Innes FitzGerald and Jack Kavanagh ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (Thursday 1 & Saturday 3 January 2026).

What is better than the opportunity to do two parkruns in 48 hours? Getting to do so twice in as many weeks! The cold weather and icy conditions meant over 300 parkruns were cancelled on Saturday. However, volunteers at the events that took place did a fantastic job in providing a safe environment for participants. Particularly given many recorded record attendance figures.

With 15:27 at Exmouth on New Year’s Day, Innes FitzGerald tops the women’s rankings this week. That time is the fastest ever parkrun by a British female, improving Melissa Courtney-Bryant’s 15:31 from December 2022.

Jack Kavanagh’s 14:48 at Southampton tops the men’s rankings. The Holland Sports runner, who will compete at the Surrey XC Championships tomorrow, is the only athlete to run under fifteen minutes so far this year. His parkrun best is 14:10, the second fastest time recorded last year.

Best of the Rest

Sarah Dufour-Jackson is second this week with a 16:37 at Alexandra parkrun in Moss Side. It comes off the back of an excellent 2025 that included PBs over 5k and 10k and a half marathon debut. It is also Sarah’s fastest ever parkrun. Olivia Tsim completes the podium after running 17:14 at Pontypridd.

Ben Claridge’s 15:05 at Swansea Bay puts him second in the men’s rankings. That time improves his previous parkrun best of 15:21 and is a good start after PBs in distances from 800m to 10k in 2025. Just four seconds behind was Robert Corney who ran 15:09 at Woodley.

Fastest Course

It is a rare occasion where twenty courses cover the twenty available spots on the rankings. However, given the exceptional run by Innes, the honours go to Exmouth this week.

Women’s Rankings

Men’s Rankings