The Amsterdam Marathon

It was a perfect day for the Amsterdam Marathon. The runners started and finished in Olympic Stadium, travelling a course that includes part of the 1928 Olympic route along the Amstel River.

Our home is located about 150 metres from the route taken by the runners on the way to and from Olympic Stadium very near the 1.2K and 41K mark. It was fun to watch the excitement on the runners' faces as they began, and their determination as they neared the finish line.

Wilson Chebet of Kenya completed the race in 2:05:16, setting a new course record. Wow! He surpassed his own record set the previous year and it was the third year in a row that he won the race. The female winner was Valentine Kipketer, also of Kenya, with a time of 2:23:02. She finished 4:59 ahead of second place Serena Burla of the US.

This photo of the winner was taken a few metres past the 41K mark. He was moving so fast!