Running

This was my first marathon, in 2009, and I loved running over the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Golden Gate Park. It was quite hilly, especially after the Park, and quite a lot of people walked the hills. It's a big race so there are plenty of supporters and they can spectate from multiple places by hopping around on a dedicated shuttle bus. San Francisco's weather is notoriously fickle, so you may not get to see any scenery at all if the fog rolls in. I started with light fog that soon lifted to an overcast sky, which remained until the sun broke through a few miles from the end. It quickly heated up at that point, so looking back I think it was pretty ideal weather for a first-timer.

This event starts as it gets dark and most of the course is along "The Strip", the main road through Las Vegas. You get a great view of all the sights as the middle of the road is a great place to see them. I've been to Las Vegas a few times in summer for conferences, and have only even known the weather to be insanely hot, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much nicer the city is in November. The evenings are still warm, so hydration is important for the run.

I ran the event in 2017, and chose to run the marathon distance. This distance is no longer offered as an option which is no bad thing because it was inferior to the half marathon. The courses for both followed the same route for the first 11 miles, and the marathon then took various twisty departures onto back streets off of the strip that were uninteresting. The sports gel at the aid stations was the foulest substance I've ever tasted and judging by the number of mostly full packs discarded by runners, others thought the same. Later aid stations had untouched piles of them on the tables.

Quote of the race: a spectator shouted at runners to "Pick your knees up! I'd come onto the course and kick your asses, if it wasn't for this walker". He did indeed have a walker and had picked it up and was shaking it for emphasis.

The Marathon course winds from Calistoga to Napa along the historic Silverado Trail. It's green fields almost the whole route, though after a few hours of running you begin to wonder just how many wineries there can be. I ran the course with my wife in 2011, which was her first marathon, and on my own in 2018. Both times the weather was cold and wet at the start, and it's great that you can stay on the buses that drive runners to the start line until a few minutes before the race starts. As the weather tends to be cool, hot soup is served after the race and is very welcome.

Both times the race was well organized, though they advertise a 6 hour cutoff but open the roads prematurely (at least, they did in 2011). My wife kept a steady pace for the whole race and finished well before the cutoff (in 5h 36m), but we had cars squeezing by us for a few miles in the middle of the race as there were no sidewalks for us to run on.

There are few places where spectators can get to the course, so this event is not a good choice if you have family or friends that want to see you run, or if you rely on people cheering you on. It's a great course if you love vineyards and scenery, if you are an experienced runner chasing a fast time, or you prefer cooler weather.

The marathon course winds through the capital and along its coastline. My wife and I ran in 2018, and the course repeated some of the early miles later in the race, but the course is now different, probably because the 2018 course was found to be too short, as the race organizers admitted in an email sent a few weeks after the event. Oops! The half marathon distance is more popular, and it gets noticeably quieter as soon as the marathon course diverges. This may be a problem if you rely on enthusiastic spectators to keep your legs moving. Although the event begins early in the morning the nights never get fully dark in summer so you get to the start line and warm up in daylight, which is nice. Our race included a free entrance to a local swimming pool, and it was nice to use their equivalent of a hot tub to soothe aching muscles a couple of days after the event.

Iceland is a beautiful country so if you are planning to race definitely give yourself at least a week to visit visiting popular tourist spots. Most goods and services are more expensive than other countries, so budget for that.

The big draw for me was that the marathon course changed in 2019 to include the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. It starts and finishes in the park around Lake Merritt, which is a pleasant area. The course provides great views over Oakland's coastline, and isn't too steep. The remainder gives an honest look at Oakland, which is one of the SF Bay area's poorer cities, including grubby industrial areas and homeless camps (I counted three separate tent cities in 2019). Many races include a T-shirt or technical top with race entry, but Oakland give you a cotton hoodie, which is much more in keeping with the city!

My wife and I have run this event several times, mainly because it's close to home. It's mostly asphalt, but becomes dirt along the levees of Redwood Shores. The levees have views over a slough, and I consider it the nicest part of the run, but the remainder of the course isn't that special. The course is almost completely flat, so good if you are not a fan of hills. It's a relatively small event, so logistics like packet pickup and finding somewhere to park on the day are simpler.

Run through scenic, hilly countryside, then taste dozens of wines in the after-race event. What's not to love! The wine tasting is offered as part of your race registration, but is optional. Beer and other alcoholic beverages are also available in case you are not a fan of wine.

The race starts and ends in Solvang, a quirky town with a Dutch history and a fondness for windmills. It's a little touristy, but quite fun to wander around if you've never been.

As this event takes place early in the year you're gambling with the weather. Much of the run is along San Francisco's coastal highway, which has nice views of the Pacific Ocean but is also exposed to the winds that tend to blow in from the west. A wet, windy day can be miserable if you don't have the right gear. I'm speaking from experience as this happened the first time I ran the race, which was so long ago that I was wearing a cotton T-shirt that soaked up the rain and then stuck to me. I ran again more recently (2019) and it was a much more pleasant run due to better weather.

The course starts and ends in Golden Gate Park, which is a delight to run through, and somewhat sheltered if you do get a wet day. The race makes full use of the park by winding around it and past features such as the bison paddock, windmills, de Young Museum and Academy of Sciences. The course seems to change from year to year, but some years shuttle buses have been provided between the finish line and start, and they have been difficult to find. Hopefully this has now been addressed.

This small scale and low key event is a great way to explore the Coyote Creek Trail. It is almost completely flat and the half marathon course is mostly asphalt, even though it meanders through parks and countryside. It takes place on Thanksgiving morning, so there's a holiday vibe. There's some hot food and snacks after the event, though you don't want to overdo it and ruin your appetite for your real Thanksgiving meal!