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Men’s race

The 32nd annual running of the Rotterdam Marathon took place Sunday, April 10 and as per usual there were some very fast times upfront.

The men’s race included a large lead pack that kept together through 10K and well under 30 minutes, 20K in 59, and halfway (21.1K) in approximately 62 minutes. Then the field began to spread.

Olympic bronze medallist Bashir Abdi of Belgium, Ethiopia’s Leul Gebreselassie, Kenya’s quadruple threat of Reuben Kiprop, Dominic Kiptarus, Kenneth Kipkemoi, and Philemon Kacheran were left following eventual winner Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands.

Nageeye ended up crossing the line with a new personal best and Dutch national record of 2:04:56. He virtually tied with Gebrselassie, both are credited with the same time. Kiprop finished 15 seconds back for third. Although Nageeye dropped back for a spell around the 40K mark, he joined in a sprint for the win and nearly took it.

Abdi came in as the defending champion with his October (rescheduled) 2021 running in the time of 2:03:36, which is the national record and European best performance. Sunday, he finished fifth in the time of 2:05:23.

Women’s race

Three athletes made a break for it early on after going through 10K in just under 33 minutes. They were Kenya’s Daisy Cherotich and Stella Barsosio as well as Ethiopia’s Haven Hailu. At this time they were on pace for a new course record which is currently 2:18:58 by Ethiopian great Tiki Gelana the 2012 London Olympic gold medallist, which she won in the time of 2:23:07.

The pace began to drop off at about halfway which they had maintained at 70 minutes.

Hailu broke away from Cherotich and Barsosio at approximately 25K. Cherotich was not too far behind but never caught back up to Hailu.

The 24-year-old Hailu kept her lead and crossed the line in the time of 2:22:01. It was the second-fastest time of her career, after the 2:20:19 pb she set in the Amsterdam Marathon in 2021.

Nienke Brinkman, who was not on anyone’s radar, started slowly and continued to pick up the effort. She was now hunting down a top finishing place. Her personal best from 2021 is good at 2:26:34 but didn’t suggest challenging for the win. She only started running during the pandemic.

Hailu won in 2:22:01. The 28-year-old Brinkman set a new Dutch national record with her personal best and second-place finish at 2:22:51. Third place was taken by Kazakhstan’s Zhanna Mamazhanova in 2:26:54 — also a new pb.

NN Running took over the title sponsorship of the race. NN Running is the management team that includes athletes like world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, Brigid Kosgei as well as Kenenisa Bekele and many others.

Full results are available here>>

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