A bronze medallist at the National 5km Championships in 2019 Bronagh Kearns was the quickest woman at parkrun in Ireland this weekend with 17:54 at St Anne’s. Kearns was a winner of the recent 2-mile ALSAA BHAA Cross-Country in Dublin and her run at St Anne’s was enough to set a new parkrun PB.

Ennis Track Club’s Rory Chesser broke the course record at Lees Road with 15:35 and is this weekend’s fastest man at parkrun in Ireland. The 3:40.74 1500m man ran 14:39.65 at Oordegem in May and sits 17th on the Irish 3000mSC all time list with his 8:46.95 from 2014.

Sinead Lambe was this week’s second fastest woman running 18:28 at Castlewellan parkrun. Lambe finish 2nd at the Waterside Half Marathon in September when running 82:53 and was also 2nd at Kilcock 10 running 61:30.

Evan Fitzgerald was a Bronze medal winner at the Munster Junior Cross Country at Conna later in November and this week ran the 2nd fastest time with 16:05 at Clonmel. Fitzgerld was the winner of the Mooreabbey Mile Race in December and was 4th at Bandon 5km in early November running 15:58.

18:52 at Glen River saw Orla Byrne finish as this week’s 3rd fastest woman at set a new course record. Byrne was 6th at the Irish Life Health National Intermediate XC Championships and picked up a silver medal Munster Intermediate Cross-Country Championships back in December.

Mullingar Harrier, Jack Moran ran 16:20 at his first register parkrun at Mullingar to finish 3rd on this week’s list. Moran ran 9:17 at the Armagh 3km race in February.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Lees Road
Rory Chesser, 15:35, Ennis TC
2) parkrun: Clonmel
Evan Fitzgerald, 16:05, Clonmel Athletic Club
3) parkrun: Mullingar
Jack Moran, 16:20, Mullingar Harriers
4) parkrun: Gorey
Sean Hehir, 16:30, Metro St Brigid’s
5) parkrun: City Park
James Monaghan, 16:43, St Peters AC
6) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Robert Hagen, 16:44
7) parkrun: Waterworks
Mark McAvoy, 16:44, North Belfast Harriers
8) parkrun: Malahide
Robert Frewen, 16:47, Raheny Shamrock AC
9) parkrun: Malahide
Christopher Pearson, 16:52, Vegan Runners
10) parkrun: Ecos
Damian Bourke, 16:52

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: St Anne’s
Bronagh Kearns, 17:54
2) parkrun: Castlewellan
Sinead Lambe, 18:28, Donore Harriers
3) parkrun: Glen River 
Orla Byrne, 18:52, St Finbarrs AC
4) parkrun: Stormont
Emer McKee, 19:07, Willowfield Harriers
5) parkrun: Naas 
Ruth O’Loughlin, 19:17
6) parkrun: St Anne’s
Fiona Stack, 19:18, Raheny Shamrock AC
7) parkrun: Avondale Forest
Catherine O’Connor, 19:21, Parnell AC
8) parkrun: St Anne’s
Ann MacPhail, 19:28
9) parkrun: Royal Canal
Jane Bandila, 19:33
10) parkrun: Bangor 
Fiona McQuillan, 19:33, North Down AC

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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The 2019 Munster Indoor 3000m champion Rory O’Connor ran the fastest parkrun time in Ireland yesterday with 15:37 at St Anne’s. It was a parkrun best for the North Cork AC man who finished 2nd at the recent Adare 10km in 30:39.

Middle distance specialist Katie Kirk was the fastest woman this week with 17:44 at Belfast Victoria. A busy year of 800m racing in 2019 saw the Queens University athlete set a PB of 2:03.46 at the Morton Games International in August.

Mark McKinstry ran 15:38 at Sixmilewater to finish as the 2nd fastest man at parkrun in Ireland this weekend. A bronze medallist at last week’s Northern Ireland & Ulster Senior XC Championships, McKinstry has picked up wins at the Northern Ireland & Ulster Masters’ XC Championships (V40) and Mathieson Shield & Cup XC since the run of the year.

Annette Kealy was back in the top 10 parkrun times this week with 17:52 at Malahide. Kealy won the V50 Irish Life Health National Masters XC Championship earlier in February. The barrister holds world and european masters titles on the road, track and cross country.

David Scanlon was the 3rd fastest man running 16:02 at Tymon. Scanlon who has run for Ireland as an u23, ran 24:15 at the Raheny 5 in January and finished 5th at the Leinster Senior XC Championships in November.

