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Sep 20, 2024

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 251 to 261]

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J. B. from San Jose (8/2/2006) "Good for the average marathon runner" (about: 2006) 2 previous marathons \| 2 The San Francisco Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The weather for the 2006 marathon was much better than last year. I started at 6 a.m. There was no fog on the bridge and it was the first time I enjoyed the scenery. Lots of shade after the first half, as the course winds around the park. The run across the Haight/Asbury district was fun too, as there were lots of hippies cheering you on. Overall I truly enjoyed this year's race. It was also better organized.
G. J. from US (8/2/2006) "NO SUPPORT - BORING - NO SUPPORT" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 The course should at least be where you could have some support from fans, instead of taking you where there is nothing but warehouses. The parks are boring. At 11:15 the mile markers were not up - I was running in a group and more joined, but we had no direction where to go. No one was around on any main streets to direct us. We had to wait for street lights. There were no medical stations, water stations were being taken down, and on mile 11 they were already out of Advil and Vaseline. Also, there was no food at the finish line. I think that if a person runs a marathon in 6 hours instead of 4 hours, they should still be treated the same. Everyone pays the same amount of money.
Jeff WANG from Humble, Texas (8/2/2006) "Improved from last year for this beautiful race" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 The San Francisco Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Having run this marathon for 3 times, I could not keep myself away from this race. This is one of the best marathons I've run, and even though there is still room for improvement, I've seen this race better itself each year. This has been a tough year personally and in my running career. Having two rather unsatisfactory races earlier this year as well as major personal issues, I was looking forward to the SF Marathon. It is the serenity and the inner peace I had searched for, and I had found that through this race. The race started at 5:30, which was earlier than previous years. The corral system was still a bit awkward but much better than last year. With the first wave started at 5:30, they released each corral in 5-minute intervals, which was a bit long in my opinion but worked out OK eventually. I would rather have 2.5-minute spacing. The wave allowed a running start, which achieved its purpose. Last year was a nightmare by comparison. The course was almost the same as last year, and by the time you hit the more beloved landmarks such as Fisherman's Wharf and Presideo, the sky started to lighten up. What struck me after that was the Golden Gate Bridge crossing. Whereas last year was foggy, this year there was a clear sky. As I ran across the bridge, I looked at the sky where the sun rose, burning the light fog off and showing the incredible silhouette of the skyline. The guy in front of me said, "Look there." I replied, "That's the reason we are here." Incredibly, running across the Golden Gate Bridge I felt more serene than at any point in the last six months. What got me this year was not the hill at mile 6, but rather Predisio. What was bad were the rolling hills at mile 11-13, 14-16, and 23-24. The decline at mile 10 was very nice. The rest of the race was run on a decent course, highlighting some of the sights of SF. I still would like to have run through the Civic Center and downtown and to Highway 1, but oh well. The finish was at the Ferry building. The organization there was better this year as well, with smoother transition between the finishing line, handing out water and drinks, medals, photos, and finally snacks. The snack was still horrible, but at least they are trying. The medal is nice - it matches the one from last year. As for criticism, the main complain I have was that the road was a bit small at places, especially when going uphill at the Presidio. One lane for all these runners is not enough, especially since they closed off the entire hill for the runners. I can understand the Golden Gate Bridge having narrow lanes, but the rest of the race - especially Presidio and Golden Gate Park - needs to have wider lanes. I read the prior reviewer's complaints about rinishing with 5K runners, but at least they got rid of the slow 2nd half marathoners that jammed the race at mile 13-16 last year. More improvement is needed on separating the race routes. They also need more port-a-potties - it took me eight miles to find one without a line. In addition, the temperature was ambient, but not as good as I had hoped; it was 65 degrees, but there's nothing we can do about that. Organization was not too bad. The expo was held at the old tent by the Ferry building, but they added another area across the street, at 1 Market, so it was a bit disorganized but had more boothes and displays. There was also more merchandise with the marathon logo on it for sale this year. I missed the free hats and stickers they used to give out, but oh well. The crowds are not huge but still very enthusiastic. The main batch of crowds are at the finishing line, as it should be. I found that there was a lack of advertisement of this marathon among SF residents, as the bellboy at my hotel asked me why people were dressed up to run at 5 a.m. There was also only one small articles in the SF Chronicle the following day - mainly because someone died during the race. I missed the old day 3-4 years ago when they listed every finisher's name in the Monday edition. Also, I could not find the result in their website today, which is Tuesday night. They could get that out faster with the computers nowadays. If you are ready for a beautiful but challenging course, this is it. There is always room for improvement, but that can be said with every marathons I've run. At least I have seen improvement with this one every year. Maybe they'll get it all right someday.
