Rock ‘n’ Roll San Francisco Half Marathon

This is my 4^th Half Marathon and my first R n R half. I went to the Expo at Moscone on Friday around 4pm and there weren’t that many people around. There was a lot of the usual, runners energy bars, drinks and gels samples but no full size samples were given out, compared to other Expos I’ve been to previously. Wait, I did get a bottle of Electro Life coconut water, which was really good and only coz I asked for it when I saw someone asked for it too. Also, they were taking 2017 registrations and were giving out free tees whilst supplies last.
The race was great; it began 6.30am along the Great Highway with 13 chorals. It was still dark and pretty chilly. The beginning of the course had some hills but the killer hill was the one approaching the GGB. It was a big one. There were some deadlines where you have to be at the entrance of the GGB by 7.45am, so they can open up the road. At the turnaround, there was a band playing and at mile 10 they were giving out Glukos gels and gummies. Along the Presidio, there were a couple of bands playing, but I was too focusing on running, to enjoy the music. Around Fisherman’s wharf area, there were a few more hills and then finally when you get on Polk; it’s pretty much the home stretch. Overall, there were adequate restrooms and water stations along the way, including a couple of Gatorade stations too.
At the finish line, you get your medal, an area where you have your photo taken and then you pick up your water, Gatorade, banana, chocolate milk and power bar. Trouble was, trying to hold on to everything on the way out. Luckily there was a lady passing out plastic bags as you come out. The Finish party was in the Civic Plaza, Mr. and Mrs. were playing on the stage. To be honest, I’ve never heard of them but their music was good. You get a free beer at the beer garden and the coupon is on your bib. You can also get your medal engraved for $ 20. A couple of booths were giving full samples of Suja juices and Noose yogurts, which was welcoming, as the weather heated up when the sun came out. I got home on Muni which was conveniently located one block away. A great race and worth looking into!

As far as views, this course is pretty impressive, however there is a lack of entertainment along the way (I guess from zoning laws in the presidio along the course). Also the part across the bridge is painfully narrow and this unfortunately seems to be the part that people seem to forget they are signed up for a race. Overall it was well organized and I’m excited to eventually sign up for another rock and roll.

Favorite course! Amazing views! Best four miles ever!
But first– «coolest!» fundraiser — Drew Thompson, a Transamerica (race sponsor) employee began the race LAST and was pledged $ 1.00 for every runner he passed to be donated to St Jude’s Children’s hospital. This guy passed 5,751 people. That’s uphill fun.
The «best four miles ever!» is running the Golden Gate Bridge. (GGB)
I’ve done five cities now in the RnR series and San Francisco turns out — my favorite course. I figured I’d love running the GGB but I was skeptical about the hills. I learned that I’m truly an uphill beast. Downhills kill my IT bands, so I was careful to control the descents — I’m not one who can make up time on downhills, but then again, I’m not in it for the «time» but for the fitness, friends, the energy and the views.
And this course was views! I highly recommend it despite some of the inconveniences like the shuttle business and the blazingly early start (6:30 am with last shuttle departing at 5:45 am). The «getting to the start» is generally my biggest hurdle so I stayed downtown, within walking distance to the shuttles. The school bus ride over there went smoothly and there was no issue with starting on time. I was actually the most surprised by the rowdiness at four-​something a.m. of the street people on/​around Market. Once to Ocean Beach — it was beautiful.
Kudos to the amazing singer of the National Anthem. I’d just seen many task forces and service animals at both the start and finish, and was reminded at just how much goes in to ensuring safety at big events.
As for the course– my advice if you’re slower and/​or wanting to take time anywhere pre-​GGB, sign up for the early start. I didn’t but then we played around taking photos and only when I overheard «yeah, must be at the Bridge by 7:45» did I realize — around mile 3 point «move your butt» that it was time to move.
I loved around mile 9 too, where you look back on the GGB. Course support was pretty good, I didn’t even care on this one about lack of bands (but agreed, cheesy «headphone» giveaway.)
Not much to comment on about the Expo except that it served its purpose, was light on giveaways but convenient at the Moscone Center. The finish area (Civic Center) was gorgeous and the American Authors (band) was excellent.
I highly recommend you check out this run.

