It’s been one week since I ran my first half marathon. I was fortunate to have my name drawn in the random lottery for the Nike Women‘s 13.1 mile race in beautiful, hilly San Francisco. I’m even more fortunate to have a great friend who lives right along the race course who offered to let me stay with her for free! Talk about the perfect “race-cation”.
I landed in San Francisco on Thursday before the Sunday race and went straight to Union Square to pick up my race packet. Nike does not mess around. This was the smoothest packet pickup I’ve ever seen. No long lines and more than a dozen people waiting to answer any questions. The best part was the scavenger hunt for limited edition Nike earrings.
I snagged this picture from a fellow runner on Instagram. I ended up only getting one wing, the Golden Gate Bridge and the arrow earrings because I didn’t want to spend the entire afternoon dragging my wonderful host around Union Square. We went back to her neighborhood for some quintessential San Fran eats – dim sum.
The next few days were full of sight-seeing, delicious coffee, cocktails and even tastier food. I’ll have another post on my favorite places in Frisco later on.
Fast forward to the morning of the race. I barely slept because I was so worried about missing my alarm clock. I rolled out of bed around 5:15 and changed into my Nike running pants, sports bra and favorite running shirt from the Gate River Run. I hastily made peanut butter toast in the dark (apparently, I left peanut butter ALL OVER my friends counter.. woops!) and ordered an Uber to Union Square.
There were SO many runners. The event basically took over the entire area. I made my way a few blocks down to the slow runner corral, checked my gear bag and got in line for the porta potties. Two friendly women behind me in line were chatting about how the weather was better this year compared to last year. I asked them about the course and if the hills were rough after explaining I had flown in from Florida. They assured me the course was not too intense and that I’d enjoy it. Side note: The kindness of complete strangers on race day is one of my very favorite things about this sport.
The first wave of sub 6:00 minute-per-mile runners started right on time. While my wave was walking slowly to the starting line, I ran into fellow Jacksonvillian Daisy Simpson. We snapped a quick selfie before losing each other in the crowd.
The first few miles went through downtown, the Tenderloin neighborhood before winding into Golden Gate Park.
After looking back at the course map, I realize there was a steep hill at mile two but I honestly do not remember it. I was caught up in the excitement of my first half and was trying not to spend all my energy in the first few miles.
A gospel church choir at mile two was my favorite form of musical entertainment on the course. I stopped at mile 3 for the porta potties (adding about five minutes to my race time.) Every 2 miles there were water stations and high school pep bands cheering runners on. A group of kids made a high-five tunnel and a runner with a massive DSLR turned around and caught me coming through the tunnel. I’ve got to hunt down that picture somehow!
Miles 4-8 took us through the absolutely beautiful Golden Gate Park. I remember looking down at my Garmin watch and realizing I had already ran 6 miles. I was feeling so great I didn’t even stop to take a picture at this waterfall! (The picture is from a few days later.)
The course came out of the park and right into my friend’s neighborhood. Mile 9 took us uphill but I toughed it out and didn’t slow down. The top of the hill gave a neat view across the city.
I was pleasantly surprised by the spectator turnout.
My friends were able to follow my progress using Find My Friends and handed me a Gatorade before I would tackle the big hill at mile 10.
Thank God the views heading up the Presidio are something off a postcard. Not gonna lie, I slowed down here to a power walk and snapped a ton of pictures.
Nike did a good job of having lots of their volunteers and coaches there to cheer runners on for the toughest part of the course.
Most of mile 11 and 12 were downhill but I didn’t let myself totally fly downhill to save my knees.
The final mile was along the marina and was mentally the most difficult. I couldn’t see the finish line. I was no longer in the shade and was definitely feeling dehydrated, sore and borderline cranky. My Garmin watch said I had ran a quarter mile further than the race markers so I was frustrated that I couldn’t visualize how much further I had to go.
When I finally turned the last corner and saw the finish line, I just started crying. I don’t know how to explain that emotion but they were definitely happy, triumphant tears!
Instead of the typical finisher medal, all runners got this beautiful Tiffany’s necklace.
There were handsome firemen in tuxedos available for pictures, but I decided to skip the long lines to grab my bag from gear check. The line for the finisher boutique was also insane so I walked to where my friends parked and we left the crowded marina area for brunch & hard-earned bloody marys.
This was hands-down the most beautiful course I’ve ever ran and I came in at my goal of under a 12:00 minute-mile-pace.
Another perk of this race? FREE race photos!
Now I’m trying to decide on my next half marathon! What’s your favorite race?