Virgin London Marathon 2014

Virgin London Marathon

With most of Grantham Running Club’s members opting for more runner friendly challenges this spring it was left to the trio of Paul Rushworth, Gordon Geach and Andy Spencer to represent the club in the capital. In his 9^th outing on this course Paul managed to hit his target time of three hours and seven minutes although he had to call on his considerable experience in the final three miles. In his first London Marathon after racing in the Berlin, Paris and Amsterdam marathons Gordon Geach found the overcrowded streets not to his liking and was unable to get into a rhythm but was pleased to eventually finish in 3:55:38.

First time marathon runner Andy Spencer marked the occasion by raising £7,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and finished in a time of 4:05:39, here he is pictured celebrating with his friends at MNDA after the race

Rotterdam Marathon

Rotterdam Marathon, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Sunday 13^th 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 13^th 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 180^th overall in a race with over 14,000 entrants and climbed to 11^th in the UK rankings. The race was won by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge in 2:05:00.

Rotterdam Marathon, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Whilst Britain watched the exploits of Mo Farah and 40,000 other runners taking part in the London Marathon, Kenilworth Runners’ Matthew Kingston-Lee was in the Netherlands taking part in the ABN Amro Rotterdam Marathon.

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 13^th 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 180^th overall in a race with over 14,000 entrants. The race was won by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge in 2:05:00.