Scant entertainment & much of what they had seemed quite amateur. Definitely doesn’t capture the spirit of the city or seem like a top notch event (eg, BSIM).

The race contacted me and refunded my registration fee as well as offered free entry for next year. I will give them credit for making the effort!

This is my 8^th half marathon and 2^nd RnR race. I have to say it is by far the most beautiful course I have ever ran! The event was well organized and the band at the finish line «American Authors» was awesome! I will definitely do it again next year!
The only thing weird is that my time turned out 2 full minutes slower than what’s shown on my Strava tracking system. I understand the mileage may be slightly different (mine shows 13.4 miles) but the time should be consistent..

This was my first Rock and Roll race (about 7,000 runners). I loved the course! I trained on the course for my long runs (I took an über out there to Ocean Beach and Fulton and ran back home). I knew every turn but I still overran the race by 0.26 miles (maybe it was the gps?). I still got my goal time of under two hours so I was happy. There are a lot of good downhills where you can catch your time — down Fort Point to the Marina green, the flat to Fort Mason and then down to the finish after Russian Hill.
This race would get 5 stars if the photos were free. Photos are $ 60+ and they try to sell you the photos at a lower price at the expo. The photos should be FREE like the SF Marathon, Berkeley Half and the Nike Women’s Half. It’s tacky to charge for photos.
Lots of complainers about the parking situation and missing the last shuttle etc. My patience on race morning is very short and I need full focus and didn’t want to deal with the shuttle racket so I took Über. At 4:50 a.m. while eating my bagel and coffee, Über was surging at 2.0x but ten minutes later, it was only 1.5x (cost around $ 40 but it was well worth it considering parking was pretty expensive at Civic Center). It only took me 23 minutes from AT&T park to get to Ocean Beach via 280 and there was no traffic. I wanted to start my warmup mile at 6a but I got there at 5:30a so I had plenty of time to go to the port o potty, check out the start and warm up.
Other options — Lyft line was only $ 18.99. Über pool was only $ 7 and you could’ve carpooled with someone going to the start. My plan B was to drive my car to the start and pick it up later by taking an Über pool there. If you’re driving in locally, park somewhere in the Outer Richmond and walk or take and Über after your park by Golden Gate Park. On the way back from the finish line, Muni/​Bart was a short walk so you could park near the Muni line to get back to your car.
One thing I regret was not getting my medal engraved (on the back it has a spot for your name and finish time). I’m not sure if it was free but if it was, I regret it! I went home ASAP to shower instead.
I went to the expo later in the day the day before the race. The samples at the expo were sparse and stingy (half full sample cups about a teaspoon) and there were no samples of full products other than the GNC booth (shout out to them for being the most knowledgeable with their products). The free headphones (in lieu of the bands that can’t play in the wee hours in the residential areas) were the ones that cost a dime to make and make your ears hurt since they have no padding (think the old game boy headphones from the 80s). I have no idea why they gave out these headphones. At the end of the race, Sambazon was giving away boxes of Acai smoothies to anyone because they had too many — they should have been more generous at the expo.
At the finish, they gave out a lot of liquid but didn’t have much food. Gatorade bottles with the fancy tops that were hard to take the plastic off, Nesquick, Trumoo, water, and Sambazon. They had some bananas and bagels. I didn’t see the ice bath until when I came back after my shower but ask for an ice bath if you need it!
I believe I paid $ 65 for this race and it was well worth it! If you haven’t done this one yet, it’s a must do! The Livermore Half is the day before so be careful in planning if you don’t want to run right after the other.

