If you've got to stand in line for half an hour to use the Port-O-Potty, at least it's nice to have a view of fog lifting over the Golden Gate Bridge. As I was passing time talking to the people in line, there was a video team interviewing some other non-elite runner in an adjacent line -- Rick Munos, an HIV-positive marathoner featured in a current Nike television commercial.During the 2-hour wait at windy Vista Point I met a non-traditionally dressed runner from Ft. Lauderdale; Dennis Marsella, also known as "Coatman". He is a stuntman who runs marathons in a heavy winter coat festooned with purple ribbons, and wears wing-tip shoes and knee-length yellow socks. This time his jacket had Pizza-hut advertising on it and he was carrying a cardboard box with a pizza. He said that he trains in his coat and carries weights to build upper body strength for carrying the pizza.
By the 8:00 start time the fog had lifted and I was able to get a nice picture of the front-runners framed by the brick-red spans of the Golden Gate Bridge. Two of the 6 lanes had been roped off for the runners and a buffer lane separated us from traffic. Coming off the bridge, from miles 1 to 3, we dropped 225 feet into the Presidio military base complex. From there it was flat and we entered the Marina district which included parts of Fisherman's Wharf. There was a brief excursion into Chinatown followed by a tour of the Financial District. During a section that wasn't particularly scenic I struck up a conversation with a pretty lady in red shorts with MIAMI on the back, who semed to have run every major marathon in the country. After she mentioned her husband and 4 kids waiting in the hotel room I took up with a fellow who headed the computer security division for Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. This got me to mile 13 for a gain of 200 ft. in 4 blocks as we entered Haight St. I stopped to photograph runners passing the Ben and Jerry's on the famous corner of Haight and Ashbury. The character of spectators had changed noticably from the clean-cut matrons urging on the Team-in-Training of the Leukemia Society, to rather scruffy types with outlandish hair colors and styles and lots of pierced body parts.
We then ran the complete length of Golden Gate Park, along a winding tree-lined boulevard to the Great Highway along the Pacific Ocean. We picked up a cooling off-shore breeze, then reversed direction to again run the full length of Golden Gate Park, ending with an Olympic-style finish at Kezar stadium. There was a spectacular entrance through a great arch onto the track followed by a run of 3/4 of the track in the stadium to the finish line. The public address system boomed out the names and home towns of the finishers. I got my medal and space blanket and headed for my sweats bag with its bagel, banana and box of GO. Next was the massage tent to soothe the aching quads. As usual I then headed for the medical tent to get blisters drained. It had become a bright sunny day, just perfect for spectators but a bit warmer than ideal for running.
There were about 4000 runners which included practically no elite runners due to the lack of prize and appearance money. The Expo was small but adequate and there were lots of good talks on topics from Fitness after 50 to Sports Psychology. The special room prices at the Downtown Mariott made me wonder what the regular prices were, and I was glad to be able to stay with a friend. Consider taking a vacation in California next July, like I did, and run the marathon for a close-up introduction to this fabulous city.