The course record seemed to be breaking at the Amsterdam Marathon, but Joshua Belet collapsed slightly at the end. The 25-year-old Kenyan was the first to cross the finish line in the Olympic Stadium in 2:04.18. Among the women, Mimi Belete won in 2.18.21, but the biggest sensation was Anne Luijten. She was the fastest Dutch woman and even ran the Olympic limit.
In a quite cold Amsterdam, the starting gun sounded in the Olympic Stadium at 9:00 am. More than twenty thousand runners started and soon formed a leading group with favorites for the final victory. However, Bernard Koech had to abandon the fight early. He was considered one of the contenders for the overall victory, but injured his hip at a water station in the hustle and bustle.
The group maintained its position along the Amstel, but after the first drops of rain appeared around the 25 kilometer mark, the men’s pace increased. Joshua Belet shook the tree and took the solo lead at the Tropenmuseum. He opened a gap with the three pursuers and was more than twenty seconds ahead of the course record, which dated from 2021 by Tamirat Tola (2.03.39). He then soloed towards the finish in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.
Khalid Choukoud was the fastest Dutchman. He fought for the Olympic limit (2.08.10), but he was 26 seconds slower (2.08.36). Choukoud is therefore one minute faster than his personal record.
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Luuk Maas (2.11.47) was the second Dutchman to cross the finish line, ahead of the North Hollanders Lucas Nieuweboer (2.14.39) and Richard Douma (2.14.57).
Holterman gets out
Among the women, Jill Holterman and Anne Luijten had to uphold the Dutch honor. After crowd favorite Nienke Brinkman canceled, they tried to record a top time. Halfway through, Holterman from Egmond aan de Hoef ran into problems. She had to unload along the banks of the Amstel and let her group walk. Ultimately, she had to stop the fight early.
The women’s victory went to Mimi Belete. The Kenyan finished in 2.18.21, but did not reach last year’s course record. Then we had to wait for the finish of Anne Luijten, who was fighting for the Olympic limit. She finished tenth with a time of 2.26.36, which was fourteen seconds under the limit.