Amsterdam Marathon

Following the epic adventures to make it to the start line in Amsterdam the first of the international adventures had arrived. The morning was extremely cool with very overcast conditions. With the race start at 10.30am this was the latest that I had ever commenced a marathon. Previously I have registered prior to the day and simply prepared for the race on race day. This was a little different as I arrived to the event for the first time to register and check out the Expo for the first time. It was interesting to find that there were a number of people who had read a article about my pursuits in the lead up to the Amsterdam Marathon with a few people making comment and congratulating me on arrival. This was really appreciated ...

The race start had all competitors gather inside the running track of the historic Olympisch Stadion "built as the main stadium for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. When completed, the stadium had a capacity of 31,600. Following the completion of the rival De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam in 1937, the Amsterdam authorities decided to increase the capacity of the Olympisch Stadion to 64,000 by adding a second ring to the stadium. AFC Ajax has used the Olympisch Stadion for international games until 1996, when the Amsterdam Arena was completed. Since 2005, the stadium is home to a sports museum, the Olympic Experience Amsterdam. It is no longer used as a football stadium." (Wikipedia) It is interesting to see that there is a now a official push to secure the 2028 Olympics for Amsterdam to celebrate the 100 year anniversary.

There was a real international flavour to the event with with tens of thousands of people lining up to start the 33rd Amsterdam Marathon. It was a great atmosphere with people sighted from all across the globe - USA, Canada, Ireland, England, Finland, Italy, Germany, Poland, South Africa, Belgium and of course Ethiopia and Kenya just to name a few. All competitors were broken up by expected finish times with me slotting next to the 3:45 pace group to start. Following the official start the majority of the field were walking to the start line with almost five minutes on the race clock by the time I was able to get into a light jog and commence the dodging of people.

The adrenalin rush of the start line continues to prevent me from powering home over the back half of the race. Think I may finally have to reassess this strategy in the future as once again I managed to go out a little too hard as the following times indicate:

Net time 4:07:30
Net split times (difference)
5,2 Kilometer 26:15 (26:15)
10 Kilometer 51:06 (24:51)
15 Kilometer 1:17:44 (26:38)
20 Kilometer 1:45:07 (27:23)
Half marathon 1:51:45
25 Kilometer 2:13:53 (28:46)
30 Kilometer 2:45:52 (31:59)
35 Kilometer 3:19:40 (33:48)
40 Kilometer 3:53:15 (33:35)

The promising news is that should I be able to hold it together the 4 hour barrier is not so far away. It really is a matter of the body and the mind working together from 30km on and leaving nothing in the tank to achieve the result! I am sure that with the right physical and mental preparation, race nutrition and race conditions on the day that this will be happen over the coming weeks.

It was interesting dealing with the later start time as by the end of proceedings following a massage it was late afternoon and I had run a marathon with minimal food intake during the day. The great part of staring early is that you can have the race sorted and return to enjoy a much deserved meal for lunch. Now will have to come up with a plan to perhaps have some lunch of choice at the finish line ready to devour before the next late start time ...

This was the first race where I have actually been interviewed while running with the local TV News AT5 running beside me with 11km remaining and asking a number of questions. It was very amusing to see the news coverage later that night ...

Looking forward to sharing a few more tales with you over the coming days.

Thank you so much for all your support!