 15:51, Stockport
3) parkrun: Cardiff ’20
Jenny Nesbitt, 15:54, Cardiff AC
4) parkrun: St Albans ’13
Hannah Walker, 15:55, Birchfield Harriers
5=) parkrun: Bushy ’11
Justina Heslop, 15:58, Clapham Chasers
5=) parkrun: Walsall Arboretum ’19
Hayley Carruthers, 15:58, Birchfield Harriers
7) parkrun: Cardiff ’20
Clara Evans, 16:04, Cardiff AC
8) parkrun: Bushy ’13
Julia Bleasdale, 16:05, Hillingdon
9) parkrun: Dulwich ’19
Steph Davis, 16:08, Clapham Chasers
10) parkrun: Bushy ’12
Gemma Turtle, 16:09, Gloucester

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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