The TCS Amsterdam Marathon is known for its fast and beautiful course. The start and finish take place in the historical Olympic Stadium. And every year this leaves an unforgettable impression, not least because of the presence of the supporters in the tribunes and the marathon grandstand. The Marathon course follows a part of the Olympic route along the Amstel River, past stately homes and a few windmills. This route offers beautiful rural scenery (which includes the Arena) and gives an impression of the huge amount of daily business that takes place on the Amstel.
The course leads the participants through Amsterdam’s city centre and passes many highlights, which would also be worth a separate sightseeing tour. Some of the most attractive sights are the:
The start and finish of the marathon take place in front of the grandstand in the Olympic Stadium. This splendidly renovated, over 85-year-old stadium will leave a memorable impression at the end of the race. Supporters and other spectators have free access to the grandstand and the bleachers.
Rijksmuseum: The TCS Amsterdam Marathon will lead marathon runners through the heart of the Rijksmuseum, the famous passage which connects Amsterdam city centre with the south of Amsterdam. This promises to be a unique experience for the many thousands of entrants from the Netherlands and other countries. The monumental building contains some of the most world famous works of art by celebrated Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer. The museum has recently reopened following a complete renovation.
Vondelpark: The largest public park in Amsterdam has an entrance at the side of the Leidseplein. The 48-hectare park is full of trees, ponds, paths and playing fields and is dearly loved by every resident of the city. On sunny days, thousands of Amsterdam residents enjoy the park. Everyone can be found there, from sport fanatics to the health conscience to music lovers, occupied in their different ways. The variety of activities makes wandering through the Vondelpark especially fascinating in the autumn. During the marathon the runners will cross the Vondelpark twice.
Amstel River: The route of the marathon follows part of the Olympic route along the Amstel River, past stately mansions and several windmills. This rural part of the course has splendid panoramic views and gives an impression of the busy activity dominating the Amstel every day. In the distance the Arena is visible–the home stadium of the local Ajax football team. The meandering route along the Amstel is not only interesting for its range of scenery but also for—more importantly—the sight of other participants running on the other side.
Zuidas: For the third year in a row, the marathon will go through the Zuidas area of Amsterdam. This ‘new part’ of Amsterdam is characterized by its impressive architecture of high rise offices and apartment buildings. The image of Zuidas changes constantly, and provides both from the helicopter as on street level a spectacular background to experience the event and support the runners. The route through Zuidas has the shape of a small circle, making it a perfect spot to watch the runners go by several times.
In 2017, at least five athletes ran times under 2:06, making Amsterdam one of the fastest marathons in the world.
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Great Destination Race
This was my second time running a marathon in Europe, and I had a blast! Since it was the 50th anniversary, the production was through the roof! The expo had … MORE
This was my second time running a marathon in Europe, and I had a blast! Since it was the 50th anniversary, the production was through the roof! The expo had a lot to offer, information from previous marathons, and a speaker series.
We were able to start in the stadium and ran through a few parks. We were surrounded by spectators about 90% of the time, so I felt energized! The course is mostly flat, so I did better than I thought. Since the race was packed, I did have to run in between people often just to get around them.
My only complaint is that there was no food provided. We only received a banana and water for free. There were food trucks if we wanted to purchase something, but we shouldn’t have to do that.
Fun race. Pretty bad production
For reference I’ve ran a bunch of marathons, many in Europe. The good: - great crowd support (where there were crowds, not Amstel river) - lots of bands/music - flat … MORE
For reference I’ve ran a bunch of marathons, many in Europe.
The good:
– great crowd support (where there were crowds, not Amstel river)
– lots of bands/music
– flat scenic course
– good weather: cloudy/cool
– nice free run shirt – comes with marathon registration
The bad:
– expo wasn’t anything special
– crowded race, narrow at lots of parts with little space to run
– water stations very short: no space to grab without having to stop and wait
– crowded exit from stadium- takes forever to leave (also no water at end of race!!! Must leave stadium first!!??)
– absolutely ZERO snacks end of race “here’s your cup of water- bye bye”. Kinda sad.
I’d consider running again because course was so nice. Hopefully they realize they’re a big race and start acting like it.
Loved this race and would do it again .