Aoife Kilgannon made it three women sub 18 minutes as she was first back overall in 17:58 setting a new course record at Sligo. Kilgannon finished 2nd at the Cara Bundoran 10k in 2019 in 38:27.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: St Anne’s
Rory O’Connor, 15:37
2) parkrun: Sixmilewater
Mark McKinstry, 15:38, North Belfast Harriers
3) parkrun: Tymon
David Scanlon, 16:02, Rathfarnham WSAF
4) parkrun: Royal Canal
Alexander Wallace, 16:22, St. Cocas AC
5) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Connor Curran, 16:30, North Belfast
6) parkrun: Mullingar 
Lorcan Mullen, 16:36, Mullingar Harriers
7) parkrun: Poolbeg
Joseph O’Donoghue, 16:48
8) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Niell Weir, 16:52, Willowfield
9) parkrun: Poolbeg
Damien Bourke, 16:55
10) parkrun: Tolka Valley 
Paul Fleming, 17:03, Rathfarnham WSAF

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Katie Kirk, 17:44, Queens University AC
2) parkrun: Malahide
Annette Kealy, 17:52, Raheny Shamrock AC
3) parkrun: Sligo
Aoife Kilgannon, 17:58
4) parkrun: Ormeau
Leann Gibson, 19:04, Victoria Park and Connswater AC
5) parkrun: Castlewellan
Anna Gardiner, 19:06, East Down AC
6) parkrun: Tymon
Amy Moran, 19:08, Dundrum South Dublin Athletic Club
7) parkrun: Tolka Valley
Ilona McElroy, 19:09, Crusaders Athletic Club
8) parkrun: Poolbeg
Eimear O’Connor, 19:19, Sligo AC
9) parkrun: Stormont
Emer McKee, 19:30, Willowfield Harriers
=10) parkrun: Derry City
Cara Laverty, 19:31, City of Derry AC
=10) parkrun: Valley
Catherine Diver, 19:31

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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James Cameron Hancock made the most of his time in Ireland with this week’s fastest parkrun (15:49) less than 48 hours after clocking a new 5km PB of 15:08 in Armagh. It was an impressive double for the Croydon AC man who has started 2020 with a bang with back to back Surrey XC League Division two victories and an impressive 13th place finish at the competitive Surrey County XC Championships.

Another athlete on an extended visit to the emerald isle was GB international Georgia Malir who ran 17:52 at Belfast Victoria to finish as this weekend’s fastest woman. Malir ran an impressive 9:38 at Armagh 3km to finish 24th, an identical time and position to her 2019 performance! Amongst many excellent performances in 2019 Malir ran a big 5km PB of 16:23 at Ipswich Twilight 5km. She finished 5th at last month’s Yorkshire XC Champs.

A more familiar name in the Irish top 10 is Robert Frewen who, despite windy conditions, managed to clock a new parkrun PB of 16:26 at Malahide and finish with this week’s 2nd fastest time. Frewen ran 2:46:47 at Dublin Marathon in October, 58:56 at the AAI 10 mile championship in July and 28:04 at the Irish Runner 5 mile in June.

Kirsti Foster was another athlete competing in Armagh and was 2nd fastest woman at parkrun with 18:27 at Belfast Victoria this weekend. The under 17 athlete ran a fantastic 10:00 on Thursday to lead her age category and run 23 seconds faster than her track 3000m best. In winning the Northern Ireland & Ulster Age Group Championship 1500m this month Foster also moved to 3rd u/17 in the UK with her time of 4:40.20.

Orienteering specialist Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan was the third fastest man this weekend with 16:28 at Ormeau. Josh was a member of the Donore team who picked up a gold medal at the National Intermediate XC last weekend where he finished 7th overall.

Rounding off a trio of women who raced in Armagh, Rachel Friend was the third fastest woman at parkrun with 18:43 at Waterworks. Friend finished 38th on Thursday night clocking 9:50 and was a bronze medallist at the recent England Athletics 5-Mile Championships at Alsager.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
James Cameron Hancock, 15:49, Croydon
2) parkrun: Malahide
Robert Frewen, 16:26, Raheny Shamrock AC
3) parkrun: Ormeau
Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan, 16:28, Donore Harriers
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Alex Penfold, 16:31, Croydon Harriers
5) parkrun: Poolbeg
Damian Bourke, 16:55
6) parkrun: Antrim
David Coniffe, 17:03, Pace Running Club
7) parkrun: Waterworks
Matthew Ian Lockyer, 17:06, Leeds City AC
8) parkrun: Ormeau
Dylan MxBride, 17:15, City of Lisburn AC
9) parkrun: Antrim
Chris Hopkins, 17:19, County Antrim Harriers
10) parkrun: Bekfast Victoria
Christopher Moren, 17:21, Willowfield Harriers

