Lee Merrien

Lee Merrien

Lee Merrien at the 2012 London Marathon
Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1979-04-26) 26 April 1979 (age 37) Guernsey
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
Country	Great Britain  Guernsey
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	800 m, 1,500 m, 5,000 m, Marathon
Club	Lee Merrien Running
Coached by	John Nuttall
Achievements and titles
World finals	2002 Commonwealth Games – 1,500 m – 15th 2006 Commonwealth Games – 1,500 m – 15th 2006 Commonwealth Games – 10,000 m – 14th 2010 Commonwealth Games – 5,000 m – 15th 2010 Commonwealth Games – 10,000 m – 14th
Regional finals	2010 European Championships – 8th
Medal record Island Games 2003 Guernsey 1,500 m 2005 Shetland 1,500 m 2005 Shetland 5,000 m 2005 Shetland 4x400 m relay 2007 Rhodes 1,500 m 2007 Rhodes 5,000 m 2009 Åland 1,500 m 2009 Åland 5,000 m 2011 Isle of Wight Half marathon 2001 Isle of Man 1,500 m 2003 Guernsey 800 m 2015 Jersey Half marathon 2001 Isle of Man 800 m

Lee Merrien (born 26 April 1979) is a British middle distance and long-distance runner. He has been named to the British team for the 2012 Summer Olympics following a Facebook campaign after he was initially not selected to the team. He has won multiple events at the Island Games for his home of Guernsey.

Merrien competed at his first Island Games in Gotland in 1999, however he did finish in a medal position that year. Representing his home of Guernsey, he went on to win nine gold medals over the next several years at the Island Games in the half marathon, 1,500 m, 5,000 m and 4 × 400 m relay, and also won two silver medals and one bronze. At the 2009 Island Games on the Isle of Wight he set Island Games records in both the 1,500 m and the 5,000 m events.

In the 2011 London Marathon, he set a new personal best of 2 h 14 min 27 s, which was within the "B" qualifying time for the 2012 Summer Olympics and was the fastest British competitor in the race. He admitted afterwards that he had mixed feelings regarding his time, as although it was a new personal best, it wasn't within the "A" qualifying time for the Games. His only previous attempt at the London Marathon was in 2010 when he finished in 12th place.

He finished 17th in the 2012 London Marathon, which was once again the highest placed British competitor in the race. He finished in a time of 2 h 13 min 41 s, a new personal best, just outside the Olympic qualifying time set by UK Athletics at 2 h 12 min. Due to this, he was not chosen for the British team at the 2012 Olympics, with Scott Overall and Dave Webb being chosen for the team, and with the third spot left deliberately empty. His time was inside the "A" time of 2 h 15 min as set by the International Association of Athletics Federations.