Having ran the Amsterdam Marathon in 2012 I pretty much knew what I had let myself in for. My wife Alison and I flew out of Inverness on the Saturday, direct to Amsterdam, and a quick 7 minute train journey had us at our hotel without any of the usual travel stress.
Our hotel was within 15 minutes walk from the start and finish area, thus avoiding the crowds on the metro coming out from the centre on the Sunday mornings. (A lesson learned from 2012.) I also decided not to go to the Expo on the Saturday. It is situated next to the stadium and, unusually for a big city marathon, it is possible to collect race numbers on the Sunday morning right up to half an hour before the race starts.
We popped into town for a pasta meal and met up with about 30 running friends from all over the globe that I have become acquainted with at various races over the years. A nice, friendly bunch, and the banter helped to keep the nerves under control. Almost.
Unfortunately a cold that had been pestering me all week blew up into full-blown man-flu and I was overdosing on Lemsip and paracetamol. I was seriously thinking of not starting. However, a good night’s sleep and a big plate of porridge had me feeling half human , so off we went at 7am, in the dark, to collect my race number at the Expo. The temptation at these Expos is to spend lots of money that I don’t have, on shiny new stuff that I don’t need… So I was in and out in less than 5 minutes!
The race starts and finishes in the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1928 summer games, and is still a very impressive arena. Another lesson I had learned from 2012 was to avoid the race congestion. The field is not on the scale of London, Paris or Berlin, but it does get very cramped on the narrower sections along the banks of the River Amstel. I had given a predicted time of 3:15 (ha, ha) to ensure I was in a faster pen, and this worked a treat as I wasn’t held up at all. (Unlike Elspeth in the half!)
Conditions were perfect for running – 10 degrees, no wind and a light drizzle.
My race target was clear – to beat my previous best of 3’29’32 from Paris 2013.
Pacing plan was to cross each 5K mat in 24 minutes and hang on as long as I could! I was pretty much bang-on target right up to 35K, and was feeling strong. I started to tire at 37K, but kept telling myself ‘it’s just a wee 5K race now’.
At 39K disaster struck.! My stomach cramped up badly and brought me to an abrupt halt. I was doubled up in pain and had to walk for a couple of minutes until it eased off. I honestly thought my race was over. Thankfully, as often happens with distance running, I found some inner strength and started tentatively running again. ’Just a Pinto run now’. Before long the stadium came into sight and I could hear the crowds. Then came the very welcoming ‘500M to Go’ sign. Running into the stadium and onto the track is a very emotional experience and, lifted by the crowd, I managed a fairly respectable ‘sprint’ finish. My Garmin read 42.95K, but the important number was the time of 3’27’50. Yippeeee! Mission accomplished.
So what’s the course like? Unsurprisingly it’s pretty flat, apart from a few under-passes. Support is good for the first
and last 10K but is fairly sparse on the long stretches along the river. Water and feed stations are OK (unlike Paris) but the water is in cups, not bottles. Takes a bit of practice to get more in the mouth than down the front of the shirt…The medal is pretty a good and we also got a very nice orange technical t-shirt.
So if you are looking for a fast, big-city, Autumn marathon, Amsterdam is a good alternative to Berlin (and Loch Ness). There is also a half marathon and an 8K on the same day. And Amsterdam is a wonderful place to visit. Give it a go some day…
Report by: Simon MacDonald