Golden Gate Half Marathon

San Francisco, Golden Gate Half Marathon

Still on EST, I was up early. I ran to Aquatic Park at 6am in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. 🤞for less foggy conditions. As the sun rose, the skies were clear. It was going to be a great day to run across the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉

There was a slight delay for the pacers to line up with runners so I ended up in the first wave - oops! Met a woman from the eastern shore of Maryland who was celebrating her 40th birthday!

The race started on a steep incline up around Fort Mason and then descended to the Presidio. The air was crisp but the sun was beginning to warm us up. The bridge looked majestic against the green grass at Crissy Field. The bay splashed against the rocky shore. Pelicans flew overhead.

The climb up to the bridge was brutal. We winded around an equestrian center and the horses looked up at us in bewilderment. The view of the sun coming up over the hilly skyline was a great distraction.

Then we entered the bike path on to the bridge. It was surreal being there on foot. It was surprisingly not as much of an incline as expected. There were little alcoves every 500 feet that you could get out of the way and snap a photo though. And I sure did.

There aren’t enough photos you can take of the GG bridge!

Just after the 12-mile marker, I heard Whitney “I wanna dance with somebody” and couldn’t help but sing and a few others joined in! Shortly after, another hill. I kept pushing and cheered “RUN WITH YOUR HEART” to those around me. As we got closer to the finish line, a gentleman ran up next to me and said “I’m running with my heart!” We crossed the finish line together!

Beautiful race. If that’s your thing, put it on your bucket list!

Headed to Ghirardelli for a hot cocoa and some chocolate squares 🍫

Then walked back to my hotel to shower and grab brunch. There was live music at Little Red Window so I took a seat. An outstanding vocalist joined the group and belted out Stevie, Al, Bill, Van. Then took a walk to Coit Tower. Interesting story about the woman Lillian Hitchcock Coit - and we share a birthday. Checked out at 1:15 and sadly said farewell to San Fran and headed to San Jose.

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