FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Wipro San Francisco Marathon Returns For 35th Year
The City By The Bay Welcomes Runners For Another
26.2 Mile Race This Coming Sunday
San Francisco, Ca- July 26, 2012 - The 35th running of The Wipro San
Francisco Marathon® will take place on Sunday, July 29, 2012. Known for
its beautiful scenic views, TSFM is the only race that runs in the roadbed
of the Golden Gate Bridge. The USATF certified loop course starts at the
Ferry Building, runs along the Embarcadero, over the Bridge, along the
coastline, through Golden Gate Park and the Haight-Ashbury District and
past AT&T Park before finishing in front of Cupid's Arrow.
As the largest marathon in Northern California and the 13th largest
marathon in the U.S, TSFM is also a Boston Marathon qualifier. This year's
events include the full marathon, two-half marathons, a 5K, a progressive
marathon, the Munchkin Kids Run and most notably and new to the TSFM family
of events, the Worth The Hurt 52.4 Ultramarathon. The Worth The Hurt
Ultramarathon participants will start at midnight on July 28th and run The
SF Marathon loop twice. The elite runners will start the regular marathon
at 5:30am followed by the remainder of the field with rolling start times
between 5:30-6:45am. It is projected that the first of the 25,000 marathon
runners will begin crossing the Bridge at about 6am, with the last runner
coming off by approximately 9am.
Winner of the 2011 San Francisco Marathon nationally ranked ultrarunner,
Michael Wardian, will be returning this year to defend his title against
local elites. Chris Mocko, a local favorite and Stanford alum, set a
course record at the Napa Valley Marathon earlier this year and followed up
with a win at the Oakland Marathon just 3 weeks later. He will compete
with Wardian and Cheyne Inman, known as a short-distance specialist from
Vacaville, who won the Norcal Marathon last fall.
One of the many talented women to watch is Devon Crosby-Helms, who ran the
US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston this January. Devon, a San Francisco
local, set a course record at the Napa Valley Marathon this year and took
3rd place at TSFM in 2011. She will be participating in the full marathon
again this year. Another returning woman, Emily Belli, will be back in San
Francisco after a 2nd place finish last year.
"Worth The Hurt" which began as an inspired description of the famously
hilly and scenic San Francisco Marathon, has evolved into a distinct
challenge, and a new model of charitable giving that event producers of
TSFM are beta testing this year. On July 29th, The Wipro San Francisco
Marathon will welcome over 30 fund-raisers who will run the marathon twice,
back-to-back, in efforts to fundraise for various worthy causes.
Amy Holt will be running the 26.2 for a great cause very close to her
heart. Just a day before on July 28th she will be swimming in the
Sharkfest Alcatraz swim, followed by the marathon on Sunday. Her personal
journey called The Rock to Bridge is an effort to raise money and awareness
for the Hydrocephalus Association, a condition that her 11 year old son was
diagnosed with in utero. She will be running the last 1.2 miles with her
son Colin alongside!
Couple Ethan Bennett and Whitney Henderson will be taking part in the full
marathon as part of their cross-country journey, running 3,300 miles in
less than 100 days. They are running in an effort to raise money and
awareness to fight cancer. In 2011, Whitney completed a cross-country run
to raise money for Soles4souls and charitywater.org. She holds the record
for the youngest female to run cross country unsupported. You can follow
their efforts at www.runtofight.com.
Come support your community, join in the fun and help cheer on the runners.
There will be cheer stations, bands and forms of entertainment along the
course including the San Francisco Boys Chorus, Tebucky Jones, Thrillouette
and DJ Mo Skills. LoCura will be joining us again at the finish line. The
community has once again pulled together for this tremendous local event so
be on the lookout for San Francisco's best cheer groups, costumes, music
and fun. Please check http://www.thesfmarathon.com/get-involved/spectator.
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