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Course pacing
How to pace the Amsterdam Marathon
The TCS Amsterdam Marathon is a flat and fast marathon, with about 84 m of climbing and 84 m of descent (a near-level net change). Pace it by even effort; on a course this flat, all but even splits will follow.
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Community route dataGuide reviewed August 2026
Next Amsterdam Marathon
Plan your race with JasonSunday 18 October 2026
About 2 weeks away · 14 days · projected from the usual race weekend
Elevation gain
84m
Elevation loss
84m
Net change
0m
Terrain
Flat
Typical race-day conditions
October
At the gun
11°C
~9:30am start
By the finish
14°C
warms through the morning
Humidity
80%
morning average
Conditions
Good
close to ideal, a small cost at most
A thirty-year average for October, not a prediction. The real forecast appears here inside the last nine days.
Your race plan
3:33:01
Target pace
5:03/km
3:30:00 Amsterdam +3:01 typical October = 3:33:01
▸Where that comes from
- Your goal for Amsterdam
- 3:30:00
- Typical October
- +3:01
- On the day
- 3:33:01
11°C at the gun, 14°C by the finish. +1.4% adapted.
TCS Amsterdam Marathon
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.
Interactive route map loads as you approach it.
Amsterdam is a 42.2 kilometre course described as pancake-flat, a pb course. It has about 84 metres of climbing. It has about 84 metres of descent.The elevation chart and split table below provide the same route information without requiring the map.
plan slows (give time) plan runs (take it back)each block ≈ 500 m of the course
Your race-day splits
Every
Units
| Marker | Target pace | Clock | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:04/km | 5:04 | flat |
| 2 km | 5:00/km | 10:04 | flat |
| 3 km | 5:02/km | 15:06 | flat |
| 4 km | 5:06/km | 20:12 | flat |
| 5 km | 5:03/km | 25:15 | flat |
| 6 km | 5:03/km | 30:19 | flat |
| 7 km | 5:00/km | 35:19 | flat |
| 8 km | 5:01/km | 40:20 | flat |
| 9 km | 5:08/km | 45:28 | flat |
| 10 km | 5:02/km | 50:29 | flat |
| 11 km | 5:03/km | 55:33 | flat |
| 12 km | 5:02/km | 1:00:35 | flat |
| 13 km | 5:03/km | 1:05:38 | flat |
| 14 km | 5:02/km | 1:10:40 | flat |
| 15 km | 5:03/km | 1:15:43 | flat |
| 16 km | 5:02/km | 1:20:45 | flat |
| 17 km | 5:05/km | 1:25:49 | flat |
| 18 km | 5:02/km | 1:30:51 | flat |
| 19 km | 5:02/km | 1:35:53 | flat |
| 20 km | 5:03/km | 1:40:56 | flat |
| 21 km | 5:04/km | 1:46:00 | flat |
| 22 km | 5:03/km | 1:51:03 | flat |
| 23 km | 5:03/km | 1:56:06 | flat |
| 24 km | 5:02/km | 2:01:07 | flat |
| 25 km | 5:06/km | 2:06:13 | flat |
| 26 km | 5:03/km | 2:11:16 | flat |
| 27 km | 5:00/km | 2:16:16 | flat |
| 28 km | 5:05/km | 2:21:21 | flat |
| 29 km | 5:07/km | 2:26:28 | flat |
| 30 km | 4:58/km | 2:31:26 | flat |
| 31 km | 4:57/km | 2:36:23 | flat |
| 32 km | 5:04/km | 2:41:27 | flat |
| 33 km | 5:03/km | 2:46:30 | flat |
| 34 km | 5:10/km | 2:51:40 | flat |
| 35 km | 5:03/km | 2:56:43 | flat |
| 36 km | 5:04/km | 3:01:47 | flat |
| 37 km | 5:03/km | 3:06:50 | flat |
| 38 km | 5:01/km | 3:11:51 | flat |
| 39 km | 5:00/km | 3:16:51 | flat |
| 40 km | 5:04/km | 3:21:55 | flat |
| 41 km | 5:05/km | 3:27:00 | flat |
| 42 km | 5:03/km | 3:32:03 | flat |
| Finish | 5:01/km | 3:33:01 | flat |
These are modelled splits, not a validated prediction. The route and elevation data, weather, surface, congestion and your own uphill and downhill ability can all change the pace you can hold. Use the numbers as a planning guide, run the climbs by feel and stay relaxed on the descents. Heat builds as you go, so treat the closing 10 km as a feel check rather than a pace target.
