Results of the Oakland Half-Marathon race (Oakland Marathon 2026): Chip Elapsed Time 2:59:18; Overall Pace 13:41/mile; Age Place 137th (M45 - 49, of 156); Gender Place 1,526th (of 1,692); Overall Place 2,580th (of 2,960).
Hotel & Parking
Parking overnight was in the lower level of the Alexan Wester Garage. We had no troubles. Used ParkMobile, paying a flat-rate fee through midnight Saturday, then paying a flat-rate fee through midnight Sunday when we woke up. It does not allow canceling the ParkMobile session, so we just let it expire on Sunday at midnight and that was that.
Hotel this year was one night at the Kissel Uptown Oakland hotel. The lobby was a bit stuffy. Staff seemed oppressed by the stuffy temperatures but helpful. It seems we had vouchers for a drink at the bar, and some other discounts, but we chose to ignore them. Instead we ate dinner at Lula Restaurant (Ethiopian). It was about a 10-minute walk, and we tried the chicken tibs (Dawn) and vegetarian combo (me). Just a few other people, so it was quiet. The TV played soccer I think, and music was international pop. When we checked out the bartender/waitress asked us if we spoke Amharic 🤔 She was chatting with a man at the bar and perhaps was talking about sensitive topics?
Race Day
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| Pre-race, walking along Lake Merritt in pre-dawn light |
Crows cawed at us from trees as we walked to the starting line. Weather was clear and slightly cool but comfortable.
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| In corral at 7:04 a.m. waiting for our wave to start |
Arrived at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts around 6:30 a.m. A fluffy white dog reminded us of one from a previous year (maybe the same?). MC's for the pre-race identified themselves as Piper from Bay FC and Michelle (?) Dawn felt energized as the speakers began blasting Journey's 1981 hit Don't Stop Believin'.
Ran the first 2 miles without stopping. Passed Clinton Square, the Little Saigon neighborhood arch on East 12th Street, Franklin Park, and back to Lake Merritt.
On Grand, we passed by Tupac Shakur Way and Eastshore Park, then under Interstate 580 (I-580). The Grand Lake Theatre greeted us as the sun crested its roofline.
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| Grand Lake Theater, Oakland |
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| Grand Lake Theater, Oakland - Sinners is back, not sure if 70mm print 🤔 |
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Grand Lake Theater, Oakland, on the way back downtown |
At Elwood Avenue (~2.5 mile mark) we began one of a handful of steep ascents. A short distance later another short climb (Vernon Street, I think) brought us to the course height of ~180 feet. Then a steep descent down toward the edge of Morcom Rose Garden, then a turn onto Monte Vista Avenue and descending, finally dumping out onto Piedmont Avenue.
The Piedmont Theatre had a quote, "The language of film is universal, as is the love for our popcorn" 🌟
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| Piedmont Theatre, Oakland - "The language of film is universal, as is the love for our popcorn" 💜 |
Piedmont seemed to have lots of eclectic small storefronts. Circled Piedmont Avenue Elementary School and retraced our steps back down Piedmont Avenue.
Spectator Books' storefront tickled me, so grabbed a few photos. E.g., Jean-Luc Picard cardboard cutout saying "There are four rooms", and Dawn noticing the door had a poster for Assata Shakur.
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| Spectator Books window and door displays 🖖 |
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| Spectator Books window and door displays 🖖 |
The course returned us to Grand Avenue by the Grand Lake Theatre. I was able to snap a photo of the Tupac Shakur Way sign.
At this point we had completed roughly half of the half marathon. Still felt pretty good.
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| Tupac Shakur Way commemorative plaque near Eastshore Park |
Returning to Lake Merritt, we ran on the north side. Staff of Fairyland had temporarily remodeled their signage to honor 2026 Winter Olympics gold-medal figure skater Alyssa Liu, an Oakland native.
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| Children's FairyLiu - temporary rebranding of Fairyland to honor 2026 Winter Olympics gold-medal figure skater Alyssa Liu |
We noticed a pair of runners in our "pace cohort", playing leapfrog with them a bit. I.e., we'd run, pass them, take a walk break, then they'd pass us. One wore a handmade sign honoring the recent passing of
American Olympian and run/walk advocate Jeff Galloway, who died at the age of 80 on February 25, 2026. She eventually fell back or sped ahead, and we lost sight of her. However, we recognized her companion as a woman we had also kept pace with during the 2025 San Francisco marathon (City Half) 🙂 We think she recognized us too, as she later briefly said hello and we exchanged a pleasant but short conversation before she continued past the half-marathon turnaround point at Bush Street.
Speaking of the half-marathon turnaround, I randomly found the social media account of the volunteer stationed there, telling marathon runners to keep going and telling half marathoners to turn around 👍🏻
The rest of the run was very familiar to us (unlike the 1st half), as this was our third year running the downtown route. One nice sight--the Fox Theatre, which was used as the exterior establishing shots for the "The Lair" in SNEAKERS. Ran right past it (no photos turned out) 🌟
Just before the half-marathon turnaround, a DJ was hyping-up runners outside Line 51 Brewing. He was dancing and had big smiles to everyone. Bravo.
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| Line 51 Brewing - DJ was pretty great |
Water management: Dawn ran out of water sometime in the 2nd half, but between water stations and sharing mine, we were mostly OK.
The final time was our 2nd-best effort! If I hadn't stopped to take as many photos, I'm 100% sure we would have had a PR. The last run through the tunnel was challenging to make in one running interval, but the cheering crowd carried us. 🏃🏻🏃🏻♀️ We made a sub-three-hour half marathon, which was our overall goal 🎖️
Post-event activities: We collected snacks into provided reusable bags, then walked the length of the tabling area to get medals. Watched briefly the musical act performing. We didn't stay for long though. The walk back to the hotel was about a mile and uneventful.
Showered, packed, checked-out (same attendant as the previous day), then drove to Almond and Oak for our brunch reservation.
Saw a few other runners seated inside. We requested a patio table and got seated about 15 minutes early, which was appreciated. Food was excellent. Cell reception was limited.
This year might represent our favorite time at the Oakland running festival.
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| Oakland Half Marathon 2026 medal (front) |
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Oakland Half Marathon 2026 medal (reverse)
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| Swag and post-race snacks & drink handouts |
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Post-run brunch at Almond & Oak, Oakland |
