San Francisco, California
The draw of this race is the course. It was a very iconic tour of San Francisco. I walked down from a few hundred yards from the Hyatt, where Lori and I were staying. The race starts on Embarcadero at the Ferry Building and runs through Pier 39 and Fisherman’s wharf. Alcatraz looms off the left in the early morning fog. We all got hungry as we ran right past Boudin’s Bakery as they were baking some early morning bread. Then it was up the hill by Fort Mason, down through the park and on to Chrissy Field which I remember well from my Alcatraz swim. At about mile 5 we head up a steep hill to the Golden Gate Bridge. Running the Bridge was the highlight for me. The bridge comprised 5 miles of the run. By the way, I never noticed that the bridge is not flat. You notice these things 5 miles into a run. After the bridge it is up another hill through the Presidio and then up and down, up and down through some residential neighborhoods until we hit Golden Gate park. I was looking for some flat course to make up the time I lost on the hills, but you won’t find it, even after you hit the Park. The hills and some occasional congestion cost me some time, but I went into the race with the attitude of enjoying the Experience more than fretting about time. I reached down and powered the Chrissy Field miles and the bridge to bring on some pain. All things considered, it was a good run for me. The race was only a small part of this great trip with Lori to San Francisco. San Francisco is the perfect summer get away. When the rest of the country is suffering in the heat, San Francisco is bundling up to go out for dinner. I wore gloves on my hands the entire run by the way.
