It was Welsh international Clara Evans who was the quickest at parkrun this weekend, with the former Pontypridd Roadent running 16:47 at Pontypridd parkrun in Wales. Now competing for Cardiff AC, Evans anchored the club to victory in the ERRA women’s national 4 stage road relays, before finishing an excellent 12th at Cardiff Cross Challenge last weekend.

With athletes like Charlotte Arter, Jenny Nesbitt and Natasha Cockram all featuring on a regular basis on the website, we like to think it is a sign of good depth in Welsh women’s distance running.

Dominic Shaw must have seen all the fast times at Albert Park in Middlesborough last weekend and wanted some of the action. His 14:41 was enough to be the quickest man at parkrun on this fine October Saturday, with only one other runner breaking 15 minutes this weekend. It was a parkrun PB, but Shaw has gone a lot quicker over 5000m on the track (14:09.38) and 14:27 at a road 5k.

The other female runner to break 17 minutes was Elizabeth Davies. The Springfield Strider ran 16:52 at Llanelli Coast parkrun and the V40 runner has already PB’d over 5000m this year with a 16:51.5 in the Essex 5000m Champs and added a win at the Southend Classic 10k just this month in 35:40.

Ben Branagh ran 14:58 at Belfast Waterworks parkrun and the it’s another strong parkrun in a seemingly quiet 2019 for the former San Jose State athlete.  This time the 14:16.79 5000m man also ran the Bangor 10K (inc NI & Ulster Championship) and finished sixth in 31:07.

Up at Chester parkrun there was a standout performance from Elsey Whyman-Davis, who was first overall in a new course record for the event of 17:47. Apparently it isn’t a quick course up in Chester and there weren’t any chaps quick enough to show the speedster the way round.

Both Andrius Jaksevicius, a proud member of the Vegan Runners club, and Mark Worringham, who we don’t have dietary information for, both ranked in our top ten with 15:10 and 15:40 respectively at Dulwich parkrun. So the south-east London event is our quickest of the week.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Albert Park, Middlesborough
Dominic Shaw, 14:41, New Marske Harriers AC
2) parkrun: Waterworks, Belfast
Ben Branagh, 14:58, St. Malachy’s
3) parkrun: St Helens 
Matthew Crehan, 15:07, St Helens Sutton AC
4) parkrun: Dulwich
Andrius Jaksevicius, 15:10, Vegan Runners
5) parkrun: Long Eaton
Richard Weir, 15:13, Derby AC
6) parkrun: Bedford
Josh Lunn, 15:21, Bedford & County AC
7) parkrun: South Manchester
Arlo Ludewick, 15:25, Herne Hill Harriers
8) parkrun: Lincoln
William Strangeway, 15:31, Lincoln Wellington AC
9) parkrun: Newcastle
Gus Withers, 15:32, Gateshead Harriers & AC
10=) parkrun: Dulwich
Mark Worringham, 15:40, Reading Roadrunners
10=) parkrun: Victoria Dock
Grant Schmidlechner, 15:40, London City Athletics Club

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Pontypridd
Clara Evans, 16:47, Pontypridd Roadents AC
2) parkrun: Llanelli Coast
Elizabeth Davies, 16:52, Springfield Striders RC
3) parkrun: Dalby Forest
Emily Gelipter, 17:29
4) parkrun: Kirkcaldy
Annabel Simpson, 17:36, Haraka Kasi
5) parkrun: Newcastle 
Rachelle Falloon, 17:39, Morperth Harriers & AC
6) parkrun: Exmouth
Hannah Taunton, 17:46, Taunton AC
7) parkrun: Chester
Eleanor Whyman-Davis, 17:47, Preston Harriers
8) parkrun: Stratford-upon-Avon
Georgie Campbell, 17:53, Stratford-upon-Avon AC
9) parkrun: Wolverhampton
Lauren Draper, 17:55, Bridgnorth Running Club
10) parkrun: The Old Showfield 
Amber Gascoigne, 18:00, British Military Fitness

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

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

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The post 10 fastest UK parkrun times on Saturday 19th October (2019) appeared first on Fast Running.

Leeds City athlete Duck’s selection for the team and captaincy comes on the back of silver and bronze finishes at the Inter-County and English National Championships respectively. 2017 has also seen Duck retain her title of Northern Champion.

Commenting on on the captaincy, Duck said: “I’m really honoured to have been asked to be team captain for the championships – to represent your country at a global championships is hugely exciting, so to add a team captaincy role to that is unbelievable.”

Regarding the 16 strong British Athletics team set for the championships, Duck added: “I think there is a lot to be excited about; the juniors on the team have shown a lot of promise on the domestic and European stage, and the senior women accompanying myself have all worked extremely hard to achieve this opportunity.”

Spencer Duval Team Leader for the British Athletics, said: “Claire is an athlete who has a wealth of experience, particularly on the cross country circuit, and was something of a natural pick for team captain.

“Like many on the team, this will be her first World Cross Country championships, but I have no doubts that she will step up to the plate in leading by example and giving her all.”

The team headed off today, with Claire tweeting:

And we’re off…?? ???‍???Kampala here we come for the World Cross Country Champs! @BritAthletics pic.twitter.com/ZI2IFvkAKz

— Claire Duck (@Claireduckybear) March 23, 2017

Great Britian & NI team for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda on Sunday 26 March 2017:

Senior Women:
Claire Duck
Emily Hosker-Thornhill
Rebecca Murray
Louise Small

Junior Men:
Scott Beattie
Ben Davies
Hugo Milner
Luke Prior
Jonathan Shields
Sam Stevens

Junior Women:
Phoebe Barker
Gillian Black
Cari Hughes
Anna MacFadyen
Amelia Quirk
Victoria Weir

The post Claire Duck to captain GB & NI team at World Cross Country Championships appeared first on Fast Running.