Marathon d'Amsterdam

We meet in the port of Amsterdam 🌷, on the third Sunday of October for one of the continent's most important running events: the Amsterdam Marathon (or TCS Amsterdam Marathon by its official name 😏).

Positioned every year in mid-October, right after Berlin 🇩🇪 and before Venice 🎭, Dublin 🍻, Frankfurt and Valencia 🇪🇸 (there you go, now the autumn calendar of European marathons is a bit clearer 😉), the TCS Marathon Amsterdam, whose first edition was held in 1975, celebrates its 51st edition this year! This marathon offers a fairly classic but exceptionally well-oiled race format! 👏 On the program for this internationally renowned running event (the only one in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 with the Rotterdam Marathon) : 3 distances. You’ll have a choice between a 7.5 km, a half marathon and a marathon, the latter of course being the crown jewel 👸 of the event. Kids’ races and a wheelchair race, the "Heroes Run" of 1 km, round out this lovely program! 📅

The event is highly sought after and sells out every year, sometimes two to three months before race day. So don’t get caught off guard if you’ve marked this race in your calendar! 💥 Bibs sell out fast, very fast... As soon as sales open for certain distances! 😅 Our Dutch friends are very organized and tend to reserve their precious bibs almost a year in advance! 🙊 Altogether, nearly 35,000 runners line up to conquer the Dutch capital of the Netherlands 🌇. Less than in Berlin, London 🎡 or Paris 🥐, you’ll tell us 🥸. And you’re right! The organizing team doesn’t plan to increase participation for now to keep the event at a human scale, allowing everyone to enjoy an event that remains "intimate" 🙌. The canalside streets, closed for the occasion, will be your playground (tarmac all the way, except for a few green spaces 🌳 and parks). You’ll see: despite the crowd, you’ll have plenty of space to showcase your running skills 🏃‍♂️ without feeling alone in the littleNordic Venice 🚤.

Let’s get to the heart of the matter, now talking about the courses! 🧐 The Amsterdam Marathon is iconic for many reasons. First of all, note that the 3 races are known for their speed 🚀: it’s flat, very flat! 📏 Logical, we’re below sea level 👇. Indeed! The Netherlands is, quite simply, the flattest country in the world… Nothing surprising there 😂. Great for setting a record if you’re in good shape ! ⏱ It should be noted that the 3 events are concentrated in the south (even the far south, for the marathon) of the city with notable landmarks: Vondelpark (the city’s green lungs 🌿), the Olympic Stadium 🏟️ (the mythical finish line for all 3 distances) or the Rijksmuseum (the Louvre Museum equivalent 👀) at the end of the course 📍. All that in one go! The roads will be closed to traffic, and you’ll have the chance to run on Amsterdam’s main tram arteries 🚋— can you beat them to the punch? 😝. For a bit of history, the course has seen many changes in the last decades, with numerous modifications in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Other landmarks of the Amsterdam Marathon and the Amsterdam Half Marathon are the green spaces and parks ⛲ and of course the banks of the Amstel (not the drink, the river, right 🤣) with its canals and most of its bridges 🌉 flat as the one at Toronto Bridge. However, since the race is not in the hyper-centre, most bridges aren’t raised but are flat! For marathoners, passing by the Amsterdam polder in the far south even allows glimpsing windmills ! 🌬️

As for the weather ☁️, you don’t need me to tell you thatAmsterdam isn’t the Côte d’Azur… 🙅‍♀️ So you have to prepare accordingly and anticipate different scenarios. The most likely? Overcast skies and light rain 🌦️, a headwind or tailwind depending on your position on the course. As you can tell, you’ll need to watch out for moisture and prepare to face the raindrops 💧. On the bright side, in the Netherlands, it’s a bit like being in Brittany, really! 🙃 The weather is changeable. The sun can quickly break through and make an appearance, as in the 2022 edition when rain was expected until the night before, only for the sun to show up at the last moment and take center stage 🌞.

But no matter the weather, trust us, you’ll have a great time! 😌 Because the TCS Amsterdam Marathon ❌❌❌ is also known for its high-quality organization ✔️: welcoming, signage, atmosphere, amenities, finisher T-shirt finisher… From bib collection to post-race, nothing is left to chance! Throughout the weekend (it starts Thursday with the bib pickup), the city of Amsterdam lives to the rhythm of the Marathon 🏃‍♀️, especially on Sunday. You’ll want to savor every minute of the race, because it goes by fast… And for the debrief of your run, it will happen from the Olympic Stadium 🤸, where all the finishers gather 🤝.

After seeing all sorts of colors on the course, and when everyone has regained their senses, you can get lost in a palette of Van Gogh 🎨, whose museum is located 2 km from the finish 🏁. For a touch of memory, the Anne Frank House is to visit 📖, just like the Rembrandt House 👨‍🎨. You’ll have heavy legs 🦿 after the race, with big stairs to climb or descend… Which is fine, because there aren’t any in Amsterdam! 😂 You can stroll and visit the city’s canals in the city center without suffering (at least I think 😉). If you’re too tired, you can settle comfortably in a boat 🛥️ to see all the corners of the city you haven’t explored yet! We’d better not forget the most important part: the food scene 😋. To recharge after the race (or to fuel up before you take off, your call 🫄), you absolutely must try the Bitterballen (a local classic)! Along with herring sandwiches 🐟 or Gouda! As for drinks, the local star, you guessed it, is beer... 🍺 Enjoy responsibly.

It should come as no surprise, you know the song: "In Amsterdam the sailors dance, rubbing their bellies". Alright, it’s your turn! Or at least, it will be, if you decide to come to the capital to experience one of Europe’s best marathons 🇪🇺.