Before I started running marathons, I preferred the flattest and easiest possible race courses. Give me a pristine, pancake-flat, beachfront race, and I was good to go. Hills had always been a weakness of mine, and I thrived running on the track.
My first marathon was on the coast of South Carolina, and while it was as flat as can be, it also got a little boring after a few hours. Still, I struggled so much in the final miles from fatigue that I could not fathom adding hills into the mix. It wasn’t until a year—and three marathons later—that I would consider all-out racing a hilly marathon.
A week after fun-running the 2023 New York City Marathon, I sat down at my computer to research my next race. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was my Uncle Greg calling from his home in Berkeley, California. When he learned what I was doing at the moment, he offered a suggestion: my next marathon should be the San Francisco Marathon the following July. He had run it in 2007, raising money for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, and loved it.
I was unsure at first. The San Francisco Marathon is one of the hilliest city marathons in the country, and knowing hills weren’t my strong suit, I wanted to perform my best. But Uncle Greg convinced me that I would be so swept away with the entire experience that I wouldn’t even notice the hills. “Okay,” I thought. “I could give it a try.”
I registered immediately.
After a tumultuous 14-week build that included almost six weeks of minimal running and hours on an elliptical due to shin splints, I toed the line at 5:15 a.m. along the Embarcadero of San Francisco on a chilly July morning.
The race actually starts off surprisingly flat. But that would not last. Just before the six-mile mark, the course climbs up to the Golden Gate Bridge. As I crested the half-mile climb, gaining almost 200 feet, I was met with the most beautiful sunrise peeking through the fog. I was hooked.
What followed was 20 miles of grueling climbs and pure bliss. The course follows the bridge into the Marin Headlands, down past a military base and climbs up and across the Golden Gate Bridge a second time before hitting mile 13. In the second half of the race, I was given a tour of the Presidio neighborhood and led up a long and steady climb into Golden Gate Park. I saw my family there and had the largest smile on my face as I summited the final major climb and began the seven-mile descent to the finish.
I crossed the line as the eighth woman in 3:06:45, far exceeding my expectations. I was ecstatic and shouted to my family that “I’ll be coming back next year!” Despite over 1,300 feet of elevation gain, I never had more fun in my life. The mild weather, the cheering, the breathtaking views, and the tour of the city gave me the best runner’s high of my life.
After the race, I celebrated with my Uncle Greg and Uncle Matt. Greg and I wore our marathon medals from the same race 17 years apart. The race finishes in downtown San Francisco, and the ease of access to the start and finish line is the best that I’ve experienced throughout all of my eight marathons. As an additional perk, every finisher received a free finisher’s jacket in 2024. I still wear mine today.
A year later, I came back to San Francisco and bettered my course time by over four minutes, running 3:02:03 and finishing in seventh place for women.
The San Francisco Marathon will always have a special place in my heart. It’s the race that made me fall in love with the marathon distance. After so many years of avoiding hill training and races with massive elevation gain, I now embrace the challenge. All that climbing is worth it for the experience of a lifetime.
Liv Paxton is an eight-time Boston Marathon qualifier, content creator, and avid fundraiser. She's worked in the running space for four years as a coach, fit specialist, sports announcer, and writer. Paxton is a former conference champion for both the College of William and Mary and Winthrop University. She can be found running the roads of Charlotte, North Carolina, and signing up for every marathon and charity 5K she can afford.