Time: 8:44-11:43 a.m. (2 hours 59 minutes)
Resting heart rate: N/A (forgot)
Weight (street clothes): 86.23 kg (190.10 lb)
Body Mass Index (BMI; note criticisms of BMI): 25.1 (Overweight = 25–29.9)
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): 2,054 cal/day
Distance (running): 21.11 km (13.12 mi)
Cumulative distance (2025; long runs): 484.33 km (300.95 mi)
Calories burned: 3,369 kcal
Average heart rate: 131 bpm
Max heart rate: 165 bpm
Weather at start: overcast/fog 🌫️ 15° C (59° F), Humidity 82% Wind: 0 km/h
Terrain: 591 ft elevation gain
Avg Pace: 12'29" /mile
Best pace: 10'19" /mile
Stinkiness air level (0=No smell; 10=☣️): 0/10 (not stinky)
Comments: Beautiful but hilly: the SF Marathon is not a Personal Record (PR) course.
This represents my 3rd time participating in the SF Marathon: I previously ran 2 full marathons (2006 & 2024), and this represents my 1st SF Half Marathon.
Getting There
We stayed Friday and Saturday nights at the historic Palace Hotel, at 2 New Montgomery St, San Francisco. On Friday we stopped for dinner in Mountain View at Limón. The place was very busy and service was friendly but understandably slow. We tried the Ceviche Limón with taro chips, Truffle Mac & Cheese, an empanada sampler. Dawn had a rather weak cocktail, the El Diablito (Pisco Caravedo Quebranta, pomegranate juice, mint, angostura bitters, ginger syrup, lime juice), while I had an Inca Kola. In SF, we first tried parking at the Palace Garage Parking, but after waiting for a few minutes without anyone approaching us, I finally got out and flagged someone down, only to find the price was an eye-watering $70+ per night (in fairness, with in-and-out privileges, but come on) and required a valet to manage the vehicle. The Palace Garage Parking staff were very friendly, however, and helpfully pointed us to the nearby Hearst Parking Center, about a block away, which was only ~$40/night. No in-and-out privileges, but we just needed a place to park overnight. The Hearst Parking Center has a narrow corkscrew ramp between floors, which show the many scrapes of previous victims...I also found it very hard to navigate into the corkscrew up-ramp at the right angle to go up a floor...thankfully lots of spots on the 2nd floor. The garage seems clean, safe, and has well-lit elevators and lobbies, so would use again. Check-in at the front desk of the Palace Hotel went smoothly--just one other guest in line around 7:00 p.m.
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| Hotel room |
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| Scaffolding outside the window overlooking Market Street |
Staff assigned us room #854...with a view of the scaffolding erected outside our window. Intermittently, there was a soft mechanical noise. Not really an issue, thankfully, and otherwise quiet space. It had a TV with a rather unresponsive remote. I was able to pair the TV with YouTube and stream a few things, but otherwise we just watched MST3K or random channels as background noise. The best thing about the room (to me) was its polished, heavyweight door handles, in chrome and brass. The door to the room also had the hotel initials, "PH". The shower had a rain-style showerhead. We ordered an ice cream sundae for dessert on Friday night, but I think it was from the hotel restaurant Pied Piper. The sundae was relatively small.
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| Exterior handle of room door, with Palace Hotel initials "PH" |
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| Palace Hotel - The Garden Court Restaurant, also known as the "Palm Court" |
On Saturday morning, we slept-in, then exited to go to the race expo at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion. As we exited the Palace Hotel, we admired its beautiful interior space, The Garden Court Restaurant, also known as the "Palm Court". They have a high tea service in the afternoon. Harp music played from hidden speakers. We also visited a one-room hotel museum off one of the main floor wings, with an operative cable-car bell which rings shockingly loudly 🫠 The Palace Hotel has a Ghirardelli store, which we skipped visiting in-person--we have visited Ghirardelli many, many times at the location by Fisherman's Wharf. The hotel has two King Kalakaua's throne chairs off the main lobby, which he gifted to the hotel.
Getting to the Expo was uneventful. Parking at the Expo was delayed for several minutes by automated Waymo vehicles exercising extreme caution to let a constant stream of pedestrians go through a crosswalk. We eventually parked and walked, neglecting to pay for our spot (we later got & paid a $40 ticket). We had paid the ticket last year, it slipped our mind to do so this year 😛 The Expo was very busy. As we approached the entrance, we noticed SF Marathon Community Manager Damaris Gutierrez waving and talking to people from an upstairs window. We relatively quickly got our race bibs, safety pins, shirts. After circling back, we picked up 6 free Chargel energy gel packets. Briefly looked at the special race-related swag at the back--I forget how people qualified, but I liked the race socks with seals (I think). Dawn purchased a purple race technical long-sleeve shirt. The crush of people was a bit much, so we exited quickly. Afterward, we got coffees and breakfast sandwiches at Equator Coffee. The line was long, but we had lots of time. The Doordash pickup table was full of abandoned orders. Outside the tables still had a bit of water from the morning fog. Great place to people watch and also see dogs 🐶 We drove back to the hotel, parked the car at the Hearst Parking Garage, and relaxed a bit in the room.
