It definitely will not count for any official world record purposes, still Ciara Mageean this morning clocked the fastest parkrun in the world, running a time of 15 minutes and 13 seconds over 5km at Victoria Park in Belfast.
The organisers of the parkrun have always insisted their events are definitely not a race either, Mageean however taking advantage of the known fast circuit while home for Christmas, finishing outright third overall, one second behind her boyfriend and occasional training partner Thomas Moran.
The 31-year-old Mageean, who this summer twice improved her own Irish 1,500m record and added marks too in the 800m and mile, had a previous 5km best of 15:24 set earlier this year.
While parkrun events do keep track of course records, Mageean’s time was later confirmed as the fastest in the 20-year history of the event, now staged in over 20 countries, improving the 15:31 set last year by Melissa Courtney-Bryant of England set a time of 15:31 - Mageean a full 18 seconds quicker.
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On Friday Mageean was named BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year, and along with Rhasidat Adeleke was announced as joint Athlete of the Year by Athletics Ireland last month, the first time two women have shared that award.
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