Across the Golden Gate: A San Francisco Marathon 2026 Recap

Christine Murasaki Ainsworth(MM13525, DA3296, HF17376) – I ran the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday, 7/26/26. Marathon # 82. It was a beautifully scenic and notoriously hilly 26.2 miles. We had perfect weather, not much wind or fog and around 60 degrees. We started at 5:15 AM which meant I was in bed my 6:30 PM to get up at 1:30 AM Sunday morning. My hotel was about a 20 minute walk to the start/finish of the race at the Embarcadero.
I had my bib mailed to me but went to the expo anyway since I was there by noon. I took an Uber there and back but coming back I had pick up point problems. We couldn’t find each other amidst all the traffic and crowds of people. They had many vendors and plenty of race merch. The shirt (back) and the finisher medal have the Golden Gate Bridge on them. The medal is pretty cool because it opens on both sides to form the bridge. 🙂
I was in the second corral. It was like a really long run and a test to see how my right foot would do running 26.2 miles before all my upcoming fall marathons. My last 2 marathons were in April 20 Boston & April 26 Big Sur. I was in PT before Boston and felt good by Big Sur and even after both races. After resuming PT my pain returned but in a new location and was pretty uncomfortable. My podiatrist said the Graston technique being done at PT may have caused trauma to the foot…so I stopped going. It was SLOWLY getting better and he suggested I get a steroid injection to bring down the knot of inflammation. I was able to run SF without any pain. But when he gave me my steroid injection he also removed most of my dead left big toenail which seems to never want to fall off. That caused minor pain. The only real annoying medical challenges I had were my horrible double vision/lack of depth perception. Even my left Lymphedema leg behaved on the flight there and back, and during the race.🙂
We got to run over the Golden Gate Bridge TWICE. I really enjoyed being on the bridge with its beautiful view. 🙂 we ran on the sidewalks. The course is out and back. There was a lot of climbing: up the bridge, across the bridge, down, then around Marin, back up the bridge, on the bridge and back down. Then the hilly streets of San Francisco and Golden Gate Park. Some of the descents were so steep I just could not run down them and was forced to walk. I had company since many others needed to walk them too. I knew SF was going to be hilly but I figured I would make up my time on the descents. Wrong.
I wasn’t sure I’d be returning telling myself after some of the toughest climbs…it was a “One and done” race like I said after my first Big Sur but I’m already registered for next year which will be their 50th Anniversary and the Golden Gate’s 90th birthday. It was a challenge this year and I hope to run better next year. 🙂