The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

that has been held in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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 global magazine and website for runners of all abilities. It has additionally developed experiential formats, including a digital membership program, called Runner's World+. It is published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylva ...

'' magazine. The event is the most popular marathon in the Netherlands, followed by the marathons of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

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 (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner and world-record holder in the marathon. He won the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, marathon at the 1984 Summer Olym ...

and

Belayneh Dinsamo Belayneh Densamo (born 28 June 1965) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, and a long-period world record holder for the marathon discipline. He held the world record for 10 years (1988-1998). Early life Belayneh was born in Diramo Afarr ...

respectively. As of April 201
six different runners ran a sub 2:05:00 time
and 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 William Rop Kipsang (born 26 June 1977) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He has won marathons in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Beirut and Seoul. His personal best for the event is 2:05:49 hours. His best performance was ...

's 2008 course record of 2:05:49 was broken the following year by

Duncan Kibet Duncan Kibet (born 25 April 1978) is a runner from Kenya. He became the second fastest marathoner ever with a time of 2:04:27 hours, when he won the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon. Career Kibet dropped out of school in 1997 due to financial problems. ...

and

James Kwambai James Kipsang Kwambai (born February 28, 1983) is a runner from Kenya, who specialises in marathons. He is a former Kenyan record holder in the event, with his personal best of 2:04:27 hours in 2009. At the time this made him the second fastest r ...

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 Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

, with all entries automatically remaining valid for 2021, and all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to another runner.

Notes

References

External links

* {{RotterdamSport Marathons in the Netherlands Sports competitions in Rotterdam Recurring sporting events established in 1981 Spring (season) in the Netherlands 1981 establishments in the Netherlands Annual events in Rotterdam

History

See also

Notes

References

External links