Lemi Berhanu won the TCS Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday in 2:03:33, a personal best by a full minute and just three seconds outside the men's course record of 2:03:30. The 2016 Boston Marathon champion, whose previous best stood at 2:04:33, edged Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir by six seconds in a race run in steady rain at the World Athletics Platinum Label event.
Depth was the story behind the winner. Kipkorir, the runner-up at last month's World Road Running Championships half marathon in Copenhagen, clocked 2:03:39 for a personal best, with Patrick Mosin third in 2:03:58, also a lifetime best. The top eight all finished inside 2:05, and eleven men broke 2:06 in total, with Victor Kipchirchir eleventh in 2:05:40. Japan's Yohei Ikeda and Ethiopia's Yihunilign Adane were level on 2:05:16 in ninth and tenth.
Defending champion Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba, who holds the course record and had been billed as the man to beat, dropped away from the leading group after halfway and did not feature among the leaders. Dutch champion Noah Schutte was 25th overall in 2:09:35, which also secured the national men's title.
In the women's race Buze Diriba broke clear after 30 kilometres and ran alone to the finish in 2:16:12 (2:16:10 net), taking a course record and improving on the Dutch all-comers' record of 2:16:52 set by Yalemzerf Yehualaw in 2024. Diriba arrived with a best of 2:19:34, so the performance represented a step of more than three minutes.
Ethiopia swept the women's podium. Defending champion Aynalem Desta was second in a personal best of 2:17:06, and Meseret Belete took third in 2:18:06. Four women finished inside 2:21 and seven inside 2:23, with Kenya's Rabecca Chepkwemoi, Bahrain's Desi Mokonin and Israel's Selamawit Teferi among those in the top ten. After the Chicago and Cologne results of recent weeks, Amsterdam adds another fast autumn marathon to the 2026 lists.