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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 231 to 241]
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A. D. from Seattle
(8/29/2006)
"Beautiful to look at, hard to run" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 The course is beautiful, but tough. I would not recommend for first-time runners or anyone trying for a PR. Race organization was great, with the exception of the expo. The tent city was crazy and then having to locate shirts in another building was difficult. On-course support was good at the aid stations but non-existent otherwise. Aid at the stations consisted of one very small Dixie cup of replacement fluid and water. By the middle of the race, I was going to the tables to get 2 and 3 cups of fluid. The later half the race 20 on is tough. Not very scenic - very industrial. This is my 3rd SF marathon (all three on different courses) and this is my favorite course. I would do it again as a training run, but not for time. | |
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C. K. from Anderson, SC
(8/19/2006)
"Awesome Course!!!!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I've been to San Francisco many times and looked forward to running through this beautiful city. It was fantastic! I hope to do it again sometime. The course is very difficult - my legs died on me after the first half. Like others, I thought the most difficult part would be the first half. If I run it again, and I hope I do, I will be more prepared. Overall the experience was first-rate! | |
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C. P. from San Diego California
(8/17/2006)
"Scenic and Interestingly Challenging" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Ran Rock-N-Roll in my hometown in June and wanted to run a half in cooler weather in a scenic locale. I couldn't have asked for a better course. I like the early start at dawn. Everything was lit up so it wasn't difficult to see the 1st 2 miles. Running over the bridge was worth the entry fee and as a bonus you got to run over it twice. I had plenty of room to run on the bridge and I was cheering on other runners and they were cheering on me. I like races where you can see the leaders and everyone who is behind you. The course was much hillier then I was led to believe but it was never boring. Don't run this race if you are looking for huge crowds to help you along. Support at the start, water stops and finish were great. I'll be back next year! Maybe I'll try the whole marathon if I don't run Rock-N-Roll in June! | |
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J. A. from Southern California
(8/17/2006)
"Beautiful City, Beautiful Marathon" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Terrific course: I have raced a dozen marathons on the East and West coasts and the Rockies as well as Europe... and this is one of the most scenic if not the best. Harder course than advertised... but once you catch your rhythm it is satisfying trek. The finish line set-up is difficult for family because they can't get too close with the train tracks in between finishers and spectators. SF has a great expo with excellent staff who demonstrated a "can-do" attitude at every turn. However, course lacked high profile mile markers (you had to stay really focused to catch every mile marker). Candidly, could use a few bands along the course, San Francisco has some incredible musicians; I would have liked to hear some tunes along the challenging course. Technical race T-shirt was a nice bonus. All in all this is a great experience in a good marathon that is moving in the right direction. Beautiful course. | |
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D. W. from Mesa, Arizona
(8/16/2006)
"Most memorable, scenic 1/2 marathon ever" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 We drove from Arizona and our car broke down in Los Gatos; thus we missed the expo. The first half-marathon was perfect... great scenery, great weather, laidback start-time waves. It was all fun for me until I fell on the bridge, and was a bloody mess the remaining run. It was still a great race (except the first aid station sucked!!!). I should not have stopped there to get cleaned up. But I won't be negative... the positives outweigh the negatives. Would do it again. | |
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B. W. from Kentucky
(8/13/2006)
"Scenic course with some rough edges" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my fifth marathon with prior races being a mixture of large- and medium-sized races and cities. The expo needs help. It was disorganized and sparse on directions and exhibitors. Put the expo in one spot. The shirt has the best graphics of any shirt I have. The starting line seemed to go smooth and the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge towering over the runners was great. The course was a great tour of the city and running the Golden Gate Bridge is everything you could want. I agree that the hills after the bridge were more challenging than the elevation chart seemed to indicate, but that may just be a flat-lander's complaint. The park was beautiful and the Haight and Mission Districts added a unique San Francisco experience. The last few miles were less scenic, but the Giants stadium and the Bay Bridge in the distance and having Tony Blair's motorcade pass the finish line made those miles more bearable. The course needs clocks at every mile; I only saw one on the course. Spectators were sparse and quiet. San Francisco could take lessons from Little Rock and Cincinnati on the mechanics of operating a race and supportive spectators. With some fine-tuning, the operation of this race could match the scenery. | |
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C. P. from Waterford, Wisconsin
(8/12/2006)
