Ethiopian runners Getachew and Yehualaw win Amsterdam marathon

Tsegaye Getachew has won the Amsterdam marathon for the second time. The Ethiopian runner finished after 42.195 kilometers in an unofficial time of 2.05.38 in the Olympic Stadium. The winning time was well above the course record of 2.03.39, run in 2021 by Ethiopian Tamirat Tola. Getachew was also the best in the city marathon in 2022.

Second place went to his compatriot Boki Asefa in 2.05.40. Israeli Maru Teferi came third in 2.05.42. The best Dutchman was Khalid Choukoud in tenth place. He arrived in a time of 2.09.30. The 38-year-old from The Hague did not come close to his personal record of 2.07.37.

Among the women, Ethiopian athlete Yalemzerf Yehualaw has improved the course record in the Amsterdam marathon. The 25-year-old runner was the first woman to cross the finish line in the Olympic Stadium after a time of 2.16.52. Yehualaw was considerably faster than her compatriot Yalmaz Alyana, who set the course record at 2.17.20 in 2022.

Yehualaw was shadowed by two “hares” for most of her race, including Dutchman Björn Koreman. She was recruited by the organization as a high-ranking athlete. The Ethiopian held the world record for the 10 kilometers for a while and won the London and Hamburg marathons in 2022.

Only in the final phase did Yehualaw run alone. She lost some time but remained strong enough to improve the course record. Her compatriot Haven Hailu finished second in 2:19.29.

The elite runners started at 9:00 in excellent running weather; 14 degrees, dry, and not too much wind. They were the forerunner of an army of more than 22,000 participants over the entire distance.

The leading group, which mainly included top African runners, used the course record schedule as a guideline. The halfway crossing time was 1.02.31, which had already given up some time on the course record. The race started after about 33 kilometers when the pacemakers had finished their work. Four runners remained at the front: Getachew, Asefa, Kenyan Kennedy Kimutai, and Teferi.

Kimutai had to drop out after 38 kilometers, leaving a trio that no longer paid attention to the final time, but fought for the victory. Those three made it an exciting final. Just before entering the stadium, Getachew made a mistake by running the wrong way. He recovered, accelerated, and then ran away from Asefa and Teferi on the artificial track.

Choukoud wanted to take revenge in Amsterdam for his performance last summer in the Olympic marathon in Paris. There he got sick the day before the race and could not reach his old level in the competition. He finished 58th. The Dutch ace mainly ran alone through the streets of Amsterdam. He chose to run at his own pace and not to force behind the pacemakers.

A record number of 48,000 participants from 140 countries were on the starting list for the city marathon. A total of 22,500 runners participated in the full marathon, which has a distance of 42.195 kilometers. Almost 20,000 people took part in the half marathon. A total of 45,000 tickets have been sold.