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| SF MUNI "World Famous Cable Car Safety Tips" |
In the mid-afternoon, we walked to the race start at the Ferry Building, to get a sense of how long it might take. It was about a half-mile walk. Passed lots of people wearing SF Giants baseball clothing as they made their way to watch the game against the New York Mets (they would lose, 1-2). At the Ferry Building, we purchased a 9-piece box of Dark Noir chocolates from Recchiuti Confections. Nothing interested us for dinner, so we walked back to the hotel. We ordered room service from Pied Piper, as Dawn wanted to try the Pasta Pomodoro. The room service was excellent. Dawn's meal (with glass of red wine) was fine. However, my Baby Gem Caesar with a side of chicken was just average, and a small portion 🤷🏻 Ate Clif bars for the rest of the evening, as well as lots of water to hydrate.
Pre-Race
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| Race gear laid out the day before (shown: 2025 shirt; I wore my 2006 shirt) |
Lights off around 11:00 a.m. Tossed and turned, not feeling sleepy. In the back of my mind, I was distracted by logistics of hotel checkout time--it was 1:00 p.m., but would we finish in time? Slept maybe from midnight-5:00 a.m. We decided to sleep another 30 minutes, waking at 5:30 a.m. Garmin reported a sleep score = 64/100. Brewed coffees using the in-room, single-serving-pod Nespresso coffee maker. Fueled with a peanut butter Clif Bar. Shaved. Did the 4 things I should always do before a long run: 1) Garmin HRM-Pro Plus Heart Rate Monitor; 2) Anti-chafing; 3) NipEaze; and 4) Sunblock ✅ The night before I had laid-out everything. Pinned the bib to my 2006 SF Marathon Finisher shirt. Half-filled the water reservoir of my Nathan - QuickStart 2.0 6 L Hydration Pack.
Before we left I called and requested a later checkout time, and to my relief they pushed it back to 2:00 p.m.
We had trained for this half marathon since around March, or ~4-5 months. The repetition in preparation over those months helped make the pre-race process relatively routine. Switched my Android phone Battery Protection setting, from Maximum (stops charging at 80%) to Basic (charges to 100%). With the hydration pack as an option, I stashed only my credit card, license, and room key card in the back pocket of my shorts. The rest went into the hydration pack: phone, KN95 mask, and 2 Clif Bars.
We left the hotel around 6:15-6:30 a.m., I think. We planned to ride a free shuttle bus from the starting line to the 2nd Half Marathon starting line. Shuttle buses operated from 6:50-7:50 a.m. As we walked, other runners in SF Marathon race gear joined our cohort, waiting with us at stoplights, passing us, etc. It turned out we miscalculated the shuttle bus location--instead of queuing at the start/finish line area, they instead left from Howard St. and Spear St. A short walk later, we seated ourselves in what looked like the first bus to leave. Event staff had chartered fairly large and comfortable coaches. The ride was quiet and uneventful. At the Great Highway staging area, everyone exited the bus. We passed yellow school buses lined up for hauling gear-check items to the finish area. As we walked, we threaded our way through lines of runners waiting to use one of the long line of porta-potties. At Lincoln Way we crossed to Martin Luther King Jr Drive, and then just a short walk later we arrived at the starting Corrals. It was around 7:50 a.m. when we got there, with plenty of time to relax until the scheduled 8:44 a.m. start time. One other runner chatted briefly with us. We stood under the Murphy Windmill and watched its arms slowly rotate. A light, intermittent mist coated surfaces, making them slightly slick. The weather felt pleasant.
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| Murphy windmill rotating in the misty morning breeze |
Eventually, we watched pacesetters lining up to our right and realized we stood on the wrong side of the corral barriers. After getting into the proper corral, we stood just in front of the 3:15 pace group. I believe they said they were the last pace group. The pacesetter mentioned he uses Galloway method. It was nice to not have a lot of amplified sound nearby.
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| Corral C around 8:36 a.m., with most of the ~3,600 runners ahead of us, and the starting line barely visible in the distance |
We faintly heard the national anthem. Runners began in waves. Corral A, then Corral B, then us. Started our Garmin watch 1:30 run/1:00 walk interval sessions, passed under the starting line, and ... immediately began our ascent 😅
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| Strava route and elevation map |
This year the first 2 miles had a half-mile first segment, followed by a 1.5-mile out-and-back segment. This represents my first half marathon running with a partner. Dawn charged up the initial hills, and we skipped our first walk break due to the crush of runners. After that we took our 1:00 walk breaks regularly.
