Date Night - Scouting the SFM Course

Lately, our date nights always start with the plan of dinner and a movie. As it approaches, we both usually start feeling like we don't want to go sit and eat and then go sit and watch a movie for 2 hours. There is a place in San Fran that I have been wanting to go, but after doing a 20 mile run Sunday morning, by Sunday night, I didn't really want to get all dressed up and go somewhere. We decided to save it for after the convention so the kids can go, too. So, we headed into the city and drove the SF Marathon course and figured out dinner along the way.

After driving the course we've realized a few things. First, that we've run large parts of the course previously. Between the urban adventure races, Komen for the Cure, and our Golden Gate Park run that we do, there's only a handful of miles that we have never run, namely Haight St, and 3-4 miles towards the end through the Dogpatch area of SF. Second, that it's not the uphills that are going to hurt. They are what you make them, you can run them, charge them, shuffle up them, or walk them, you pick your pain level. It's the downhills that are going to tear our knees and quads apart. There are some very steep downhills, and some very long downhills.
Third, the first half of the marathon is by far the most scenic. If you are choosing which half to do (if you are running a half marathon, with SF you have a choice of running the first half or second half), my 2 cents worth would be choose the first half. It starts near the Ferry building, down Embarcadero, Marina District, Crissy Field, over GG Bridge and Back, past Baker Beach, Richmond District, and ends up in GG Park. It's one pretty view to the next, always something to look at, pretty, and no areas that are 'sketchy'. Yes, there is a killer hill up to GG Bridge, and then again after you come back across and off the bridge, followed by a painfully long downhill....but the views out across the ocean as you come down that hill make it more than worth it!
The second half starts in GG Park, which is beautiful, it's also all up hill. Then you're heading straight down Haight St. As someone who hates the smell of booze and any variety of second hand smoke, I am not looking forward to the odors this long stretch may involve. Haight St. sounds neater than it is, it can be pretty grungy. Then its through the Mission, over Potrero Hill, through the Dogpatch, China Basin, around the back of AT&T park, and up Embarcadero to finish at the Ferry Building. Honestly, once you leave GG Park, this isnt' real pretty. The Dogpatch area and China Basin area's are pretty industrial looking, not real pretty, not a lot to see. The last 3 miles are supposed to be our "music miles" with lots of entertainment, which would make it more bearable. Once you see the stadium and the Bay Bridge, you know you're almost done.
Overall, I think driving it made us realize it's a pretty familiar run. While it is very hilly, it's very doable. We always have a blast doing runs in the city. There's something special about running down the middle of streets that are usually packed with cars, seeing the city from a different perspective. Running across the road part of the GG Bridge I imagine will feel pretty special. Many of the reviews I have read of the marathon have mentioned how slippery the road is, especially if the bridge is fogged in, so hopefully I will manage to avoid falling.
We ended up stopping at Safeway and getting dinner. It was surprisingly wonderful. We had spicy chicken, BBQ pork, jo jo's, and a huge piece of wonderful carrot cake with delicious cream cheese frosting. Good thing we did a 20 miler that morning or I may have felt guilty! It was a wonderful date night! There are pics of the entire course here.