In 2015, I ran the 1st Half - so I decided to run the 2nd Half this year in order to complete the Half it All Challenge and get an extra medal! For more details and all the photos, visit my blog post: http://bradleyontherun.com/2016/07/31/san-francisco-second-half-marathon/

San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon – Quick Review

Social Media: @theSFMarathon is quite active on social media – Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Their communications via email ramp up as the event approaches, and provide what I consider to be just enough information. Thumbs up!

Package Pickup: The Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason gets pretty crowded, and I was really glad we didn’t have to worry about parking! If you can, come by transit. There were loads of vendors and sponsors at the Expo – pretty much every kind of gear you could want. Since we were shopping with low-value Canadian dollars, the only purchase I made was some nuun.

T-shirt/Swag: I’ll admit that I loved last year’s long-sleeved technical shirt because it was orange. This year’s was grey-ish, with a colourful design. The race medal itself was simple if underwhelming – but I absolutely adore my Half It All medal!

Course: More uphill than you might expect weaving in and around Golden Gate Park. With divided pathways as people wound their way out and back, I found this part of the route too crowded. Steep downhills mid-race were fun and speedy, but took their toll on my calves the next day. I’ll admit that a good chuck in the latter half of the race was kind of boring, until we approached the finish line. But at least it was flat.

Post-Race: It was a LONG walk from the finishing chute to where the after-party was taking place. There was a beer garden, but I didn’t partake. Not a bad setup from what I could see.

Organization: The SF Marathon puts on a top-notch event. The whole thing is really well organized, their aid stations are plentiful and well-stocked, and the volunteers are amazing. Very consistent and in line with what I experienced last year.

Would I run it again? Probably not. And this is not to downplay the event – but because I want to travel elsewhere and do other races! And because SF is an awfully expensive city to stay in. If I did have the opportunity to participate again (free race entry anyone?), I would probably go back and do the First Half, which is far more scenic and honestly more fun!