The San Francisco Marathon is an annual

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-certified

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ...

event held in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, that includes a full

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, two

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

s, an

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

, a 10k, and a 5K. With the exceptions of 1988 and 2020, the marathon has been held annually since 1977. The marathon starts and finishes on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building and crosses the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

. It is a qualifying race for the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ...

History

The first San Francisco Marathon was organized by the Pamakids Runners Club. Athol Barton, a taxicab driver who at the time lived in Reno, Nevada won the inaugural on July 10, 1977 in a time of 2:24:59. Athol was born in Aotearoa New Zealand and was of NZ Maori and Scottish descent. Fewer than 900 ran this inaugural race. The event's all-time record for marathon finishers came in 1983 with 7,231. An estimated 7,800 runners participated in the various events in 2004 and 11,290 in 2005. This number had increased to approximately 19,000 in 2008 and 21,000 in 2009 The 2009 event was hosted by

er Dean Karnazes and

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Bart Yasso Bart Yasso, the "mayor of running", is Runner's World's Chief Running Officer. Yasso is one of a few people to have completed races on all seven continents, including the Mount Kilimanjaro marathon, and won the 1987 U.S. National Biathlon Long Cour ...

. In 2005, 356 of the 4,873 finishers qualified for Boston. Of the 4,021 finishers in 2006, 277 qualified. 2010's race produced 462 qualifiers, 468 runners qualified in 2011, 377 qualified in 2012, and 2016's race produced 296 qualifiers. 2018's race produced 324 Boston Marathon qualifiers. The purse has also varied from year to year. In 1977, Barton took home a

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for his efforts. When

Pete Pfitzinger Peter Dickson Pfitzinger (born August 29, 1957 in Camden, New Jersey) is an American former distance runner, who later became an author, exercise physiologist and sports administrator. He is best known for his accomplishments in the marathon, ...

won in 1986, he earned $5,000 and a new car. Although many top runners were attracted to the $35,000 purse that was offered in 1998 ($10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place, $2,500 for third place), no prize money was offered from 1999 through 2001. From 2002 to 2004, $10,000 was divided among the winners. Prize money has not been offered since 2005, primarily due to lack of large sponsors. The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the

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, with all registrants given the option of running the race virtually, or transferring their entry to 2021 for a US$39 fee. The 2021 race will be held on September 18-19th, 2021.

Course

The current marathon course forms a loop that starts and finishes on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building. The course runs past many notable landmarks in San Francisco including Fisherman's Wharf, Aquatic Park, the

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the developm ...

, and

AT&T Park Oracle Park is a Major League Baseball stadium in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants. Previously named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park, the stadium's curren ...

. The course briefly enters

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

at the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. The marathon course has undergone a number of changes since its inception. In the late 1980s, the start was moved from

to San Francisco. In 1999, race organizers made a number of changes to make the course faster. That year the course was altered to start and end near the

Polo Fields The Polo Fields is a large multi-purpose stadium and sporting field in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Despite its name, polo is rarely played on the Polo Fields. The facility has a multitude of uses. There are six regulation soccer pitches on ...

in Golden Gate Park and the run across the Golden Gate Bridge was eliminated. Previous routes have taken the marathon along the

Great Highway The Great Highway is a road in San Francisco that forms the city's western edge along the Pacific coast. Built in 1929, it runs for approximately next to Ocean Beach. Its southern end is at Skyline Boulevard ( State Route 35) near Lake Merced; ...

. In 2002, the start/finish at Golden Gate Park was moved to the Embarcadero with a run across the Golden Gate Bridge. The first half marathon originally crossed the Golden Gate Bridge along the full marathon, but was eliminated in 2018 due to security and safety concerns. Previously, the full marathon and first half marathon ran on the roadbed of the bridge, shutting down automobile traffic for two lanes.

In popular culture

In 2002, the San Francisco Marathon was the fictionalized backdrop for an episode of ''Monk'' entitled "Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man."

Winners

* CR = course record since the addition of the Golden Gate Bridge out and back NOTE: Due to World Athletics policies, the 2019 win by Zarina is legally listed as an Authorised Neutral Athlete because of policies related to

Doping in Russia Systematic doping of Russian athletes has resulted in 48 Olympic medals stripped from Russia (and Russian associated teams), four times the number of the next highest, and more than 30% of the global total. Russia has the most competitors who ...

Notes

References

External links

{{Portal, San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Marathon official website

Committed 2 Community - producer of the San Francisco Marathon

San Francisco Marathon Weather History
Foot races in California Marathons in California Marathons in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1977 Sports competitions in San Francisco Annual sporting events in the United States 1977 establishments in California