Amsterdam Marathon

“Finish line crossed at 4:45:29.”

Training and race organization were mostly fine, but early on the 4-hour pacer group was crowded and the uneven road surface took a lot out of them. They reached the half marathon point in 2 hours, but nausea and trouble taking in fuel had them alternating walking and running after mile 15, and they finished in 4 hours 45 minutes 29 seconds.

“Last Sunday I completed my first full marathon, covering a distance of 42KM in and around Amsterdam.”

About a year after taking up running, this runner ran their first full marathon in Amsterdam, taking in the Amstel River and finish in the Olympic Stadium.

“It felt as though I couldn't breathe.”

The writer faced humidity and strong winds from the start of the Amsterdam Marathon, but drew on their injury recovery and training to finish in an official time of 3 hours 31 minutes 5 seconds.

Quoted from the original · translated

“I never had a habit of exercising, nor did I ever aspire to be a runner when I was growing up.”

This runner went 3:59:24 in their first marathon for a sub-4. A right calf cramp at 5–6 km forced a brief stop, but a running-club friend's cheering got them back into rhythm, and they kicked at the end to get under 4 hours.

“It became VERY hard to run at a steady pace, lots of congestion and everything was super crowded.”

The runner raced with a cold and finished in 3:48:14. Narrow roads and congestion early on made it hard to hold a steady pace, but they felt good until 35 km and leaned on the crowd support and music to get through the final 10 km.

“The TCS Amsterdam Marathon was an unforgettable experience.”

In their first marathon, the runner tried to follow the 3:30 pacer, but just before the start, the pacer group moved to another wave, so the runner set their own pace. There were difficult moments because of the hail, cold weather and sparse support along the Amstel River, but the runner achieved their goal with a time of 3:28:43.

“The conditions couldn't have been more perfect.”

The writer praised the flat course, plentiful water and refreshments, and lively crowds. They also mentioned the bottleneck early on and the pacer pace, which felt faster than expected.