Parkrun – a free, weekly event where you can walk, jog or run a 5k route – has witnessed some remarkably fast performances since its inception in 2004. But what is the fastest Parkrun time ever?
The quickest recorded Parkrun time is 13 minutes and 44 seconds, a feat achieved by Northern Irish teenager Nick Griggs at Belfast's Victoria Park in November 2024. This impressive time surpassed the previous record of 13 minutes and 45 seconds set by Olympian Andrew Butchart in Edinburgh in June 2023.
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In the women's category, Irish athlete Ciara Mageean set the fastest time with 15 minutes and 13 seconds at the same Belfast venue in December 2023, breaking the previous record of 15 minutes and 25 seconds held by Australia's Izzi Batt-Doyle.
Bushy Park in London, the birthplace of Parkrun, has been the site of a number of significant records in the event’s history – it was here that Andrew Baddeley set a time of 13 minutes and 48 seconds back in 2012, a record that stood as the fastest Parkrun for over a decade.
And before that, in 2011, Justina Heslop ran 15 minutes 58 seconds at Bushy Park, becoming the first woman to break 16 minutes.
Main image: runners in a park/Getty Images
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