Leiden Marathon Review — When the Going Gets Tough

A flat course through Dutch history — and the mental game of pushing through the wall.

The Leiden Marathon runs through one of the Netherlands' most historic cities — past the Pieterskerk, along the canals, through the university quarter. Willem ran it and wrote about what happens when the body says stop but the mind says continue.

The Leiden Marathon is flat — this is the Netherlands, after all. But flat doesn't mean easy. The course winds through Leiden's historic centre, past the Pieterskerk where the Pilgrims prayed before sailing to America, along canals lined with centuries-old buildings.

The beauty of the route carries you through the first 30 kilometres. Then the wall arrives. Willem's account of pushing through the final 12 kilometres — when every instinct says walk — is a raw piece of running writing.

The Leiden course is well-organised, with good crowd support in the city centre and quieter stretches through the polders outside town. It's an excellent choice for a first or fast marathon.

From Willem's writing on sport and the body.