Nike Women's Marathon San Francisco 2013

From the beginning registration steps, this race was HANDS DOWN, awesome!

By registering for this race, they created a special app for smartphones just for you, if you don’t have a smartphone; you were able to set up a web page version on your computer. The app had the course map, special Nike deals, training plan, training blog, picture blog, personal information, and a place to set and achieve personal goals throughout your training!

As we got closer to race date, you realize how much of an “event” this actually is. They begin to release special edition apparel (SHOES!) that are marathon specific with the race “color,” always “Tiffany blue” because Tiffany is a sponsor of the race.

Three days before the race date, they host an “expo-tique” in the center of Union Square. Here you can pick up your packet, view a virtual race map (live pictures from points on the course), instar-gram live stream of other athletes in the area,  whole foods samples, Hair & make-up stylists, and more samples from the sponsors. Across the street, you will find the Nike store of S.F. 7 floors of Race specific apparel! Awesome!

Race day: I woke up at 5 AM for a 6:30 Race Start, Lucky for me my hotel was at the starting line, all I had to do was walk outside and into my corral. For breakfast I ate an Almond Butter Perfect Foods bar (I have these often, gluten free and all real foods mashed into the best bar ever!) I didn’t drink much water – my hydration was taken care of the day before! To warm up, I used a foam roller  to warm up my legs without getting too tired! As I head down to the start area, I am bundled up head to toe. At the start line, I ate some Honey Stinger energy gels and drank a very little Lemon-Lime EFS & water mixture. Before race start, I took off my extra clothing and was ready to begin!

As the fireworks! Went off, everyone took off I was 15 seconds behind the gun time.  As we took off, I looked at my watch and realized adrenaline had taken me too fast, so I slowed down my pace and began to get into a rhythm. My fiancé, Ricky met me at the 5K mark which was great because I had to make some adjustments. About mile 5.5, I ran down the road, and had to look up “ut-oh, here we go!” Up the first hill, wasn’t too bad especially because what goes up, comes down! Between miles 5 and 9 there were rolling climbs. I took a Cliff Energy Gel @ mile 7.5. The sponsors made running up the hills feel like nothing with all the distractions, keeping your attention elsewhere.

Mile 11 the course split and the half-marathoners ran to the finish, while the marathoners ran around Golden Gate Park and off to the Ocean Road for the second half of the race. I took another Cliff Energy Gel at mile 14. Mile 20 was inspirational there was a family greeting you at the turn around and a HUGE screen zooming in on each athlete. Took another cliff energy gel at mile 21 and just wanted the finish line to come!

My fiancé met up with me again at mile 22.5 and ran with me to the finish, which was perfect because he helped me keep my composure to finish strong!

The greatest part about this race is the finish line, where you meet men in tuxedos with tiffany boxes for YOU on a SILVER platter. Tiffany’s makes race specific finisher necklaces for each athlete! Next, you receive your finisher T-Shirt!  Whole Foods being a sponsor was great at the finish line, they had a nice big bag of all sorts of food and drinks for you!

San Francisco isn’t known for their great weather, it was pretty foggy the whole race, especially on the ocean road because the water is so cold. At the finish, my body went into temperature shock, but they were there with insulation blankets to keep your body heat in!

Overall, this was a great race- they really know how to accommodate LOTS of people. There were 30,000 athletes, 25,000 were half-marathoners & 5,000 did the full marathon! I finished with at time of 3:38.15 and that gave me 177 Place (TOP 4%!)

I would definitely do it again! Nike Women’s Marathon hosts another race in DC in the spring! (unfortunately I cannot run because I am pacing the NJ Half marathon)