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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 341 to 351]
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G. K. from us
(8/3/2005)
"Course & Event Logistics Poorly Organized" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 NO food at the beginning or the end of the race, poor support from the crowds, could not hear the person who kicked off the start of the race, having only 2 lanes on the bridge was insane, hard to run with others in front of you, BEER at mile 19 - how about FOOD at mile 19, chocolate at the wall was good but no water to wash it down with, no food at the end, so had to go to the nearest store, and there were very poor crowds to cheer everyone on. I ran NYC in 2004 and it was far better organized. | |
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D. K. from Orlando, Florida
(8/3/2005)
"Beautiful city, but..." (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 This was my first time to San Francisco, and I am thoroughly hooked on the city. Recently dubbed "The Best Running City in America" by Runners' World (coincidentially(?) the race sponsor) a month before the race, SF as a city certainly did not disappoint. The race itself, however, did leave a lot to be improved upon. Rather than rehash all of the other comments already posted (which adequately cover my concerns), I'd like to suggest that the people in charge of this race take a trip to any of the 'musical' marathons (San Diego, Phoenix, Nashville), and bring along a large note pad. I can simply think of no excuse for the extremely poor organization of this race. That being said, I'd like to focus on the positive things about this race. As a front-runner (without many of the 'crowded' concerns), I loved the course (with the exception of a few nasty downhills toward the end that just tore up my quads). I really enjoyed the run along the bay, the accompanying 'mystical fog,' and the GG bridge. And as a diehard baseball fan, I loved running right past SBC Park towards the end of the race. Finally, I met so many friendly people both in the city during my trip, and also during the race itself. If the race organizers can fix the (many) obvious and glaring organizational problems, this marathon has the potential to be one of our best here in the United States. SF is a world-class city with great people, awesome scenery, and even 'awesomer' weather. I hope that in the future, the marathon can take advantage of all of these SF qualities and be a better reflection of the city. | |
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L. S. from Dayton, OH
(8/3/2005)
"It was the best/worst of times!" (about: 2005)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 I left San Francisco with numerous conflicting feelings about this marathon. Because I highly respect my peers, I read every comment submitted on this race before putting in my two cents worth. I may be mistaken, but I believe Runner's World was the primary sponsor for the S.F. Marathon, not the organizers. If they continue to support this race, Runner's World needs to become very aggressive in righting some wrongs - of which there were too many. This was marathon #63 for me, and I really enjoy marathoning, so let me begin with a good list of positives: - A much improved expo (love the location) - Thanks for the nice tech hat/shirt and unique coaster medal - Perfect weekend in one of the worlds premier cities - Volunteers were great. Unfortunately, they're the ones that get all the negative comments. They deserve better. - Very pleasantly surprised by all the 'civilian/biker community' help working side-by-side with police in controlling traffic - cool! Now for some not so good comments: - Please rethink the slow runners/walkers going out before the thundering herd. This was not good. Our exit strategy in Iraq looks smarter. - I really looked forward to running the bridge. I'll not ramble; in a word - DANGEROUS! - Lot of hype on the website about the music. That's all it was - hype. Now, for the really poor: - Post-race/recovery food. It's sad to admit that most 5-10K's do a much better job with this. This is important, organizers! After 3-6 hours of hard exercise, nobody wants a 1 oz. medicine cup of pomegranate juice. I don't care if this is the West Coast and everything is all-natural, herbal, yada-yada-yada. We need calories, and more than 15-20 of them. - Marking my bib to show that I picked up my shirt is expected. But for a banana or Coke? This is the first race I've ever seen this approach, and I hope I never see in again. Conclusion: I seriously feel for the organizers. I've been a race director, and pulling off an event this large has to be very tough. But I won't make any excuses for management, knowing that many cities larger than SF put on a better race. Drive an hour south and talk to the Big Sur Marathon staff. Sure, the problems are completely different for their race, but the language of organization is universal. You have a world-class city with a great group of volunteers. You deserve to have a world-class marathon. | |
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E. C. from Bossier City, LA
(8/3/2005)
"Big Disappointment" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 The food at the finish line was a JOKE - no, actually an insult. After running 26.2 miles, I expected more than a banana and a Coke Zero. I certainly expected more from Runner's World. Bridge is dangerous - hills are horrible. Weather, which cannot be controlled, of course, was good. Most of the city didn't know there was a marathon - no spectators, even the folks at our hotel didn't know there was a marathon going on. No finisher's shirt, even tho one was promised, the shirt we got, well... strange - white on white and see-through. So pick another one for CA - I am sure there are better marathons in the state of CA. | |
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B. D. from New Orleans
(8/2/2005)
"More expected from a stellar city" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Having run my first marathon last year in Oklahoma City, I was expecting much of the same: wonderful spectators, great organization and a wonderful 'event.' Unfortunately because of an injury I had to run the 1/2 marathon. My disappointment was overshadowed by the poor organization of this event. What the runners got were: - inadequate water stations - no sports drinks for the first half - no fan support along the first half - poor transportation back to finish - a starting time which was insane More than anything, the course over the Golden Gate bridge was truly dangerous, especially when confronting the early walkers/slow runners who WERE ALLOWED TO START 20 MINUTES IN FRONT OF THE RUNNERS. At times there were 10 runners abreast. Someone could have gotten hurt. I saw many arguments with the faster runners 'asking' the slower ones to push aside. All in all, a disappointment which I know Runner's World and the other sponsors and organizers will address. Oh, by the way, where were the locals? You should have better supported your city. But, you were all probably asleep. | |