This was my third time running a half that crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, my second RNR, but my first time ever running this race! People, this is a good one. The views are breathtaking and out of all the GGB courses I’ve done, this one is probably my favorite. I may be biased because the start is only a couple of miles from where I live and in a nice section of the park where there is tons of parking (so I never dealt with the shuttles for this race), but seriously, it doesn’t get much better than approaching the bridge and seeing the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean. It helped that the start time is early and that the weather was perfect too (and with the exception of miles 8−10ish, the sun isn’t in your face once it does come up). As for hills, I didn’t think the one in the Presidio was bad at all (and I did zero hill training unless you count those times I had to sprint uphill on Judah to catch the MUNI) but if you check the stats, most people (even the elite runners) had their pace slow down by 3 – 4 min/​mi. Still, it’s a small hill and if you power through it, it ends pretty quickly (same with the hill around mile 11). If you want a real hill, check out the La Jolla Half!
With any RNR race, you know you’re going to get a large crowd, but everything was super well organized in spite of all this (this was also my experience with San Diego RNR). There was never an issue with water and aid stations, plenty of porter potties at the start, finish, and throughout the course, and at the end of mile 6 at Vista Point there was even a selfie booth. Along with the usual corrals, they gave slower runners the option of starting 15 minutes earlier than everyone else so that they have a good shot of making it across the bridge (since the cutoff time to close this part of the course is strict). I thought that was really nice. Also, I just got an email about our photos – RNR got all our photos online in about 24 hours after the race! That’s incredible!!! I also had a great time at the expo, although I did expect a bit more swag (same with the post-​race vendors), and I loved the shirts this year!
Some minor minuses are that compared to other races I’ve ran – and especially since it is an RNR – I was surprised by the lack of community spirit, cheering, and bands/​music. Then again, the views throughout the course are so amazing I’m not sure it matters, but the post-​race atmosphere definitely seemed a bit lackluster (and at 9AM, there still wasn’t any band playing at the Civic Center Plaza!). Then again, I don’t care much for these things and peaced out as soon as I got my medal and swag. Overall, great experience and definitely a race I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to run over the iconic Golden Gate Bridge!

Today was my first time I did this run. It was poorly done. Not fun at all. I thought it will have bands and music and fun. None of those. There were 3 bands playing and that’s it! Nike had 3 times more music and it was not rock and roll theme at all.
I don’t know if it was because companies don’t want to deal with this marathon’s bad publicity… Since as I know, this marathon does not donate money to any charity and does it for itself (if anything left). Shame.
So yeah, this was my first and last time.

What an awesome race. The organizers put together a great expo with easy access to the Moscone Center. Bus pick up at the Civic Center was quick. The starting line was cold, but there was a sizable number of porta potties at the start. The wave start was well organized and most of the 11,000 participants were in the correct corrals.
I’ve run several halves and this race is one of the most scenic. Just make sure to do a lot of hill repeats in your training and you’ll be fine.
I have to give extra kudos to the race volunteers whose enthusiasm and cheers at the water stations kept us going. There was also a SFPD cop who helped me pass through as I had fallen behind in the course. He even shouted at an impatient driver who tried to get through the course. Thanks for watching my back as the lactic acid was crushing my quads!

