Amsterdam Marathon

WiBWiB ✭✭✭

Anyone else in for an Autumn marathon in Amsterdam?

Comments

  • Myself and a friend have entered and will be travelling from manchester, we have three nights and flight booked for 250 from lastminute.com, cannot wait.

    Also doing the manchester marathon at the end of april.
  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    2 of us going over, we are literally just flying out the day before, acing and flying back.

    Sounds like you got a pretty reasonable deal though.

  • Hey, done this the last five years. More than likely will drag my carcass around again image
  • Hi there, you say you've done it before.... would you recommend it? I did Paris last year and would not recommend that marathon to anyone!! badly organised and the cobbles were horrendous!!! although I would love to do an Autumn marathon image

  • Hi ania,

    Ran both Paris and Amsterdam marathons last year and have signed up to run Amsterdam again this year, a bit like you, after running paris once I had no real desire to do it again. I enjoyed Amsterdam, nice Olympic Stadium start and finish, flat course (as you'd expect), good crowd support in the city areas. The only possible down sides for me are the long stretch of the course that runs along the banks of the Amstel river, could be a bit exposed in windy / rainy weather conditions and not much support along this section, the other was the packed metro train from the city centre to the stadium start. We did leave it a bit late to set off for the stadium, so really didn't help ourselves with this issue, have booked a hotel outside of the city centre this year to try and avoid the crowds.  

       

  • Ams is pretty easy for a big city marathon. WC you sum it up nicely... stadium start and finish is great but some parts of the course are a bit industrial or windswept and empty (by the river). I guess in a city like Ams it's impossible to really construct a route through the narrow streets and canals in the centre. It'd be carnage! Still, it's usually easy to get around, to enter, it's flat, nice to spend the weekend etc. I also like that it's big enough, but not too big.
  • Hi guys, I have paid a deposit for a 2 bed apartment very close to the marathon start/finish but am no longer running it this year. If you are interested in taking on the apartment, please send me a message and I can give you all the details. I also ran Amsterdam as my 20th marathon last year so can give you some tips about the course!

    Cheers,

    Tim

     

  • Jimbo76Jimbo76 ✭✭✭
    I've run the Dublin marathon for the last couple of years, similar time of year, really enjoyed it but decided I needed something different so this year have gone for Amsterdam. Managed to get flights, hotel (only 1 night), entry fee and parking at airport for ??300, excellent value for money, hoping it will be worth it, certainly liking the idea of a flat course!
  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    Not bad Jimbo, it does seem very reasonable cost wise to get over and run there. Where are you flying from? I jsut settled for an EasyJet flight out of Gatwick.

  • Jimbo76Jimbo76 ✭✭✭
    I'm flying with KLM from Norwich, close to where I live. I was originally thinking of running a decent sized UK autumn marathon. Chester looked good but the costs of petrol, hotel for the night and entry was 250 quid, so Amsterdam at 300 was a no-brainer. Plus the flight is about 40 minutes as opposed to a 4.5 hour drive!
  • WC, I'm toying with staying near the airport to keep costs down. Would this be practical? Ta
  • musketeermusketeer ✭✭✭

    The airport hotels do seem cheaper, but you will need to factor in getting to/ from the hotel back to the airport in order to get the train in (don't know if there are free hotel shuttle buses).

    Takes about 15mins on the fast train to Central station and the 24/48hr metro/ tram/ bus pass is not valid on the trains

    You are also then  tied to ther hotel for food, or you have to travel in to more central AMS

  • Me and a friend are running it, flying out from Manchester on the Friday morning and flying back Monday Eveing, booked into the Crown Plaza south, which is near to the start at the stadium I think, got a good deal through a rewards programme. Flights and 3 nights in a hotel for £160

    Did Nice to Cannes marathon last year, mini break with a marathon is a good idea for a holiday.

  • Hotels near the start finish... look up the Holiday Inn, Novotel and Crowne plaza.

  • I ran this last year and stayed with a LOVELY architect man who rented out his two spare rooms upstairs (with shared bathroom between them) on Wimdu.com (it's like the German Air BnB). It was 10min walk to the start/finish and actually ON the race route. The room was big, clean, and he even brought me up a cup of tea and truffles to "enjoy" in my ice bath!image Absolutely lovely experience for my first marathon!

    (I'm totally not advertising as I don't know the guy but here's one of the room's if anyone's interested: https://www.wimdu.co.uk/offers/7Y5G67IW )

  • Thank you all for your suggestions. I booked a room with airbnb in the end.

  • I've been looking into this too. Sounds good for a first overseas event, plus a half marathon my girlfriend can enter image 

  • hi - 

    im running this for the first timetis year - although i will probably wlak a fair bit as I hve missed a few long runs due to illness and a bit of laziness trhown in. Looking to rent an aprtment close to the race as hubby and kids coming with. any suggestions? Hopefully i can finish after missing 3 long runs. thoughts? 

  • I did this a race a couple of years ago, we stayed in the same hotel was the elites (breakfast was interesting), it was a 15/20 min walk to start so didnt feel the pain of the congested trams and TBH the walk back was quite welcome too! The start was very congested but I enjoyed the whole race, the Amstel bit was great because you can see the other runners on the other side of the river. Running through the park on the way back in was quite nice too. The best bit was at the finish and stumbling to the beer tent, just outside the stadium. Amsterdam is easy to get around, trams all the way. We have a brilliant weekend.

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