Rotterdam, April
NN Marathon Rotterdam Pacing Plan
Starts at the foot of the Erasmus Bridge, which the course crosses twice (roughly km 3 and km 27), and loops out to Kralingen Lake in the city's east before returning along the Maas to finish on the Coolsingel. One of the fastest-rated courses in the world — average gradient close to 0.0% — with the two Erasmus Bridge crossings and two short wooden-bridge sections the only real rises on the route.
Distance
42.3 km
Elevation gain
+36m / -33m
Typically run in
April
Typical race-day weather
8°C, 13 km/h
Weather is a 10-year seasonal average for this course's location and month, not a forecast for a specific date — see FAQ.
Elevation profile
Sample strategy — 3:45:00 goal
A real, AI-generated excerpt of what Splitsmith produces for this exact course — not a hand-written example. Upload your own goal and recent results to get the full plan.
KM 0-5 — The gun goes off on flat, slightly net-downhill ground (-0.3% at km1) with a tailwind pushing you along, and the field will fly through these opening kilometers around 5:11-5:18/km. Hold that same 5:14-5:18/km even though it feels free — the wind is doing the work here, not your legs, and every second you steal now gets billed back with interest once the headwind and uphill grades hit after 36K.
KM 6-14 — From 6K the tailwind flips to a headwind and the grade edges flat to slightly uphill (up to 0.2% by km14), so pace naturally settles to 5:15-5:22/km. You cross 10K at 52:33 — check that split and resist the urge to push to make up time lost to the wind; it's a small, real cost the plan already accounts for.
KM 15-21 — Km15-18 hands you the tailwind again and pace drops back to 5:13-5:16/km; ride that rhythm rather than surging on the free speed. Headwind returns at 19K and nudges you back to 5:19-5:22/km, and you cross the half at 21K in 1:50:53 — right on target for an even-effort 3:45, with the slight slowdown explained entirely by wind, not fatigue.
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Build my NN Marathon Rotterdam plan →Splitsmith is an independent pacing-plan tool and is not an official partner, sponsor, or affiliate of the NN Marathon Rotterdam or its organizers. Course data source: digitized from the official course.