The San Francisco Marathon is an annual USATF-certified road running event held in San Francisco, California, that includes a full marathon, two half marathons, an ultramarathon, a 10k, and a 5K. With the exceptions of 1988, 1993, 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. It is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.

History The first San Francisco Marathon was organized by the Pamakids Runners Club, and was held on July 10, 1977. The inaugural was won by Athol Barton, a taxicab driver from New Zealand who at the time lived in Reno, Nevada in a time of 2:24:59. 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 ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes and Runner's World columnist Bart Yasso. In 2025, the event sold out for the first time.

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 t-shirt for his efforts. When Pete Pfitzinger 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 COVID-19 pandemic, 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 was held on September 18–19th, 2021.

In 2022, a nonbinary division was added to the race.

In 2026, the marathon was won by Garrett Patrick of Daly City in 2:26:26, with Leandra Zimmerman of San Francisco winning the women's race in 2:45:16.

Controversies In 2024, organizers admitted to miscalculating the race distance for one of the half marathon races. Participants found out two days after the race that the course had only been 12.6 miles instead of 13.1. There are two half marathon races offered, a "city half" and a "bridge half"; the "city half" half-marathon was the course that was short.

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 Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and Oracle Park. The course briefly enters Marin County 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 Marin County 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 in Golden Gate Park and the run across the Golden Gate Bridge was eliminated. Previous routes have taken the marathon along the Great Highway. 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.

There are two half-marathon races offered, a "Bridge Half", which ends near the Golden Gate Bridge, and a "City Half", which begins in Golden Gate Park.

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 Date Men Country Time Women Country Time Finishers July 26, 2026Garrett PatrickUnited States2:26:26Leandra ZimmermanUnited States2:45:16July 27, 2025Robert Pedersen2:25:49Rozlyn Boutin2:46:576614July 27, 2024Charlie Lawrence2:22:30Jenna Wolfrum2:52:105770July 23, 2023Brice Daubord2:26:17Leandra Zimmermann2:45:594979July 24, 2022Simon Ricci2:31:42Brooke Starn2:44:384080 September 19, 2021Gregory Billington2:20:42Judith Corachán Vaquera2:55:333189 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemicJuly 28, 2019Gregory Billington2:25:25Nina Zarina2:47:015226July 29, 2018Jorge Maravilla2:27:56Bonnie Tran2:54:095242July 23, 2017Jorge Maravilla2:28:23Devin McMahon2:52:496510 Max Haines-Stiles 2:30:42 Tori Tyler 2:49:51 6270 Chris Mocko 2:26:22 Anna Bretan 2:49:42 6026 August Brautigam 2:32:17 Anna Bretan 2:47:51 6580 Francois Lhuissier 2:25:15 CR Anna Bretan 2:42:26 CR 5827 Nathan Krah 2:26:44 Devon Crosby-Helms 2:44:02 6494 Michael Wardian 2:27:06 Emily Field 2:50:24 6020 Keith Bechtol 2:23:28 Emily Hardin 2:51:54 5992 Andrew Cook 2:26:32 Yoko Shibui 2:46:34 5101 Chad Worthen 2:31:52 Lauren Gustafson 2:52:33 4,354 4,447 Andrew Cook 2:25:57 Yolanda Flamino 2:43:41 4,250 4,275 Andrew Cook 2:26:46 Julia Stamps 2:54:55 4,021 4,062 Tony Torres 2:31:57 Sarah Hallas 2:56:55 4,869 4,873 4,918 John Weru 2:33:41 Susan Loken 2:50:21 2,665 Patrick Kamau 2:35:11 Lucy Carr 3:02:00 1,891 Nate Bowen 2:31:46 Magdalena Lewy 2:50:11 1,920 Vytautas Ezerskis 2:30:53 Micha Lowe 3:12:10 2,249 Michael Buchanan 2:32:49 Lisa Murphy 3:08:15 2,345 Brad Hawthorne 2:24:36 Patti Smith 3:09:44 Hamid Oubadriss 2:23:54 Salina Chirchir 2:45:36 Hamid Miloudi 2:26:49 Kristen Orre 3:02:33 Brad Lael 2:37:27 Margee Brown 2:57:45 Hector Lopez 2:23:38 Lisa Kelp 2:51:12 Patrick Muturi 2:17:34 Karolina Szabo 2:44:34 Driss Dacha 2:20:02 Tatiana Titova 2:40:32 Sergio Jimenez 2:16:44 Irina Bogachova 2:36:54 Daniel Martinez 2:15:31 Lesley Ann Lehane 2:35:33 Antonio Niemczak 2:13:48 Janis Klecker 2:39:52 Ernest Tjela 2:15:01 Stephanie Robertson 3:09:08 1988 not held Mehmet Terzi 2:14:07 Eileen Claugus 2:39:02 Pete Pfitzinger 2:13:29 Maria Trujillo 2:37:58 Ric Sayre 2:15:07 Kersti Jakobsen 2:38:04 Simeon Kigen 2:10:18 Katy Laetsch 2:35:56 Pete Pfitzinger 2:14:45 Janis Klecker 2:35:44 7,231 Miguel Tibaduiza 2:14:32 Nancy Ditz 2:44:05 Harold Schulz 2:15:17 Laurie Binder 2:38:04 Antonio Ramirez 2:18:15 Joann Dahlkoetter 2:43:20 John Moreno 2:18:54 Carol Young 2:49:46 Steven Palladino 2:21:15 Sue Petersen 2:50:15 Athol Barton 2:24:59 Tena Harms 2:53:20

CR = course record since the addition of the Golden Gate Bridge out and back

+ Countries Winners RepresentedCountry MaleFemaleTotal 26 36 62 4 1 5 2 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 10 1 10 1 1

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.

Notes

References

External links

San Francisco Marathon official website Committed 2 Community - producer of the San Francisco Marathon