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The San Francisco Marathon Runner Comments
Back to The San Francisco Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.3 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 2.6
Number of comments: 503 [displaying comments 181 to 191]
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E. W. from Magalia, Ca
(8/4/2008)
"Great summertime marathon!" (about: 2008)
50+ previous marathons
| 4-5 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Compared to last year race, what a great improvement. The wave start went so much more smoothly. Having the spacers on the bridge covered saved many a fall. The weather is always perfect for an August race, at 53-56 degrees. The course is hard, but you are running 26.2 miles - what do you expect? Little congestion on bridge. If you have never run the San Francisco Marathon, you are missing out. God willing, I will be back next year for 5th time. | |
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J. F. from San Francisco, CA
(8/3/2008)
"Early, hilly, windy." (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 2 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I live in San Francisco, which is an amazing city for running, but this marathon doesn't really do it justice. The run over the GGB is crowded, with only 1 lane in each direction for runners, and a fairly vicious wind. I run part of this route almost every day, and it's usually glorious, but at 6 a.m., the bridge is not at her best... (she's not really a morning person ;)). San Francisco just doesn't seem to embrace its marathon as some other cities do theirs, so there are very few spectators, although as it's so early, this is understandable. (I hate to disparage those who do make it out for it, though; they make a huge effort and deserve gratitude!) The SF Marathon's priority seems to be minimal disturbance to traffic, which results in some very close running at times. It's a shame that the GGB can't be set aside just for runners for a few hours each year. Traffic is still tearing up and down the bridge with only a 1-lane buffer. It's a little unnerving, especially as I've seen some horrific accidents on it. The first thing I would do to improve the marathon is line the bridge with cops. Another major concern was the water stations. Too few and too SHORT. A nice, long water station makes the hand-off so much easier. But worst of all, the cups were ridiculously small. By the time you'd grabbed one and lost a bit to impact-splash, you got about 2 ounces of liquid, every 2 miles. Not enough for me... I would have needed to stop and set up camp at each station to get enough water. I would love to see San Francisco embrace the marathon a lot more. Running it later in the day, with full road closures (yes, I'm dreaming - I know) would make for a spectacular, world-class event. | |
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Jeff Wang from Humble, Texas
(8/3/2008)
"Another beautiful race by the Bay" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I just finished my 6th San Francisco Marathon, and again it was an enjoyable experience on a marvelous day. As everyone would expect, this is a very hilly marathon. It is a mid-size marathon, with about 5,000 runners - full, 1st half, and 2nd half. It is a well organized event. The expo moved to Pier 30, a larger venue than before. There are ample vendors. You get a nice tech shirt for the race. The race itself starts early, with the 1st wave at 5:30. This is great for those of us from anywhere east of Pacific time, so we can finish early and still have plenty of days left for other touristy plans. The wave system worked out much better this year. The start went smoothly for me. Weather was perfect at low 50's F. It was slightly overcast with light breeze. The only thing I can complain about was that the sun did not come up to give a gorgeous view of SF profile as we crossed back on Golden Gate. The road condition was OK, with the exception of Mile Marker 19, where we went under the bridge and there were so many potholes. Not good. The medal was large and beautiful, and it doubles as a coaster. There's plenty of food at the end, even though the selection was average. They can also give out bags, so runners don't have to hold 10 things with 2 bare hands after running 26.2 miles. All in all, SFM 2008 was a success. As I finished, I was listening on my iPod - EZ's "It's a Wonderful World." Yes, indeed it is, when you have finished a challenging race at one of the most beautiful cities in the world in the middle of summer. | |
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J. A. from SF, CA
(8/2/2008)
"Dark Night Run" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 This race is especially disappointing for such a major city. The 5:30 a.m. start is in the dark. Running the Golden Gate Bridge would have been good, if I could have actually seen it through the dark and the fog. No spectators at all in Haight-Ashbury - a very disappointing time to be in this area. The last 5 miles of this race go through the industrial part of town. Not very scenic. The race starts and finishes near major transportation, but it is all closed at this time on a Sunday. Clearly the worst marathon I've run. | |