My first RnR of the 2014 race year!
Race packet pick up was a breeze once you got to the expo at the Moscone Center. We came on Friday so it wasn’t busy which was nice. Lots of samples and got to talk to some of the booths.
This is my 3^rd SF half marathon in 3 years, and I was excited to run the SF bridge again. I wasn’t too sure what to expect weather-​wise, but I did bring alternative clothing to run in. I brought the cool wintery/​rainy/​breezy outfit, and the summer booty short and tank top outfit. Given my previous 2 years, it was either really cold/​windy or drizzly. OH BOY, this was going to be fun. Turns out, the weather was perfect! Could have ran in shorts and a tank, but I opted to run in pants, tank and windbreaker.
Race morning, we were shuttled from the Finish Line at Civic Center Park to the Start near the beach. The shuttles were ample and very well organized. The ride did take about 30 mins and seemed far! Once we got to the beach, it was windy. Lots of port-​o-​potties in the parking lot and the start had the corrals clearly marked. No one was checking bibs with corrals and I did find this race smaller than other races I’ve participated in, especially for a RnR. It was actually nice to have the room!
We all started at the end of corral 2, as my goal was about 2:15, and off we went. HOLY CRAP! As soon as we turned the first corner and within the first quarter mile of the race, there were hills! WTF?! NOT expected. From then on, I knew the course was going to be tough.
The first half of the course to include the bay bridge was really nice! I enjoyed the scenery through the nice extravagant neighborhoods and spectacular views. I wanted to stop and take pics but was wanting a good time. The bridge was cool, but had a hard time with spacing. Some people decided to start walking and didn’t move out of the way. It was hard to maneuver with 1 lane for runners back and forth across the bridge.
The second half of the course I didn’t care for. It was all city streets and it seemed as though it was the same scenery over and over. OH and the hills! YIKES!!! You think you’re over one hill and, you turn the corner, there’s another. O hai — another hill!
I wasn’t too impressed with the acts/​bands along the way. Luckily, I had my own music to concentrate on my run. The first couple «acts» were like Cirque du Soleil? Ok, weird, but thanks for coming out!
I like the downhill to the finish. We were given lots of goodies at the end — MMMM Cheez Its and Chocolate Milk!
The bands at the post-​race celebration were awesome. We hung around for about an hour or so to listen, and they were fab! The weather was perfect and I had some really cool runner friends that I shared this experience with.
Fun, but super hilly. Probably the 2^nd most challenging hilly race I’ve done. Temecula Half is 1^st, this is 2^nd, and La Jolla Half is my 3^rd.
Next RnR is in San Diego, my hometown! WHOO HOOOOOO!!!
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STATS:
Overall Place 3131
Chip Time 02:11:56

This was my first half marathon and the idea of running on the Golden Gate Bridge with my gal-​pals on a healthy getaway is what sold me.
The expo was a nice size and they had some fun boothes. I purchased some running sunglasses (anti-​fog) for a great price: $ 25 and so cute too! And my fave expo deal was the watermelon Nuun hydration tablets. Buy 3 tubes and I got a free nuun water bottle.
It seemed like a super-​organized event. At check in, I decided to switch to an earlier corral to give me some insurance time to get to the Golden Gate prior to cut-​off/​detour 7:50am deadline as I was concerned about the hills impacting my time. (This was the only bummer and the reason I rated it 4 star: my friend didn’t make the cut off and got detoured and it was a huge disappointment. For me, it was a stresser as a major hill preceded the entrance to the Golden Gate. I made it comfortably in the end, but was concerned the entire beginning of the race. I was only able to relax once I got onto the bridge. I think it wasn’t fair that when we registered there was no mention of a cut off time. They did inform us prior to the race, but that might have been a factor for some folks.)
The actual race course was magnificent. GORGEOUS views and killer hills. Running the bridge was a dream… they closed some car lanes for us to run on, and we even got to have fun hi-​fiving the runners ahead of us. All in all, a wonderful experience and a bucket list item completed.
Here are some related links (I share sentimentally…)
The official course video
Preview article link that describes some sites along the run:

As my first half-​marathon, I couldn’t have been more happy with this event!
Very well-​organized as others have mentioned. Started on time with clear indications of which corral lined up where. Though it was super duper cold in the beginning (since the race started at 6:30am…makes sense), the run around golden gate bridge aligned almost perfectly with the sunrise… so pretty… perhaps that was part of the event planners’ plan all along:)
Past by an eclectic bunch of the neighborhoods/​landmarks in SF, including the Richmond, Fort Mason/​Crissy Fields, Golden Gate Bridge, Russian Hill, Civic Center, and even a slice of the TL (which is an integral part of the SF experience/​community). With each passing, there were volunteers, family members, and just the overall community cheering us on with entertaining signs (Some of my favorites included one that said «Run faster! We’re waiting for you for brunch!»…and «Run like you’re in the Hunger Games!») The constant support from the crowd helped push me forward and smile with each mile (hey…that rhymes!)
At the finish line, finishers were immediately greeted with a bunch of free snacks, like chocolate milk (from many different vendors… you had to choose one though… makes sense and stereotypical «good» for post-​races), powerbars, gummybears, bananas, water, and gatorade. Best of all though, you got a hefty «Finisher’s MEDAL»…cool…
Though I was honestly super nervous about doing this, I am so happy I did and am encouraged to do more Half-​Marathons! This one fosho next year! (no fulls for me though. not at this time)

