The Rotterdam Marathon is a road race of 42.195 km (26 mi 385 yd) across the city of Rotterdam that has been contested by men and women annually since 1981. This marathon is usually held in April, except the first two editions were held in May and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 race was cancelled and the 2021 race was postponed to October.

In the inaugural race of 1981, John Graham was the first male winner in a time of 2:09:28 (h:m:s) and Marja Wokke was the first female winner in 2:43:23. Three times, a marathon world record (WR) was set in Rotterdam. In 1985, Carlos Lopes set a men's world record of 2:07:12. Two years later, Belayneh Dinsamo improved the men's world record to 2:06:50. And in 1998, Tegla Laroupe set a women's world record of 2:20:47 in the race. The current course record (CR) for men is 2:03:36 set by Bashir Abdi in 2021 and for women 2:18:58 set by Tiki Gelana in 2012.

Dinsamo has won the Rotterdam Marathon four times in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1996, which are the most victories by one runner. Laroupe won three times in 1997–1999. And Robert de Castella (1983/1991), Carla Beurskens (1984/1990), Marius Kipserem (2016/2019), Bashir Abdi (2021/2023), and Abdi Nageeye (2022/2024) each won twice.

Most victories are from runners representing Kenya, Ethiopia, and the host country the Netherlands. In the women's category, the Kenyans had ten victories, the Ethiopans nine, and the Dutch seven. In the men's category, the victory numbers vary more: nineteen victories for Kenya, eight for Ethiopia and two for the Netherlands.

Men's winners

+ Men's winners of the Rotterdam MarathonDateAthleteCountryNote23 May 19812:09:28"Toptijd Graham op marathon" (in Dutch), De Volkskrant, 25 May 1981. Retrieved 18 October 2023.22 May 19822:11:57Kees Kooman, "Wind blaast toptijd omver" (in Dutch), Het Vrije Volk, 24 May 1982. Retrieved 18 October 2023.9 April 19832:08:37"De Castella winnaar boeiende marathon" (in Dutch) Trouw, 11 April 1983. Retrieved 18 October 2023.14 April 19842:11:12Henk van der Sluis, "Rotterdam verspeelt geld en goede naam" (in Dutch) Het Parool, 16 April 1984. Retrieved 18 October 2023.20 April 19852:07:12Jos Visbeen, "Portugese magiër van de marathon" (in Dutch), De Telegraaf, 22 April 1985. Retrieved 18 October 2023.19 April 19862:09:08Rob Velthuis, "Ethiopische demonstratie van ontspannen presteren" (in Dutch), Trouw, 21 April 1986. Retrieved 18 October 2023.18 April 19872:12:5817 April 19882:06:5016 April 19892:08:3922 April 19902:10:5621 April 19912:09:425 April 19922:09:1618 April 19932:11:0617 April 19942:07:5123 April 19952:08:5728 April 19962:10:3020 April 19972:07:5119 April 19982:07:2618 April 19992:07:0916 April 20002:08:2222 April 20012:06:50=21 April 20022:08:3613 April 20032:07:424 April 20042:06:1410 April 20052:07:509 April 20062:06:3815 April 20072:08:2113 April 20082:05:495 April 20092:04:2711 April 20102:04:48"Palmares Marathon de Rotterdam" (in French), Marathoninfo.free.fr. Retrieved 12 October 2023.10 April 20112:05:27"Chebet winnaar marathon Rotterdam" (in Dutch), NOS, 10 April 2011. Retrieved on 13 October 2023.15 April 20122:04:48"Adhane wint marathon Rotterdam" (in Dutch), NOS, 15 April 2012. Retrieved on 12 October 2023.14 April 20132:05:38"Regassa wint marathon Rotterdam" (in Dutch), NOS, 14 April 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2023.13 April 20142:05:00Cors van den Brink, "Kipchoge clocks impressive 2:05:00 in Rotterdam despite windy conditions", World Athletics, 13 April 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2023.12 April 20152:06:47Cors van den Brink, "Kuma gets maiden marathon win in windy Rotterdam", World Athletics, 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2023.10 April 20162:06:11Cors van den Brink, "Kipserem scores upset victory at Rotterdam Marathon", World Athletics, 10 April 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2023.9 April 20172:06:04Cors van den Brink, "Kimutai and Assefa cruise to Rotterdam marathon victories", World Athletics, 9 April 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2023.8 April 20182:05:44"Kipkemoi debuteert in Rotterdam met winst, Choukoud valt weer uit" (in Dutch), NOS, 8 April 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2023.7 April 20192:04:11Mark Middel, "Kipserem wint marathon van Rotterdam in parcoursrecord" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 7 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2023.5 April 2020colspan="4" align="center" data-sort-value="" "Marathon van Rotterdam geschrapt: 'Moeilijk om massa mensen te beheersen'" (in Dutch), NOS, 20 July 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2023.24 October 20212:03:36"Belgische atleet Bashir Abdi wint marathon van Rotterdam" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 24 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2023.10 April 20222:04:56"Nageeye wint als eerste Nederlandse man marathon Rotterdam: 'Leek wel vliegtuig'" (in Dutch), NOS, 10 April 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.16 April 20232:03:47"Belg Abdi voor tweede keer winnaar Rotterdam Marathon, Nageeye derde" (in Dutch), NOS, 16 April 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.14 April 20242:04:45"Nageeye wint voor tweede keer marathon van Rotterdam in Nederlands record" (in Dutch), NOS, 14 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.13 April 20252:04:34"Kamworor zegeviert, Tesfu negende in Rotterdam • Cherono komt niet aan parcoursrecord vrouwen" (in Dutch), NOS, 13 April 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.12 April 20262:03:54

Women's winners

+ Women's winners of the Rotterdam MarathonDateAthleteCountryNote23 May 19812:43:2322 May 1982 West Germany2:54:039 April 19832:32:2714 April 19842:34:5620 April 19852:35:3219 April 19862:41:06Hidde van der Ploeg, "Ethiopisch duo eenzaam na vertrek 'hazen' in Rotterdam Marathon" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 21 April 1986. Retrieved 18 October 2023."Ellinor Ljungros", World Athletics. Retrieved 18 October 2023.18 April 19872:41:2417 April 19882:37:4616 April 19892:32:0322 April 19902:29:4721 April 19912:34:185 April 19922:29:1418 April 19932:34:1517 April 19942:25:5223 April 19952:30:3428 April 19962:28:0620 April 19972:22:0719 April 19982:20:4718 April 19992:22:4816 April 20002:30:2122 April 20012:25:4521 April 20022:23:4313 April 20032:25:234 April 20042:26:1010 April 20052:27:369 April 20062:28:3015 April 20072:26:3613 April 20082:25:105 April 20092:26:3011 April 20102:25:2510 April 20112:24:20"Philes Ongori", World Athletics. Retrieved 13 October 2023.15 April 20122:18:58"Tiki Gelana", World Athletics. Retrieved 13 October 2023.14 April 20132:23:2713 April 20142:27:5012 April 20152:26:3010 April 20162:26:159 April 20172:24:188 April 20182:23:477 April 20192:22:55 5 April 2020colspan="4" align="center" data-sort-value="" 24 October 20212:22:0810 April 20222:22:01"Brinkman spot met wetten van topsport en loopt nationaal record in Rotterdam" (in Dutch), NOS, 10 April 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2023.16 April 20232:20:3114 April 20242:19:3013 April 20252:21:1512 April 20262:18:56

Victories by country + Number of victories by countryCountryMenWomenTotal19102991019279325145224224303202022011011011101011011101 West Germany011Updated for the 2026 edition

Notes

References