Grace Molloy and Jack Woods ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this weekend (12th August).

Our weekly parkrun top ten is sponsored by 1001 Running Tips by our editor Robbie Britton. Want to run faster at parkrun in 2023 or your next marathon then order your copy today.(PBs not guaranteed, but very likely).

It wasn’t just the UCI World Champs that saw some racing in Scotland this weekend, Edinburgh parkrun had a spicy bit of competition just like Tom Pidcock and Sam Gaze. Grace Molloy and Lauren Ailish Dickson didn’t even need mountain bikes to make the most of it either.

Molloy, a Forth Valley Oreinteer, ran a strong 17:04 to finish 1st in Edinburgh and top the weekly rankings. It’s the first event on Power of 10 for Molloy in 2023, but this could just mean a focus on orienteering this year. A quick check on “World of O” and it was only last week that the Scot was racing the sprint, middle and long races at the World Cup in the Czech Republic.

Jack Woods was the fastest male with the only sub 15 minute time this week of 14:55. At Worthing parkrun on the south coast, flat but often impacted by the wind, it was the first time under 15 minutes at parkrun but Woods has run 14:47 for 5000m on the track and 14:24 for 5k on the road.

The best of the rest

Second place at Edinburgh was Lauren Ailish Dickson, of Lasswade AC. 17:20 is a second best parkrun ever for Dickson, who ran 17:05 earlier this year at the same event (and 17:31 last week as well). The young runner races on the cross country and the track and won the SSAA Scottish Schools Championships 3000m in 2018 and represented Great Britain on the mountains in Zermatt in 2019.

At Warwick Racecourse it was Callum Hanlon who was second quickest male runner this weekend with 15:14. The athlete, who runs for Leamington C and AC, has a quicker parkrun PB of 14:51 from last year but in 2023 he’s clocked PBs over 1500m and 3000m off 3:53.70 and 8:41.1 respectively. Tidy work.

Third placed female, by just second, was Alice Bates of Kettering Town Harriers. The U20 ran 17:24 and, like Hanlon above, has a new 1500m PB of 4:22.14 in 2023 already, including a win at the ESAA – English Schools Championships over the same distance as well. A young star to watch for the future.

Ollie Garrod and Ben Leaman both ran the third fastest time this weekend, stopping the clock on 15:28. Leaman has shown great form in 2023 with a 67:35 half marathon PB at Cambridge Half in May, and Garrod, who ran 14:47 for 5000m at Hercules Wimbledon last weekend, has probably raced again before we were able to type this article up.

The fastest course

Peter Molloy added another Edinburgh result to the top ten so that he, Garce Molloy and Lauren Dickson made it three Edinburgh results this week and took the event to the top of the charts.

Female Rankings

Men’s Rankings