Finishing her year with a bang, Irish athlete Ciara Mageean showed the world once again what she was made of as she not only stormed to victory in Belfast, she also smashed the parkrun record.
Parkrun operates on the principle of a free outing for everyone to walk, jog, or run. This sets it apart from the typical competitive marathons and races we usually see. Inclusivity, not speed, was the idea behind it.
Nevertheless, even in this scenario, events are still recorded digitally, and athletes and competitive runners occasionally show up for Parkrun events.
Mageean and world record
Last year, in the Aldinga Beach parkrun event, Izzi Batt-Doyle set the world record for the quickest parkrun, clocking in at 15:25.
Mageean, however, managed to best Courtney-Bryant’s efforts and put her record aside in just one year.
Running the five kilometers in Belfast’s Victoria Park, Mageean cut 12 seconds off the previous world record, finishing in 15:13.
Considering that Mageean’s previous best time for a 5 km run was 15:24, set in Bath back in April, the performance suggests that her Olympic preparations for Paris are going well.
Her final competitive appearance occurred at the Diamond League final in Oregon in mid-September.
Mageean also ran with her boyfriend at the Parkrun, Thomas Moran, who finished the race 1 second faster than her.
Mageean’s post-race interview
Seemingly invigorated by her fresh victory, Mageean wore a broad smile as she appeared for the interview.
“I don’t know if it’s official just yet,” Mageean said. “But, um, I looked up what it was previously, so yeah, if I ran 15:13, then that’s pretty good. It’s a nice way to start the Christmas period.”
Mageean continued, saying it’s nice to come out and run a good 5k and think of it as a stepping stone. She also mentioned that she had a lot of races set up for the upcoming year, including the Olympics, World Indoors, and European Championships.
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Cover Photo: YouTube