The San Francisco Marathon Race Report

Today was yet another early morning wake up call. But again, it was for a great reason-it was race day!! We met some other marathoners on their way to the starting line who were not first timers, but were first in a longtime-ers. They were really nervous and I realized I wasn't nervous at all. Number one, I had trained hard, in heat and humidity. Number two, I wasn't gunning for a PR. I just wanted to enjoy myself, take a ton of pictures, and I was OK with walking up the big hills if I had to, oh, and finish!

There was so much energy at the starting line. It wasn't as cold as I had expected and was already regretting the long sleeved shirt I was wearing. It was looking to be a clear morning and I knew it would get warm. Thankfully the marine layer stayed put for a couple of hours. 

Don't all those medals make you run a marathon?

We managed to find a long-time friend of my husband's in our corral who was in town from Houston to run the half marathon. We started on time and stopped to shake hands with Bart Yasso (who was announcing) before we crossed the start line. The race started out crowded and stayed crowded until probably the last mile. We ran past the Embarcadero, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiardelli Square, Chrissy Field, and on the Golden Gate Bridge. And that was all in the first 6 miles! The scenery in the first half of this race truly is spectacular. Somewhere early along the way, we met a gentleman named Chris who was running his second marathon. We ended up running the next 20+ miles with him. He's a meteorologist in the Navy, how cool is that?! I still have 2 careers left in my life and meteorology is one of them!

I should have made a pit stop for some chocolate!

The first amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and even better because I'm in it!

Crossing the bridge was extremely crowded. It was nearly impossible to pass anyone and shocking that we were able to maintain a steady pace. Regardless of the crowds, it was still an amazing experience. No matter how many times I run it, I will be on awe every time. 

As we came back across the bridge, we ran into this smiling face! 

Endorphin Dude was there giving out high fives and hugs. The marathon was a taper run for him, as he is running the Burning River 100 miler this week! Good luck Tony, you will crush it!

It was crowded and my feet were bothering me all through Golden Gate Park. We slowed our pace a bit to let me recover. 

And then I basically stopped taking pictures for a couple of reasons. All professional photos taken by the marathon are free this year!! And I realized that a PR was within reach. Who has time for a photo op when a PR at "The race even marathoners fear" was within reach. It wasn't going to be big, or even guaranteed, but I had to try. 

Finally, the crowds thinned out in the last mile or so. We were back to stunning views of the Bay Bridge and had sunny skies. I was pushing as hard as I could, but I was almost on empty. My feet hurt and my tummy was in knots. But as soon as I saw that finish line, I felt a surge of energy, excitement, and I kicked my way to a PR!!! 4:49:54!! I broke 4:50 and made a PR by almost 30 seconds. I was ecstatic! Our dear friend Chris made an almost 30 minute PR! Congrats to him!! Now, my Garmin says I ran a total of 26.5 miles, so I'm even more impressed with myself, but that goes to show you how much weaving we had to do through the other runners. 

The crowds grew again once we crossed the finish line. But we got our medals, grabbed a snack (the post race food choices were underwhelming, but I was able to get a banana), and went in search of our free beers. We stood in line for 10 minutes to get into the beer area, then found there was another long line to get to the beer. So we bailed. We said our goodbyes to Chris, met up with some friends, took some photos and called it a day!

Miles logged: 26.2