M. W. from Nashville, TN (8/2/2006) "Challenging but fun race" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Having read some critical posts about the previous year's race, I was not sure what to expect from this year. Overall I thought the committee addressed last year's problems and did an excellent job. The start seemed orderly, the course was never overly crowded for a larger race (I had no serious problems even on the bridge), and the finish was well stocked with food and drinks afterward. I was told that the 1st half marathon finish was not as organized. The course features serious hills (both up in the 1st half and up and down in the 2nd) which made this a fairly challenging race. Of course San Francisco is a beautiful city so you cannot help but enjoy the event despite relatively sparce crowds. I would recommend this marathon, but it is not a PR course.
K. Z. from Indiana (8/2/2006) "Amazing Race!" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was an amazing race for me! It was my first marathon and my first time to SF. Beyond the city and sights being beautiful, the race was great in many other respects. The organization was great overall. The only point that confused me during the race were the directions for the 1st and 2nd half marathoners, and the full marathoners. But that was minor. The expo was easy to get in and out of. The start of the race was very organized, with the wave starts, and corrals, and the speakers announcing everything. During the race the runners, fans, volunteers, water stops, and facilities were all great. The finish-line food and drinks were plentiful and easy to get to. The finisher's medal is very nice and the picture area was easy to find and quick to get through. I will definitely be doing this race again in the future. Thanks for a great first marathon!
m. k. from New Jersey (8/1/2006) "What's up w/ the med. support - or lack thereof??" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my 14th marathon. I've run Boston, NY, Chicago, Marine Corps, etc.... Positive/Pros: 1. Beautiful scenery. I gave this a 5 for the course. Who needs spectators when you have this SF scenery? If you're into spectators, don't run this. But if you're into gorgeous views, run this. Nice colored printed maps given. This course is a perfect tour of SF. Just shut the bridge down and it will be perfect. You go through the major tourist spots and the views are amazing. 2. Great weather. Not in anyone's control, but it helps when SF is known to have good weather (50's) and not a good chance of rain. We lucked out because we just missed their heat wave, which is unusual for SF. 3. Medal is gorgeous. Nice and big. Tech t-shirts are nice. But obviously a woman was not in the t-shirt committee. Gray for the marathon shirt was ugly, but it grows on you. I like the half marathon shirts better. 4. Nice expo. Had an indoor expo and outdoor. Lots to choose from. Only stayed there an hour because I'd rather see the city and tour. 5. Nice wave start. I guess the fast people got screwed with finishing with the 5K people. But for an average marathoner, it was nice with the wave start. But beware because some people who should have started in later waves did not! 6. Don't take away the GG Bridge! Just open more lanes like NYC does with the Verrazzano. They can wait a couple of hours! This should be part of the course. Just shut it down to cars and the runners' negative comments will disappear! This is too spectacular to remove from the course. 7. Nice motorcyle men and mamas. They had volunteer motorcycle clubs and they were fantastic! So supportive. Who said Harleys and running clubs don't mix?! What nice people! They helped direct traffic and scared some of the drivers away! :-) 8. Hot sailors giving you your medal at the finish! That was a nice touch. Good job to the person who came up with that idea. That's what I want to see after running 26.2 miles! 9. Lots of food at the end. Easy to get to so I don't know what everyone else was talking about. I thought that the finish line food was organized. 10. Volunteers overall were nice except for the med guys. (And the mile-24 med guy was nice.) Negative/Cons: 1. First of all, the medical department plain old stunk!!! They ran out of vaseline at mile 7 and had no Tylenol at mile 13. Now I know from experience that I should not rely on them for supplies, but for goodness sakes! Sometimes there are emergencies and if there is a med team, it should be there if needed! It's basic stuff. Just some vaseline, Tylenol and a plain old Band-Aid! They didn't have a Band-Aid or moleskin! I never saw this happen any of the marathons I've run. The med team didn't look like they wanted to be there. Couldn't do anything for me. I had to beg vaseline from other runners around me. I finally found someone who did the half and she gave me the rest of hers. Thanks, nice lady! Then I had to beg for Tylenol from this guy who was running with a backpack because he was doing an ultra while in the marathon. Thanks, ultra guy! And no... it wasn't Dean! I wished! 2. Get rid of the junk gels and drink you fed us and stick to good old Gatorade! That stuff wasn't mixed right and it tasted like sewer electrolyte water! Stick to Gatorade... and that goes for all the other marathons! 3. Pacers. For goodness sakes. Some people dream of finishing at a certain time. If you are going to have pacers, hire Clif Bar! Your pacers for 4:45 and 5 could have been better. Plus, one pacer for a group this big is not good enough. Hire Clif Bar! They are amazingly great pacers because they actually know how to PACE! They are experienced and motivational and you can trust them. So if you want to run with a pacer, BEWARE! They might not know what they are doing. They were nice people, but weren't very trustworthy. We abandoned them early because clearly there was no trust being established. 4. This is just FYI to the staff, but if you are going to put those cute little trivia signs about SF, can it make sense? This is not a requirement to have, but it was a nice touch that the staff did. They had trivia facts about running and SF, but when they were placed for the runners, half the answers were missing. Sometimes they had answers, but no questions. Sometimes you just saw a bunch of signs on the ground. And I really wanted to know the trivia answers and questions! It was a nice touch, but assign this task to someone more responsible if you are going to spend that much money on professional signs. Overall, in my mind's humble opinion (which may not be the same as the elevation map), it was hillier than Boston and NY. But it's San Francisco. So what do you expect? My running partner and I produced the worse time PR on a watch, but didn't care because we had the best PR time ever. We took 120 pictures, hiked Yosemite 2 days before and did some heavy touring on Saturday. So don't run this for a fast marathon, but run this if you want a PR of a good time and great, destination, touristy marathon!