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Georgia Malir, 17:52, Ilkley Harriers AC
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Kirsti Foster, 18:27, Willowfield Harriers
3) parkrun: Waterworks
Rachel Friend, 18:43, Leeds City AC
4) parkrun: Ormeau
Sarah Mackness, 19:03, Notts AC
5) parkrun: Castlewellan
Sarah Graham, 19:37, Mourne Runners
=6) parkrun: Castlewellan
Izzy Coomber, 19:41, Haywards Heath Harriers
=6) parkrun: Ormeau
Claire Tonry, 19:41, Dub Runners of Belfast
8) parkrun: Castlewellan
Lauren Madine, 19:50
9) parkrun: Castlewellan
Anna Gardiner, 19:53, East Down AC
10) parkrun: Malahide
Sarah Hawkshaw, 19:58, Portmarnock Athletic Club

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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Ireland is not short of top masters athletes and it was another, Barbara Cleary, who was the fastest female at parkrun in Ireland this weekend. Cleary’s time of 17:58 saw her achieve an aged graded score of 89.97% and was enough to see her first back overall at Lees Road breaking the course record in the process. Cleary has a 10km PB of 34:07 from 2014 but most recently ran an impressive 27:34 at the 2020 Raheny 5.

Eskander Osman is a man to watch in 2020. The Annadale Strider ran 15:40 to top the mens times this weekend. Osman finished third at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Intermediate Cross-Country Championships at the end of January and was just outside his parkrun best of 15:36.

Under 17 Emmy Thornton is one of a number of talented young Willowfield athletes who regularly appear in the parkrun top 10 and her time of 19:03 at Belfast Victoria was enough to set herself a new parkrun PB. Thorton was a silver medallist in the 1500m at the Ulster Schools’ Championships in 2019.

Bury AC’s Byron Edwards has had a busy start to 2020 notching up parkruns most weekends in addition to running 74:47 at the Four Villages Half Marathon at the end of January. 16:19 at Belfast Victoria was a few seconds outside his parkrun PB but a strong performance for the prolific racer who set a PB of 2:40:18 at Tokyo Marathon last year.

Sarah Baryga ran 19:22 at Poolbeg to finish as the third fastest woman this week and has clocked up over 150 parkruns with a best of 18:31. Baryga ran 62:37 to finish 5th at Trim 10 mile race last weekend and ran a marathon PB of 2:55:22 at Dublin in October.

Poolbeg also saw the third fastest male runner this week where James Bartram clocked 16:40. 2019 was a strong year for the Thames Hare & Hounds athlete with PBs including 32:53 at Self Transcendence 10K in November and 15:57 at Hercules Wimbledon 5000m in August.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Eskander Osman, 15:40, Annadale Striders
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Byron Edwards, 16:19, Bury AC
3) parkrun: Poolbeg
James Bartram, 16:40, Thames Hare & Hounds
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Jack Logan, 16:56
=5) parkrun: Westport
Ethan Lloyd, 17:04, Westport AC
=5) parkrun: Waterworks
Mark McAvoy, 17:04, North Belfast Harriers
7) parkrun: Antrim
James Connelly, 17:10, Garscube Harriers
8) parkrun: Antrim
Oliver Cook, 17:11, Pace Running Club
9) parkrun: Castletown
Edwin Koenck, 17:22, Le Cheile AC
10) parkrun: Mungret
Joe O’Briend, 17:40

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Lees Road
Barbara Cleary, 17:58
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Emmy Thorton, 19:03, Willowfield Harriers
3) parkrun: Poolbeg
Sarah Baryga, 19:22
4) parkrun: Castlewellan
Anna Gardiner, 19:24, East Down AC
5) parkrun: Mullingar
Maud-Annie Foley, 19:30
6) parkrun: Ballincollig
Lily Edwards, 19:50
7) parkrun: Naas
Aine Lyng, 19:56
8) parkrun: Bushy, Dublin
Sarah Fitzpatrick, 19:56
9) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Cliodhna Daly, 19:57, North East Runners
10) parkrun: Cootehill
Lisa Clerkin, 19:59

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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With improved weather across Ireland came faster times at parkrun and it was 2019 Irish Masters Athlete of the Year Annette Kealy who was the fastest woman. Kiely’s time of 17:45 is an age graded performance of 96.81% and saw her second fastest on the Malahide course by a handful of seconds. Kealy is double European Masters’ XC Champion and she recently finished 3rd overall and first W50 at the Dublin Masters’ Cross-Country Championships.

U/20 St. Malachy’s athlete Tony McCambridge was fastest man running a big new parkrun PB of 15:19 at Belfast Victoria. McCambridge finished 13th U/20 at the Run Stirling XC earlier this month and he will be looking to build on an excellent 2019 which saw him run a 5000m PB of 15:04.68, finish 2nd in the Ulster Schools’ Championships 1500m and 2nd u/20 at the Northern Ireland & Ulster Uneven Age Groups Championships.

Having represented her country at triathlon and cycling in the past Maeve Gallagher was a member of the Irish team at the European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon last month. The Swinford A.C. athlete was the second fastest woman this week with 17:56 at Castlebar, first back overall in a big new parkrun PB and setting a new course record in the process. Gallagher was a winner of the Land of the Giant Duathlon race on New Year’s Day.

