Schutte finishes as first Dutch runner in Amsterdam Marathon

Noah Schutte finished as the first Dutch runner in the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:09:35, despite painful calves and rain and wind that he said made the race tough. He had targeted 2:08 and stayed on pace for much of the race, but finished seven seconds outside his personal best of 2:09:28, according to ANP [1].

Schutte said the temperature was good for a marathon, but the weather made conditions difficult. He was satisfied with his performance, saying he felt he had taken another step in his development even if that was not reflected in his time.

He and Khalid Choukoud ran together in the second group from the start, but Choukoud dropped back after about 15km. Schutte said he had hoped they would stay together until the final 5km. Two pacemakers also dropped out early, leaving him to set the pace himself.

British pacemaker Phil Sesemann supported Schutte until the 29km mark. Schutte said Sesemann had helped him keep out of the wind and that, without him, his time would have been considerably slower. Schutte is sixth on the all-time Dutch marathon rankings, ANP reported [1].