I had an unbelievably great run in San Francisco.

I was up at 4:00 AM and out the door of the hotel at 4:40 for the 1 1/2 mile down hill walk to the start. Downtown San Francisco was already stirring as restaurant and shop workers were getting ready to open and the nightlife business' were closing.

I found my place at the rear of the second wave corral. The setting was beautiful with the Oakland Bay bridge just behind us and a cool 58 degrees with a 15 MPH ocean breeze. The first wave started promptly at 5:30, and we were right behind at 5:40.

We ran past the Fisherman's Wharf on the way to the Golden Gate Bridge.  As we approached the bridge the view was spectacular. As we neared the bridge there was a steep incline. I ran 1/4 of the way up and I heard John Palmer in the back of my head saying "walk the steep hills" so I did. The bay to our right and the Pacific Ocean to the left was an awesome sight. Golden Gate workers dressed in jackets and caps with ear covers paused to watch us run by. Half way across the bridge (mile 5) we saw the front runners coming back across.

After we came off the bridge we ran through Golden Gate Park where we climbed several long hills but I kept saying to myself "this is nothing compared to Iron Horse". The park was very serene. It is very easy to forget you are in a large metropolitan area.

Once out of the park we were in the Haight Ashbury area, home to the Hippies and the Flower children of the late sixties and early seventies. Music from the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane played in my head. Like many other areas in San Francisco the architecture is so unique. At this point (mile 18) I started to count down the miles to the finish. I never hit the wall, but my legs started to get tired.
At mile 20 the bottoms of my feet were starting to hurt (damn those Government Canyon rocks). At mile 21 there was a guy with a sign that read "it's all downhill from here". I asked him if he was telling a story to make us feel good. He said "no, your headed for the water". He was right.
At mile 22 I asked myself, why do I do this? At mile 23 I told myself "because you love it". At mile 24 I realized I could set a PR if I could maintain at least a  9:30 pace. I tried to keep as close to 9:00 as possible. As I ran past Giants stadium at mile 25 the adrenaline kicked in again and I cruised past the Oakland bay bridge to the finish setting a PR at 3:43:48.

I ate all that was offered at the finish (quesadillas were the best), packed a few freebies in my bag, had my picture taken wearing my medal. And walked back to the hotel (this time uphill).
There it is. I hope that was not too long, but it only tells half the story. Attached are some photos I took on the run.


Footnote: Tony wore a large Hill country trail runners Logo on my shirt (from running banana) and got many great comments along the route.