Amsterdam, Netherlands · October
Pacing the Amsterdam Marathon
Flat and fast
Starts and finishes inside the Olympic Stadium, with a long stretch out along the Amstel river between. Flat throughout, cool October air, and a dependable choice for a personal best.
Official site: dates and entry
Dates, ballots and entry rules change every year and are not listed here. Check the official site.
How to pace it
There is almost no elevation to plan around, so pace discipline is the entire task. The same warning applies as at Berlin: a course with nothing to push back against makes drifting two or three seconds per kilometre quick very easy to miss.
The Amstel section is what makes Amsterdam different from other flat courses. It is a long, straight, exposed stretch beside the water, and wind is a real variable there in a way it is not on a sheltered city course. Crucially it runs out and comes back, so a helping wind on one leg becomes a hindering one on the other, over a similar distance.
That makes banking time with a tailwind a particularly bad idea here. The seconds you gain going one way cost more than they are worth coming back, because you pay them at a point when you are already tired. Run the exposed section on effort and let the pace be whatever it is.
Tucking into a group matters more on this course than on a sheltered one, purely for the shelter it provides.
Worth knowing
- The riverside is exposed. Plan for wind in both directions rather than hoping for one.
- A flat course and a quick field both encourage a fast start. Be settled at target pace by 5 km.
- The stadium entrance arrives later than most runners expect. Do not start the finishing effort at the gate.
What the common targets ask for
| Finish | Per km | Per mile |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00:00 | 4:16 | 6:52 |
| 3:30:00 | 4:59 | 8:01 |
| 4:00:00 | 5:41 | 9:09 |
| 4:30:00 | 6:24 | 10:18 |