Amsterdam Marathon 2026

 At the end of each year, especially when its an Ironman or a Zofingen year, I like to finish off with a marathon - this was true in 2022, 2023 & 2024. At the end of 2025 I had just cycled so rule did not apply, so with Ironman 70.3 on the calendar for this year, the rule was dusted off and I entered Amsterdam as it was big city and flat ! 

Logistically an easy weekend - 8:38 train from Grantham, into Kings Cross for 9:52, then walk around to St.Pancreas for 11:04 getaway, and arrive in Amsterdam for 4pm.  Metro 52 to station zuid, then bus 62 to NH Amsterdam Zuid hotel - simple !! (Actually, worked seamlessly and can recommend ! )

Pre Race Amble

Registration on the Saturday, we got there for 10.30 and queue reasonable, I wouldn't leave it later than this as when we left queue was massive. Nice easy registration and expo easy to navigate - I didn't buy anything ! 

Raceday - I could have got an uber for 40 euro. I went down to reception with 20 euro cash, but managed to get a place in someone else's for free. Roads closed near stadium so Uber got us to within a kilometre which was OK.  It was windy but not awful, and the rain that was forecast held off or was spotty. I was there early, and got shelter in a hotel lobby to kill time. I dropped my bag off and was left with a bin bag to wear to keep warm ! Our start was the pink wave and outside of the stadium.

The race 

I lined up in the pen just behind the 3:30 pacers. Before the race I had figured that I could maybe hang with these guys until mile 16 and then if I fell off my a minute a mile average over the remaining 10, then I would meet my 3:39 or better target !  As we started, we got funnelled through a narrower channel and I found myself 45-60 seconds off the pacers. I ran steadily ahead of pace schedule and could gradually see them coming back to me. This worked well as the early few miles passed very quickly. I got back in a run pack and this was the best place to be as other than being busy and having to be careful to follow the right runners, it was actually easy to keep pace and sit in. A toilet break at 4-5 miles saw me drop another minute off, but that was OK I just did what I did before.

Back in the pack by mile 7-8, I found the pace manageable, but some elbows, and handbags as runners jostled for position behind the pacers - this was evident as the paths narrowed, especially around the canals where a long out and back provided fun as runners faded and fell back. Overall through, manageable. At mile 16 I was amaz


ed to still be with the pacers, and tried to stay with them until mile 20. At 20 still there, so picked off the miles one by one. It was clear that my muscles were tightening but I wasn't hitting any wall, whilst a small drop off, it was only 20 seconds per mile so one happy Newham. BAck into Amsterdam and the heavens really opened - with just two miles to go, I didn't mind this. As we enetered the stadium, I knew the course was long and with just a half lap of the track to go, I found a little bit more. I crossed the 26.42 mile finishing line with just a few seconds to spare - 3:29:43  

A great marathon made better than a better than anticipated performance.  A two mile walk back to the hotel could have been planned better, but as an experience in logistics and race day feel, this was my best marathon event to date !

Ironman Knokke 70.3 & Outlaw Middle

This year was very much focused around two middle distance triathlons which I agreed to take part in in the latter part of 2025. It had been a toss up between continuing with middle and long distance Duathlon this year or changing things up, The second of these was Ironman Knokke Heist in Belgium which was special as my first was also in Belgium. It also takes place in the first weekend of September coincidentally the same weekend that Powerman Zofingen usually takes place so it was a direct replacement. 

Ironman Knokke 70.3 - 5:12:13

Swim 43:18 I had swum for six months only in preparation using the pool at the leisure centre and also the lake at Whisby on a handful of occasions and I was generally happy with the way that swimming gone. My biking had been okay all year but my results had been mainly average with a couple of standouts. My running low was not where it was when I had a rest period following 2024 of England race nonetheless  nonetheless apart from Work pressures affecting some of the training load I lined up in my wetsuit next to the river in sluice generally optimistic that I could go close to 5 hours. Th e swim was in the river at Sluis which happened to be the weediest river I have ever known and it took quite a lot of composure not to be thrown off by the constant feeling of swimming through netting. The race was staggered well and the swim didn’t feel too busy. I competently made my way round in a little over 43 minutes and then immediately retired again from swimming!!

Bike 2:30:00 The bike was a blast and I absolutely loved it - very flat, very open, very much like riding some of the old 25 mile events in Lincolnshire. There were some twists and turns and I made lots of places along the way . I had one incident where the Garmin decided to separate from the bike on a coupled section which lost me a minute also but generally speaking I felt in good condition when I arrived back in T2 and had saved enough legs for the run .

Run 1:47:04 The Sun was out and I had feared that this would be a very hot run however the Belgian coast is
famous for large holiday blocks and I found that most of the Sun was blocked out by these hotels. This meant that I was able to keep a consistent pace for most of the run with only a drop-off towards the end. I’m not where I wanted to be with my running but this actually was a lot better than the outlaw run so I do feel progress is being made.
Across the line just 12 minutes over the five hour target and was pleased with the way that I managed to string a performance together. Knocker is a great course and a really good 70.3 experience. I would highly recommend this race to beginners and those looking to crank out a personal best.

Outlaw Middle Triathlon - 4:51:08
This is a race is one that I had done two times previously, but today was a little special as there were was still high levels of Blue-Green Algae in Holme Pierrepont pump and that meant that the race became a Duathlon !! (Get In !!)

Run 21:05 First run, I decided to just relax and make it an easy run and not worry about runners disappearing into the distance. My experience told me that people go too hard too soon in a Duathlon

Bike 2:25:38 Onto the bike and really enjoyed this course as I always do it has a little bit of everything and of course the roads are no better so you have to have your wits about you. When I arrived back into the transition, I did feel that I’d gone a little too hard overall mainly because I was catching a teammate.
Run 1:53:55S econd run then, and my legs didn’t feel like they were my own and my run form just felt forced. I knew the pace that I wanted to aim for, but they just didn’t have the talent to achieve that. So I settled into a pace which was just a little quicker than my endurance pace made sure that I took on the right level of hydration and nutrition and settled in for a tempo style half marathon.
Overall, my result wasn’t too bad. I had a broken five hours for the first time albeit because of the run replacing the swim and fifth in my age group this result will be good enough to submit for next years European and world champs.
Always a good day out at the outlaw, it would be great if they could do a Duathlon every year !