Faster in the Rain: What the 2026 Amsterdam Marathon Teaches Us About Negative Splits
The 2026 Amsterdam Marathon delivered remarkable performances despite wet conditions. Ethiopia's Buze Diriba won the women's race in a course record of 2:16:12, while compatriot Lemi Berhanu won the men's race in 2:03:33, just three seconds outside the course record. Both champions ran impressive negative splits. Chappy explores why finishing faster than you start can be effective, and what everyday marathon runners can learn from this approach.
October 18, 2026.
The Amsterdam Marathon produced an exciting result in wet conditions.
Ethiopia's Buze Diriba won the women's race in 2:16:12, setting a new course record.
Her compatriot Lemi Berhanu won the men's race in 2:03:33, missing the course record by just three seconds.
But the most interesting part was not simply the winning times.
Both champions ran impressive negative splits.
They finished the second half faster than the first.
What can everyday runners learn from that?
■ A new women's course record
Diriba broke the previous women's course record of 2:16:52, set by Yalemzerf Yehualaw in 2024.
Her winning time was 2:16:12.
That is 40 seconds faster than the previous record.
She also improved her personal best from 2:19:34 by 3 minutes and 22 seconds.
Even at the elite level, that is a remarkable improvement.
■ The second half was 56 seconds faster
The leading women's group, including Diriba, reached halfway in 1:08:34.
Diriba finished in 2:16:12.
That means her second half took approximately 1:07:38.
First half: 1:08:34
Second half: 1:07:38
A 56-second negative split.
She maintained contact with the leaders through much of the race before making her decisive move late on.
This was a strong example of how controlled early pacing can leave room for a powerful finish.
■ Berhanu missed the men's record by just three seconds
The men's race was won by Lemi Berhanu in 2:03:33.
The course record stood at 2:03:30.
Just three seconds separated the victory from a record-breaking performance.
Berhanu, the 2016 Boston Marathon champion, showed his experience as the race accelerated in the second half.
Near 40km, he battled with Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir before pulling away to win.
His performance was another impressive example of finishing strongly in difficult conditions.
■ What is a negative split?
A negative split means completing the second half of a race faster than the first half.
For example:
First half: 1:50:00
Second half: 1:48:00
Total: 3:38:00
The opposite is a positive split, where the second half takes longer than the first.
Negative splitting is an important concept in marathon pacing.
■ Why can it work?
One reason is that a controlled first half may reduce unnecessary early fatigue.
At the beginning of a marathon, runners often feel fresh.
The atmosphere is exciting.
Other competitors may be moving quickly.
It is tempting to run faster than planned.
But small pacing mistakes early in the race can become costly later.
Energy use, muscular fatigue, and physiological stress accumulate over time.
Starting at a sustainable pace can help protect performance in the final kilometers.
■ Is a negative split always best?
Not necessarily.
The fastest strategy depends on the course, weather, individual fitness, and race conditions.
An excessively slow first half may leave too much time to recover later.
The real goal is not simply to run slowly at the start.
It is to distribute effort in a way that maximizes overall performance while minimizing the risk of severe late-race slowing.
■ Elite runners and everyday runners
Elite athletes have exceptional endurance, speed, experience, and fueling strategies.
Everyday runners do not need to copy the dramatic finishing accelerations of world-class competitors.
A more practical approach may be:
Start under control.
Maintain a sustainable rhythm.
Avoid major late-race slowing.
Even pacing, or a modest negative split when appropriate, can be an effective strategy for many marathon runners.
■ What about a sub-3:30 marathon?
To break 3 hours and 30 minutes, a runner needs an average pace of approximately 4 minutes and 58 seconds per kilometer.
Consider this example:
First half: 1:45:00
Second half: 1:44:00
Total: 3:29:00
That would achieve the goal with a small negative split.
It is only an illustration, not a universal pacing prescription.
The best strategy depends on the individual runner and their preparation.
■ Connecting this to the 30km wall
Rings Journal recently explored the famous marathon 30km wall.
Late-race slowing does not appear because there is a magical barrier at exactly 30 kilometers.
It can result from accumulated fatigue, fueling limitations, pacing errors, heat stress, and other factors.
The Amsterdam Marathon provides an interesting contrasting example.
Strong finishes depend partly on how runners manage the kilometers that come before them.
■ What interested Chappy most
For Chappy, the fascinating part was not only that the champions ran fast despite the rain.
It was that they were still capable of increasing their pace late in the race.
A marathon is not decided only by the opening 20 kilometers.
The final 12 kilometers matter.
The final 5 kilometers matter.
Even the last 2.195 kilometers matter.
That principle applies to elite athletes and recreational runners alike.
■ Three lessons for your next marathon
First, avoid starting significantly faster than your realistic target pace.
Second, treat early comfort as something to preserve rather than an invitation to accelerate immediately.
Third, review the whole race, especially how your pace changes after 30 kilometers.
Of course, training and fueling still matter.
Negative splitting is not magic.
It is one useful way to think about distributing effort across the entire marathon.
■ Running is more than the finish time
Runner’s Rings preserves the roads we run, like growth rings of our running lives.
A finish time matters.
But so do the experiences along the way.
Where did the race become difficult?
When did we feel strong?
What did we learn about pacing?
Which roads did we travel?
Those details are part of every runner's story.
The Amsterdam Marathon reminds us that a great marathon is not only about speed.
It is about managing 42.195 kilometers from beginning to end.
■ Sources
World Athletics
Diriba breaks course record, Berhanu threatens mark at Amsterdam Marathon
October 18, 2026
https://worldathletics.org/news/report/amsterdam-marathon-2026-diriba-berhanu
Official TCS Amsterdam Marathon report
https://www.tcsamsterdammarathon.nl/buze-diriba-loopt-parcoursrecord-bij-tcs-amsterdam-marathon
Runner’s Rings – Rings Journal
Running fast is one thing.
Knowing how to distribute your effort across the full marathon is another.
Both are part of the joy of running.