R. O. from Martinez, East Bay, California (8/1/2006) "Beautiful 1st half but waaaay hilly 2nd" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 First time running this race, so I'm not familiar with the problems from previous years... start organization was very good with the exception of the number and location of the porta-potties... not enough down by the 5th starting corral where I was... a passing building along the Wharf had to suffice after the start.... The first half of the course was beautiful; running the bridge was a thrill and it was all good until about 16 miles when it was nothing but up and down.... I expected the hills at the beginning, but 2nd half was harder than I anticipated from looking at the profile. Aid stations were well staffed with enthusiastic volunteers... but what happend to the promised Zone Perfect bars at 12.6 and ~20 miles? I couldn't find them... good thing I had my own Clif Bar. Finish line had everything I needed and was easy to get too. Parking at the Embarcadero Center was cheap and hassle free. Enthusiastic spectators where they were. There were also far fewer full marathoners than expected... most folks were doing halves... could really tell during the short stint between the end of the 1st half and beginning of the 2nd... runners really thinned out. I liked this race better than the CIM in Sacramento, but not as much as the Avenue of the Giants....
B. L. from California (8/1/2006) "Beautiful first half, some hills, good organiz." (about: 2006) 2 previous marathons \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 After reading all the complaints about last year's 2005 marathon, I was a little concerned about running the 2006. However, I did not see any problems with the organization this year. I ran a 3:10 and never experienced congested routes from start to finish. The food at the end was plentiful and quite varied. The crowd was dispersed across the course and cheered often (though nothing like Boston or NYC). My only complaint is the boring (no crowd) industrial portion for the last 2 miles when you need the motivation the most. Great race. Be ready for some hills. Probably won't be your PR, but an incredible marathon to run.
A. S. from Washington, DC (8/1/2006) "Gorgeous scenery, clear skies, some mistakes" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran the first half-marathon, but the comments I have are general. First of all, the course was excellent, the scenery breathtaking, and runners have little to complain about with the fog - the view along the bridge was fantastic and fog-free. In 2005 it was apparently quite foggy and runners were complaining. Good job for "fixing" that problem. Negatives: At the expo, which was open for only Friday and Saturday, they herd you through a tent where people throw many free goodies at you (a plus) but don't give you an actual BAG for your stuff until the end. So you're left holding dish detergent, food and runner gel in your arms until you get to the end. At least on Saturday, it would have been impossible to get the bag first due to the huge crowds (and it's inefficient planning anyway). Next time, bags should come first. Also, shame on some San Francisco drivers. They were actually BEEPING at us to get out of their way, and one car disobeyed all traffic laws and zoomed across our running field when he saw a break. This made for a bit of a downer, and this was near 11 miles in both the marathon and first half-marathon. Commendation: Yay for more than one banana! I ran the 5K last year, and granted I don't need more than one banana for a 5K; however, San Fran is very stingy about their food in general, and actually marked off on my bib that I received my designated banana... this year, we could take (gasp!) two if we wanted. Which was quite welcome. Although the other food scraps were slim for the fees we paid. The full marathon medal is huge and gorgeous. The half-marathon... not so much. It's basically equivalent to what someone gets for the "progressive marathon," which is essentially a 5K and a little piece of paper you turn in saying you ran 23 other miles at some point in your life. Not that it isn't an accomplishment, but it is a tad disappointing to pay $35 more dollars and run 10 more miles and get essentially the same exact medal. But these are all very minimal in comparison to the most gorgeous course I have ever run, where the air felt so extremely clean (I have asthma and had next to no problems, which is unusual for me) and that really does make it worth it.
H. W. from Maryland (8/1/2006) "Good race if you're a local" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 The San Francisco Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 Please allow me to state that I'm not a prima donna runner. Yet, I wanted to love this race - the location, the course, the participants. I flew out of San Fran yesterday with a mediocre opinion - this is a big-city marathon behaving like a small-city marathon. My advice is that if you're a 5-hour or more runner, don't do it. Don't fly in for it either. The race committee left us back racers without much guidance- except for some great motor biker groups quietly guiding us. Some other things: did they have a race booklet? I could understand if they're trying to conserve money and paper. Please announce on the website. I don't usually complain about the shirt but they're so ugly that I had to laugh. For once, I would have rather had the cotton t-shirt. In all, I'm glad I flew across the country and participated, but I left feeling like there were big gaps. Thanks to the volunteers - especially the biking groups.

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