Also setting a parkrun course record this week was first timer Evan Byrne of Togher AC who ran 15:33 on the trail course at Ballincollig. Byrne had a fabulous year in 2019 setting numerous PBs including 30:16 for 10000m at Fast Friday and 3:54.04 for 1500m and 14:13.68 for 5000m at Oordegem in May.

After topping the list last week Martina Kiely of St Finbarrs AC is third fastest this week but running faster with 18:05 to break her own course record at Killarney House. Kiely was a winner at the New Year’s Day Road Races at Beaufort running the 5km.

John Craig was the third fastest man this week running a big new parkrun PB of 15:38 at Belfast Victoria. A winner of the Decathlon Belfast 10K in November Craig set a new 10km PB of 32:04 at the Seeley Cup 10K and finished 8th V35 at the British & Irish Masters’ International XC in Aintree.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Tony McCambridge, 15:19
2) parkrun: Ballincollig
Evan Byrne, 15:33, Togher AC
3) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
John Craig, 15:38, Victoria Park and Connswater AC
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Callum Morgan, 16:04, St Malachys AC
5) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Robert Hagen, 16:18
=6) parkrun: Waterford Nature
Damian Bourke, 16:38
=6) parkrun: Royal Canal
Garry Cribbin, 16:38, Celbridge AC
8) parkrun: Stormont
Jamie Smyth, 16:42, North Down AC
9) parkrun: Waterford Nature
Brian Murphy, 16:46, Carrick-on-Suir AC
10) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Thomas Carson, 16:49, Willowfield Harriers

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Malahide
Annette Kealy, 17:45, Raheny Shamrock AC
2) parkrun: Castlebar
Maeve Gallagher, 17:56, Swinford A.C.
3) parkrun: Killarney House
Martina Kiely, 18:05, St Finbarrs AC
4) parkrun: Shanganagh
Sarah Baryga, 18:35
5) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Amy Bulman, 18:38, Willowfield Harriers
6) parkrun: Castlebar
Edel Reilly, 18:42
7) parkrun: Shanganagh
Catherine O’Connor, 18:43, Parnell AC
8) parkrun: Castlewellan
Anna Gardiner, 18:52, East Down AC
9) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Lauren Madine, 19:09
10) parkrun: Glen River
Orla Byrne, 19:15

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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With parkrun taking place on New Year’s Day and again this weekend there were plenty of opportunities for more fast times at Irish parkrun. Eight men ran under 16 minutes and all 10 women ran under 19 minutes with several names featuring twice.

A time of 17:59 saw Rachel Gibson of North Down break the Antrim course record and top the list of women’s parkrun times in Ireland. Gibson will be looking to build on a fabulous 2019 where she set PBs from 1500m right through to 10km with highlights including 9:33.18 at the Belfast International, a third place finish at Co. Down 5km in 16:50 and 35:41 at the Seeley Cup 10km.

The course record also fell at Derry City where Conor Bradley ran 14:59 to finish as this week’s fastest man. After setting fantastic new PBs in 2019 of 7:58.30 for 3000m and 13:56.52 for 5000m Bradley went on to race in the European Cross Country Championships in December finishing 52nd.

Yet another course record fell at Royal Canal where Irish marathon record holder Catherina McKiernan was first back overall in a time of 18:08. McKiernan’s time of 2:22:23 at the Amsterdam Marathon in 1998 is 10th on the European all time rankings, the same position she occupies in the European half marathon rankings with the 67:50 mark she set at Lisbon Half in the same year.

Fintan Stewart’s time of 15:12 would have been fast enough to break the course record at Derry City had Bradley decided to take NYD off, but was enough to see him run the second fastest parkrun time in Ireland this week. Stewart took nearly nine seconds off his 1500m PB in 2019 running 3:46.46 at the BMC Grand Prix in Trafford in August. His impressive performance at Derry City was his first ever outing at parkrun.

Hannah Oldroyd was one of the athletes who served herself a double dose of parkrun this week running 18:15 at Waterworks and 18:22 at Valley both on New Year’s Day clocking the 3rd and 4th fastest times in Ireland the process! Her time at Valley was enough to set the course record. Oldroyd who does most of her racing in Europe had a very impressive year including running 2:44:53 at Amsterdam Marathon and winning 50e Braassemloop Half in 79:37.

Eskandar Osman was another runner tackling two parkruns this week, but in his case they were on NYD and then three days later on Saturday. It was his 15:39 to see the new year in at Ormeau that was the fastest of the two, and yes you guessed it, it was another course record. We are expecting big things in 2020 from the Annadale Strider who was 3rd at the 2019 Laganside 10km in 31:38. His time of 15:51, also at Ormeau was 5th fastest this week.

