Georgina Schwiening and Mohammed Hussein ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this weekend (21st September).

Our weekly parkrun top ten is now sponsored by the Coggiola Endurance Centre, a residential coaching and performance facility in the Italian Alps. Follow on Instagram for more updates in the new future. 

What a week for the women’s rankings with three athletes under 17 minutes and some seriously quick times! And for the men Mohammed Hussein finally takes the top spot after a few weeks on the podium.

Georgina Schwiening is an athlete with a bucket load of talent and a marathon PB of 2:26:28 to prove it. The Cambridge Runner has had a quiet 2024 so far with a 16:54 win over 5k at Mallory Park in August, so 16:38 at the wonderfully named Bug Hunter Waters parkrun is a good sign for an Autumn or Winter marathon. Maybe Valencia where that 2:26 was run in 2022?

Mohammed Hussein has been a regular at Leicester Victoria parkrun recently and his name has popped up a few times in this list, but this was a parkrun PB by one second. His first and only other time under 15 minutes for the 5k distance was last year in September at Abbey parkrun. From the outside it looks like 12 months for one second improvement, but we all know endurance running is more complicated than that.

The best of the rest?

The two other women under 17 minutes were Shaftesbury Barnet Harrier Indira Patel and Torbay athlete Paige Quinn. For U23 Patel it isn’t quite a parkrun PB, which was 16:36 at Long Eaton last November but it is a quickest time of 2024 and alongside similar performances for road and track 5k and 5000m of 16:40 and 16:58.58.

For Quinn, an U17 from Devon in the southwest,  it was a parkrun PB, one second faster than her previous best from earlier this year and coupled with a new PB of 16:31 at Mid Cheshire 5k this August. The youngster is one to watch with excellent showings on the road, track and cross country in 2024 already.

Tomos Roberts and Scott Stirling were the second and third quickest male athletes with 15:05 and 15:10 respectively . It is a parkrun PB for Welshman Roberts who also has a 5k best on the road of 14:28 at Race The Highland Train 5K in July this year. The train was probably not very happy that day.

Stirling, who has been top of this list in the past, has run under 14 minutes for 5k on the road and 5000m on the track, so this isn’t a parkrun PB for him, but a good Saturday morning workout we imagine.

The fastest course?

It doesn’t seem that any event featured twice this week, although two Victoria Parks in different cities did. Therefore it gives me great joy to award the win to Bug Hunter Waters parkrun, for fast running and a great name.

Women’s Rankings

Men’s Rankings