Amsterdam Marathon
The Amsterdam Marathon (branded TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road race has a Gold Label from the IAAF. During the event, there are also a half marathon race (21.097 km) and an 8 km race in the program.
Amsterdam Marathon | |
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Logo of the Amsterdam Marathon in 2013 | |
Date | Third Sunday of October |
Location | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Event type | Road |
Distance | Marathon (42.195 km) |
Primary sponsor | TCS |
Established | 1975 |
Course records | Men's: 2:04:06 (2018) Women's: 2:19:26 (2019) |
Official site | Amsterdam Marathon |
Participants | 13,596 (2019) |
History
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.[1]
After the Olympics there were no marathons in Amsterdam until 1975. Since that year the marathon was held annually, with the exception of 1978.[1]
The 1980 course record of 2:09:01 ran by Dutchman Gerard Nijboer could be considered an unofficial world record[2] 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 time as any record.[3]
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).
In 2010, Getu Feleke finished in 2:05:44 and improved the course record from 2009 by 34 seconds.[4]
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.
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
Course record progression | ||
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Date | Athlete | Time |
5 August 1928 | 2:32:57 | |
3 May 1975 | 2:16:51 | |
21 May 1977 | 2:12:47 | |
26 April 1980 | 2:09:01 WR[2] | |
2 November 1997 | 2:08:24 | |
1 November 1998 | 2:08:13 | |
17 October 1999 | 2:06:47 | |
19 October 2003 | 2:06:39 | |
17 October 2004 | 2:06:22 | |
16 October 2005 | 2:06:20 | |
18 October 2009 | 2:06:18 | |
17 October 2010 | 2:05:44 | |
21 October 2012 | 2:05:41 | |
20 October 2013 | 2:05:36 | |
16 October 2016 | 2:05:21 | |
17 October 2017 | 2:05:09 | |
21 October 2018 | 2:04:06 |
Route
The route starts and finishes in the Olympic Stadium. The course is flat, with a maximum elevation of 33 ft at the 23rd mile.[5]
References
- "ING Amsterdam Marathon. History". amsterdammarathon.nl. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- World Best Progressions - Road, Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2013-10-21.
- "Marathon World Records". www.topendsports.com.
- "Feleke winnaar marathon Amsterdam". nos.nl.
- "Amsterdam Marathon - Elevation Chart". www.marathonguide.com.