15 year old Kirsti Foster was the other athlete to feature twice on the list clocking impressive back to back times of 18:28 and 18:34 at Stormont and Ormeau both on NYD.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Derry City
Conor Bradley, 14:59, City of Derry AC
2) parkrun: Derry City
Fintan Stewart, 15:12, City of Derry AC
3) parkrun: Ormeau
Eskander Osman, 15:39, Annadale Striders
4) parkrun: Clonmel
Evan Fitzgerald, 15:40, Clonmel Athletic Club
5) parkrun: Ormeau
Eskander Osman, 15:51, Annadale Striders
6) parkrun: Ormeau
Stephen Connolly, 15:55, Annadale Striders
7) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Keith Purdy, 15:59, Victoria Park and Connswater AC
8) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Aaron McGrady, 16:11, East Down AC
9) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Kent Swann, 16:18, North Belfast Harriers
10) parkrun: Mullingar
Michael Moran, 16:19, Mullingar Harriers

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Antrim
Rachel Gibson, 17:59, North Down AC
2) parkrun: Royal Canal
Catherina McKiernan, 18:08
3) parkrun: Waterworks
Hannah Oldroyd, 18:15, Airedale Dodgers
4) parkrun: Valley
Hannah Oldroyd, 18:22, Airedale Dodgers
5) parkrun: Stormont
Kirsti Foster, 18:28, Willowfield Harriers
6) parkrun: Ormeau
Kirsti Foster, 18:34, Willowfield Harriers
7) parkrun: Tymon
Amy Moran, 18:39, Dundrum South Dublin Athletic Club
=8) parkrun: St Anne’s
Maire Nic Amhlaoibh, 18:50
=8) parkrun: Stormont
Hannah Gilliland, 18:50, Willowfield Harriers
=10) parkrun: Shanganagh
Sarah Baryga, 18:51
=10) parkrun: Ormeau
Amy Bulman, 18:51, Willowfield Harriers

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

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post 10 fastest parkrun times in Ireland this week appeared first on Fast Running.

Andrew Milligan celebrated Christmas Day with 15:24 at Waterworks to finish with the fastest parkrun time in Ireland this week. The 8:53.73 3000m man was ran 14:52 at Belfast Victoria last week and was a winner of the Darlington Harriers Croft 5K in November.

Fresh off the back of a new 10km PB of 34:08 at Telford Nakita Burke was this week’s fastest woman breaking the course record at Letterkenny with 17:33. The Northern Irish International is a member of the Marathon Potential 2024 programme with NI Athletics.

Eskander Osman (Turki) ran a big parkrun PB clocking 15:36 to finish with this week’s second fastest parkrun time in Ireland. Thanks to expert input from Connor Curran we know Osman is a recent signing for Annadale Striders and was third at the Laganside 10km in September running 31:48.

Emma Davis was an 11th place finisher at the recent Florence Marathon in a time of 2:49:07 but faced disappointment with thousands of others after the course was deemed to be short for outside the top few finishers. Davis was a winner at the Surrey Half Marathon in a March running 80:09 and set a new 5km best of 17:01 at Battersea in August. Her tine of 17:52 at Belfast Victoria saw her finish as this week’s 2nd fastest woman.

Eoin Lennon of Carnethy Hill RC has had a busy period of competitive action with plenty of parkrun action mixed with cross country racing. So busy in fact that he appears twice in this week’s list after clocking 15:45 on Christmas Day at Waterworks, followed three days later with 16:12 at Ormeau.

Under 17 Celine Gavin also set a new parkrun PB on Christmas Day running 18:17 at Malahide which represents a big improvement over her recent times set mostly at Tolka Valley in South Dublin.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Waterworks
Andrew Milligan, 15:24, North Belfast Harriers **25/12**
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Eskander Osman, 15:36, Annadale Striders
3) parkrun: Waterworks
Eoin Lennon, 15:45, Carnethy Hill RC **25/12**
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Jamie Knapp, 15:47, Southampton AC
5) parkrun: Ormeau
Eoin Lennon, 16:12, Carnethy Hill RC
6) parkrun: Marlay
Colm Turner, 16:14, Limerick A.C.
7) parkrun: Waterworks
Fionntan Campbell, 16:15, St Malachys AC **25/12**
8) parkrun: Malahide
Daire Bermingham, 16:21, Raheny Shamrock AC
9) parkrun: Castletown
Lee Van Haeften, 16:24
10) parkrun: Derry City
Eoin Hughes, 16:29, Letterkenny AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Letterkenny
Nakita Burke, 17:33
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Emma Davis, 17:52, Ward Park Runners
3) parkrun: Malahide
Celine Gavin, 18:17 **25/12**
4) parkrun: Wallace
Kirsti Foster, 18:22, Willowfield Harriers
5) parkrun: Dungloe
Helen McCready, 18:58
=6) parkrun: Shanganagh
Sarah Baryga, 19:04
=6) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Leann Gibson, 19:04, Victoria Park and Connswater AC
=6) parkrun: Wallace
Amy Bulman, 19:04, Willowfield Harriers
9) parkrun: Marlay
Hilkka Kontro, 19:07
10) parkrun: Armagh
Dearbhla Sheridan, 19:18, Belfast Running Club

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

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post 10 fastest parkrun times in Ireland this week appeared first on Fast Running.

