Rotterdam Marathon, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Sunday 13th April 2014.
Matthew Kingston-Lee set the fastest time over the marathon distance this century by a Grantham club athlete and a new Grantham Running Club record when he clocked 2:46:38 at the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday 13th April 2014. His time was a new personal best, bettering his old time, set when he finished third in the 2011 Taunton Marathon, by nearly four minutes.
On a sunny but windy day in the Netherlands second largest city, Matthew shrugged off recent injury concerns and set about running an even paced marathon, clocking the second half just 34 seconds slower than the opening 13.1 miles. His hopes of a sub 2:45 time were tempered by some injury niggles and the troublesome wind, which was in the runners faces for much of the second half of the race. Matthew finished 180th overall in a race with over 14,000 entrants and climbed to 11th in the UK rankings. The race was won by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge in 2:05:00.