San Francisco Marathon

I ran my first marathon on 29th, July 2007 and completed the 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 42 minutes.  Finally, a fruitful end to 4 months of training I had been following from www.halhigdon.com.

SF Marathon is known for its scenic route and touted as the only race that runs on the road bed of Golden Gate bridge.  It is also the coolest summer marathon in the country.  I was in the wave that started at 6:00 am in the morning.  More than 15,000 runners register every year and due to the huge turnout, runners are grouped into waves based on their estimated finishing time (EFT). 

The race started near the ferry building situated along the San Francisco Bay.  Our pace for the first 5 miles was carefully controlled by our pace setter.  I still remember her words – “The first 10-15 miles – you run with your brain; not with your legs”.  All the excitement, the initial energy (both physical and mental) and the energy that you draw from the crowd would really tempt you to run faster.  An important tip was to use only 50% of your energy for the first 20 miles and the rest on the final 6.2 miles. 

The first 5 miles were along the bay, through the fisheman’s street.  The sky lighed up as we ran past the beach at Chrissy Field.  At mile 5, the climb towards the Golden Gate bridge started.  We could see only one of the suspension towers of the bridge, covered in thick fog, from the distance.

The bridge was the best part of the race.  I broke out from my pace group after we completed the bridge as I couldn’t control the temptation to run the down hill from the bridge towards the golden gate park.  We entered the park at mile 13 where the first half mathoners were finishing their race.  One of the volunteers was cheering - “you are doing good….you are half way there”!!!

Miles 13 – 18 was inside the park, looping through various paths inside the park along rose garden, Young museum, stow lake etc.   You could see all kinds of runners – a runner on bare feet with blood dripping from his feet, a newly wed couple running in their wedding dress, an 80 year old veteran whizing past you, a runner with only one leg  – everything around you was motivational.  This is also the segment of the race that the endurance you build during your training really helps you.

We exited the park to Haight street at mile 19 and the next few miles were through the crowded and hilly streets of San Francisco.  At mile 22, I kind of hit the wall.  The legs were sprained and I had to stop and stretch before continuing.  Our pace setter’s words came to mind again – “This is the part of the race that the thoughts about your family help you”.  Didn’t know what to think.  I was literally counting my steps during the last couple of miles, and chanting the names of my daughters at every step.  Left leg was “Diya” and the right was “Megha”.  I know it sounds funny, but it helped to distract the pain a little bit.  Had I known that the beer and wine they were serving at one of drink stops were to reduce the pain in your legs, I would have stopped there and gulped a whole keg.  I was wondering why they were serving a dehydrating drink during a marathon and came to know the reason only after the race.

The last two miles were again along the bay, past the SBC park.  There was a Giants game going on and we could hear the cheering from the park as we ran past the home of Giants.  The last .5 miles were never ending.  As I ran past the finish line, I remembered to look above, lift my arms and smile at the camera.  The timer on my GPS read 4:42:18.