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 host country the Netherlands. In the women's category, the Kenyans had nine victories, the Ethiopans nine, and the Dutch seven. In the men's category, the victory numbers vary more: eighteen victories for Kenya, eight for Ethiopia and two for the Netherlands.