Take it to your watch
These exact splits as a structured workout: one step per kilometre, each with its target pace band (±10 s/km). Your watch prompts every step, so on race day you run the terrain, not the arithmetic.
Garmin needs a cable and a computer. In this file: 43 steps · every km · 3:30:00 goal · even effort · typical October conditions · per-km paces. Change anything above and download again.
Getting it onto your watch
You will need a USB cable and a computer. There is no way around that: Garmin has never built a way to send a workout to a watch from a phone, from Garmin Connect, or from any file you can email yourself. Everyone who makes these files, us included, has the same constraint.
- Download the file above on a computer.
- Plug the watch in by USB and wait for it to appear.
- Copy the file into GARMIN/NewFiles. If your watch has no NewFiles folder, use GARMIN/Workouts instead.
- Eject the watch and unplug it.
- On the watch, go to Training, then Workouts. It will be there under the name of this race.
On a Mac the watch mounts as a media device rather than a drive, so you will need a transfer app such as Android File Transfer to see those folders. Windows shows them in Explorer.
Dragging it into Garmin Connect or TrainingPeaks will not work, and it is worth knowing why. .fit is a container that holds several different kinds of file. A recorded run uploads to both of them happily, which is what those drop zones are built for. A workout is a different file type inside the same extension, and neither platform will import one.
You have the splits. The question is whether they are the right ones for you.
In a Race Strategy Session, Jason reads your last twelve weeks and spends 60 minutes going through the Amsterdam Marathon with you: what you are fit for, how to pace it, fuelling and the conditions. A$180.
The coach's read
Flat enough that the terrain never enters the conversation, an even-effort, even-pace day from gun to tape. Start controlled out of the stadium, settle into rhythm along the Amstel, and the lap of the track to finish is the reward for disciplined pacing.
WHY Allowing for a typical October day, that's about 5:03/km of effort the whole way, the splits below shift with the gradient, not your pace.
Ease the climbs, let the descents run, and stay relaxed through the second half.
JHJason HuntFounder & Head Coach
·Race-day guide
Pacing the Amsterdam Marathon
A coach's read on how the TCS Amsterdam Marathon runs, and how to spend your effort across it.
01The course
Kilometre by kilometre
- Hold steady effort through the gentle terrain changes and allow small pace adjustments with the ground.
- Vondelpark (~39.6 km): Through the city's great park in the closing kilometres before the stadium.
02The plan
How to pace the Amsterdam Marathon
- Read the course before race day. Pancake-flat, a PB course. Flat enough that the terrain never enters the conversation, an even-effort, even-pace day from gun to tape.
- Pace by effort, not just the watch. Set the effort you can hold for the whole marathon, then let the pace flex with the ground: a little slower up, a little faster down, the same effort throughout.
- Hold it steady and even. Settle into your goal effort early, allow small pace adjustments over gentle changes in the ground, and avoid the temptation to surge.
- Plan your finish. Start controlled out of the stadium, settle into rhythm along the Amstel, and the lap of the track to finish is the reward for disciplined pacing.
03Questions
Amsterdam Marathon, answered
- Is the Amsterdam Marathon hilly?
- No, it's a flat course, with only about 84 m of total climbing over the 42.2 km. There's nothing in the terrain you need to pace around.
- How should I pace the Amsterdam Marathon?
- The TCS Amsterdam Marathon is a flat and fast marathon, with about 84 m of climbing and 84 m of descent (a near-level net change). Pace it by even effort; on a course this flat, all but even splits will follow.
- Is the Amsterdam Marathon a good course for a PB?
- Yes. It's flat and fast, so on a calm day it's one of the better courses for a personal best. The limiter is your fitness and pacing discipline, not the terrain.
- How much elevation gain does the Amsterdam Marathon have?
- About 84 m of total gain and 84 m of loss over the 42.2 km, in line with the organiser's published figures.
Race Strategy Session
The pacing above is free. The judgement is the part worth paying for.
This page knows the TCS Amsterdam Marathon. It does not know you. Two or three weeks out, Jason reads your last twelve weeks and spends 60 minutes going through the day with you, then writes it down so you are not running on memory.
- An honest read on what your training says you can hold
- How to spend your effort across this course, and where it is won
- Fuelling and conditions, decided before you are standing on the line
More marathons
Train for Amsterdam. Not just the distance.
A coach builds this course's climbs, descents and race-day pacing into a plan made for you.