Louise Small and Harry Wakefield ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this weekend (9th March).

Our weekly parkrun top ten is now sponsored by Vertebrate Publishing (my publisher) and here’s a link to buy my book on their website. They actually have a bunch of great books to choose from, especially the mountaineering ones, so don’t feel like you have to buy 1001 Running Tips.

Another strong weekend for parkrun athletes across the country, with Louise Small continuing her strong 2024 form with a 17:10 first finish at Eastville parkrun. Small, who is a Hoka sponsored athlete who runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District, has been running well over the marathon distance in recent years with a 2:30:54 at Berlin last year bringing her closer to that 2:30 barrier.

Harry Wakefield was the fastest chap with 14:57, and the only one under 15 minutes today, at Stretford parkrun. We assume it is Harry Wakefield from Salford Harriers, who had a parkrun PB of 15:04 before today, but a 5k road PB of 14:29 and a 5000m track PB of 14:11.12 so it was only a matter of time before the parkrun result dipped under a quarter of an hour too.

The best of the rest

Second fastest female was Sophie Coleman at Hove Promenade parkrun, which can be a really feisty course in wind conditions. The Brighton and Hove athlete ran 17:30, who might be running for Arena 80/Loughborough Uni now, ran 17:21 in January as well, so the form is carrying nicely into the spring.

Euan Brown was joint second fastest male runner with a Hillsborough parkrun first finish of 15:08, which matched the time of Jack Pickett at Shrewsbury parkrun. Brown has already run two 5k PBs this year with 14:20 at Armagh 5k and 14:18 at Friday Night 5K Under the Lights eight days later! Pickett has already clocked a parkrun PB this year of 14:54 so it’s been a quick year for both.

Third fastest lady was Issy Morris at Bryn Bach with 17:33. The U23 last ran a 5k at the famous Nos Galan Races back in 2019 and clocked 16:43 so good to see her running well.

The fastest course

It was a clear win for Stretford parkrun with three runners featuring including a first and fourth. Bravo!

Women’s Rankings

Men’s Rankings