The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded
NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual
marathon that has been held in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
,
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 marathons in the world by ''
Runner's World
''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...
'' magazine. The event is the most popular marathon in the Netherlands, followed by the marathons of
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
and
Eindhoven.
History
The Rotterdam Marathon often produces very fast times, as the course is flat and weather conditions are typically favorable. Between April 1985 and September 1998 the
world best time had been set at Rotterdam, by
Carlos Lopes
Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner.
He won the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming Portugal's first Olympic gold medalist and setting an Olym ...
and
Belayneh Dinsamo respectively. As of April 201
six different runners ran a sub 2:05:00 timeand
four of the ten fastest marathon runners ever ran their fastest time in the Rotterdam Marathon.
The 2007 event was stopped after three and a half hours because of extreme weather conditions; the
KNMI meteorological institute described conditions as "unseasonal" and race day was the warmest ever recorded in the city for the month of April, with temperatures reaching a high of 34 °C. Runners were on the course when the race was stopped after that point and some continued despite the warnings and race stoppage.
William Kipsang's 2008 course record of 2:05:49 was broken the following year by
Duncan Kibet and
James Kwambai who both ran the third fastest time ever for the distance, clocking 2:04:27.
In 2012, the
IAAF Gold Label was awarded to the event, after satisfying the last condition in April that year: the requirement that the race could be followed live on television in at least five countries.
The 2020 edition of the race was postponed to 2021 due to the
coronavirus pandemic, with all entries automatically remaining valid for 2021, and all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to another runner.
See also
*
List of winners of the Rotterdam Marathon
*
Rotterdam Half Marathon The Rotterdam Half Marathon was an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres, that was staged in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the second Sunday in September. The event was contested from 2004 to 2009. It was discontinued in 2010 due to lacking ...
Notes
References
External links
Official website
{{RotterdamSport
Marathons in the Netherlands
Sports competitions in Rotterdam
Recurring sporting events established in 1981
Spring (season) events in the Netherlands
1981 establishments in the Netherlands