It was a great course for a marathon, really flat and generally good under foot (no proper cobbles!) and quite pretty!
The start is in the Olympic stadium from the 1928 games and was awesome but getting to the start in the morning was manic as the great system of trams aren’t working near the stadium. I had to walk to a metro and then change and at that point the metro was rammed! If we did it again we’d find a hotel either: (i) walking distance from the start; or (I) on the metro line from the stadium.
I’m not sure it is best for a PB around 4 to 4½ hours as in many places the course is quite packed in and I slowed to a walk a few times in the first couple of Km due to the number of people and narrowness of the route. In a few places I found myself slowing as I was in a pack of slower runners. Actually, the size of the pens gave it away as there were around half the entrants in the 4 to 4 ½ hr slot (there was an aerial shot on the big screens at the start). But If you’re looking for a 3 hr marathon this should be ideal.
My wife, Nickie, did the ½ which started at 1320 in the afternoon and by then the course was quite slippy (given the rain) and she saw a few people fall over. This isn’t great for a group as she finally started around the time I finished.
The drinks stations were paper cups rather than bottles and so there was a sea of slippy paper cups which got worse as the day went on.
We were unlucky with the weather, it was very cold and raining which hampered things a little.
Amsterdam is a great place for a short break so Amsterdam and we had lovely few days.
Race Report by John Bennett