The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
that has been held in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
,
Netherlands
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 marathons in the world by ''
Runner's World
''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in E ...
'' magazine. The event is the most popular marathon in the Netherlands, followed by the marathons of
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,world best time had been set at Rotterdam, by
Carlos Lopes
Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner.
He won the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming Portugal's first Olympic gold medalist and setting an Olympic ...
and
Belayneh Dinsamo
Belayneh Densamo (born 28 June 1965) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, and a long-period world record holder for the marathon discipline. He held the world record for 10 years (1988-1998).
Early life
Belayneh was born in Diramo Afarr ...
respectively. As of April 201 six different runners ran a sub 2:05:00 time and four of the ten fastest marathon runners ever ran their fastest time in the Rotterdam Marathon.
The 2007 event was stopped after three and a half hours because of extreme weather conditions; the KNMI meteorological institute described conditions as "unseasonal" and race day was the warmest ever recorded in the city for the month of April, with temperatures reaching a high of 34 °C. Runners were on the course when the race was stopped after that point and some continued despite the warnings and race stoppage.
William Kipsang's 2008 course record of 2:05:49 was broken the following year by
Duncan Kibet
Duncan Kibet (born 25 April 1978) is a runner from Kenya. He became the second fastest marathoner ever with a time of 2:04:27 hours, when he won the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon.
Career
Kibet dropped out of school in 1997 due to financial problems. H ...
and
James Kwambai
James Kipsang Kwambai (born February 28, 1983) is a runner from Kenya, who specialises in marathons. He is a former Kenyan record holder in the event, with his personal best of 2:04:27 hours in 2009. At the time this made him the second fastest r ...
who both ran the third fastest time ever for the distance, clocking 2:04:27.
In 2012, the IAAF Gold Label was awarded to the event, after satisfying the last condition in April that year: the requirement that the race could be followed live on television in at least five countries.
The 2020 edition of the race was postponed to 2021 due to the
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
pandemic
A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
, with all entries automatically remaining valid for 2021, and all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to another runner.
See also
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List of winners of the Rotterdam Marathon
This article lists the winners of the Rotterdam Marathon, which is a marathon annually held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981.
The current course records of 2:04:27 (men) and 2:18:58 (women) are set in 2009 by Duncan Kibet and in 2012 by Tiki ...
*
Rotterdam Half Marathon The Rotterdam Half Marathon was an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres, that was staged in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the second Sunday in September. The event was contested from 2004 to 2009. It was discontinued in 2010 due to lacking ...