PHILIPSBURG—Three St. Maarten runners took part in the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday, October 16, representing the island and St. Maarten Roadrunners Association, and joining 18,000 other runners.
The three were Roadrunners President Krispijn Teunissen who completed the full marathon in 3:34, Murielle Lancien-Paul likewise in 3: 28, and Berit Bus, Roadrunners board member, who ran the half marathon in 2:05.
The Amsterdam Marathon (branded TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) held in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. During the event, there is also a half marathon race (21.097 km) and an 8 km race in the programme.
“The TCS Amsterdam Marathon is the largest in the Netherlands and is held together with the Mizuno Half Marathon and the TCS 8K run. 45,000 enthusiastic runners tried to set their personal record here as the course is incredibly fast,” noted Teunissen.
“The event is very popular internationally (more than 120 nations joined) and has a really great start and finish location in the Olympic Stadium dating from 1928. As a spectator you can watch the event live free of charge in the stadium on a big screen
“The fast course leads through the beautiful old town and along the windmills on the Amstel (river). It is a varied course with city and green sections and plenty of entertainment and support along the way.”
Almaz Ayana won the TCS Amsterdam Marathon with a course record of 2.17.20. The 30-year-old Ethiopian soloed the final kilometres to victory under loud cheers from the crowd in the Olympic Stadium. The Olympic 10,000-metre champion of Rio de Janeiro (2016) ran the fastest debut time ever.
Among the men, Tsegaye Getachew triumphed. The 25-year-old Ethiopian crossed the line after 2.04.49, breaking his personal record, after a sensational battle for the win.
The TCS Amsterdam Marathon has again joined forces with KWF Dutch Cancer Society this year to raise as much money as possible for ground-breaking cancer research at the Amsterdam UMC Cancer Centre. The Amsterdam Cancer Centre received a cheque for 689,750 euros during the International Awards Ceremony.
