Lauren Heyes and Samuel Moakes ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (23rd April).

Our weekly parkrun top ten is sponsored by 1001 Running Tips by our editor Robbie Britton. Order your copy today.

Apologies for the rankings being a day late this week. Yesterday was the Centurion Running Track 100, where Aleksandr Sorokin broke the World 100km record with a run of 6:05:41. That’s around 18 minutes for each 5k, so whilst he wouldn’t have made this round-up today it was a pretty impressive run.

On a windy day, in Bedford at least, we saw some quick parkrun times across the United Kingdom. Fastest female was in form Lauren Heyes. Having started 2022 with an excellent 4th at the Start Fitness Northern Counties Championships, Heyes might well be looking to some road training to build on the 73:33 half marathon PB from 2021. This weekend’s 16:28 is actually a 10 second parkrun best, but still a little behind the 15:39 Heyes has clocked on the road over 5k.

Samuel Moakes, , Sutton-in-Ashfield Harriers & AC, ran 14:40 at Long Eaton parkrun. It was a big parkrun PB for the U23, by over a minute, but brings the time in line with the sub 30 minute marks he has for 10k and 10,000m on the track from 2021. Add to this a 14:20 5k PB run at Podium 5K last April and it’s clear the youngster has a lot more to give.

The rest of the podium

At Worthing there was another excellent female performance that would usually be quick enough for our top spot. Another excellent cross-country runner, Sarah Astin ran 16:38 a week after clocking 16:25.27 at the Comeback 5000. With an equivalent 4th at her own regional XC Champs, the South of England AA Championships, it’s clear we had a, virtual, top level battle, for fastest parkrun this week.

Stephen Strange of Tonbridge AC ran 15:11 at Chelmsford Central parkrun, to finish 4 seconds ahead of his club mate Jame Kingston, who was actually at the home ground event of Tonbridge parkrun and ran 15:15. Both were in action recently at the ERRA National Men’s 12-Stage relays, which is no surprise given the huge team spirit promoted by club coach Mark Hookway over the years.

Just over 17 minutes in another quick time was India Barwell. Lincoln Wellington’s Barwell has been busy already in 2022 and the U20 was 8th at the ECCA Saucony English National Championships on Parliament Hill. As well as this being the second parkrun PB of the year, Barwell ran 10:05.14 for 3000m at the beginning of the month so an exciting year ahead.

Fastest course

Training partners James Westlake and Neil Roberts Boniface, of the AB Training group headed by Alison Benton, both ran strong times at Horsham parkrun to make it the most featured this week.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Long Eaton
Samuel Moakes, 14:40, Sutton-in-Ashfield Harriers & AC
2) parkrun: Chelmsford Central
Stephen Strange, 15:11, Tonbridge AC
3) parkrun: Tonbridge
James Kingston, 15:15, Tonbridge AC
4) parkrun: Dishley, Loughborough
Chris Perham, 15:18, Tri UK
5) parkrun: Pontypridd
Adam Bull, 15:24, Pontypridd Roadents AC
6) parkrun: Horsham
James Westlake, 15:26, Crawley AC
7) parkrun: Beacon
James Robert Hodgson, 15:28
8) parkrun: University Parks
Oliver Conway, 15:37
9) parkrun: Ashford
Weghata Zerom, 15:43
10=) parkrun: Hull
Robert Sparkes, 15:47, Beverley AC
10=) parkrun: Horsham
Neil Robert Boniface, 15:47, Horsham Joggers

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Warrington
Lauren Heyes, 16:28, Leigh Harriers & AC
2) parkrun: Worthing 
Sarah Astin, 16:35, City of Norwich AC
3) parkrun: Doddington Hall
India Barwell, 17:10, Lincoln Wellington AC
4) parkrun: Worcester Pitchcroft 
Julia Bijl, 17:18
5) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Caitlyn Harvey, 17:29 Annadale Striders
6) parkrun: Fletcher Moss
Sophie Wood, 17:32, Sale Harriers Manchester
7) parkrun: Oxford
Charlie Arnell, 17:37
8) parkrun: Hull
Georgina Weston, 17:39, Notts AC
9) parkrun: Keswick
Camilla McKnespiey, 17:40, Carlisle Aspatria AC
10) parkrun: Watermead Country Park 
Claire Fitzpatrick, 17:48, West End Runners

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