Great hydration stations every 5 k ( sport drink,water , sponges and bananas ) Lots of loos Busy race . Saw lots of runners supporting each during thE race Great … MORE
Great hydration stations every 5 k ( sport drink,water , sponges and bananas )
Lots of loos
Busy race . Saw lots of runners supporting each during thE race
Great atmosphere ie party dj music almost every 7-10 k , lots of people cheering
No that many aid stations if you hurt yourself
You start in the corral you put thought you might be finishing time in no chance to move up )or down
Good expo with lots of things to buy
Photos aren’t very good and it wasn’t obvious compared to other races ( London or Brighton ) that they were taking pictures.
all in all a nice flat , fast course with a scenic course along Amstel river . Plus finishing in the Olympic stadium is pretty cool 😎 got a PB despite rain and hail .
My first marathon
My first marathon, so can't really say I did not enjoy it! What an amazing experience it was! Although I would like to point out some things: - It's really … MORE
My first marathon, so can’t really say I did not enjoy it! What an amazing experience it was!
Although I would like to point out some things:
– It’s really crowded around the starting area. Especially Area B was quite tough to get into the starting area. Too many people at one area.
– I agree on the other reviews about the boring part along the Amstel river. It does not give you the ‘Amsterdam’-feeling. Although it did not really bother me, because I was completely in my own focus.
I got my bib on Thursday, when there weren’t not a lot of people. Expo was fine, but didn’t stick there too long. Overall a great experience and I like the medal a lot.
Boring route nice finish !
Like Paris half marathon, the route for the Amsterdam Half marathon is quite disapointing. Most part of the race is done outside of the city, the only fun part happens … MORE
Like Paris half marathon, the route for the Amsterdam Half marathon is quite disapointing. Most part of the race is done outside of the city, the only fun part happens at the end with the part in beautiful Vondelpark and the finish in the Olympic Stadium. The race starts at 1:30 p.m ( strange!) and it can be very hot in Amsterdam at this time. It is an easy route, quite flat and fast apart from a few uphills at the end of the race. But Amsterdam has so much more beauty and scenery to offer ! Also, the expo is too crowded and the medal is very boring. Amsterdam, you have a lot to imrpove !
Totally disappointing!
Ok, where should I start? Let´s begin with the expo. We arrived at the expo on Saturday in the morning at about 11 o clock. There was a huge line … MORE
Ok, where should I start? Let´s begin with the expo. We arrived at the expo on Saturday in the morning at about 11 o clock. There was a huge line in front of the entrance and we had to wait quite a while before we got in. Once we got in I liked the expo even though it was very narrow and crowded. They have good merchandise stuff and I even bought a super nice T-Shirt as a souvenir. The race took place on Sunday and the half marathon starts at 1.30pm (marathon starts at 9.30 am). The start is close to the expo but far away from downtown. It takes you about 30 minutes by metro to get there. It was very crowded and unfortunately there were too little toilets for too many runners which really stressed me. I could manage to jump out of the toilet and immediately start my race on time. As there were so many runners I had to run “zick zack” all the time. The streets were too narrow and this fact caused me trouble during the whole race! In my opinion there were also too little water stations. It was a sunny and quite warm day (around 20-25 degrees Celsius) and at the beginning there were water stations every 5km only. It got better in the second half of the race and also gel was provided. Unfortunately the stations were only on one side of the street and were so crowded that I could not always manage to grab a cup of water. The scenery was VERY poor. Amsterdam is such a beautiful city – one of my favorite cities in the world – but the race has absolutely nothing to do with Amsterdam as it takes place outside of downtown. I only liked the last part of the race and of course finishing in the Olympic Stadium was nice. The course is flat with only few smaller climbs. Unfortunately only few spectators along the course – not comparable with Eindhoven or Venlo – races that are so much better than Amsterdam in terms of the atmosphere. After finishing in the stadium the biggest disappointment was still waiting for me: there were absolutely NO drinks offered at the finish. Runners had to exit the stadium as drinks were only offered outside the stadium. Because of this you could not enjoy the atmosphere in the stadium for at least a few minutes. As the exit was just a little narrow door and thousands of runners wanted to get out to finally get some water it took us a long time. We had to wait such a long time before we got out of the stadium and once we got out we had to wait another time, stand in line for several minutes before we finally got our water – I have never experienced such a bad organization at the finish. Will definitively not run this race again! But I will definitively come back to lovely Amsterdam!!!