It had been 2 years after the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2023, where I was deeply disappointed after finishing slower than what I had hoped for. A lot had changed over time, with me rediscovering myself and my relationship with the joy of running, and with me getting certified as a marathon trainer with a few success stories at TMM 2025. I had registered for the TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2025, feeling that it would be nice to travel and run in what would definitely be cooler weather than Mumbai. With a structured training plan, based around my understanding of the science of running (through various books), I had put in my highest mileage in a training block, despite the tough weather and tough few months at work. The power of consistent easy running, peppered with harder work had worked while training and now it was time to test it on raceday.
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| First run in Amsterdam |
With a little over a week done, my better half and I set off to get used to the cooler weather and to meet some family and friends in London. My first run on landing there felt different. As did my second run. Despite the weather being almost 12-14 degrees cooler than Mumbai, I felt like something was not quite right. That is when the lesson dawned upon me. The lesson of patience. With the cooler weather, I had been setting off like a mad-man, pushing the pace when it was not necessary and not focussing on keeping the easy run easy. Then that same evening I ran through the streets of London with a constant reminder to focus on the controllable factors, viz. breathing and proper running form. And voila!! It worked like a charm. Even the last couple of fast paced efforts in the days to come were structured around this virtue and just like that, I was set for the TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2025.
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| Excited to see my name on the wall |
This year was the 50th edition of the race. The event was screaming about it right from the beginning. It was a carnival from the start and at the race expo, I got the chance to meet some of the elite athletes including one of my favourite distance runners, Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda. It was a major fanboy moment for me to meet the World Record Holder for the 5000m and 10,000m on the track, a person whom I watched winning at the recently concluded Paris Olympic Games. The last time I saw him live, he destroyed the half marathon elite field for a win at the Delhi Half Marathon in 2024. I had set my personal best at that race and I was sure to do something similar at this race too.
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| Fanboy moment with Joshua Chepegei |
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| Bib signed by Joshua Cheptegei and Bosena Mulatie |
From the tram to the walk towards the starting area, the number of people moving alongside swelled like a wave and by the time I reached the clothing drop area, it was a carnival of running. So many people had gathered there to take on the 42.2km. There was ample time and space to get in a good, thorough warm-up which included loosening up, drills and strides. My starting wave was to be flagged off at 9:17am, 17 minutes after the starting gun. There were a lot of people and I had imagined a tsunami of runners setting off the moment the clock ticked past 9:17am. But how far it was from reality. Everyone patiently walked as we got funnelled towards the start line, and then started running. It was such a stark contrast to what I had experienced before in all my races. No pushing and shoving, even at 9:30am, which was when my race got underway!
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| The start zone |
"This is so awesome", I thought to myself as I moved through the first few hundred metres. I saw the pace on my watch and as expected, I realised that I was going a little faster than planned. "PATIENCE", I told myself and continued, soaking in the race. I was running on the same route I had taken to the starting area just an hour prior. And it was transformed into a massive cheering zone with people out in full force with their sign boards. Thankfully most Dutch people tend to speak at least 2 languages, with one of them being English. Thus a lot of signs were in English! And the wit and humour on the boards was amazing! A friend had reminded me the previous evening, that there is only one first marathon you run. This was my first marathon away from home and I reminded myself to enjoy it.
As we entered the famous Vondelpark, the cheering grew louder. I kept my pace consistent and my breathing felt nice and rhythmic, showing that the training had left some great positive adaptations. The signboards kept growing funnier and I was having a blast reading them and acknowledging them. And the people were responding with "Come one Kartik!!" "Good job Kartik" , etc. It was so awesome that people were reading the names off the bibs and made the cheering so personal! We then turned into the Rijksmuseum which is the largest museum in the Netherlands. And yes, we went into the museum, through the pedestrian walkway which took us through the building. And inside this little tunnel was a strings ensemble. That had my eyeballs popping out with wonder as to how amazing the experience was, that too with around just a 10th of the race done! As we proceeded through the part of town with the tall office buildings, the crowds lining the streets got even more amazing! With an acoustic resonance chamber, the cheering seemed to keep getting louder and louder. It was absolutely electric!
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| Enjoying Vondel park |
That was where I crossed my wife who had navigated her way using multiple maps and apps, to finally catch me on the route. Thanks to the location, we crossed paths twice, as the route went around to what many people had said would be the most challenging part of the route, along the Amstel river. It was supposed to be cold, windy and boring with no support. This section in fact was the biggest surprise. It was such a beautiful part of the route. The sun was illuminating the world with bright blue skies with broken clouds. The greens along the riverside seemed to stretch endlessly towards the horizon. The odd classical windmill added to the visual delight. And the cheering continued. Not as much as the business district, but with smaller groups along the route, kids and adults alike! There were people out on boats cheering for runners, playing music etc, as were people on land, close to the aid stations. And there were the people performing acrobatics, walking on water using water jets. How could anyone call this boring?
We went past the half way mark on the other side of the river and continued on. I had completed the first half marathon as planned. The legs were not as fresh as daisies thanks to the distance but looked good to go for the second half. I had been fuelling as planned but the hydration may have been a little sub-optimal since the water served at the aid stations was cold, making it a little harder to gulp down. I decided to pick up the pace a little, by around 5-10s/km, thinking that it was a good idea to attempt going for a quicker second half. Despite the narrow roads and a huge number of runners, not once did it feel crowded or chaotic. Whenever a faster runner wanted to go past, he/she would just say out loud, "Links" or "Rechts" for left or right and go past when they had the space. The riverside continued to be entertaining with multiple percussion groups along the route, putting a nice big smile on my face. Towards the end of the riverside stretch, we went under a pedestrian cum railway bridge. Looking up made me realise how much people there enjoy cheering for others! It was a massive crowd, all cheering for random people they may or may not know. It felt so great, elevating the marathon experience even further!
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| A smile at the 40th kilometre |
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| Motoring towards the finish |
All this while I had a gentle smile or laughter on my face at all times! The people along the streets were amazing! They were right next to the route, screaming out runners' names, goading everyone to finish. A person was holding a sign saying, "A big ass sign for your big ass performance". Another said, "Only 395km to go", which had me laughing out loud! These were followed by many hallucinogenic mushroom boards and little kids dishing out high fives and before I knew it, I was on the last kilometre. I thought to myself, "The Sub 4 on Strava is happening! Whoopie!!!" I then saw the TCS branded footbridge which I had seen the previous evening, with thousands of people lining both sides of the road. I went past the Iamsterdam sign which I had seen the previous evening, leading straight into the Olympic stadium. It was the venue of the 1928 Olympic games and I had been overwhelmed by the sight of the place the previous evening. I entered the stadium with 200 metres to go and I could not stop the floodgate of tears from opening. It was an all powerful tidal wave of emotions!
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| The final few metres |
I saw the board which said "150m to go" and saw that it was a tick under 3 hours and 59 minutes which meant that there was a clear road to finish the race in under 4 hours. And then I saw the person my eyes were longing to see in the stadium!! I blew a kiss to my wife and headed forward to cross the finish line in 3 hours 59 minutes and 23 seconds! What a thrill it was! After I shed some more tears before collecting the medal, I found my wife in the TCS Hospitality zone. Tired and delighted, I hugged her and cried tears of joy!!
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| Mission accomplished |
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