The festive period brought with it plenty of strength in depth with possibly the fastest week ever for parkrun in Ireland. You needed to run 15:46 or faster to crack the men’s top 10 and 18:42 or faster for the women’s.

With Mark Kirk’s training group attending as well as a number of the NI Athletics’ Marathon Potential 2024 Project, times were bound to be fast at Belfast Victoria. Seven of the top 10 men’s times and four of the 10 ten women’s times showed that it didn’t disappoint.

It was Rachel Gibson who was the fastest woman overall this week taking five seconds off her previous parkrun best to run 17:15. The North Down AC athlete has been in fabulous form in 2019 with pbs at 1500m (4:23.89), mile (4:55.64), 3000m (9:33.18), 5km (16:50), 5 miles (28:19) and most recently 35:41 at the Seeley Cup 10km. Gibson was also a winner of last week’s North West Open XC in Foyle.

Conall Kirk ran a blistering 14:44 to run the fastest parkrun time in Ireland this weekend and break Paul Pollock’s Belfast Victoria course record. Kirk is a man in form having won the Malcolm Cup Open XC in Ballyclare and running a new 10km PB of 30:42 at the Seeley Cup 10K in the last two week’s of November. Kirk’s previous parkrun best was 15:32 set on the same course last year.

Jessica Anne Craig ran 17:32 to finish as this week’s second fastest woman. The North Down athlete has had a very busy month finishing 10th at the Irish Life Health National Cross Country Championships and running the Seeley Cup 10km (35:11 for 3rd) and Telford 10km (35:44) in the space of three weeks. Craig also ran 34:40 at Leeds Abbey Dash but her PB was scrubbed along with many others that day after the course was found to be 23m short.

After winning Darlington Harriers’ Croft 5K at the end of November in 15:06 Andrew Milligan went quicker this weekend to clock 14:52 chasing Kirk to the line in Belfast. Milligan is a man usually found racing on the track with PBs of 1:51.92 for 800m, 3:56.09 for 1500m and 8:53.73 for 3000m.

The start line of Belfast Victoria with no expense spared on the footwear. Credit: Trevor Murphy

Irish Masters Athlete of the Year Annette Kealy once again showed what an astounding talent she is running 17:35 to set a new parkrun PB and a WAVA age grading of 97.73%. To put this performance into perspective the W55 world record for 5000m on the track is 17:29.28. Kealy has a 5000m PB of 16:29.17 from 2003 but it is in more recent years that the Raheny Shamrock has made her mark as one of the finest athletes in the history of masters athletics. Her time is a full minute faster than the official W55 Irish national road 5km record. A fabulous athlete who deserves more plaudits; we have no hesitation in saying that this was the standout performance in an incredible week of results.

The course record fell at Portrush as Neil Johnston ran 15:08 get inside the top three on very fast week where the whole top 10 ran inside 16 minutes (we could have carried on to 14 before we saw a 16:xx). The 14:22.74 5000m man finished 6th at the Northern Ireland & Ulster Uneven Age Groups Championships last month and was a winner at last week’s North West Open in Foyle ahead of Mark McKinstry who was fifth fastest at parkrun this week. Johnston’s time is particularly impressive given the Portrush course is run on the beach!

Under 15 Kirsti Foster was back in action at Belfast Victoria this week clocking a big parkrun PB to run 17:47 with an age graded WAVA of 88.38%. Foster was a winner at last week’s Irish Life Health National Novice and Uneven Age Cross Country Championships in the u/15 race.

Luke Dinsmore was the fourth fastest man with a 26 second parkrun PB of 15:14. Dinsmore recently achieved a fine 10km PB at the Seeley Cup running 31:38.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Conall Kirk, 14:44, Lagan Valley AC
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Andrew Milligan, 14:52, North Belfast Harriers
3) parkrun: Portrush
Neil Johnston, 15:08, Springwell RC
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Luke Dinsmore, 15:14, Springwell RC
5) parkrun: Sixmilewater
Mark McKinstry, 15:15, North Belfast Harriers
6) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
James Hamilton, 15:16, Ballymena Runners AC
7) parkrun: Wallace
Christopher Madden, 15:29, City of Lisburn AC
8) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Andrew Wright, 15:36, Willowfield Harriers
9) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Gareth Hill, 15:39, Ballymena & Antrim AC
10) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Stephen Connelly, 15:46, Annadale Striders

