TCS Amsterdam Marathon

The TCS Amsterdam Marathon is an October race weekend in Amsterdam with a full marathon as the main event, plus a half marathon and a 7.5K. The marathon starts and finishes inside the Olympic Stadium, which gives the day a very specific feel: thousands of runners begin either on the stadium field or nearby on Stadionweg, then return to finish back in the arena. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label race, and the course is flat and fast enough to draw runners chasing quick times as well as people who want a big-city marathon with a clear six-hour limit. The route sends runners through Amsterdam and along the Amstel, using part of the old Olympic marathon course without turning the race into a city-center loop only. That stretch passes stately houses, windmills, open views, and working river traffic before the course comes back close to the center. Start waves are sorted by expected finish time, with bib colors matching wave colors, so the large field is managed in a fairly structured way.