Having missed the inaugural RnR Half/​SF last year, was happy to enter this year’s version. Smoothly operated – from the attendant parking lot off Van Ness to short waits for the shuttle buses to take us to Ocean Beach along the Great Highway (the bus route through GG Park will even remind you of the Bay to Breakers course next month). As other reviewers have noted, the course is a buttkicker – with the first hill climb coming past the first half mile.
Those familiar with the SF Marathon in July would recognize the route approaching the GG Bridge from the oceanside – except it’s all uphill! An abundance of runners took the opportunity for scenic selfies. It was cold and miserable as late as Friday in the Bay Area and the weather turned magnificent for Sunday.
The run continues over and back across the GG Bridge. Was disappointed the route did not lead all the way to the Vista Point, which would’ve been a nicer turnaround. If I’m docking the race a star, I’m in agreement with those reviewers wondering where all the Rock n’ Roll was, especially in the early miles where we were greeted by jugglers (?). Nothing against jugglers and guys on stilts, but it wasn’t as festive as I expected, especially compared to the six mile Wharf-​to-​Wharf race in Santa Cruz.
Things did kick in as you neared the the finish line, starting with the gang from Sports Basement at the Marina Green. The course remained challenging with several hill negotiations – many runners (including yours truly with a quad cramp) were walking at this point, though the long slow straightaway towards the finish allowed us to gather for one more kick across.
The pre-​race expo at Moscone Center was as good as or better than most and nice to get your shirt then than having to wait in a post-​race line.

One of the hardest course! But much better scenic course compared to 2013.
This is my 5^th Rock n Roll half event and 2^nd RnR for 2014. Going for the Heavy Medals this year :) The course was updated to start from Golden Gate park to the Golden Gate Bridge to the Civic Center. Much better route than up to GG Bridge from Fort Mason and back.
Weather was great and the GG Bridge wasn’t as windy compared to 2013. Also this year on the GG Bridge, 3 lanes on the bridge was blocked off for runners, instead of running on the side with traffic. Overall, the hills were hard but coming back home to run SF was great. Time to heal up and run RnR Raleigh on Sunday.

2014.
We start together, we finish together.
— organized
— hardest course (eat hills for breakfast)
— awesome medal
— bridge. Nice view bad idea
2:35 with injury. Had I not got injured I would have hit 2:20. Had I trained I would have hit 2:10. Overall, it was great!
That course was BONKERS!!! It was tough, many hills. But a good butt kicker. The bridge was annoying… The path was too small and walkers affected people’s time. It was one of my close friends first time running and damn proud of her. She has come a long ass way. She trained and dieted very well and I admire her for that. I wish I had done the same. I didn’t train for anything, I didn’t dedicate any train time or good diet habits (my fault), and at the end my latae muscle wasn’t being nice to me.
GIVE US CREDIT!!! We are proud. She, who could barely run a mile over a year ago ran 13.1 and beat her predicted time by 25 minutes on the toughest course with major hills. I, who does run but didn’t train and was sick days before the race was minutes shy from my hill prediction time. At 11.2 my latae muscle was shooting pain to my right hip. Gimp-​running the last couple miles… But with encouragement from her we finished… Holding hands like lesbians! Lol. That’s what good friends do! Start together, lose each other in the middle, finish together. Be there for each other and finish strong.
Impossible is possible. I’m possible.
FYI, I promise myself to NEVER run a race I never trained for ever again in my life. Especially a tough course like this. I am tripping… but we finished at 2:35!!! Pretty good for both our stories. WE ARE WINNERS!