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Rachel Gibson, 17:15, North Down AC
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Jessica Anne Craig, 17:32, North Down AC
3) parkrun: Malahide
Annette Kealy, 17:35, Raheny Shamrock AC
4) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Kirsti Foster, 17:47, Willowfield Harriers
5) parkrun: Sligo
Eavan McLoughlin, 18:14, Sligo AC
6) parkrun: Claremorris
Edel Reilly, 18:30
7) parkrun: Buncrana
Ciara Toner, 18:32, Springwell RC
8) parkrun: Ballina
Norah Pieterse, 18:39, Mayo AC
9) parkrun: Marlay
Amy Mornan, 18:41, Dundrum South Dublin Athletic Club
10) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Leann Gibson, 18:42, Victoria Park and Connswater AC

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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The post 10 fastest parkrun times in Ireland on Saturday 21st December (2019) appeared first on Fast Running.

Irish international and 2018 National 10k Champion Brian Maher topped the list of fastest parkrun times in Ireland this weekend with 15:24, 11 seconds outside his own course record at Kilkenny. With a 10000m PB of 29:44 and 5000m best of 14:12 Maher has been one of Ireland’s most familiar athletes over the last decade featuring at World and European XC Champs. The Kilkenny City Harrier was 13th at last month’s All Ireland XC Championships.

Charlotte Ward is a woman in great form in 2019 and she ran the fastest parkrun time by a woman this weekend with 18:38 at Belfast Victoria. Ward as set personal bests at 3km (9:59), 5km (17:15), 10km (36:30), 10 miles (60:08) and half marathon (79:30) in a stellar year so far. Most recently Ward was 7th at the Percy Pud 10km when setting her 36:30 best. Whilst listed as a City of Hull athlete by parkrun we believe Charlotte is a Hallamshire Harrier.

Another Kilkenny City Harrier, Thomas Hayes, gave Brian Maher a run for his money at Kilkenny parkrun and finished second fastest man this week running 15:33 and taking 12 seconds off his previous parkrun best set over three years ago. Hayes ran 2:25:04 at Frankfurt Marathon in October and has had a fine year setting PBs at Venloop Half Marathon (65:49), Fast Friday 10000m (30:26) and Armagh 5km (14:29).

19:17 was enough to ensure Edel Reilly was first home overall at Castlebar parkrun and finish as seocnd fastest woman this week. Reilly ran 37:52 to set a new PB at Belleek 10k earlier this month and was 2nd at the Hollymount 6km road race in November clocking 23:25.

In his first every parkrun outing Evan Keane ran 16:07 to clock the second fastest time ever on the Waterford Nature course and finish as this week’s 3rd fastest man. Well known as a junior Keane was 3rd in the junior 3000m at 2018 National Senior Championships.

Lexi Hopping ran 19:18 at Malahide parkrun to finish as this week’s third fastest runner. We don’t know much about Lexi, other than she has a parkrun PB of 18:34 and that her name isn’t an easy one to google search!

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Kilkenny
Brian Maher, 15:24, Kilkenny City Harriers
2) parkrun: Kilkenny
Thomas Hayes, 15:33, Kilkenny City Harriers
3) parkrun: Waterford Nature
Evan Keane, 16:07, Waterford AC
4) parkrun: Castletown
Lee Van Haeften, 16:12
5) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Stephen McComish, 16:32
6) parkrun: St Anne’s
Rossa Hurley, 16:44, Donore Harriers
7) parkrun: Malahide
Thomas Collins, 16:46, Portmarnock Athletic Club
8) parkrun: Malahide
Brendan Murphy, 16:50, CSO Runners
9) parkrun: Holy Cross College
Conor Gallagher, 16:53, Letterkenny AC
10) parkrun: Waterford Nature
Brian Murphy, 17:01, Carrick-on-Suir AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Charlotte Ward, 18:38, City of Hull AC
2) parkrun: Castlebar
Edel Reilly, 19:17
3) parkrun: Malahide
Lexi Hopping, 19:18
4) parkrun: Killarney House
Kerry Eagar, 19:36, Star of the Laune AC
5) parkrun: Coole
Sinead Foran, 19:37, Athenry Athletics Club
6) parkrun: Bangor
Fiona McQuillan, 19:40, North Down AC
=7) parkrun: Ormeau
Dearbhla Sheridan, 19:44, Belfast Running Club
=7) parkrun: Derry City
Pauline Thom, 19:44, Ballymena & Antrim AC
9) parkrun: Brickfields
Niamh Clifford, 20:03, Star of the Laune AC
10) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Gemma Blake, 20:09, Orangegrove Athletics Club

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

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post 10 fastest parkrun times in Ireland on Saturday 14th December (2019) appeared first on Fast Running.

