Amsterdam
Marathon
The history and information about the
Amsterdam Marathon
If you are into a holiday or vacation with a difference and like
endurance sports, then you will find the Amsterdam marathon just
the right even for you. Here’s more information about this popular
international marathon event, whose many participants also include
Amsterdam university students.
The Amsterdam Marathon is by far the most testing running event
in the history of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is an extremely
well-organized event and is classified in the Golden League
category by the International Association of Athletics Federations,
the highest level for road racing competitions.
The History of the Amsterdam
Marathon
The first ING Amsterdam Marathon as we know it today happened on
May 3, 1975. Since that time, the start and finish lines were at
the Olympic Stadium. According to certain records, the first person
who won the first Amsterdam Marathon was Joergen Jensen from
Denmark who ran the distance in 2.16.51. A year later, a European
champion and second at the Munich Olympic Games named Karel Lismont
came to Amsterdam. She is still regarded in Belgium as the best
marathon runner even born on its soil, won in a tremendously hot
weather condition. Another legendary winner of the Amsterdam
Marathon came to the city a year later. He actually won the Boston
marathon in 1975, being able to finish first in an unbeatable
2.09.55.
The Amsterdam Marathon was relocated the year when the Olympic
Stadium fell into disrepair. In 1978, there was no marathon in the
area, but many of those who organized the event considered the Dam
Square as the new starting and finishing area for the event. The
Dam Square in fact was the finish venue for one of the city’s most
memorable marathons ever – the 1980 Amsterdam Marathon. It is
interesting to know that the event actually remained at the Dam
Square until 1989, and later Amsterdam’s new start and finish venue
became Museumplein.
With the reconstructed arena, the Amsterdam Marathon finally was
brought back to its former venue – the Olympic Stadium. In that
venue, another memorable event took place and it was the 1996
Amsterdam Marathon when the city saw a rise in the number of its
runners, both in men and women categories. The success of the
marathon continues even until now and many Amsterdammers have
immortalized their names through this event.
The Amsterdam Marathon
Route
The route of the Amsterdam Marathon is usually fast, free of
traffic, and as flat. During the event, digital clocks and
refreshments stand line the route, which typically passed through
the Vondelpark, below the Rijksmuseum and finishes back inside the
Olympic Stadium venue.
Six-Hour Time Limit
Just like any other sports events, the Amsterdam Marathon has
its own time limit. It has been maintained that the full marathon
is subject to a six-hour time limit. The participants who fail to
run the scheduled distances within the time limits set for the 25
km, 30 km, 35 km, or 40 km markers, as well as those who will
exceed the overall time limit will be asked by a member of the
event jury to terminate their race and to board the sag wagon for
safety and health purposes.
However, if despite being approached by a jury and the
participants continue to run, they will be asked to do so at their
own risk, as the route will be released for road traffic once the
sag wagon has passed. And, it is a rule in the Amsterdam Marathon
that if the participants terminate their race prior to finishing,
they will not qualify for a medal.
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