First I have to say, that I traveled from Germany. So, the whole rating relies on traveling from overseas for this race.

Before the race:
After registration and paying the bill, the management had changed the race date. For me with traveling from overseas I had the luck that I waited with booking of flight and hotel. Nobody of the management would taken the transfer costs.

EXPO:
If you are looking for nice merchandise, skip this race. They had only a small amount of merchandise. And a lot was from last year. The old stuff was not shown that its from last year, and it was not reduced in price. Overall a disappointment. You get your bib fast, but that's it.

Marathon:
The start is early in the morning, infront of the Ferry Building. Than you will follow the Embarcadero Street in direction to Fishermans Wharf. It was cold this morning and the run jacket was necessary. If you like to take pictures of some spots, you could do that during the run. Every spot is less crowded. ( My girlfriend went to the seals at Fishermans Wharf while I was running. She was there alone and enjoyed it) Then you will run along the coastline thru Fort Mason Park and Chrissy Field to the Golden Gate Bridge. First you need to get up from sea level to Bridge level. Here you are collecting incline. While you are running over the bridge, you can enjoy the foggy view over the bay. At the end of the bridge you will underpass the bridge to change the side to run back to SF. As a little side-note, only the marathon course passes the Golden Gate Bridge. After you left the Bridge, you will run thru Fort Winfield Scott and a few residential roads, collecting more incline. The next part is the Golden Gate Park, also with incline again. You will run their almost five miles thru the complete Park. You will left the Park in direction Haight-Ashbury. But I was not be able to see the Painted-ladies. Here, again, incline. You will cross Market street on the way back to the waterside. You will also pass Mission Bay and the Oracle Park on your way back to Start/finishline.

Conclusion:
Overall, it was a exciting run with a lot of really nice views. A good way to enjoy San Francisco.
But with the problem of changing the raceday after registration start and the disappointment merchandise, I will not recommend this marathon to friends in Germany.