Running San Francisco – Sun. 7/25

This coming weekend Amy and I will be running a ‘fun run’ – The San Francisco Marathon!   Well… S.F. Half Marathon, actually.   (http://www.thesfmarathon.com/). The Wall Street Journal calls the course “one of America's most beautiful marathons.” I totally agree. What other race allows you to run the SF waterfront (without worrying about traffic ) and across the Golden Gate Bridge (and back), then end in Golden Gate Park? I ask ya! Sounds like a beautiful day in SF! Many races combine events to attract runners and pay for the logistical support needed to run events such as the SF Marathon. Races also contribute a portion of their net proceeds to local charities supporting athletics. The organizers in SF must have thought, “Hey! Why not attract some extra runners by running our marathon, two half marathons, a 5K race and a running event for kids (Munchkin Fun Run) on the same weekend?” So they did just that! The first half marathon will start with the marathon runners; the second half marathon will start 13.1 miles away finishing with the marathoners. In itself the marathon and two half marathons will attract 20,000+ runners AND will bring millions of dollars spent by these runners to the local economy, a win-win for everyone.

The Marathon and “first half” Half Marathon start at the SF Ferry Building (ahh… Blue Bottle Coffee! http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/) on the waterfront at 5:30am. Yes, I said 5:30 in the morning!! We plan on leaving the house at 3:30am (as in: oh dark thirty), drive, find parking, find the start line, then stand in the cool of the morning waiting for the gun (as in I wish I had a gun (well maybe just a rubber band gun) to shoot someone for such an early start!... just kidding!). The elite runners start first. These bad boys and girls are fast and will compete for cash prizes. Then the rest of us begin one ‘wave’ at a time. A ‘wave’ describes starting the race in groups of runners who self estimate their finish times. We’re hoping to complete the 13.1 miles in around two hours.  So we are in Wave #3 and should start about 5:42. Using chip technology, each runner’s start and end times are captured on computer for later web publication. More on chip timing another time for the techie readers among us.

So we’ll be off and running north along the Embarcadero, past Coit Tower, Pier 39, and past Fisherman’s Wharf and the Aquatic Park. We’ll continue running NW along the Bay, through part of Fort Mason, past the Marina Green, through Crissy Field and up a hill (and oh, what a hill!) to the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge. Here’s the real reason the race starts early. With thousands of runners, the organizers have arranged to have lanes of the bridge closed for runners’ use only. Having walked the bridge before, the views of the Bay are spectacular with oodles of sailboats, ocean freighters and views of the City, Sausalito, Bay Bridge, and, Alcatraz and Angel islands in the distance. The total length of the bridge (one way) is 1.7 miles! The race turns around at the bridge’s Marin side Vista Point (we’ll be a little over 7 miles into the run at this point) and heads back across in a second closed lane. Once off the bridge and back in SF, we will run heading SW, continuing up a hill, skirting the Presidio and run through the headlands of SF where if you turn around and run backwards (being careful not to trip) you might see the Golden Gate from the Pacific side. We then run past (and above) Baker Beach (remember the movie The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway?), then down onto 27th Ave. for a straight shot into Golden Gate Park where the Half Marathon ends on John F Kennedy Dr. at 8th Ave. near the de Young Museum (http://deyoung.famsf.org/). An aside: Check out the "Birth of Impressionism" exhibit that's at the de Young right now. Janet, Amy, my sister Cindy, my Mom (Hi Mom!) and I went last weekend. It was marvelous! Wonderful day of art, laughter and special family time. OK, we're back...The full marathon continues further through the City ending back near the Ferry Building. Amy and I, having completed the Half, will hop an event sponsored bus for a ride back to the Ferry Building.

…Then we get coffee and savor the run and shared victory.

PS – What is also amazing is that while 20,000 folk are running in a SF Marathon event (like us), there are another 15,000 people running the Wharf to Wharf this same day. That’s a whole lot of runnin’!