Amsterdam City

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, although the government administration sits in Hague. Amsterdam is also the countries largest city, with population of about 780.000 and growing rapidly.

The city is best known for being liberal on prostitution and drug use, but also for it´s canals and beautiful architecture. Hundreds of canals circle around the city center, giving the city a strange but elegant appearance.

Amsterdam started forming around the year 1250. The first inhabitants were fisherman and farmers. The city draws it´s name of the Amstel river, which flows through the city. A long time ago the residents built a dam to keep the river from flowing over the riverbanks. Back then they used to speak of Amstellerdam.

The Amsterdam Marathon Course

The Amsterdam Marathon deserves a place among the world´s major marathon events. It´s not one of the biggest when it comes to numbers, but it certainly passes the requirements as one of the big runs when taking culture and experience.

The race will take place on the 21st of October 2012 for the 37th time. In recent years the entries have been just around 30.000, with a record number of entries of about 35.000 participants in 2011, and over 10.000 running the full marathon.

In the year of 2005 The Amsterdam Marathon caught the attention of the running community when Haile Gerbsalassie set a new course record at the time of 2.05,20. The record also turned out to be the best gained time of the year worldwide![1]

This race is one of the marathons nominated as one of the top 10 world´s greatest marathons, by About Running official website. 

The Amsterdam Marathon Course 

The start and finish of the race is in the impresive old Olympic Stadium. The course is really scenic, giving runners an exceelent view when running though the Vondel park and towards the Amstel River. 

Most would consider the following attractions among the highlights of the course 

  • Rijks Museum
  • Tropics Museum
  • The Amstel Hotel
  • Vondel Park
  • The city center
  • Beautiful Windmills
  • The Olympic Stadium
  • The Amstel River

The course is flat, the crowd is inspirational and motivating, the weather is most often mild, maybe a bit chilly and with a slow breeze. Overall the perfect circumstances for improving  your personal best!

Amsterdam Marathon Facts

  • First held in 1928, during the 1928 summer Olympics.[2]
  • The Amsterdam Marathon wasn´t held again until 1975, and has been held annually for 35 times ever since.[3]
  • Heile Gerbsalassie, current world record holder, won the Amsterdam Marathon in 2005 at the time 2.06,20, which back then was also was a world record.

Registration

You can register for the race here.