My first observation was that the SF Rock ‘n Roll is fairly small compared to other Rock ‘n Roll races. There’s were only about 6,000 — 7,000 people. But in retrospect it makes sense. The starting area in Fort Mason is very compact. Also, at many points of the course the path comes pretty narrow.
Overall, I’d say I enjoyed the course itself. It’s relatively flat and takes you along the water, across the Golden Gate Bridge and back. Don’t worry, there’s none of those crazy stereotypical San Francisco hills where Sean Connery is driving a stolen Hummer through the city while being chased by Nicolas Cage in Ferrari.
Now I could be getting senile or I could have just been zoned out… but the most odd thing is that it’s a Rock ‘n Roll series race which are known for having bands everywhere, yet I only remember seeing 2 or 3 bands along the way. This is not counting the guys banging on trash cans. When you finally get to the end, there’s no bands or party and the beer garden is a cramped area between 2 buildings with Red Bull sized cans of Michelob Ultra.

I ran this race mostly because I signed up for the Rock n’ Roll Tour Pass. It was also the day after I had run the Hollywood Half Marathon. The race had recently been acquired by Competitor Group to become part of the Rock n’ Roll series.
The expo was at the Moscone Center. I thought that the location was very convenient, much better than that God awful location that the SF Marathon uses each year. It’s your typical Rock n’ Roll race expo. Picking up your race packet was a breeze as well as buying any last minute races items.
I stayed in the Union Square area and it was a long hilly hike to the starting line. I did not see anybody during my early morning walk. Most people had someone or a taxi drop them off near the starting area. That would definitely be the recommended way to get to the race. Or you could stay in a hotel in the Fisherman’s Wharf area.
The starting area had bagels, banana, and water if you had forgotten to eat some breakfast. They also had plenty of portapotties near the gear check area as well as next to the starting corrals. I never waited more than 5 minutes to use one.
The course was easy on the eyes but it was a challenging course. Most of the hills were at the beginning climbing up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Running across the bridge along the sidewalk was a different experience than running on the roads. It was nice that some of the race course was on trails or dirt roads. Much easier on tired legs after pounding the hard cement while running across the bridge. I also loved the location of the finish line. You could see it in the distance as you neared the Aquatic Park.
Concerning on-​course entertainment, we were notified via email that they were not allowed to set up stages for rock n’ roll bands all along the course because of rules and restrictions. It sounded like they would be altering the course next year to accommodate bands. They did give the pace group leaders a very small handheld portable boombox to play music.
Bottom line: This was a well organized race with a beautiful course. I would run it again.

Having only run one half before, I don’t have much to compare with this. (with that said…)
The expo was really great — lots of swag and great booths. i ended up purchasing some sole supports that were SUPER helpful and I’m currently wearing my nicole scherzinger nails which are awesome!
also day-​of was pretty smooth — no issues with getting my gear bag checked in or using the bathroom. I don’t think they really regulated the corrals either, but people were more or less orderly.
In terms of the race itself, this race was GORGEOUS — and I really doubt there are others that would have such a diverse feast for the eyes that continues throughout the whole course.
It was pretty hilarious too — everyone was stopping to take pictures– especially by the bridge. I wonder what people would have done if this were still the era of no smartphones.
I liked how, in general, diverse the course was. There were a few killer hills, some dirt paths, both paved and cemented runways, and of course the bridge. The variety helped the miles pass quickly because pretty much as soon as you finished a hill, you were almost done with the mile.
The set up of the water stations were done well too.
However, there were seriously NO BANDS there. One band was setting up as I was getting there (and I was in the 12^th corral — so everyone ahead of me heard nothing), and the other band was .8 miles before the finish line. There were some street musicians drumming which helped increase the morale, but it was sort of sad how as you ran and waited for music, there was none to be found. Furthermore, the sound systems kind of stunk so as soon as you heard the band, once you ran about ¹⁄₁₀^th of a mile, you’d already be out of earshot of the band!
Also what was UP with having that humongo hill at the END of the race? Did you WANT people’s times to die and for people’s will and good humor to shrivel up like a raisin in the sun?
Gosh!
The hills do kill the knees a bit too.
oh and. I guess this isn’t something RnR can control, but people were a bit more. selfish during this race. I’m used to lots of positive vibes, verbal encouragement, people running on the right, passing on the left, etc. Here, it was eerily quiet, people just running, and lots of people sort of running and then stopping, running and stopping. That sucked a LOt on the bridge when things got a bit more crowded.
Fun sights/​memories:
«Run now, poo later; never trust a fart» — sign
«Worst parade ever» — sign
a man running barefoot
a man in an Elvis costume
a man wearing nothing but a black speedo skirt
All in all, I had a good time. OH and the nike shirts are pretty cool and simple imHo.

