The Amsterdam Marathon (branded

TCS TCS may refer to: Organisations * Tata Consultancy Services, an IT company headquartered in India * Taxpayers for Common Sense, a US nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization * TCS Courier, a Pakistani courier service * Touring Club Suisse ...

Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) 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 ...

(42.195 km) in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

since 1975. The road race has a Platinum Label from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. During the event, there are also a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

race (21.097 km) and an 8 km race in the program.

History

The first marathon in Amsterdam was held on 5 August 1928, during the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated fro ...

. It was won by

Boughera El Ouafi Ahmed Boughèra El Ouafi ( ar, أحمد بوقرة الوافي; 15 October 1898 – 18 October 1959) was an Algerian athlete during the time of the French occupation of Algeria. In 1928, he won the Olympic gold medal in the marathon. Biog ...

in 2:32:57. After the Olympics there were no marathons in Amsterdam until 1975. Since that year the marathon was held annually, with the exception of 1978 and 2020. The 1980 course record of 2:09:01 ran by Dutchman

Gerard Nijboer Gerhardus Marinus Maria Nijboer (born 18 August 1955) is a former Dutch long-distance runner. Nijboer competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1980 (Moscow, Soviet Union), when he won the silver medal in the marathon. He became ...

could be considered an unofficial world recordWorld Best Progressions - Road

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2013-10-21. as the generally recognized record at that time, 2:08:34 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, had been run on a course that was 500 meters short. However,

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

doesn't recognise Nijboer time as any record. In 2005, the former world record holder on the marathon,

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

, 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 Getu Feleke (Amharic: ገቱ ፈለቀ; born 28 November 1986) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who runs mainly in half marathon and marathon races. He won the 2010 Amsterdam Marathon with a course record time of 2:05:44 and set his personal b ...

finished in 2:05:44 and improved the course record from 2009 by 34 seconds. In 2012, the

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n 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,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Meseret Hailu Meseret Hailu Debele (born 12 September 1990) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in half marathons and marathons. She was the gold medallist at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and won the Amsterdam Marathon that same ...

broke the women's course record with a time of 2:21:09. In 2017,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

’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. The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, with all entries automatically transferred to 2021, and all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to another runner.

Route

The route starts and finishes in the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. The course is flat, with a maximum elevation of 33 ft at the 23rd mile.

References

External links

* {{Marathons in the Netherlands Marathons in the Netherlands Autumn events in the Netherlands Annual events in Amsterdam Sports competitions in Amsterdam Recurring sporting events established in 1975 1975 establishments in the Netherlands