SEVEN Essendon players recorded personal bests in the club's first 2km time trial of the pre-season.

In a time trial for first-to-fourth-year players at Princes Park, rising forward Patrick Ambrose led the field, followed by Kurt Aylett and Elliott Kavanagh.

Joe Daniher, Michael Hibberd and Will Hams were others to put in notable performances.

Essendon's high performance manager Justin Crow told the club's website the players had returned from their end-of-season break in fine shape.

"We were really happy with how the guys came back today and ran," Crow said.

"We had seven personal best times which is excellent for day one and it gives us something to build off with this first-to-four-year group."

Ambrose, a 2014 rookie draft selection who was elevated at the start of the year, was happy with his performance.

"I felt pretty good. I had a good rest in the off-season but have started to ramp up the training so it was good to hit my time," Ambrose said.

"It is definitely a big part of my game. I have always been fit and now just need to work on my speed.

"It helps with my repeat leads, staying a bit fresher until the last quarter. With the interchange cap now it is even more important to be fit."