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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 391 to 401]
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David Fath from Pittsburgh, PA
(8/5/2004)
"My favorite thus far." (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 4th marathon. I went in a little apprehensive about the hills, but finished with a PR. Go figure. I attribute my success to the cool mist, ocean breezes, gorgeous scenery, and fantastic race support. Run this race and then enjoy the fine cuisine and local brew found everywhere throughout the city. Go Steelers! | |
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S. M. from Juarez, Mexico
(8/5/2004)
"Fine marathon" (about: 2004)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is a challenging course, a lot of hills. It was my first full marathon and I don´t recomend it for a first timer. Aid and medical stations were fine. The spectacular course worth the trip: hills, woods, sea, golden gate, Giants Baseball Park, architectural, gardens, everything is there. | |
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Jonathan Mclean from I work in Glendale CA (in LA county)
(8/4/2004)
"Hit my goal - under 4! " (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I would have liked to have seen more GU available, the stuff you can eat for energy. In addition, races should offer salt or electrolyte replacement. The bands were a nice surprise... | |
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A. P. from San Francisco, California
(8/4/2004)
"A Great Race that Should be better!" (about: 2004)
2 previous marathons
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my third marathon and my first in San Francisco. I set a PR that is over an hour faster than my second marathon. The pace group leader from the San Francisco Road Running Club was excellent. She made the difference for me. The hills were not all that big a deal and the scenery keeps you distracted so you are over them before you realize it. I started at 5 AM and loved that. The fast runners passed us at around mile 20 or 21. We never usually get to see the leaders so this was really cool. I always think the organizing for these events sucks. I hated having to go through the vendor tent to get the t-shirt and medal. When I'm registering, I want to register. I don't want to be annoyed by sales people. I'll visit them later to support them being there, but don't mess with me when I'm busy and maybe in a rush because I'm on my lunch hour! The finish was crowded but OK. These things are always crowded. Such is life! The city is really missing a great opportunity to increase tourism by not hyping this race to locals and encouraging its organizers to expand it. First, they need to advertise the road closings so people know not to drive here during the race. They also need to arrange for MUNI and BART to run extra trains for both the 5 AM and the 7 AM start. Second, they should rearrange the course to include Lake Merced and other parts of the city instead of doubling back along the Great Highway. That would make the course even better! Third, they should hype it to locals to encourage more crowd support. Many of the angry drivers you heard didn't even know there was a San Francisco Marathon. Even the Chronicle hardly covered it! I couldn't even find the results in the paper. Other cities have the results on the Front page. What's with the Chron anyhow? Even as it is, this is a run worth doing. It is beautiful. The weather is perfect for running even if not for tourists! I'll do it again and I recommend it to anyone. | |
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M. C. from San Francisco
(8/4/2004)
"a great experience" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I ran the 1/2 marathon and it is my 1st race other than the Bay to Breakers (about 10 times). I live in the city, so it was really convenient for me. Out of towners may feel different. I had no problems getting the race packet and I parked near the start/finish line on race day. I was bused back to the finish line. I read a lot of complaints about the lack of spectator support and I don't understand why they are necessary. I don't run for accolades or encouragement, I run for my own personal goals. I'm reminded of the 'Seinfeld' episode where the gang is at a NY Marathon party. George proclaims that he is the 'lord of the idiots' when someone at the party shouts out the window 'you're all winners.' George comes back with 'suddenly a new contender emerges.' People have lives and I don't see why they should wake up to cheer us on. BTW, I will run a marathon later this year and will run the SF Marathon next year. | |
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Galen Carnicelli from San Francisco, CA
(8/4/2004)
"Great weather, scenic course" (about: 2004)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I live in San Francisco and have run most of this course many times during training runs. The course is beautiful, varied, and very well thought out except for some boring miles through an industrial distruct during the last 10K. Also, the unexpected block-long hills during miles 21-24 are much more frustrating and demoralizing than the well-reported Presidio and Golden Gate Park hills. Late in the race, all most runners want is nice level ground, but they don't really get it until miles 24-26.2. This was my first full marathon, but I know people who've run SF in earlier years. Support was definitely better organized this year. Traffic control was excellent and all the aid stations were well-staffed. They still need to work on the visibility and accuracy of the mile markers: I counted at least four mile markers that were off by .1 mile or more, and many runners including myself missed the timing pad at the 30K point. Crowd support was minimal, but there was a big bump in participation this year, so I was able to draw support from the numerous runners around me. The post-race area was too small, but they were well stocked with water, fruit, bagels and the like (at least when I finished). The finisher medals are very nice, heavy and engraved on both sides, and I for one like the t-shirt design. The weather was near-ideal for time targets: mid-50's at the start and high-50's at the end, a nice misty rain during much of the first half to keep runners cool and hydrated, breezes in the 5-10 mph range, and overcast the entire time. I was able to beat my time target by almost four minutes largely thanks to the weather. Participants who were more into cruising the course and eyeing the scenery were probably disappointed. | |
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M. H. from Santa Barbara CA
(8/4/2004)
