Friday, July 31, 2009

San Francisco Marathon
San Francisco, California
Sunday, July 26, 2009

The San Francisco Marathon was held on Sunday, July 26, 2009. The temperature ranged from 55 to 65 degrees with some breeze and much fog. The course began on the water front near the Bay Bridge and proceeded past the many piers. This allowed for a view of Alcatraz through the fog. Next came a steep up and down at Fort Mason, followed by a flat section until Crissy Field. Then a steep mile let to the Golden Gate Bridge. The four mile trip back and forth across the Golden Gate Bridge was through the fog and hid both the top of the bridge and the water in the bay below. A steep down hill for the next mile and a half went through the Presido. The next mile and a half featured many hills. This was followed by six miles of twisting gradual hills through the Golden Gate Park. The next mile and a half mainly went down Haight Street in the Haight-Asbury District although there was some up hills also. Mile 21 featured an extremely steep down hill. From there to mile 24 the course was mostly gradually down hill with a few up hills to keep it challenging. The last 2 miles were mostly flat, passing along the bay and the AT&T Stadium. The finish line was near the start line near the Bay Bridge. When I reached the finish line, my friend, Bart Yasso of Runner’s World, gave me a high-five and announced me as I crossed the finish.
Water-Cytomax stations were located every two miles and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers; however, the cup used were very small and held only 2-3 ounces of liquid which was not enough for a person who sweats as much as I do. The traffic was excellently controlled by police and other city workers.
The event was completely sold out with 21000 in the marathon, two half marathons, and 5k. Parking for the exposition was hard to find and parking in San Francisco in general is extremely expensive. I enjoyed week long my trip to San Francisco.

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