Leiden Marathon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The course leaves Leiden to the south and east and is out of town within a few kilometres. Past the Rijneke Boulevard near Zoeterwoude it reaches the Oude Rijn and follows it to Koudekerk aan den Rijn, running straight through the Dorpsstraat there. This is the loneliest part of the race: dead straight dyke roads, open pasture, little for the mind to hold on to.

The second section turns north through Hoogmade and the small church at the Does towards Roelofarendsveen, where the water tower on the Noordeinde is the only landmark for miles. Only at Leiderdorp does the route come back into built-up ground, crossing the Rhine again at the Spanjaardsbrug and running into town along the Lage Rijndijk.

The last five kilometres are why many people run this marathon. The course follows the ring of canals over Herensingel, Kooilaan, Maresingel and Rijnsburgersingel, turns into the centre at the Stationsplein and the Morspoort and comes onto the Vismarkt via Kort Rapenburg and the Boommarkt. The organizer puts around twenty bands along the route and in the old centre the crowd stands deep. There is effectively no climbing: the whole loop sits in a band of a few metres around sea level, and the only ups and downs are bridges and dyke ramps.

Pacing Strategy

On a course without a climb there is no natural break and no point where the pace drops by itself. That is what makes the allocation hard: the rhythm you pick in the first ten kilometres is the one you run to the finish. Set it deliberately lower than it feels right at the start and leave it untouched through the polder sections.

The race is decided between Koudekerk and Roelofarendsveen, roughly from kilometre 18 to 32. That is where the course is most exposed, where spectators are thin on the ground and where the wind over open pasture hits unbroken. Running it alone costs pace without you noticing. Find a group early and stay in it, even if it runs a few seconds per kilometre slower than your plan.

The trap is the finale. From Leiderdorp on it gets narrow, loud and twisty, the canal ring has tight bridges and constant changes of direction, and the crowd lifts the pace. Racing the last five kilometres like a 10K is paid for on the cobbles of the old centre. Take the corners short and keep the tension out of your shoulders.

Training plan for Leiden Marathon: 12-week build

For most age-group runners this marathon means three to five hours of work, with a six hour cutoff. The demand is as uniform as a marathon gets: no climb, no descent, no technical section, the same low aerobic band and the same cadence over the whole distance.

That uniformity is the real requirement. When nothing loads the muscles differently along the way, the same structures fatigue throughout, and the last ten kilometres become a question of muscular durability rather than endurance. Long runs of two and a half to three hours on flat asphalt with a quicker closing section reproduce exactly that.

The decisive phase, the open polder stretch in the middle of the race, asks for two things. First, long blocks at marathon pace, for instance three times five or two times eight kilometres at goal pace inside a long run. Second, the ability to run into wind without lifting the effort: train deliberately on open ground on windy days and learn to shelter in a group.

Early May in the Netherlands delivers anything from cool rain to the first warm days of the year, and the course offers no shade at all. Fix your fuelling to kilometre marks rather than to feel, rehearse it in the long runs, and choose your kit for wind rather than for temperature.