Promising marathon debut of Robin Hendrix in Rotterdam

All the attention of sports fans went last weekend to Paris-Roubaix and the European running championships in Leuven and Brussels, but also in Rotterdam there was a competition of absolute top level.

The Rotterdam marathon traditionally offers a very strong field of participants and absolutely top times, with high-quality pacing and a fast course. And this year the NN Marathon Rotterdam did not disappoint either.

With Geoffrey Kwamworor Rotterdam gets a very famous name on the honours list. The 32-year-old Kenyan, who was world champion in the half marathon three times and was crowned world cross-country champion twice, showed himself to be the best through the streets of Rotterdam on Sunday. He stopped the clock at 2:04:33. For the running enthusiasts among you: that's 20.3 km/h for 42.195 km! Among the women, we also saw the Kenyan flag on the top podium: Jackline Cherono took 2:21:04 and beat the second lady by a minute.

The Portuguese Samuel Barata was the first European finisher in ninth position (2:09:45). Filmon Tesfu was the first Dutch finisher. He stopped the clock at 2:09:45. He improved his personal best by more than a minute in front of his home crowd.

The 30-year-old Belgian Robin Hendrix worked in recent months on his transition from shorter distances to the marathon. The athlete from Olympic Essenbeek Halle made his marathon debut in Rotterdam, and did so fantastically. He clocked 2:11:04 in his very first attempt. Straightaway, this was good for fourteenth place on the Belgian all-time ranking. With his PR of 1:01:18 in the half marathon and considering that it was still his very first marathon ever, a promising career seems to lie ahead for Hendrix in this mythical distance.

"I had hoped for a faster time beforehand, but the strong wind made it very difficult to maintain the fast pace. Despite this, the marathon, which I prepared for in just 4 months, went really well for me. It was only from 36 km that I had a hard time and lost a lot of time towards the finish," says Hendrix on social media. "It was a great learning experience for me, a very beautiful experience and I am satisfied with this debut."

(Raul Stiens - Photo: ©B. Hendrix)