Amsterdam Marathon 2013

sconhome

Anyone around doing this?

Haven't hear of any chatter around the forum.

Anyone interested in doing this? I'm registered and won x2 entries which I will happily pass on to anyone interested.

RedB

amphkingwest wrote: »

I'm registered and won x2 entries which I will happily pass on to anyone interested.

NOW you tell us?!:D

sconhome

Only got notification on Tuesday. They kinda left it til the last minute with the picking of the winners but it just proves Facebook competitions do work sometimes

psychozeb

Few of us from the local club heading over alright,looking forward to it,once the headcold I have clears up I'll hopefully have a go at 2:54

PDCAT

Yeah doing it myself. Wife is doing the half. Heading over Friday 18th. Looking forward to it. Amsterdam is a nice city. Looking at somewhere between 3.30 - 3.40 most likely.

psychozeb

you're surely going to take the prize yourself it's a decent package,pity they left it so late though.

thedollar01

3 of us heading over to do the full marathon, half marathon & the 8k.

sconhome

psychozeb wrote: »

you're surely going to take the prize yourself it's a decent package,pity they left it so late though.

At this stage I've already paid for my entry and accomodation for 2 nights. I don't want to start messing around with my travel plans at this stage so happy to pass the bundle off to someone who will make use of it.

sconhome

Well what did you think of that?

Anyone got their race reports ready? I'm still working on mine, the pictures will tell the story best.

Hard Worker

Irish woman Nicola Duncan ran 2.36. An improvement from 2.49.
Great group of women now sub 2.40.

psychozeb

New PB for me last sunday in Amsterdam with a time of 2:56:41 in what were ideal race conditions.Had been hoping to break 2:55 but a PB is good any day.
Must say was very dissapointed with some aspects of the race set up especially considering it's a gold label race,feel they could learn a thing or two from Dublin.
Expo was pretty poor and luckily I brought my own gels and drinks as I didn't see them on sale there.
Morning of the race got down to the stadium an hour before the start and got all the pre-race stuff out of the way by 8:55 and then joined the queue to get into the stadium,what a joke that was as they had only one entrance for runners .By 9:15 I was getting impatient and slipped out to the side to slip in the spectators entrance,got down but we weren't left in that way so just worked our way in from the side and through the gap.got into stadium by 9:20 so just time for a quick toilet stop and into my starting pen which i must say were excellently laid out.
9:30 and we're off and as we exit the stadium there is streams of people still entering.head off through the first mile at a handy pace to settle in 7:07 by my watch.the usual first mile shuffling of people trying to gain places and what not.There is no 3 hour pacers in Amsterdam,a thing a few lads think aren't necessary anyway.next mile and I'm settling in to race pace and start to feel relaxed going through the Vondelpark.Just past the 5k poin and coming down the opposite side of the road are the mens elite runners in a group of about 30.Out around this point of the course it's mainly residential but nice.at around the 13k mark you do a u-turn around some barriers and on the way down to it I spot one of the club lads and another lad that travelled over with us and both are looking comfortable just give them a quick salute.From there we head out towards the countryside and as we get to the 14k mark we're running out a narrow enough path along the Amstel river,It's a bit open here and basically boring,at around 16k on the opposite side of the river to us the elites are on their way back around the 23k mark for them.There's a helicopter hovering above us and whips up a breeze.It's about a 6k stretch out along here before you cross a bridge and run back on the other side so you can look over and see the masses of people,halfway marker is down this path and I go through in 1:27:53 so I'm a few seconds down on target time.At around the 24k mark i catch up with the other lad from the club and ask him if he can come with me but he says his achilles is at him and tells me to keep going.I'm still feeling comfortable and pretty much happy the way the race has been going as we head through an industrial area and there is absolutely no spectators out aroun here.the race is very poorly supported in general.As we get to the 30k I start to pick off runners slowly just to keep my mind active and to try and get my target time.along here is a few small bridges and a underpass which isn't too bad.By 35k I'm back on target and still feeling good but with 5k to go I start to cramp in my quads and with that in mind I back off a bit hoping I can pick it up again rather than stopping,as we head back through the Vondelpark I know I'm nearly there turning left heading towards the finish all the time looking out for the entrance to the stadium which I finally reach and head in onto the track at which stage I just want to get finished.As i approach the finish line the prize ceremony for the mens is taking place on the inside of the track as I cross the line in 2:56:40 by my watch,I keep walking and get my medal and blanket and relax for a minute before I make my way to the exit as the announcer calls out the 3 hour mark is approaching and I see my clubmate entering but unfortunetly he's 23 seconds over the 3 on the day.loads of fruit after the race which is very welcome and some water before I meet up with some of the lads.
All in all happy with with the race but it is let down by a few things mainly entry to the stadium and lack of support on the course.Over 2 mins of my PB so next target is sub 2:55 in Boston.

PDCAT

Yeah definitely agree about the atmosphere around the course. For quiet a lot of the run there's none. Not a patch on Dublin in that regard. Also the entrance to the stadium is a disaster. Maybe they'd be better starting the race outside.