Probably because parkruns are usually short
Exactly!
Are they?
There are only a handful that have been officially measured, even if they are still treated as unofficial:
http://coursemeasurement.org.uk/parkrun/list.php
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Have a read of this:
http://aukcm.org.uk/CMWP-parkrun-report.pdf
You can find measured and “certified” parkrun courses here:
http://coursemeasurement.org.uk/parkrun/list.php
The one I use has a proper measurement (South Manchester), but is regularly 170m short for myself and peers (when using Strava)
This is due to GPS vagaries - tree cover, out and backs, dodgy dog legs etc.
The Wilmslow Half Marathon I did also came up short on GPS (21.03 vs 21.0975)
AUKCM course measurement states they should be 0.1% over distance, so a half marathon should be 21.12km
Harking back to the “good old days” before Strava and parkrun, there was/is an awesome evening 5km series in Derby during the winter, where you used to thrash up and down the flat cycle path of a dual carriageway - the Luffbra lot used to come up and race them, which was always a good shoulder to hang on to.
Vanessa Raw (remember her?) unwittingly helped me to my PB 
They then went and “improved” the bypass, the course changed and was about 5 seconds slower 
Remember GPS is never going to give you a 100% accurate distance! On something as short as a 5km, line selection is going to make a big difference.
Yeah, exactly.
I remember not having a GPS watch and using actual RPE - ooh, then glamour!
GPS not being great is brilliant at bagging Strava segments - remember, PAUSE is your friend here 
(Pause and run to where the start of the segment is, get up to segment pace, run a second after that, then unpause - then pause when you are just short of the line…the algo will do some figuring out and generally bump your pace up. Does not always work. A colleague and I had some fun with this back in 2012-2014 when it first started:
https://www.strava.com/segments/2694825
)
Interesting… if measuring is inaccurate you’d think there’d be as many long as short…
I’d best take up the next opportunity to run a track 5k…
Uneven surfaces increase the distance, so I’d assume that most would be short, as most are not held on tarmac.
So…go do a hilly/mixed terrain one to get a really good workout in - even if it is a bit short 
My local one is all on tarmac, but has a 2 short sharp slopes to go up 3 times each.
First time I did it, I got my PB of 17:58. That was 3 years ago.
Floating just under 19 at the minute
One of those measured parkrun’s is fairly local to me, but none of my friends that do it ever come up with 5k on their Garmin, it’s always short, but it is quite twisty with some sharp turns which would easily confuse a GPS so it does prove you can’t really trust them, or use them for pacing sometimes.
The chart about the fastest ones are also subjective, it really depends on the depths of the fields. My home one has about the 12th fastest parkrun time of all time, and was even higher until recently, but when the top two times were by Andy Baddely and Alex Yee most courses are going to look quick.
Jeff
and it’s two years out of date. I think our local one (only been going just over a year) is consistently in the top 10 runs of the week, despite the obvious population deficit compared to, say, Bushy Park. Also proximity to elite centres of excellence, like Loughborough, i assume would attract quicker runners. Though i think the course record at Exmouth is one of the fastest parkruns ever, from a local lad which is quite cool.
Yeah my local is quick too… there is a local guy, Adam Hickey, was regularly running 14.15 there. He’s recently stopped going after one too many near misses lapping people. I think, as participation swelled, he decided running 3 laps at that pace through a 400 strong field was bordering on dangerous. Shame as it was inspiring to watch, even if he did pretty much guarantee everyone else overcooking the first 1k…
Ours is a long out and back on the seafront. Particularly sobering as someone who is quickish, seeing someone who is proper quick flying back past on the return leg when i’ve still got a good 300m to go to the cones!!
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Thankfully i was only ever lapped whilst running with the kids. (small edit, 14.15 was his pb there but he’s regularly well under 15mins)
FUCK THAT FOR A GAME OF DARTS 
That’s the last time I’m running that course.
Second time people haven’t moved on the second lap, despite shouts of “KEEP RIGHT.”
And then some total tit allows his (seemingly) three year old daughter to run down the last 100m of the athletics track as 2nd, 3rd and 4th are sprinting down the last 200m
2nd avoided her, 3rd had to leap off the track, cue a shout from her father, as she then veers towards his voice and into my way.
This is after some lady knocked into third place (on purpose as she didn’t want to move, despite all three of us shouting to KEEP RIGHT), who then span round into me in the fourth km.
Pissed off to the maximum.
17:58 official time. But my 10km/HM reckon I should be closer to 17:30
Which one is yours GB, it sounds like Burnham?
I had a crack today at Winchester. A personal worst of 23.06 on that course. Happy enough given the last few weeks.
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Exmouth
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Exmouth is at least 30 seconds quicker than bushy at 19 minute pace, having done both within a week or so - both of them well sub. A summer exmouth with less sand on the course likely even faster, although Bushy with short hard grass speeds up too.