Victoria Dock regains top spot in the list of quickest parkrun events in the UK compiled by statistician Tim Grose

Victoria Dock in central London has once again been judged fastest parkrun in the UK with the Great Yarmouth North Beach event the slowest.

Victoria Dock is considered slightly quicker than a new event at Storey’s Field near Cambridge, followed by Aberbeeg in South Wales, Watermead Country Park in near Leicester and Sutcliffe in south-east London.

The rankings are compiled periodically by Power of 10 and RunBritain statistician Tim Grose by using a golf-style standard scratch score (or SSS).

The fast or slow nature of each course is based on the difficulty of the terrain and undulation, typical weather, how busy the event might be and whether the course is either a little shorter or longer than the advertised 5km distance.

Victoria Dock topped the 2018 rankings which we published here, but a new list just before the Covid pandemic struck in early 2020 saw Berkeley Green – a parkrun at a disused power site in Gloucestershire – briefly knock Victoria Dock off the top spot, as you can see here.

Now, Victoria Dock is back in the No.1 position despite the fact it has a couple of ‘dead turns’ where runners lose momentum to slow and run 180 degrees around a bollard. But, as Grose says in a video about the lists, the difference between the leading fastest courses is minimal.

Top 30 fastest parkrun courses in the UK

Venue and average SSS (standard scratch score)

1 Victoria Dock 0.8
2 Storeys Field 0.9
3 Aberbeeg 1.0
4 Watermead Country Park 1.0
5 Sutcliffe 1.0
6 Belfast Victoria 1.1
7 Pegwell Bay 1.2
8 Isabel Trail 1.2
9 Dulwich 1.2
10 Market Rasen Racecourse 1.2
11 The Wammy 1.2
12 Walsall Arboretum 1.2
13 Long Eaton 1.2
14 Swansea Bay 1.2
15 Knockbracken Reservoir 1.2
16 Stretford 1.3
17 Worthing 1.3
18 Burgess 1.3
19 Great Denham 1.3
20 Sandy Water 1.4
21 Alexandra 1.4
22 Rother Valley 1.4
23 Torbay Velopark 1.4
24 Eden Project 1.4
25 Doddington Hall 1.4
26 Stratford-upon-Avon 1.4
27 Edgbaston Reservoir 1.4
28 Victoria 1.4
29 Riverfront 1.4
30 Groe 1.4

Top 30 slowest parkrun courses in the UK

1 Great Yarmouth North Beach 10.0
2 Woolacombe Dunes 9.0
3 Whinlatter Forest 9.0
4 Watergrove 8.2
5 Mount Edgcumbe 7.4
6 Flatts Lane 6.6
7 Coed Cefn-pwll-du 6.5
8 Lanhydrock 6.4
9 Lyme Park 6.4
10 Stratford Park, Stroud 6.2
11 Millom 6.0
12 Chadderton Hall 6.0
13 Lullingstone 6.0
14 Lanark Moor 6.0
15 Bevendean Down 6.0
16 Parke 6.0
17 Drumchapel 6.0
18 Wepre 5.8
19 Fort William 5.6
20 Faskally Forest 5.5
21 Henley-on-Thames 5.5
22 East Grinstead 5.4
23 Hamsterley Forest 5.4
24 Ludlow 5.4
25 Bestwood Village 5.4
26 Conyngham Hall 5.1
27 Uckfield 5.0
28 Squerryes Winery 5.0
29 Cheadle Hulme 5.0
30 Pendle 5.0

You can view the complete list of the fastest and slowest 706 parkruns in the UK on the Power of 10 website here with Grose talking about how he compiles the list in the video below.