Times were fast in both the men’s and women’s top 10 this week as Dublin Track Club had an outing at Malahide where Irish international star Sean Tobin broke the Irish parkrun record clocking 14:19 – in his first ever parkrun outing!

Tobin, a top 10 finisher in the Euro Cross, has had a strong 2019 following his return from the States breaking the course record at the Cobh 10 Mile and running 29:06 at the Crescent City Classic 10km in April. Tobin has also set personal bests at 3000m outdoors (7:59.64) in Melbourne in February and 5000m (13:56.22) at Nijmegen in June as well as competing at the Euro Indoors and World XC Championships. In April Bláithín Sheil spoke to the founder of the Dublin Track Club, Feidhlim Kellyspoke to the founder of the Dublin Track Club, Feidhlim Kellyspoke to the founder of the Dublin Track Club, Feidhlim Kelly.

Malahide was also the location of the fastest woman’s time this week where Iseult O’Donnell ran 17:25 to clock the 3rd quickest time ever on the Dublin course. The Raheny Shamrock athlete was also in PB form on European soil this summer as the 800m specialist clocked 2:06.16 at the Flanders Cup in Belgium. O’Donnell was 9th at the Dublin Senior XC Championships a fortnight ago.

On one of the fastest week’s ever for men’s parkrun times in Ireland Daniel Stone clocked 15:07 to keep Tobin just in sight at Malahide and finish as this week’s 2nd fastest parkrunner. The under 17 Raheny Shamrock athlete had a fine run at the Spar International XC in October finishing 10th in the junior race.

Completing a Dublin Track Clun 1-2-3 was Daire Finn who clocked 15:12 at Malahide to edge out his team mate
Cillian O’Leary who ran 15:18. Finn was a member of the Irish u/20 team at the 2018 European Cross Country Championships and set a 3000m PB of 8:24.84 at Athlone in February.

Fun run out with most of the group and guests in the Malahide @parkrunIE – @SeanTobin94 set a new fastest Irish clocking with 14:19 #jumpersforgoalposts pic.twitter.com/CgrVxDHALI

— Dublin Track Club (@dublintrackclub) November 16, 2019

Fresh off the back of a 2nd place finish in the u/17 Scottish National Short Course XC Championships last week Julia Cash ran a big parkrun PB of 17:56 at Belfast Victoria to finish as this week’s 2nd fastest woman. Cash, who runs for Giffnock North, was also a medallist at the Scottish Secondary Schools’ XC Championships in March where she finished 3rd.

Georgina Wiley chased Cash all the way to run 18:10 at Belfast Victoria which was a big parkrun PB for the Kent athlete. Wiley has had a fabulous 2019 clocking PBs across the board including running 84:52 at Valencia Half Marathon last month and 38:54 to PB at the Middlesex 10K in September.

Irish distance running legend Catherina McKiernan was the 4th fastest on the list clocking 18:23 at Marlay parkrun. A fantastic week overall where you needed to run 16:07 to get in the men’s top 10 and 19:21 to get into the women’s with many familiar names not making the cut this week.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Malahide
Sean Tobin, 14:19, Clonmel Athletic Club
2) parkrun: Malahide
Daniel Stone, 15:07, Raheny Shamrock AC
3) parkrun: Malahide
Daire Finn, 15:12
4) parkrun: Malahide
Cillian O’Leary, 15:18, Raheny Shamrock AC
5) parkrun: Derry City
Scott Rankin, 15:43, Foyle Valley AC
6) parkrun: Marlay
Eoin Taggart, 15:50, Clonliffe Harriers A.C.
7) parkrun: Clonmel
Evan Fitzgerald, 15:51, Clonmel Athletic Club
8) parkrun: Malahide
Aaron Hanlon, 15:53
9) parkrun: St Anne’s
Jamie Gahan, 16:06, Portmarnock Athletic Club
10) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Chris Hutchinson, 16:07

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Malahide
Iseult O’Donnell, 17:25, Raheny Shamrock AC
2) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Julia Cash, 17:56, Giffnock North
3) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Georgina Wiley, 18:10, Melbourne Midday Milers
4) parkrun: Marlay
Catherina McKiernan, 18:23
5) parkrun: Shanganagh
Catherine O’Connor, 18:44, Parnell AC
6) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Edwina Ternan, 19:09, Orangegrove Athletics Club
7) parkrun: Gorey
Clodagh Kelly, 19:15, Croghan AC
8) parkrun: Marlay
Niamh Corbett, 19:17
9) parkrun: Bangor
Fiona McQuillan, 19:20, North Down AC
10) parkrun: Mungret
Ann MacPhail, 19:21

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

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post 10 fastest parkrun times in Ireland on Saturday 16th November (2019) appeared first on Fast Running.