Meet the Sussex parkrun king who has a world record in his sights

The Brighton ace is the record holder at two of the county’s parkruns, joint record holder at a third – and wants to be No1 for all four of the parkruns he takes part in.

That’s in addition to Northern Ireland honours and success in some of Sussex’s top 10ks.

McNally told us how he started running – and how his achievements since had spurred him on, and were still doing so, to greater things.

He said: “I’ve been running since I was a kid, at Cardinal Newman School and in the youngest age group at Brighton Phoenix Athletics Club.

"Phoenix was co-founded by Steve Ovett back in the 80s when he broke away from an old, established structure (at Brighton & Hove AC) to follow his own path and offer a place for other athletes to choose their own route towards achieving their potential.

"When I was 13, I won the Sussex title and was one of the best in the UK. I’m now 31 and live and work in Brighton. I train hard and give 100% when I run, but I’m not a full-time, professional athlete.

"I’m a regular guy working a full time job at a local sixth form college. I like to socialise with my mates, go to the pub and enjoy life to the full.

"Nowadays, I mainly specialise in the 5k and 10k distances as well as cross country during the winter. In the past 12 months I have won the Worthing 10k; the Brighton Phoenix 10k (in a new course record of 29:48); and the Northern Ireland National Cross Country.

"There are four major parkruns in my area which together regularly attract over 1,000 runners, including GB athletes and Olympians.

"I hold the record at Preston Park, Hove Prom and on Easter Saturday at Worthing I equalled the record of 14:43 set by the current 1,500m World Champion, Jake Wightman.

"A few hours later, I joined my Phoenix team mates at the Sussex Road Relays in Preston Park to win, setting a new course record and beating the next best club in Sussex (Brighton & Hove AC) by over a minute. I ran the joint fastest time of 9:22 for the two-mile leg alongside my Phoenix team mate and pro athlete, Archie Davis.

“Soon I’ll run in the Loughborough Open track event to qualify for representing Ireland at the European 10,000m Cup in France. I also want to complete the set of four major parkrun records in the Brighton and Worthing area by adding Hove Park.

"It’s a tough one as the record is currently held by my friend, Olympic 1,500m finalist and Phoenix athlete, Charlie Grice. It was previously held by the current Parkrun World Record holder and GB athlete, Andrew Baddeley. My aim over the next couple of years is to challenge that world record of 13:45.”