Where to run
Running in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is flat, green and windy, and the wind is the hill. There is no gradient to plan around here, so routes are planned around shelter, water and which direction you want to suffer in.
The ground
What running in Amsterdam is actually like
The city is at or slightly below sea level and the only climbs are bridges. That sounds like a gift and mostly is: it makes even pacing genuinely possible, and it makes a bad session impossible to blame on the terrain.
The green is arranged in rings. Small parks inside the canal belt, larger ones just outside it, and then real space: the Amsterdamse Bos to the south, the Amstel river running out into the polder, and Waterland to the north, which is open farmland fifteen minutes from Centraal station.
The surfaces are good. Brick, asphalt and packed gravel, drained properly, and runnable in any month of the year.
Routes
Runs worth knowing in Amsterdam
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Vondelpark
The default. Everyone's first run in Amsterdam and plenty of people's every run: a loop on the outer path, busy from six in the morning, and easy to link to the museum quarter or the Zuidas from either end.
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Amsterdamse Bos
A planted forest south of the city, dug largely by hand as a work scheme in the 1930s. Wide gravel paths, open water, the Bosbaan rowing lane for a dead straight two kilometre effort, and enough ground to run for two hours without repeating yourself.
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The Amstel
South out of the city along the river past the Amstelpark and the windmill, on towards Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. Dead flat, beautiful, and completely open to the wind in both directions. The classic Amsterdam long run.
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Waterland
Take the free ferry from behind Centraal station and within fifteen minutes you are on dike paths between Durgerdam, Ransdorp, Zunderdorp and Uitdam, with water on both sides and no traffic. The best long run near the city, and the most exposed.
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Sloterplas and the west
A lake in the western districts with a loop around it and long straight approaches, which makes it a good tempo venue. The Brettenpad runs west from the Westerpark along the railway if you want to keep going.
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Diemerpark and the Nesciobrug
Out east over the curving Nesciobrug across the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal, into the Diemerpark and along the IJmeer shore. The bridge counts as this city's hill training.
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Oosterpark, Westerpark, Flevopark
Three small parks that are exactly the right size for a lap-based session, and all within reach of the centre. Flevopark has the water and the least company.
Season
Wind, rain, and mild everything
Winters are mild and wet rather than cold. Frost happens, prolonged ice does not, and the canals freezing hard enough to skate on is now a rare event rather than an annual one.
Rain is possible in any month and rarely lasts, so it is a jacket problem rather than a cancellation. The wind is the serious one: a westerly across the polder can turn a flat out and back into a hard second half. The local rule is to head out into the wind and come home with it.
The city's big day is the marathon in October, which starts and finishes in the Olympic Stadium and runs out along the Amstel. Summers are cool, the light is long, and evening running in June is as good as it gets here.
The app
How Waypath fits a Amsterdam week
Effort, not just pace
On a flat course the wind is invisible in your splits. Recording heart rate from a watch or strap is what tells you the difference between a slow day and a headwind.
Dutch paths in the catalogue
The trail catalogue is built from OpenStreetMap, which is unusually good in the Netherlands, and it covers footpaths and tracks rather than cycle routes.
A club calendar for the Sunday long run
Set a repeating weekly event with a meeting point and see who is coming, which matters more than usual when the meeting point is a ferry.
Keep reading
More places, and how the app works
Run it, then share the link.
Record every run for free, put the club session on a calendar, and share a live link on race day.
Requires iPhone. Recording activities is free, with no limit on how many.