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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 351 to 361]
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J. C. from Los Angeles, Ca.
(8/2/2005)
"Good course; liked the bridge addition" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The bridge, though foggy at that hour, was still a gift to be able to run it. However, at least three lanes were necessary. The post-marathon goodies were a huge disaster. To have to wait in a line for 20 to 30 minutes for a snack after running 26 miles was a killer. Otherwise it was a good race. I actually liked the 5:20 start. | |
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B. S. from Atlanta, Ga
(8/2/2005)
"Great course, loved the bridge" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I found no problems with this course. Running the Golden Gate Bridge, fog and all was a really great experience. The hills were what you would expect for San Francisco. The 5:20 start was great because you got the race over with in the morning and had the rest of the day to enjoy yourself. I'm doing this one next year as long as the bridge stays in. Spectators were few, but it's San Francisco where running is just not a spectator sport with all the other things to do in the city. | |
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J. V. from Florida
(8/2/2005)
"I was disappointed at the organization." (about: 2005)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I have always wanted to run the San Francisco Marathon and especially the Golden Gate Bridge. Running the bridge was a special attraction. But after doing the event, I have to agree with some of the locals that the old course was a better one. Running the bridge was the worse part of the event. It was dangerous, crowded, unenjoyable. I couldn't wait to get off the bridge to relax, plus with the fog, you didn't even know you were on a bridge. I think a later start time and skip the bridge would be better for all. I was trained for a PR, but I don't think it would have been possible even though I trained for hills. This course is more of a challenge than you would think. I was disappointed by the organization at the expo. Having to weave through the crowded expo in lines to pickup race stuff is not enjoyable. Why not have one area for packet and shirt pickups and another for the expo. Forcing participants into the expo may sound like a good marketing tool but it's not. Trust me, I will do both. Need more water stations. Also I had to weave my way through the (I'm guessing) 5K walkers for the last mile to the finish. Please do not mix walkers with marathon runners. And that also goes for the early start. It was not as bad as the finish, but it you have an early start, it should be an hour earlier, not 20 minutes. The start line was a mess. Poor organization. Last negative comment - The summer is a very tough time of year for non-locals to train for a marathon. If you want to attract out of area runners, how about spring or fall? Good things - The hat and t-shirt. Very nice. The course in the park area. Getting to visit SF. I'm glad I did the marathon, but my expectations were much higher. I might do the marathon again, but not as a race; I would jog it. | |
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s. l. from HONG KONG
(8/2/2005)
"It was a very easy course and I enjoyed it." (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I came all the way from Hong Kong to run this year's SF Marathon. Compared with the ones in Hong Kong, it was relatively easy and flat. With only 11,300 finishers for the full, 2 halves and 5K, the total numbers of runners was actually on the low side. I agree to the comments of other runners that the addition of the GG Bridge did not add value to runners' experience and the starting time at 5:20 was way too early. It was advertised that energy gel and electrolyte would be provided, so I did not bring any. To my surprise they only start to appear from mile 10. In the future the organizer should put them up early in the course. | |
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D. S. from Buffalo, NY
(8/2/2005)
"I left my heart... and my lungs and my guts in..." (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Don't run hills if you don't train hills. We do not have many hills to run in Buffalo, and I felt it! But what a city/marathon to run in. Probably as perfect a destination marathon as you can get. I ran over the Golden Gate Bridge! I still haven't seen it, but, hey, the bridge covered in fog is still a better story to tell your friends when you get home. The fast runners missed half the excitement. The hills got me in the first half. I hit the halfway point bruised and battered at 2:39. A little down the road there was a big gathering - bands, party? No, it was the second half marathon! I ran past this group and 100 yards later I heard 4, 3, 2, 1 go! I now know how the crazed white hunters felt when Tarzan called in the elephants. I can also scratch off running with the bulls in Spain. This was better. Plus mile 14 came a lot quicker than mile 12 or 13. Complain if you want to but this marathon was a lot of fun because of the location. Plus I walked up Hyde and Leavenworth streets on Saturday. They actually do keep the bad hills out of the course. Great time in the city for the weekend, great time running the race. As the Govenator says, "I'll be back." | |
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R. T. from New Jersey
(8/2/2005)
"Good & bad" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Let me start off by saying I ran a PR (3:26) here, but not as fast I wanted (true for most of us)! This is my first time visiting, let alone running in SF, and what a great city it is. The course was even tougher than I expected, but hey, SF is known for the hills. Unfortunately, adding the bridge this year seemed to be a waste, since there was no view, only more hills (up & down), fog, too little room for us runners, and slippery conditions. I also couldn't believe that a race of this size didn't have time clocks at the mile markers. Some mile markers were very difficult to even see. My other complaint was with the line at the end of the race for food, etc. I really needed more water and some food quickly but the line was very long and only 325 or so runners had finished by then. I never went to race where they needed to mark your bib # in order for you to have a banana before. Last, there were very few spectators; but I expected that. | |
