Amsterdam Marathon

The Amsterdam Marathon is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road race has a Platinum Label from World Athletics. During the event, there are also a half marathon race (21.097 km) and an 8 km race in the program.

The current men's course record is 2:03:38 (h:m:s) set by Tamirat Tola in 2021 and the current women's course record is 2:17:20 set by Almaz Ayana in 2022.

Gerard Nijboer won this marathon four times, more than any other runner, in the 1980s. After him Wilson Chebet has won three races in the 2010s.

Before 1975
The first marathon in Amsterdam was held on 5 August 1928, during the 1928 Summer Olympics. It was won by Boughera El Ouafi in 2:32:57.

After the Olympics there were no international marathons in Amsterdam until 1975.

1975–1979
The first edition of the annual Amsterdam Marathon was held on 3 May 1975, as part of the city of Amsterdam's 700th anniversary celebrations. Danish runner Jørgen Jensen won the race in 2:16:51 and the Dutch Plonie Scheringa was the first woman to finish in 3:13:38.

The American Bill Rodgers won the 1977 edition and set a new men's course record of 2:12:47. In the women's category, Scheringa was fastest for a second time.

In 1978, the race was cancelled, because the sponsor withdrew support and the organisation was not able to find a new sponsor in time.

The 1979 marathon was able to take place and the Hungarian Ferenc Szekeres had his first victory, after finishing in third place two years earlier.

1980–1989


The 1980 course record of 2:09:01 run by Dutchman Gerard Nijboer could be considered an unofficial world record as the generally recognized record at that time, 2:08:34 in Antwerp, had been run on a course that was 500 meters short. However, IAAF doesn't recognise Nijboer's time as any record.

The same year, Dutchwoman Marja Wokke had her first victory and set a new women's course record of 2:40:15.

Wokke's second victory came the next year and also Szekeres had his second victory in Amsterdam in 1981.

In 1982, Annie van Stiphout improved the women's course record with more than five minutes to 2:37:28.

Cor Vriend won the marathon twice in 1982 and 1983.

Nijboer won the race again in 1984, 1988, and 1989, making him the runner with the most victories in this marathon.

1990–1999


In 1990, Renata Kokowska won the women's race in a course record of 2:35:31.

Yoshiko Yamamoto improved the women's course record to 2:29:12 in 1993.

Sammy Korir won twice in 1997 and 1998, improving the men's course record to 2:08:24 and 2:08:13. In 1998, Catherina McKiernan set a women's course record of 2:22:23 as well.

The next year, Fred Kiprop finishing in another men's course record of 2:06:47.

2000–2009


In 2002, Gete Wami set a new women's course record of 2:22:19.

In 2005, the former world record holder on the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie, earned his first win in the Amsterdam Marathon in the fastest marathon time in the world for the 2006 season (2:06.20).

2010–2019


In 2010, Getu Feleke finished in 2:05:44 and improved the men's course record from 2009 by 34 seconds. The next year, Tiki Gelana improved the women's course record to 2:22:08.

In 2012, the Kenyan Wilson Chebet won the race by a time of 2:05:41 and broke the previous course record by three seconds. In the same year, Ethiopian Meseret Hailu broke the women's course record with a time of 2:21:09. Having also won in 2011, Chebet went on to win the race for a third time in 2013.

In 2017, Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono was the surprise winner of the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, taking more than a minute off his PB to set a new course record of 2:05:09. He went on to defend his title in 2018 and set a new course record of 2:04:06.

2020–present
The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all entries automatically transferred to 2021, and all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to another runner.

In the 2021 edition, both Tamirat Tola and Angela Tanui set a course records of 2:03:38 in the men's race and 2:17:57 in the women's race respectively.

Almaz Ayana set a new women's course record of 2:17:20 in 2022.

Route


The route starts and finishes in the Olympic Stadium. The course is flat, with a maximum elevation of 33 ft (10 m) at the 23-mile (37-km) mark.