Somewhere in the first 2 miles someone wearing what looked like dark-wash denim jeans passed us 👀 Hopefully they wore lots of anti-chafing.
Outside Lands, "a three-day music, art, food, wine, beer and cannabis festival held annually in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park" was in the process of its massive setup. We passed generators, beer tent banners, a mile of fencing, and all the physical components needed to build-out stages, scaffolding, etc.
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| Naga the sea serpent in Golden Gate Park (pre-installation computer render) |
As we entered J.F.K. Promonade, we (and the 3,600 other runners) passed Naga, a 100-foot sea serpent sculpture installed just a few days earlier at Rainbow Falls for its planned 2-year stay. The pond was filled, but no waterfall running.
Circling Blue Heron Lake (formerly Stow Lake) was next. This brought back memories of 2024, when I was running the full marathon. It was this loop where I was overtaken by 2nd Half Marathon runners--first the elites, then packs of runners aggressively dashing around everyone to maintain their paces. Noticed the pagoda.
Back on JFK Drive, we ran past public art displays and roadway painted art. We chatted as we went, looking forward to when would have single-digit miles left. Running the 2nd Half marathon with fresh legs was nice for me, as I had enough energy to notice details as I went. E.g., the de Young Museum and the Conservatory of Flowers.
After a zig-zag, we passed through a tunnel under Stanyan Street and exited Golden Gate Park. Cresting the top of a hill, we accelerated downward into the Haight. There were lots of cheering spectators with clever signs. E.g., "run like you're running away from your ex-boyfriend", or "It's faster to take MUNI" 😅
I loved the bohemian Haight: Jimi Hendrix mural, bookstores, coffee shops, etc. Buena Vista Park looked lush. At some point we passed someone playing what looked like a tuba.
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| T-Rex hydration volunteer from 2024--missing this year 😅 |
I looked in vain for the water station with the person in an inflatable dino costume.
Reaching the Haight meant we had just 10K distance left 🙂 We passed one or two runner "valves": race volunteers swing long banners in tandem across the intersection, shunting runners one way or another, for traffic control.
In the industrial areas, Dawn started to reach a wall. Our pace slowed, but we tried to push as best we were able. At one point near the end, she mentioned feeling a bit nauseous, so we made sure to rest more. Somewhere near the end, Dawn emptied her hydration pack reservoir. Thankfully we had lots of water stations toward the end and she never was dehydrated.Finish
We ran around the SF Giants stadium. Lots of walk breaks. Dawn was focused on getting a sub-3-hour finishing time, and per her calculation we just had to run the last mile in 18 minutes, which was very doable. One couple eventually passed us on either side, presumably with the same goal, as they yelled to each other "4 minutes to go!"
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| Grateful Dead 60th Anniversary pole banners, with view of Oakland Bay Bridge in background |
Passed under the Oakland Bay Bridge, finally sighting the finish line. Dawn surprised me with a final burst of energy and we both crossed the finish line with a minute or so to spare: 2:58:52 🌟
This represented a new PR for Dawn for the Half Marathon, and my 3rd-best time. We felt relief to finish--just 2 weeks prior, we had stopped a half marathon training run around the 9-mile mark, due to pain in Dawn's hip.
In the finish-line corral, volunteers encouraged us to take as many things as we could carry: bananas, fruit bars, waters, etc. One asked if I wanted an entire box (64-count) of Kirkland Signature Soft & Chewy Granola Bars, so I took it and they cheered. 😅
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| Finisher medal close-up, San Francisco Marathon - 2nd Half Marathon - "The City Half" (with gull slider) |
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| Finisher medal and ribbon, San Francisco Marathon - 2nd Half Marathon - "The City Half" |
We collected our medals, then exited the finishers corral near the Ferry Building. It was very nice to have our hydration packs--in went all the items. It was all we could do to walk the half-mile back to the hotel. On the elevator up to the room, we apologized to the other guests. 😅 We felt better after showering. It turned out we exited the hotel with all our things right around our initial late checkout time of 1:00 p.m. Walked stiffly to the Hearst Parking Garage, paid for parking, and drove home 🏠
Post-race / Reflections
What worked:
- Anti-chafing: legs & chest
- Race prep: laying out everything the night before
- Masking
- Hotel & logistics
- Weather: perfect
- Magnesium lotion: relaxed Achilles & muscles
- Watch charged and only drained by about half
- Phone charged to 100%
Improvements:
- Adjust training to properly target 3:00-hour race pace
- Hill training (build-up quads, etc.)
- Move ahead in the Corral chutes to find my pace group
Any
irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: Sore legs but mostly OK
Foods eaten: Clif bar, banana (x2), electrolytes, falafel wrap, dolmas (x2), curly fries, pistachio cheesecake (x0.3)
