Amsterdam Marathon 2012

I did it this year and booked in in November of last year, so if the date is not out yet it will certainly be out in the next week or so. 

Good luck it is a really enjoyable experience for both runners and supporters.  

Regards Jeremy

I have just recieved the following email from the organiser, which might be of interest to anyone considering doing the marathon. I have just looked at hotels and they are certainly getting booked up and those that are available are very expensive.

21 October 2012!

There is a big congress in Amsterdam during the same weekend of the Amsterdam Marathon. In case you are sure that you want to attend don’t wait too long to make an hotel reservation.

Online registration will open around 15 January 2012 at www.tcsamsterdammarathon.nl

Isles

Amsterdam is not like London- there is no ballott, you simply register and pay you entry fee which gives you a guaranteed entry.  You also don't have to rush, you have months to sign up before the places fill up.

I did Amsterdam this year, it was my second marathon and I absolutely loved it.  It's as flat as a pancake, all on road and closed to traffic.  I think the weather depends on the year, this year the conditions were perfect- average temperature of 9 degrees and sunny.  The organisation was brilliant and an unforgettable start and finish at the stadium.  Great for pb as well. 

I would highly recommend it and will definitely do it again sometime.

Just signed up too.

Did it back in 2007. Great race tho river section was a bit dull & blowy.

Very flat apart from a slight rise (underpass) at @ 38 km. Wouldn`t notice on a 5 or 20 km run but towards the end of a marathon it`s a bit tiring.

Flight booked (£90 courtesy of Easyjet) and a hotel too. Just need to start running again...

Im doing Amsterdam this year and it will be my 2nd Marathon.

Entry sorted, flights sorted and a very nice apartment sorted  i go to Amsterdam a lot anyway and i cant wait as its a beautiful city. 

Good place to run a first marathon. Not as busy as some of the humungus ones like London, Berlin or NY but big enough to feel exciting, if that makes sense.

Went for my first run in ages today. 3km. Epic.

I have done half or full since 2005 and yes, you have alway been able to enter up until a month before the actual race date (first few times I did it you could enter "Post Regristration" on the day before.

You can also switch from the full to the half (but no refund on the difference in entry fees)

MC Dave - perhaps I`m being harsh.

If you`re looking for a million + people lining the route, forget it.

I suppose what I`m trying to say is that if you run NY, Chicago, Berlin or London, you feel that the whole city gives itself over to the marathon for the weekend. Amsterdam is not like that. It is, however, welcoming and quite atmospheric in its own way. I did it back in 2007 and really enjoyed it and would have no hesitation in recommending it.

There are a reasonable number of spectators - at least in the city sections and Amsterdam is a warm and friendly place.

With regard to the river section  - it is pretty quiet but lots of people like it because it`s quite scenic. The industrial estate is a bit grim but it`s a very short section.

It`s definitely a fast course. It`s right up there with Chicago or Berlin (unless there`s a stiff breeze along the Amstel).

Amanda - re hotels: there may be a couple of conferences going on but there are so many hotels that I can`t imagine you will have any difficulty finding somewhere, were you to look in April.  Amsterdam must have tens of thousands of tourists at any one time - throughout the year. I can`t see a couple of conferences having  a huge impact - especially if you aim for the smaller/less well known establishments.