"Great Race, Great Course" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This race was very well organized and the course was truly amazing. The marathon course basically takes runners on a tour of a world-class city. For that alone it was worth it. I admit that the course was much more difficult than the website led me to believe, but I still ran a PR by 12 minutes and qualified for the Boston Marathon!! It wasn't the quality of the hills (most were not steep) that made the course so hard, but the quantity of them (if you weren't going up a hill, you were going down one!!). All in all, this was a first-class event and I am absolutely dumbfounded as to why there are so many whiners out there who go on this website and offer these picky little complaints about bag drops (by the way, I had no problems) and Dixie cups. | |
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Eddie Hahn from Rancho Cucamonga, CA
(8/8/2006)
"All San Francisco's Famous Sites in one Marathon" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I can't believe I even participated in the same event as PP from N.C., considering the comments posted. In fact, based on his lambasting of what I felt to be an excellent marathon, I am disappointed that he is an aspiring/fellow 50-State Club marathoner. I agree that the bag drop-off was not well defined - and there was much confusion. My biggest concern was that we were to simply drop them behind a barricade with a corresponding race number, because there were no volunteers monitoring anything (and, yes, it was dark). There was also a little confusion picking the bag up - I didnt seem to be the only runner that didnt know where the pick-up was. However, when I did locate it, my bag was in the corresponding corral of my race number; though it had been relocated, it was being monitored by a volunteer, much to my relief. Outside of that, the complaints registered by PP, in my view, are generally overstated. (Though I can't speak to the awards). The Cytomax? An excellent sports beverage - though I had never had it previously. The complaint: it was being served in Dixie cups. So what? What was to stop a registered marathoner from taking as many as he/she wanted? Or a 16-24 oz. bottle for that matter? I did, on several occasions, and volunteers didn't utter a bitter word. I understand one trying to be competitive, but it wouldn't have taken a few seconds more to secure more beverage. The course - in one word: awesome. I loved running by Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as through the park, Haight, not to mention Ashbury, Giants Stadium, the Bay Bridge. Everything you ever read, heard about, or saw in a movie concerning San Francisco, the RD incorporated into the course (...okay, so we didn't run up Lombard Street). The weather was beautiful. I hope that's the future trend for this race - high 50's to low 60's... almost the duration of the morning. The cool shade trees in (1000 acre) Golden Gate Park were especially welcome. (Toss in a few nice views of the Pacific Ocean as we passed near the Richmond neighborhood and some (yes) buffalo near Golden Gate Park). Combine this with a mock long-sleeve (half long-sleeve)/mock turtleneck, blue, red and gray, all-weather. moisture wick-away shirt, with a great drawing of the Golden Gate Bridge; and an oversize coaster-style medal with the Golden Gate Bridge on the front, and the Market Place Clock Tower on the back, and one has a high-caliber marathon in my book. | |
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J. W. from Pittsburgh, PA
(8/7/2006)
"Challenging, but Enjoyable Marathon" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 After reading some of the previous ratings for the 2006 SF Marathon, I had to wonder what would make some runners actually HAPPY to run a marathon?!!?!? It amazes me how people will complain just to complain. Here is what I liked about the race: 1. The scenery was amazing! I took my disposable camera with me and snapped a roll throughout the race. DO THIS RACE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL SIGHTS, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON! 2. The expo and shirt were great. A lot of freebies - my fav! 3. The weather - training in 80 degrees F and close to 100% humidity in Pittsburgh for the past couple of months, the weather in SF was downright chilly for me! :) The weather was perfect. 4. No troubles with water/Cytomax stops. If I needed more water/Cytomax (which I did) I asked for a 2nd cup - no problems. Hmmmm......can I make one complaint? Please!??!?! :) The course was definitely more challenging than the website indicated. I was happy to run this race, but really was suprised by the steepness of the hills on the course - the elevation chart didn't seem to be accurate to me. In any event, if you want to run a beautiful course in gorgeous weather - SF in July is your best bet! | |
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R. B. from San Francisco
(8/6/2006)
"There's something shady about this marathon" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This is my first "big" marathon, having run a bunch of smaller ones in the 2,000-4000 runner range. All of the smaller marathons have had better organization, better food, better t-shirts (name brand, designed by someone who runs, unlike the SFM shirt which was sourced to the lowest-cost producer), mileage calls or on-course timing. Here is my math: All marathons are charged about $100 per head. SF had 15,000 runners, or $1,500,000 in registration revenue. The smaller ones have about $300,000 in registration revenue (assuming 3,000 is the average size). Say the cost of an "extra" runner is $20 (cheap shirt, bib, chip, medal from China, resigtration expense; pretty much everything else from food to electrolyte is sponsored). So with roughly 10,000 more runners than a smaller race, the SF marathon costs $200,000 more to produce than a small marathon. So the question: What are the organizers of the SF marathon doing with the extra $1,000,000? And with the extra million, couldn't they afford to buy some real food at the end? |
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