Of the 62 half marathons I’ve completed to date the inaugural Transamerica Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon held this past Sunday would definitely rank in the top 5 in terms of scenery.
Add to that a challenging course, near perfect logistics and a gift from Mother Nature in ideal running weather and you have an amazing inaugural event.
Maybe because I live and train in San Francisco I generally don’t participate in too many San Francisco running events. It’s not to say I don’t like running in my own city, but after nearly 30 years of running here everything just seems so familiar. I registered for this race simply based on the history of the event organizers after enjoying so many of their rock and roll themed events in San Diego, Virginia Beach, Los Angeles, San Jose, Las Vegas, San Antonio and Pasadena just to name a few.
This one was a bit different. Rock ‘n’ Roll races are generally known for fun races featuring lots of music and spirit teams to cheer on participants along the course and a very high number of race participants. Having worked in the race management field myself for the past 20 years I knew I wasn’t going to see much of either of that for this event. Since the majority of the race was run on national park land getting permits for bands to play along the route was probably impossible, and since this race involved running on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge I knew well in advance that the participant field would be capped at a very specific number. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area folks are very strict on their rules. Heck, events organizers can’t even display logos of event sponsors if the logo can be seen by non-​event visitors. To my recollection there were exactly two bands, three spirit teams and a pair of drummers along the entire race route, and since there were only 5800 finishers I’m assuming the cap for this sold out race was somewhere around 6500.
None of that bothered me though because the sheer beauty of this race course fueled my every step. Since I’m not a fast runner I tend to use my surroundings as motivation to get me from mile to mile. The out and back course starts at the foot of Van Ness Avenue near Aquatic Park and climbs uphill almost immediately winding past Fort Mason and the Marina Green before heading directly into the Presidio National Park. There are some awesome climbs with spectacular views inside the park as participants take a long, winding trek up to the pedestrian sidewalk of the Golden Gate Bridge. Participants cross over the bridge to the Marin side then take the trail at the vista point to go underneath the bridge and back up to the bicycles only sidewalk for their return journey back into San Francisco taking in picturesque views of the Presidio, Fort Point, San Francisco Bay, the Marina for a second time, Fort Mason and finally, Aquatic Park for the sprint to the finish line.
Mile markers were easily visible throughout the course. Aid stations with exuberant volunteers were easily located and medical stations were highly visible just in case they were needed.
I tend to prepare for races differently when I’m at home as opposed to when I’m traveling so taking a cue from my most recent half marathon run in Sacramento three weeks ago I prepared differently for this race and treated it like a road trip. I even stayed in a local hotel on the night before the race to prepare myself mentally, and it all worked out. Given that this was a much tougher course in terms of elevation changes the fact that my time was only one minute slower than my time of three weeks ago was quite pleasing.
Competitor Group, thanks for an amazing inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll event in San Francisco. You just might see me running in this San Francisco running event on a regular basis.
Note: If you’re planning to run in future Rock’ n’ Roll San Francisco ½ Marathons don’t procrastinate. Sign up early because I have a feeling this race will sell out early year after year.