The San Francisco Marathon - RunMarathon

This year, there were wave starts for the marathon. This seemed to work out much better than in past years when I’ve done the half and they didn’t have waves. I was at the front of the 4th wave, the 4:00-4:15 wave which starts with a 20 minute lag from the first wave. I debated starting with the 3:30-4:00 wave since I expected to finish in under 4:00, but that wave was so large that I figured I’d be better off starting at the front of the 4 th wave rather than at the back of the previous wave and having to navigate around people. This worked out well. It was bizarre starting off at the front of the wave because there was a small group of about 5 of us who basically had the streets to ourselves.

When my wife and I were still dating, she lived in the Marina and we used to do many runs all along this section of the marathon. This stretch was very familiar to me. I’m doing about an 8:30 pace and after about 3 or 4 miles, we start to catch up to the previous wave. There was a guy dressed up in full on centurion costume including helmet, sword, and shield.

I’m ready for the hills leading up the Golden Gate Bridge and maintain a steady pace. I was afraid it would be foggy, windy, and very cold on the bridge, but it was temperate, no fog, and just a bit of wind. Somewhere on the bridge, about mile 6 or 7 I started feeling a pain in my left knee and hip. I’m not sure where this came from because all year, I never had a problem on my left side. It was especially painful on anything going downhill at all. As I was on the bridge coming back, I began to seriously question whether or not I could finish.

I worried about what the so many others that I had told that I was doing a marathon would think. I worried about how I would meet up with my wife afterward. I worried about what damage I would cause to body if I continued. I worried about disappointing myself on my first marathon.

I had to stop for a bit on the bridge and walk and give my left side of my body a break. After I got off the bridge, I had to walk for a bit again. At the next aid station, I decided to take a little extra time, go the bathroom, and walk a bit more. After that, I continued to run (questionable decision # 3).

After all the uphill, we now had a big stretch of downhill. Normally, this would be a fun stretch to relax a bit the muscles I used going uphill and to pick up some speed and time on others. In this case, it was agonizing. I tried to adjust my gait to minimize impact and to keep my leg motion as horizontal as possible. I figured I could make a decision at the halfway point and decide what to do.

We went up and down through the Richmond to get to Golden Gate Park. This is where the half marathoners split from the marathoners. Somewhere around mile 12, most of the pain in my left knee and hip went numb, maybe endorphins kicking in. I’m not sure if that was a good or bad sign, but it was enough to let me continue (questionable decision # 4). My split for the first 13.1 was about 1:55. I’m mildly disappointed, but I know this race is going to be a bit more about survival than any other I’ve run.

Somewhere in the park, I find this tall woman in a red top who worked as the perfect pace booty for me (thank you tall woman in the red top). She was going at the same pace as I was. I’d go a little faster on the downhill, she’d go a little faster on the uphill, I’d go faster on the flats, she’d go a little faster through the aid stations.

Marathoners had to wind around in the park through some ups and downs and back to where the halfs finished and then head out through the Haight. This is about mile 19 or 20. The guy with the huge spiky Mohawk passes me (I’d see this guy running in park every weekend. Can’t miss him) me. My muscles don’t think it’s fun running uphill at this point, but it’d be worse if we were coming from the other direction.


I walk through all the aid stations. I want to give my legs, knees, and hips a small break. It feels good to slow down, but the price is the pain of having to start up again. There are a good number of people who are walking for stretches at a time. It’s interesting how that when things are physically extreme, it’s very mentally extreme. It takes a small triumph of the grey matter over the meat to keep going. Call me vain, but I wanted to be able to say I ran a marathon so I refused to walk.

Somewhere around mile 23, the 2nd half marathoners are starting to pass and they are fast. Near mile 24, some 5K folks are flying by. At this time though, the end is tangibly near. At the last water stop, I took a bit of extra time to walk through the station. My pace booty got a bit ahead of me. I didn’t know if I could catch up.

At this point, my legs are exhausted that any perturbations in the road are tricky to navigate. Stepping up onto a curb or down from one is dangerous since I don’t know if my legs will buckle. I try to only transition from curb to road using ramps. We wind around behind the ballpark.

Spectators keep telling us how close we are. One tells us to keep our eye on the bridge (the Bay Bridge) and that the finish is just beyond that. I keep looking at my watch to see if I’m going to make it under 4:00. It’s going to be close. My pace has slowed down so much that I know I have to pick it up for this last bit. With about half a mile to go, I catch up to my pace booty. Her SO has joined her on the course and is running with her to give her encouragement. I run by them. I keep running and the end is so near in sight. There are crowds here and I want to finish strong. I’m getting very close now and I see the race clock and it’s nearing 4:20, which would mean a 4:00 finish for me. It’s at 4:19:51 and ticking. I sprint the last bit and cross as the clock reads 4:19:59, which means I finished in just under 4:00 hours.

I’m exhausted and now that I start walking, I feel all the pain of my hips, knees, and my feet. I’m limping. I get my medal, have my timing chip taken off, and walk the stands to start replenishing with food and drink.

This was really tough. Although I was prepared to run this distance, it still was tough and the pains I had made it agonizing at times. I’m sore and it’s hard to walk, but I’m a marathoner now. This experience didn’t make me want to go and immediately sign up for another marathon, but I’m sure in time I will. My finish time was bittersweet – I’m glad I finished in under 4 hours, but I know I have a faster one in me. I’ll just have to train smarter and stay injury free.

Place Overall: 1087 out of 4021
Men: 892 out of 2693
M 35-39: 186 out of 501
AgeGrade: 53.61% Place: 1491

FINISH: 3:59:57 pace: 9:10
7.4 Miles: 1:04:05 pace: 8:33
Half: 1:54:21 pace: 8:44
20.9 Miles: 3:08:32 pace: 9:07

Chip Time: 3:59:57 Gun Time: 4:19:59