"Great way to see the city!" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 My first marathon and was impressed. The 5 am start time for us slow runners is a great idea. I read comments from previous years and was apprehensive about the organization but I though this race was very well organized. It started on time and the course was laid out well. All traffic was stopped for the event and there were many police helping with traffic control. The hills were more severe than the course description but they were not brutal. The weather was perfect. Overcast and slight drizzles. I will definitely run this one again. | |
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D. G. from Oklahoma City OK
(8/4/2004)
"Absolutely Gorgeous!" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 The San Francisco Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I'm not sure JK from Chicago and I ran the same race. I thought the organization was fine. Plenty of volunteers, plenty of water, electrolytes, Gu, beer, and even vaseline on tongue depressors. I was handed water immediately after I crossed the finish line. There was more than enough water. In fact I stood next to a huge amount of unopened cases, while I waited for the rest of my group to come in. The food at the finish consisted of oranges, bananas, bagels, fruit bars, chocolate peanut butter cups, sacks of chips and trail mixes, cans of apple juice, pomegranate juice, and some strange but tasty fruit juice from the rain forests of South America! Although the food line was long it moved quickly. The weather could not be beaten! Coming from a place where it can be 85 at 7:00am, mid-fifties was great. It did drizzle a bit early on, but no big deal. The scenery was spectacular. The hills are challenging, but if you train for them, they are totally do-able. It is kind of far away for me, but I would certainly run it again. Thanks San Fran and all your great volunteers! | |
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j. b. from Los Angeles
(8/4/2004)
"Where'd my $85 go?" (about: 2004)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 This was a very good marathon, moderate hills, perfect weather and of course beautiful scenery. After all, this is San Francisco. Someone who had not participated in the marathon asked me at the end how much it cost to run a marathon. I replied '$85'. He said, 'wow what do you get for that'. I held up the bottle of water and medal received at the end. That about said it all. As these and other marathons grow in size entry fees are getting outrageous. The things are staffed by volunteers, what little drink and food along the way is generally supplied by sponsers. I suspect there are some greedy organizers gouging runners behind this and other marathons. The least they could have done was offered a few morsels of food at the end. Again great marathon -- but not worth the entry fee. | |
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Jeff Wang from Humble, Texas
(8/4/2004)
"Wonderful Second Time Around" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 The San Francisco Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 2004 SF Chronicle Marathon was my seventh marathon and the second time to run it. I ran it in 2003 and fell in love with the marathon, and I am still in love with it. First of all, this is not a marathon for anyone. It was tough. In fact, it is probably the most challenging marathon I've ever run, as it was reflected by my result last year - which was also the worst marathon result in my life. I was determined to better the result this year, and with a good training regimen and a perfect running condition, I finished a PB. Nonetheless, the hill was tough. Before the race, I talked to quite a number of people about the course, and I told them how touch the hill at Presideo was. About 300 feet straight up over a 1/2 mile span was absolutely exhausting, especially for someone like me who was trained and used to flat courses. That was mile number 6. So, by the end of 10K, I was tired. There were a lot of other smaller hills, some of which I remember (Fort Mason) and some I didn't (at Golden Gate Park), but it was definitely challenging for me as well as many other runners. Secondly, the course was absolutely beautiful. I think that this is the one point everyone agreed. However, the first half of the marathon offered the most scenic route. Up to mile 18, it was nice. However, between mile 18 and 24, it ran through rather industrial and hence not very attractive areas. I talked to the organizers after lat year's marathon, but they had not changed it. I echo one of the other commenter's complaints about at time not very well marked route at those areas - too many turns. Nonetheless, it was not a major problem as I was in the middle of the pack. Third, I think the organization was wonderful. They had done a good job with registration, advertising at various health expos, sending me my free cap for registering early, and I didn't have any problem whatsoever before, during, or after the race from the administrative point. The medal was a major improvement from last year - it is big and actually useful as it is designed as a coaster. It is also much bigger than the 1/2 marathoners as it should be. I think we could use a few more water stations, but there were plenty of water and drink at the end. I also hoped that someone would check to make sure the sport drinks are made the same concentration - some are too watered down, and others are too concentrated. They could use more food at the end, like a real breakfast. Like last year, if you finish late, you were out of luck. Fourth, the weather was great - 55 degrees or so at the starting line, misty half of the way to really cool off the body, and possibly ended at 65 degrees. You couldn't find a better running weather anywhere. As for the crowd, it was few and sparse until the finishing line, but the people who came out were GREAT. I think the main problem is that this is not very well advertised in SF area, since quite a number of people, especially drivers, didn't realize there was a marathon and didn't like to wait as we crossed the street. Nonetheless, sometimes I actually enjoyed a quiet marathon like this - time for me to be alone. As for little comments, I wished for a bigger finishing line display as well as bigger clocks at the finishing line just for the kick. I wished for more photographers at better position - sometimes I ran around the curve and saw the photographers hiding right when I turned - not enough time to look photogenic. I wish the hills would be gone, but that's a fantasy. One last complaint is that, as an owner of the Championship Chip, I always had problem getting my result online. It seemed like they asked me my chip number just to amuse me, and when I saw the result, my name was not there until I fire a storm of emails. I checked the result today here - again, no name. Sigh... All in all, it was fabulous. San Franciscans, you should be proud of hosting a wonderful marathon like this. |
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