Nike Women's SF

Nike Women's SF

Nike Women's SF

( 18 reviews )
83% of reviewers recommend this race
  • San Francisco,
    California,
    United States
  • October
  • 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Arie

New York, United States
17 6
2013
"2013 Nike Women's San Francisco - Marathon (My 1st Marathon)"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Arie 's thoughts:

I believe this race is no longer around. It used to be a full marathon, then a year or two later, they changed it to only a half. I don't think it'll return this year. This is was my very first marathon, also done in the same year I started running. Great experience. Here's my brief recap:

The first half I took it easy. Slow and steady. The uphills around miles 6 through 10 weren’t the problem, the downhills for me were the real leg killer. I felt the pain more on my hips. I slowed down a bit after 16 miles. Then after 20 miles I hit a small wall, and started to feel IT Band/hip pain, hurt more to stop, but I knew something wasn't right. Those last 6.2 miles (10K) felt like they were really far and all I wanted was to cry for thinking that. I was also mad at my time, I’m not a competitive person, but I wanted to finish under 5 hours. At around mile 23, I wanted to finish, so I ran as fast as I could and made sure I looked strong for those pictures right by the finish line. I finished under 6 hours with a time of 5:50. After crossing the finish line, I didn’t even go get my blue box, I sat down on the pavement and started to cry. A few runners that were cheering for me while I was running, crossed the finish line and came up to me and hugged me. Some of them shared the same hip pain as me, so they understood, what a great feeling it was to finish. I wasn’t crying so much because of pain, but more because of joy, feeling of accomplishment, powerful, pure joy. I remained seated and waited for my boyfriend who finished a few minutes after me, due to shin pain. Regardless of our time, we both were very proud to have completed our first marathon.

Pros:
A challenging course. What doesn’t challenge you doesn’t change you.
A Tiffany Necklace
Amazing views at Golden Gate Park, especially around mile 13 in the marathon route.
Challenging uphills and downhills.
Different finisher shirts for the half and full runners.

Cons
It’s a half marathon and a full marathon.
There are a lot of half marathon runners, a lot!! So those first 11 to 12 miles will be a lot slower than you would want it to be.
Everyone (half and full runners) get the same Tiffany necklace at the finish line.
Receiving the same necklace as the half marathoners at the finish line after running and training for a full marathon doesn’t really make you feel all that special. It’s like running any other marathon and just doing 13.1 miles and getting the same medal as the marathoners. Good for the half marathoners, not so great for the marathoners that train a bit harder. Correction, A LOT harder. 20 miles is no joke! Let alone 26.2.

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