Utrecht Marathon

Utrecht Marathon

The entrance of the Jaarbeurs Utrecht, near the start and finish point
Date April
Location Utrecht, Netherlands
Event type Road
Distance Marathon
Established 1978
Official site Jaarbeurs Utrecht Marathon

The Utrecht Marathon (officially the Jaarbeurs Utrecht Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon competition which takes place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, usually in April.

First held in 1978 as the U N Marathon, the event featured a full marathon competition 21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi) and also a half marathon race. It attracted a largely domestic field of runners in its first decade and began to attract other European runners in the 1990s. The marathon race was removed from the programme of events between 1999 and 2004, and the city of Utrecht hosted just the half marathon during this period. Another organisation had created the Leidsche Rijn Marathon in 2000, whose course ran through the local area from Vleuten to De Meern. The race organiser groups combined their efforts in 2005, forming the Utrecht Marathon, and the city of Utrecht once again hosted annual marathon and half marathon races.[1]

The current marathon course is within the city and has a clock-wise looped format.[2] The race starts and ends on Croeselaan, which is near Jaarbeurs Utrecht (a large building complex for events and trade fairs).[3] In addition to the main marathon competition, the day's events include half marathon, 10 km and 5 km races. The half marathon follows a shorter version of the marathon course while the 10 km and 5 km events follow a looped route close to the streets of the city centre.[2]

The marathon race records are 2:09:41 for men (set by William Kipchumba Kwambai in 2009) and 2:33:40 for women (set by Anne van Schuppen at the 1992 edition).[1] The 2013 race was cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship.

Prize money incentives

In response to the increasing dominance of Kenyan runners in Dutch marathons, Utrecht race organiser Louran van Keulen revised the prize money scheme for the 2011 edition of the event. He offered 100 € as the prize for first place, but a Dutch winner would receive up to 10,000 € in bonus prizes.[4] Utrecht City Council, which subsidised the event, sought a review of whether the move was discriminatory towards foreign athletes and the council's executive for sport remarked that it "does not make the city look great".[5] Van Keulen defended his position by arguing that he wanted to invest in grassroots sport and improve local facilities, with a long term plan to see Dutch runners challenge Africans at the top level.[4] He had specially selected twenty of the best Dutch male runners to participate in a "Dutch Battle" in Utrecht.[6]

A Nairobi-based businessman, Gert-Jan van Wijk, disapproved of the prize scheme and offered to personally make up the difference for foreign athletes, saying: "I think the Netherlands is afraid of competition, afraid of the unknown, afraid of different cultures. Holland is turning inside herself, instead of becoming stronger by taking up the competition". A combination of the time needed to acquire a visa and lack of foreign invitations to the event meant that the regular Kenyan contingent, including 2008 winner Sammy Chumba, was absent that year.[7] Young Dutchman Michel Butter was the 2011 winner, breaking a four-year Kenyan winning streak.[8] Kenyan John Mutai Kipkorir, having entered the race among the fun runners and led in the latter stages, was the runner-up and received a one-off 4950 € payout from van Wijk for his performance.[9]

Past winners

Marathon

Dutchwoman Anne van Schuppen set the race record in 1992.
Michel Butter won the 2011 race.
Nadezhda Wijenberg has won both the marathon and half marathon events.

