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☰
Amsterdam Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Amsterdam Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 3.6
Number of comments: 88 [displaying comments 51 to 61]
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E. B. from London, England
(9/15/2006)
 "nice, but definitely not enough water" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Lovely everything, including the weather, but definitely not enough water stops. Nothing between 30K and 41K! | |
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A. W. from St.Petersburg, Florida, USA
(4/19/2006)
 "flat and fast city marathon" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The fastest course I've run so far. I went to Amsterdam to break 3 hours for the first time of my life and I finished in 2:57:58!! Big PR. A lot of fast runners, so you never run on your own, and there is always someone to focus on. The wind was a bit strong this year, but it didn't bother me so much. Temperature(58F) was perfect. Water stops were o.k. and enough for me. The only negative point was the "hidden" KM-markers. I missed a lot of them because spectators stood in front of them and blocked my view. After-race food is sparse (only a half banana and a sandwich), but the race costs not more than 45 euros, so you can spend some money on your own food. Two very nice surprises are the showers and even a free massage. Course was fantastic; never got bored. | |
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S. M. from Belfast, Northern Ireland
(1/8/2006)
"Fantastic Marathon" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Amsterdam Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This marathon is fantastically organized and has the added benefit of an extremely flat course. I have run it twice, both times ending up with big PBs. As for the comments from other posters regarding refreshments "only every 5K" - I don't know what you are used to, but from my experience this is normal (in the UK and Europe) and is also ample. Just make sure you stop at each one. Whilst there are many other autumn marathons, a major feature of this one is that there are several support races, which means that large groups can travel together, have a great weekend, and run whatever suits them from 10K, to half, to full marathon. Our group (of approximately 15) may well return again to Amsterdam in 2006. | |
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J. A. from California
(10/29/2005)
 "Beautiful country; bring your own water." (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The pre-race expo was good, the people of the Netherlands wonderful, and the course beautiful. Arrival at race start was delayed because of race street closures. Because of closures, only one tram line was running to the start; unfortunately for many of us at our tram stop, we didn't know about the race-day tram schedule till the last hour and half before the event. Secret: tram #16 does run on race-day. Luckily I had planned on arriving 1 and 1/2 hours before start; with the delays, we got to the stadium 15-20 minutes before the start. First five miles are quite tight with more than a few bottlenecks. So, try to get in your expected finishing time slot at the start or you will expend much energy getting to the open course. But the course; it is beautiful.... The canals, the people, the bikes, the green, the windmill, terrific course.... Water and aid was problematic: water every 5K leaves no room for error over 26.2 miles. Next time I will carry a bottle. All in all, a great race in terrific city. Thank you, Amsterdam, for a great destination event. | |
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P. K. from Mumbai, India
(10/21/2005)
"Good marathon to run" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Positives: Flat course; good organization; good crowd support (although it may not be proportional to a 20,000-runner event); free massages before and after the run! Negatives: More water stations would help (they had one every 5 KM); poor directions to the venue; bag storage; after the race, Gatorade, etc. | |
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J. C. from Colorado, USA
(10/19/2005)
"Enjoyable marathon" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon outside the US and was very impressed by how well organized the event was, how well supported the aid stations were (although not as many as some in the US, at least the Gatorade was not watered down!), beautiful course, etc. And the city itself - WOW! All the walking around the days leading up to the race all but killed my legs but it was well worth it. | |
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J. S. from Leuven, Belgium
(10/19/2005)
"Great experience" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Excellent organization: everything went really smoothly. Picking up your number, handing in and retrieving your sports bag, finding a shower afterwards.... no problems at all and hardly any queues. The course was a bit disappointing to me, since it doesn't really take you through any interesting parts of Amsterdam, but it is nice and flat. Good for running, not for sight-seeing. The first 10 km were also difficult from time to time because you would turn from a very broad street into a park or (a lot) narrower street, but it never became a real problem where you would come to a stand-still. Beware though that the October weather in Holland can be quite cold and wet. We had a lot of luck with this year's sunny weather and hardly any wind at all. A strong headwind would have been murderous when running along the Amstel River. Even though it's flat, don't underestimate the course. But the best of all: The spectators were absolutely marvelous. Lots of people applauding and cheering, bands playing at several parts of the course. I had a really hard time at 34 km, and one of the spectators actually jumped over the fence to cheer me on and run with me for a couple of hunderd meters. Great stuff. This guy really helped me through my worst moment. I would recommend this marathon to anyone. | |
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T. S. from london
(10/17/2005)
"Definite improvement on last year" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Amsterdam Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was a definite improvement on last year; several loops - including one around a rather dreary industrial plant - have been removed (it was around the 30k point last year), leading to a faster and straighter course with bags of atmosphere. Bad points: A couple of cars (!) in with the runners on the course, and I do feel it would have eased congestion around the drink stops to have bottled water, as opposed to cups. Definitely worth doing, but worth having something to carry water in if it's a hot day. | |
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Jean MASSELIN from Strasbourg, France
(10/17/2005)
"very nice" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Amsterdam Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Very fast because of the flat country. Although, not many spectators (except in the center). Nice weather. Outstanding organization. Very nice views along the Amstel River. Excellent overall conditions for runners aiming at a nice performance. | |
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Michael Madder from Bournemouth, England
(7/7/2005)
"World-Class" (General Comments)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Amsterdam Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This is hardly hot news as I ran this in '97, '99 and 2003. It gets better every time. The "new" sponsors have raised the profile significantly and yet it remains a relatively small event. Some of the top internationals compete here... but it is also an event for the rest of us. I have always found the service, registration, and organization excellent. How many city marathons will enter you the day before, and give out numbers on the day of the race? I can't believe some of the negative comments. I don't expect to find a buffet on the course, and as for canals with bridges and streets with block paving, the city is great and the marathon is one of my favorites.... Not a stroll in the park, but Vondel is quite special. I think I've just decided which October marathon to run this year. |
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