Enschede Marathon Information & Enschede Marathon Links at HealthHaven.com

John Kelai winning the marathon of 2005

The Enschede Marathon is an annual marathon race held in the city of Enschede, Netherlands. The race is the distance of a typical marathon (42 km, 195 metres). It has been held annually since 1991, after being bi-annual for the previous 44 years. The race crosses the German border through the city of Gronau. There has been a women's competition since 1981.

In 2000 the race event was cancelled due to a large explosion of fireworks that destroyed much of the center of the town near the marathon course. The race was known as the Twente Marathon from 1992 through 2002. The 1949 race distance was about 40 km.

The first race took place on Saturday July 12, 1947. It is the oldest marathon race in the Netherlands.^[1] The total number of runners who competed in the first race was 51. 33 of them reached the finish in the Van Heekpark. Finland's Eero Riikonen was the overall winner with a time of 2:44:13. At the finish line he was greeted by Dutch track and field athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen. Nine minutes later the first Dutchman, Joop Overdijk, finished and took the national marathon title.

The Enschede Marathon is the fourth largest marathon in the Netherlands, after the Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Eindhoven marathons.

[edit] Men's Winners

DATE	ATHLETE NAME	COUNTRY	WINNING TIME
April 26, 2009	Jacob Kipchumba Yator	Kenya	2:09:02
April 27, 2008	Silas Toek	Kenya	2:10:40
April 22, 2007	Thomson Cherognoy	Kenya	2:11:35
April 23, 2006	Sammy Rotich	Kenya	2:12:05
May 15, 2005	John Kelai	Kenya	2:11:44
May 16, 2004	Girma Tolla	Ethiopia	2:10:33
May 25, 2003	Wilson Kibet	Kenya	2:11:38
May 26, 2002	Raymond Kipkoech	Kenya	2:12:33
May 27, 2001	El Mustapha Riad	Morocco	2:12:20
2000	Cancelled	—	—
June 6, 1999	Anatoli Zerouk	Ukraine	2:16:31
June 7, 1998	Hussein Ahmed Salah	Djibouti	2:13:25
June 8, 1997	Dmitriy Kapitonov	Russia	2:12:09
June 16, 1996	John Mandu	Kenya	2:15:14
June 18, 1995	Viktor Goural	Ukraine	2:15:29
June 5, 1994	Piotr Pobłocki	Poland	2:13:01
June 13, 1993	Jan Tau	South Africa	2:12:19
October 11, 1992	Willie Mtolo	South Africa	2:13:39
October 13, 1991	Sergey Prorokov	Soviet Union	2:15:04
August 26, 1989	Marti ten Kate	Netherlands	2:10:57
June 20, 1987	Marti ten Kate	Netherlands	2:13:52
October 12, 1985	Zoltan Köszegi	Hungary	2:15:39
September 10, 1983	Kevin Forster	United Kingdom	2:14:19
July 11, 1981	Cor Vriend	Netherlands	2:15:54
August 25, 1979	Kirk Pfeffer	United States	2:11:50
August 27, 1977	Brian Maxwell	Canada	2:15:14
August 30, 1975	Ron Hill	England	2:15:59
September 1, 1973	Ron Hill	England	2:18:06
September 4, 1971	Bernie Allen	England	2:16:54
August 16, 1969	Kazuo Matsubara	Japan	2:19:29
August 26, 1967	Yoshiro Mifune	Japan	2:20:53
August 28, 1965	Aurèle Vandendriessche	Belgium	2:21:16
July 13, 1963	Václav Chudomel	Czechoslovakia	2:25:11
August 12, 1961	Peter Wilkinson	United Kingdom	2:24:12
August 15, 1959	Pavel Kantorek	Czechoslovakia	2:26:48
August 17, 1957	Piet Bleeker	Netherlands	2:32:39
August 27, 1955	Reinaldo Gorno	Argentina	2:26:33
September 12, 1953	Jim Peters	England	2:19:22
September 1, 1951	Veikko Karvonen	Finland	2:29:02
August 20, 1949	Jack Holden	England	2:20:52
August 20, 1947	Eero Riikonen	Finland	2:44:13

[edit] Women's Winners

DATE	ATHLETE NAME	COUNTRY	WINNING TIME
April 26, 2009	Ilona Pfeiffer	Germany	2:44:58
April 27, 2008	Polly Nkambi	Netherlands	3:12:41
April 22, 2007	Ingrid Prigge	Netherlands	2:42:31
April 23, 2006	Petra van Tongeren	Netherlands	3:19:13
May 15, 2005	Abidi Tigist	Ethiopia	2:33:01
May 16, 2004	Nadezhda Wijenberg	Netherlands	2:31:23
May 25, 2003	Gea Siekmans	Netherlands	3:05:02
May 26, 2002	Lidya Vasilevskaya	Russia	2:29:23
May 27, 2001	Franca Fiacconi	Italy	2:31:40
2000	Cancelled	—	—
June 6, 1999	Galina Karnatevicz	Belarus	2:37:35
June 7, 1998	Violetta Kryza	Poland	2:38:51
June 8, 1997	Carla Beurskens	Netherlands	2:37:20
June 16, 1996	Mieke Pullen	Netherlands	2:41:13
June 18, 1995	Irina Yagodina	Ukraine	2:36:43
June 5, 1994	Franca Fiacconi	Italy	2:37:43
June 13, 1993	Veronika Troxler	Switzerland	2:44:33
October 11, 1992	Natalia Repescko	South Africa	2:42:50
October 13, 1991	Czesława Mentlewicz	Poland	2:41:48
August 26, 1989	Alena Peterkova	Czechoslovakia	2:40:28
June 20, 1987	Helen Comsa	Switzerland	2:39:29
October 12, 1985	Eefje van Wissen	Netherlands	2:39:32
September 10, 1983	Priscilla Welch	England	2:36:32
July 11, 1981	Jane Wipf	United States	2:38:21