Key:   Course record   Vleuten to De Meern course

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 1978  Cees Verhoef (NED) 2:25:07 ? ?
2nd 1979  Bertus de Haan (NED) 2:29:42.2 ? ?
3rd 1980  Cor Vriend (NED) 2:20:35  Lila Kalweit (GER) 3:30:46
4th 1981  Jan Honcoop (NED) 2:28:11  Marian Hogerhoud (NED) 3:04:47
5th 1982  Stephen Glenn Forster (GBR) 2:17:59  Trijnie Smeenge (NED) 2:54:41
6th 1983  Rob Strik (NED) 2:21:11 ? ?
7th 1984  Dick Bakker (NED) 2:25:32  Hanna Helsloot (NED) 3:09:49
8th 1985  Goof Schep (NED) 2:30:14  J Hendriks (NED) 3:10:28
9th 1986  Jacques Fiers (NED) 2:25:19  Joke Streefkerk (NED) 3:19:57
10th 1987  Wim Liefers (NED) 2:29:45  Anne Rindt (NED) 2:56:58
11th 1988  Wim van Weerdt (NED) 2:26:00  Marianne Knapen (NED) 2:54:11
12th 1989  Wim van Gemert (NED) 2:25:56  Els Raap (NED) 3:03:32
13th 1990  Wim van Gemert (NED) 2:26:58  Hennie Pot (NED) 3:03:00
14th 1991  Anthony Graham (WAL) 2:21:46  Annie van Stiphout (NED) 2:44:55
15th 1992  Cor Saelmans (BEL) 2:18:53  Anne van Schuppen (NED) 2:33:40
16th 1993  Philippe Steelandt (BEL) 2:23:11  Christel Rogiers (BEL) 3:04:18
17th 1994  Viktor Kharitonov (RUS) 2:25:20  Fiona Fjaberg (NED) 3:09:41
18th 1995  Christopher Penny (ENG) 2:20:39  Inge Guyt (NED) 3:03:28
19th 1996  Miroslaw Bugaj (POL) 2:25:38  Czeslawa Mentlewicz (POL) 2:55:36
20th 1997  Patrick Kooymans (BEL) 2:32:23  Antoinette Molegraaf (BEL) 3:32:50
21st 1998  Rachid Mohammadi (NED) 2:28:17  Lieve van Lint (NED) 3:06:56
— 1999 — — — —
22nd 2000  Andrey Romaschenko (RUS) 2:18:43  Tatyana Perepyolkina (RUS) 2:42:59
— 2001 — — — —
23rd 2002  Ronny Ligneel (BEL) 2:16:39  Jolanda de Klerk (NED) 3:09:33
24th 2003  Luc Krotwaar (NED) 2:13:41  Mounia Aboulahcen (BEL) 2:43:09
25th 2004  Ronny Ligneel (BEL) 2:18:28  Tatyana Perepyolkina (RUS) 2:43:15
26th 2005  Giorgio Calcaterra (ITA) 2:19:37  Tatyana Perepyolkina (RUS) 2:40:51
27th 2006  Gino van Geyte (BEL) 2:17:35  Nadezhda Wijenberg (NED) 2:45:00
28th 2007  Mariko Kiplagat (KEN) 2:11:16  Joanna Gront (POL) 2:47:11
29th 2008  Sammy Chumba (KEN) 2:12:07  Irene Cherop Loritareng (KEN) 2:41:44
30th 2009  William Kwambai Kipchumba (KEN) 2:09:41  Lydia Kurgat (KEN) 2:34:28
31st 2010  William Kwambai Kipchumba (KEN) 2:12:01  Olena Biloshchuk (UKR) 2:39:43
32nd 2011  Michel Butter (NED) 2:17:36  Pauline Claessen (NED) 2:56:22
33rd 2012  Aleksandr Babaryka (UKR) 2:19:10  Sharon Tavengwa (ZIM) 2:35:26

Half marathon

Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
2012  Jorit van Malsen (NED) 1:06:57  Mariska Dute (NED) 1:21:15
2011  Stijn Fincioen (BEL) 1:06.52  Nadezhda Wijenberg (NED) 1:20.11
2010  Stefan Van Den Broek (BEL) 1:05.17  Naomi Jepkosgei (KEN) 1:15.31
2009  Hugo van den Broek (NED) 1:05.44  Sarah Jeriwoi (KEN) 1:17.14
2008  El Hassane Ben Lkhainouch (FRA) 1:04.08  Filomena Chepchirchir (KEN) 1:15.56
2007  Al Mustafa Riyadh (BHR) 1:02.59  Filomena Chepchirchir (KEN) 1:10.44
2006  Aart Stigter (NED) 1:09.47  Kristijna Loonen (NED) 1:20.14
2005  Rik Ceulemans (BEL) 1:04.15  Kristijna Loonen (NED) 1:14.53

References

  1. 1 2 3 Michiels, Paul & van Hemert, Wim & Loonstra, Klass (2011-04-25). Utrecht Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  2. 1 2 Event - Course. Utrecht Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  3. ↑ Event » Runners information. Utrecht Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  4. 1 2 Casert, Raf (2011-04-18). Utrecht Marathon discourages foreign runners amid cries of discrimination. Canadian Press. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  5. ↑ Utrecht council questions 'discriminatory' marathon prizes. Dutch News. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  6. ↑ Makori, Elias (2011-04-16). Netherlands clarifies Kenya runners snub. The Citizen. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  7. ↑ Dutch entrepreneur's gesture comes too late for Kenyan runners. Radio Netherlands Worldwide (2011-04-19). Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  8. ↑ Dutchman Michel Butter wins Utrecht Marathon. Associated Press/ESPN (2011-04-25). Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
  9. ↑ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2011-04-29). Dutch pledge for Utrecht's Mutai. 98.4 Capital FM. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.
List of winners
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