Anne Luijten and Khalid Choukoud claim Dutch titles at Amsterdam Marathon

The Amsterdam Marathon hosted the Dutch national championships, crowning Khalid Choukoud and Anne Luijten. The Hague native claimed his fourth national title in 2:08:00, following victories in 2016, 2021 and 2022. His compatriot retained her title for the third year in a row. On the ground in Amsterdam, Marathons.com looks back at a race that delivered twists right to the finish.

Why not? Charging out of the gates, Dutchwoman Mikky Keetels played the spoiler for nearly 30 km. Running at around 3:29 per kilometre, the flight attendant had her rivals questioning the outcome. The journalism student, who trains without a coach, briefly glimpsed a national title of her own before easing off slightly and being caught after 29.8 km out front on her own. Anne Luijten was not about to let that opportunity go to waste.

Drawing on her experience, the two-time defending Dutch champion pulled away between 30 and 35 km, leaving Jill Holterman, runner-up in 2:28:56, and Mikky Keetels, third in 2:31:21, behind. A commanding performance brought her a new title in 2:28:26, good for 13th among the women. “Jill and Mikky were very strong. I knew Mikky was going to start faster,” the Dutch champion said. “It was very exciting because the gap was significant. In the second half, we started to speed up. But I had another problem: Jill. For the first time since her excellent performance in 2021, when she ran a personal best of 2:28:18 at the Enschede Marathon, she was still there.”

A fourth Dutch title for Khalid Choukoud

Three for Anne Luijten. Four for Khalid Choukoud. Like Mikky Keetels, the 39-year-old decided to go hard from the gun, paying no attention to the race being run by his compatriots. It proved to be the right call: he was never caught. Running at close to 20 km/h, the 28:32 10K man left only scraps for his chasers. He won in 2:08:00, just 23 seconds shy of the personal best he set in Valencia in 2023.

“I’m always very happy to be in Amsterdam for the seventh time. My preparations have gone very well. I haven’t been injured or sick,” he said. “I felt strong. It was only in the final seven kilometres that I struggled. I had to do it all on my own.” Asked whether he had looked behind him, his answer was unequivocal: “No, because there was no need to worry. There was a four-minute gap. ” If anything, it was even more. Gianluca Assorgia took silver in 2:12:47, or... four minutes and 47 seconds behind the national champion, while Stan Niesten claimed bronze in 2:13:40.

There’s always another Dutchman waiting in the wings

Laurent Jalabert, Pierre Rolland, Nacer Bouhani… After their cycling careers, they fell for the appeal of running. Tom Dumoulin, winner of the 2021 Giro d’Italia, was no exception. On his own from the 26th kilometre and pretending to be spent in front of the camera, the Dutchman eventually finished 116th in 2:29:21 in his first race over the classic distance. Chapeau, artist.

While African runners swept the men’s and women’s podiums at the Amsterdam Marathon, the Dutch national championships offered plenty of depth and plenty of suspense. All of it unfolded in front of a home crowd firmly behind its runners.

✔ Full results from the Dutch championships at the 2025 Amsterdam Marathon