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C. E. from California
(6/1/2008)
"Good Views but Big Hills!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Great marathon - but don't forget to train for those hills! The only bad comments are: terrible fan support, and bad food at the end of the race. | |
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J. F. from new york, ny
(2/27/2008)
"Crowd support?" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The Expo: As some people mentioned before, the expo was a bit confusing at first and seemed unorganized. BIB/chip pick up was in a separate building just across the street from the vendor booths. Shirt pick up was intermingled in the mess of vendor booths. Half marathoners picked up from 1 corner; full marathoners were in another direction. Most of the vendors were sandwiched into a big tent, which was not that big. Not that many vendors either. The Marathon: Wave starts, with a few hundred or so (depending on your estimated time) took away the excitement of starting the marathon with a few thousand people Crowd support: The few hundred that were at the start line quickly diminished to none, just as we crossed the start line. And support remained very, very, minimal throughout the course. Most of the people we talked to the day before didn't even know about the SF Marathon Course: First 4 miles are flat along embarcadero (though it quickly goes from pavement to sidewalk, to a bike path through some sprinklers that everyone was trying to dodge). Mile 4.5 going towards the Golden Gate Bridge is a steep hill. Running on the Golden Gate was very cramped. Only 1 lane of the road is closed and is split in two. One way into Marin County and the other side is for the runners on their way back. Lots of long, steep hills in the first half of the marathon. Miles 13-19 through Golden Gate Park were pretty uneventful. No crowd support, no clocks to gauge your time, and course was intermingled with half marathon course, so you had to read directions to know which turn to take. Miles 19-22 were nice, all downhill, so you can make up some lost time from the hilly first half - plus there were some crowds. Miles 22-24 had us running through industrial buildings, which is pretty boring as you near the end. Miles 24-26 go from the street, step over a curb onto a sidewalk, and run along the baseball field piers. There were actually spectators in the last .2 miles, so that was helpful. | |
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T. T. from Singapore
(10/14/2007)
"A run I won't forget!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran the SF Half Marathon this year. It's been over 3 months since the race and I'm still glad and proud to have run it! The race was awesome! Besides not being able to catch good views due to the morning fog (this is SF after all!), running across the Golden Gate Bridge made everything worthwhile! The tough part of the run came after exiting the bridge, with slopes one after another, but even as an inexperienced runner, I would say it's manageable. I'd injured my right thigh during training and was practically running the entire course with a limp, yet I clocked a better time than my previous 2 runs. I would definitely recommend this run as the most fun and coolest run in the summer! | |
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Mark Paupore from Michigan
(9/18/2007)
"below expectations" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 The city is certainly beautiful, the course was challenging, and the natural surroundings will carry you for a while; but the lack of race planning/preparation and fan support was quite apparent. I've run races in smaller cities such as Green Bay, WI, and St. Paul, MN, and have enjoyed myself a great deal more. Here are a few of my gripes. Have better signage at the expo. Start the race later in the morning to make it a little more spectator-friendly. Make sure there are adequate signs on the course and make sure there are adequate staff to direct runners. Don't run out of marathon shirts and runner expo items. Improve the post-race selection of food items. I would not recommend this race to a friend because there are better experiences to be had. I ran the 1/2 marathon. | |
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D. F. from Minneapolis, MN
(8/27/2007)
"Great Race!!!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I've been in 15 marathons around the country, and San Francisco is by far the best organized. I loved the scenery. The fans weren't too plentiful, but I wouldn't get up before 6:00 to see someone else race either. | |
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Claudia Cooper from Seattle, WA
(8/22/2007)
"Great destination marathon!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This marathon really felt like two races - the first half (very hilly but heck, it's San Francisco!) and the second half (much flatter - whew!). It's a wave start and includes half marathoners, who can choose which half of the course they want to run! Running across Golden Gate Bridge was wet, windy, foggy and cold - and not much room to let the half'ers pass. Overall, the course was interesting, and there were great camaraderie, great shirts and an outstanding city! |
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