The growth that the organisers are striving for depends of course on the many thousands of recreational runners who come to Amsterdam from home and abroad every year. “After London and Berlin, this marathon is very appealing to people from abroad,” said race director Cees Pronk, who was addressing European races with these words. “Runners especially from Belgium, Germany, The United Kingdom, Spain, Scandinavia and Switzerland come to Amsterdam in large numbers. At the next edition we are expecting 10,000 people from abroad. The course is fast and flat and the many tourist attractions in the city make it very attractive. It is a city marathon where sport, culture and art come together.”
In 2014 Le Champion expects 37,000 enthusiastic runners at the start of the whole event. A realistic growth, when you consider how this marathon has developed over the years. In 2000, the first year that Le Champion was in charge of the organisation, in those days in cooperation with The Amsterdam Marathon Foundation, 6,400 runners entered. Five years later the counter stood at 19,500 and last year 25,700 people entered. Pronk: “We expect an increase of 15,000 participants at the whole marathon in comparison to 2009, when 9,500 runners ran. The Mizuno Half Marathon will also see an increase of 15,000 and the other parts of event will be see an increase of 7,000. The number of entries at this moment is already many times greater than at this time last year.”
The Amsterdam Marathon has been in the top 10 of the fastest marathons of the world for years. At this moment this marathon is in sixth place in that list. That means that the course is fast and the athletes have been guaranteeing fast times for years. A good example is Haile Gebrselassie, who attempted to break the world record (2.06.20) in 2005 in the capital city. Besides contracting elite athletes, the Amsterdam Marathon is also the birthplace of the many successes in marathons in cities like New York, Boston, Berlin and London. Talented runners from abroad are keen to make their marathon debut in our capital city. The fast course and the sound organisation give these young athletes the chance to run times with which they can start in pole position at the ‘bigger’ marathons. Tsegay Kebede, the winner of the 2010 London marathon made his debut in Amsterdam three years ago. Above all these debutants get a chance to measure themselves against European runners, who in turn profit from these young talents. This combination of runners is one of the vanguards of the organisation. Another vanguard is attracting even more Dutch people.
The plans above dovetail with the ambitions of the City Council of Amsterdam to bring the 2028 Olympic Games to The Netherlands. That will be precisely 100 years after the games were last held here. Simone Richardson: “To realise this Olympic ambition we need top events of international standard in the capital. Our sight is on growing the marathon, with the Olympic ambition in the back of our minds.”
The Amsterdam Marathon has included in its route, parts of the original course on which the runners in the 1928 Olympic Games ran. The 35th Amsterdam Marathon will be held on 17 October 2010."
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