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Robert Lopez from Seattle/Kona
(8/2/2005)
"This out-of-towner thought it was cool" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Well, the bridge part didn't work as well as planned... but at least they tried something different. I liked the foghorns, but I disliked every other aspect of the bridge. Being crammed in like cattle was especially bad on the middle-of-the-packers. I was able to get sports drink (albeit sometimes nasty sports drink) at every aid station in the first 14 miles and after. There were approximately 1,000,000 porta potties on the course. That was great, especially for those of us suffering from stomach crampy bad times. The hills in the course were definitely challenging... for me, the downs much more than the ups. But overall I *liked* the course a lot. It's hard to get 26.2 of wall-to-wall sights so I didn't mind the industrial area. Haight, the park, and running by the baseball stadium were cool. The downtown area was neat. I saw buffalo - AWESOME. The wharf might have been cool, but it was too dark to tell. The bridge, as mentioned, was a great gamble that didn't pay off. Organization could use some tweaking... some 'first-timer' issues that makes me wonder whether they utilized (or even took advice) from previous editions. The biggest issue was the food at the end. It was weird getting one-and-only-one banana and having to get my bib marked for it. And it was clear that by the time I got to the food (4:20ish into the whole thing) that the volunteers had already taken a lot of crap for it. They had a whole dazed 'sorry, but we have to do this...' thing going. But my goodness, for 100 bucks, shouldn't we get more than one banana and one energy bar? Usually, a comment like this will get another snippy comment from someone else like 'you want pampering, go to a big city marathon!!!' Well, this WAS a big city marathon. Yikes. The corral thing at the start was a good idea, but could benefit from better execution. The signage needs to be HIGHER. It was hard to figure out where to go in the dark once the area was packed with people. And... mind you, I don't know how to fix this... the area that feeds the corrals needs to be bigger. Lots of people, I mean LOTS, were stuck. I think the shirt is pretty cool. White-on-white is weird, but it beats the shirts I've received at many other races. 5:20 was bad, but it was wonderful being done by 9:30. I'll do this one again. And if they re-remove the bridge, so much the better. The expo was pretty good. | |
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M. T. from the East Bay near San Francisco
(8/1/2005)
"painfully early" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 As mentioned, why all the fuss about bringing the bridge back, as you can't see anything? The occasional uncovered metal bars on the bridge were a safety hazard--I almost slipped on one and ate pavement. I felt lucky to be a faster runner, since on my return the middle-of-the-pack people who were overflowing into the other lane. They will need to close one more lane of traffic. 5:20 start is painful for all except those from the East Coast. It also leads to even fewer spectators (SF has far fewer than you'd expect for a major city). Much hillier than last year. I run a lot of trail ultras and beforehand thought 'no big deal,' but for a road race, it was sort of painful and probably led to my iliotibial band flare that hit me before halfway. Have to weigh the fog and clouds with warmer temperatures. Of course, anyone can go back and see the beautiful view from the bridge later in the day. Contrary to CG of SF, I LIKE the tech shirt (hip and well designed) and tech cap. | |
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B. P. from Detroit, Michigan
(8/1/2005)
"Coulda, shoulda, maybe willa be a great race somed" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I'm going to echo the comments from below. Pros: Great city Good weather for running Well organized expo Nice 5:20 start time for EST runners Well organized start of 15,000 people Cons: The bridge: Going over the bridge and then coming back immediately wasn't fun due to the tight conditions. I thought the fog was cool, but not worth the hassle. The lack of water stops: I had no idea when they would be there... this was bad. No excuse, Runner's World!!! The lack of mile markers: No mile 23 marker, no mile 21 marker... the least you can do is let us know how much is left. No crowd support. The crowds here were as big as they are for the South Bend Sunburst Marathon (i.e. non-existent)! The finish area: 1 person handing out medals?!?! Not good. It wasn't clear where to go, I know people who didn't get anything to eat afterwards. Fix the course, fix the water stops and mile markers, clean up the finish area and the crowds will come. Still a good experience but avoid this one if you're a first-timer, looking to PR, or looking to run a great marathon for your 'California' marathon. LA, San Diego, Big Sur... | |
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M. S. from Minneapolis, MN
(8/1/2005)
"Great destination race" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 This was a great race! No, I did not enjoy getting up so early. But I did enjoy the fog, the cool temperature, and the bridge. Sure it was a little crowded on the bridge. That didn't bother me. The hills prevented a PR for me anyway. Once the sun came out, it got pretty hot. By then I appreciated the early start. My only suggestion is to do away with the early (5:00 AM) start time. Faster runners had to go around the slower participants who had the head start. It made it especially crowded early on. San Francisco is a wonderful place to visit. My family had a great time. We hope to be back again. |
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