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J. W. from Hollywood, CA
(8/2/2005)
"MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This year's race is a MAJOR disappointment! I would had expect it to be better than last year seeing that Runner's World is sponsoring this year's race. First of all, what's up with the 20 mins. head start for the slow runners? The fast crowd would catch up with you in the first 1-4 miles! Hardly enough time to allow the slow crowd to filter out! There is a reason all other events have the slower runner starts at the back or have the early start AT LEAST 1 hr. before regular start - because you'll get trampled by the faster runners!!! Second: What's up with the stingy finisher food?! One banana, cross out your bib so you can't come back for seconds... dude! We just ran a marathon with hardly any food on the course! Let us eat!! If you want to control food supply, let runners in to the food section then... And where is the turkey sandwiches we were told?!?! I saw none of it and the info and volunteers had absolutely no ideas about that!!! I was hoping for the food at the finish but found myself STARVING! It is sad to see the pretty museum route was cut and MORE hills are added to this year's event. And please... cover the metal portion of the bridge. Metal + water + rubber = fall and breaking your hip!! There were so many times I almost slipped and fall! By the way, are the mile markers even correct? The first half of the marathon starts at the same location as the full marathoners. Yet, the Mile 13 mile marker was placed *after* the finish of the first 1/2 of the marathon. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't 1/2 of 26.2 = 13.1 miles? So why is Mile 13 mile marker *after* the finish line? The mile marker on the bridge was also confusing around the turn-around area. The only good thing that I found is that the chocolate stop at mile 19 made it worthwhile. It sure kept me going from mile 13 just trying to see how many miles left until the chocolates. | |
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J. B. from Dixon, CA
(8/2/2005)
"I'M HOOKED!" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I just wanted to say what a great experience this was for me. This was a great, challenging course, and an excellent experience for me as a first-timer. I had planned on doing the marathon several months back and had begun to train but got sidetracked by personal issues for several months. With basically no training, I went out and decided that I was gonna do this so I went for it. Not knowing what to expect, I had an excellent experience and found the course very challenging, and the staff very friendly and helpful. I liked the early start time, running in the cool temps and darkness, and had no complaints about running the bridge other than one or two metal grates that didn't receive the wooden covers. I had a great time, met a lot of great people, and am looking forward to doing several more of these in the future. | |
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T. L. from Dallas, Tx
(8/2/2005)
"Prettiest Marathon I've Run" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 16th different marathon. Trained on what few hills we have in Dallas, Texas and I'm thankful for that. I thought the course was the most scenic so far, and I had just ran Vancouver in May, thinking that would be hard to beat! Yes, the bridge experience was disappointing, but the trek up to the bridge was really neat with the fog horns in the distance, and Golden Gate Park was just gorgeous. Exit the park and the run down Haight Street was really cool. I didn't care for the few miles between Haight and the ballpark, but it was a scenic and flat finish back along the Embarcadero. The misty cool fog was such a nice change from the hot, humid summer we are experiencing in Texas. The organization from the expo to the finish line and bag check was pretty much flawless. Love the huge medal! Didn't have any problems getting fluids on the course at a 3:51 finishing time - maybe that was happening before or after me. In fact, I am hard-pressed to find anything to complain about. I saw people standing in line at the finish with plastic bags, waiting for bananas, sodas, etc., but as a tourist I opted to go eat at one of the many wonderful restaurants for carbo-reload. Found my new favorite marathon! | |
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C. G. from Fayetteville, Arkansas
(8/2/2005)
"Fun marathon, but some kinks. " (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon and I was pleased overall. However, I thought the bridge was dangerous (the metal plates, slippery with holes) and crowded. No division between runners coming and going. Also, the course was boring and industrial the last several miles -- we really could have used some scenery and cheering at that point. There was not nearly as much music as I expected and the best music I did hear came from SF windows, not race coordinators. There was no 'finisher' shirt as had been promised for months on the website - a big disappointment to a first-timer. And the post-race food was hidden away, so I had to go buy something on the street - it was the worst food set-up I never did see. On a positive note, the hills were not nearly as bad as I expected - I ran every one of them. I thought there was plenty of water/sports drink/gel on the course and all the volunteers were friendly. I had a great time and hope to run SFM again someday. | |
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K. P. from North Carolina
(8/2/2005)
"Was there anyone there?" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 For such a large city, it was a disappointment to see such little community support for this race. I hope they can build upon the successes of this year and grow into one of the 'big city marathons.' I was particularly dismayed at the finish when there were little to no refreshments offered to runners. |
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