The San Francisco Marathon course takes you on a counterclockwise 26.2 miles lengthy tour alongside the Embarcadero of San Francisco, throughout the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County, again to the Presidio and Golden Gate Park, to Haight Ashbury, the Mission, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, and the end line. Proper at the beginning of Mile 1 of the 2024 San Francisco Marathon, you’ll run alongside the Embarcadero, part of the town that was underwater.
Written by the San Francisco Marathon Ambassador Scott Benbow
The San Francisco Marathon’s course is each difficult and delightful. On this information collection, you’ll find out about what to search for when you run by the streets of our beautiful metropolis.
When you relaxation up for the race, your loved ones and mates could also be fascinated about touring the town. Subsequently, future installments of this information will even supply suggestions for locations to go to. This information consists of particulars about every part from prime sights to topography and from pure wonders to fascinating historical past. San Francisco is a superb vacation spot for everybody from city lovers to nature goers and we hope you’ll find it irresistible as a lot as we do.
Mile 1 Stats
Neighborhood: The Embarcadero/Monetary District
Elevation Change: Begin at 26’ and ends at 11’ (no vital peaks or valleys)
Stations (water/meals/bathroom): none
Finest Spot for Household/Assist: Ferry Constructing (Pier 23 Restaurant/Bar post-race)
Whereas this information will point out among the challenges dealing with every runner on the course, the first function is to present you an introduction to this metropolis of astonishing magnificence.
Begin to Mile 1: The Embarcadero
As you stand in your corral ready to start out the San Francisco Marathon, you’ll discover at the very least two issues. First, it’s early. The Marathon begins earlier than daybreak so site visitors disruptions, particularly on the Golden Gate Bridge, are saved to a minimal.
The second factor you’ll discover is that the Embarcadero, the place the race begins (and ends) could be very flat. It’s the alternative of what a brand new customer to the notoriously hilly metropolis of San Francisco would anticipate.
How Did the Embarcadero Come to Be?
Within the early 1800s, the land you’re operating your first mile on was underwater. For the primary few miles of the race, you’ll not encounter a single hill as a result of this a part of the Embarcadero is constructed on landfill. It was marshland. The 1849 Gold Rush modified that.
So singularly centered had been the gold prospectors that a lot of them merely left their ships in San Francisco Bay. Over 1,000 ships from around the globe had been deserted on this space. Initially, some had been used for resorts and different short-term housing. Others had been used as makeshift shops and bars.
The Buried Ships of Yerba Buena Cove by Michael Warner et al., 2017
(San Francisco Maritime Nationwide Historic Park, Nationwide Park Service)
Over time, fires destroyed most of the picket ships and, when San Francisco needed to assert this a part of the Bay to develop the land of the town, the ships had been lined with extra landfill.
By 1898, when the Ferry Constructing (to the appropriate of the beginning) was constructed, the topography regarded a lot because it does at present.
Should you’re sometimes nervous initially of a marathon, maybe this distinctive archaeological historical past of San Francisco will assist distract you!
Extra from Mile 1!
Mile 1 of the San Francisco Marathon isn’t simply the Embarcadero. Study extra in regards to the sights of Mile 1 in our guides from previous years!
