Marathon de Rotterdam

Lee Towers singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the starting line, fantastic crowds, great energy.

Well Organised marathon, it can be quite crowed at some points and the bag pick up area was not well signposted so quite a few people ended up walking around looking for the area ( Not what you need after running a marathon) great crowd along the route and plenty of fuel stations. Nice medal but low quality finisher T shirt. I have also ran the 10km which was very crowded

Incredible atmosphere, the streets were lined six deep with spectators, it seemed as though the whole city was out to support the runners! It was an unseasonably scorching hot day though thankfully buckets and sponges were provided and extra water stations so we were well looked after. Great medal and tshirt, superb expo complete with carnival atmosphere. I just loved the entire thing and can't wait to do it all again!

Great track, a loop distance so no doubling back or repeat sections. Nice mix of quieter calm leafy canal areas juxtaposed to the city streets which were packed with spectators! Very flat.

Great route at an amazing location, well organized, very cheerful crowds, fast track. Crowded but still enough space for everybody. Just loved it!

The best run in the Netherlands by far. Also good for spectators, you can call it a "subway-marathon" for your cheering-fans ;). They can see you easily on 6 differend places, I have run the 6 majors, but have to say this one could be one of them. I did registred now for the 5th time again :). Also which is nice and didn't see that often, if you are last you will be a hero. See this example of the last runner >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOFe08amcGI . So if you are not first, try to be the last ;).

It is getting hard around the "kralingseplassen", that is the only part of I think 3 kilometers with not on both sides a line of 2 people behind each other ;). But the videos made by people on the screens make this part special. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kok9a45Mos

There is only one real city marathon in The Netherlands with an actual great skyline and that's the Rotterdam Marathon. In general it has a fast course and the crowd is amazing. The latter being the main selling point of this marathon. No other Dutch marathon attracts so many supporters and spectators as this one. It is also very easy for supporters to follow their friends, family, loved ones via the public transport system. They can intercept them at four points along the way easily (with some preperation of course) which is great. Aid stations could be improved in number and what they provide (mainly based on the last couple of editions with high temperatures on raceday compared to the weeks of training at much lower temperatures). Make sure you book your hotel way in advance and preferably near the finish on the Coolsingel. BTW I live in Rotterdam so maybe I am a little bit biased ;-)

Rotterdam Marathon is famous for being one of the fastest marathons in Europe. That is a good reason to start there if you want to improve your personal best. Because of that and because I really love the Netherlands and the beautiful Dutch towns I decided to participate in Rotterdam in 2003. Well, it was a little bit disappointing. It began with the narrow start area, which was not departed into blocks for those who run faster than 4 hours and the slower ones. This meant, if you wanted to start in the faster part of the runners you had to be there very early and to wait a long time on a narrow and crowded road. The course actually is flat, but I missed the cheering supporters I knew from the marathons I ran before. The people in Rotterdam seemed not to care about the runners at all. Additionally the scenery was dominated by industry buildings and huge apartment houses which looked like those they build in the German Democratic Republic. This was not what I expected. With other words: It was boring. So, if you merely are looking for a flat and fast course, you may be right in Rotterdam. Otherwise I cannot really recommend this competition, due to the lack of atmosphere.

The crowd is amazing in this city, i was born there too and i always enjoy all the encouragement every step of the way.

Great organisation and atmosphere.

Heerlijke race en fantastisch publiek!

Great atmosphere!

Wow, what an incredible experience. Pros: Bib-pickup is available on race-day, practically unheard of for large city marathons. Well organized event, with aid stations with water and gel packs through the course. Multiple start waves determined by your expected completion time. Unbelievable crowd support with spectators packed throughout the entire course cheering for you. Very flat course, with minor climb for the bridge. Cons: Marathon starts later in the day(10am start) than most others, so it could get hot toward the end.

If you are looking for a marathon with great crowds, easy access to the start and the finish and a good organisation this is the marathon you want to run. Great course, never boring and people everywhere. Expect to finish on a cloud with many cheers and people yelling your name. Aid stations are plenty available and good mix of water, isotonic and food. One of the few marathons I have run where you don't need to carry anything.

The organisation was perfect. Fan were fantastic and competition really tought. I love it. Also were very lucky with the weather that was perfect for running a Marathon.

Great atmosphere, ability for the supporters to stand on various locations along the route is easy to do.