It’s hillier than I remember. I say this because when folks have asked me about the San Francisco Marathon prior to yesterday, I know I’ve said, “It’s not as hilly as you’d think, given that it’s in San Francisco.” And maybe that is still true… but gosh it felt like a lot more hills this year. It may also be that I’m not in as good of shape as I was back in the day… and that I’m a by definition a bit older than I was back then.
It dawned on me last night as I recovered from the race and the long drive back to LA that this was in fact my fifth year running SF. My brother and I ran it together back in 2008 and as I tromped my way along the Embarcadero in 2025, I had flashes of that run. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find any digital photos from then — I know we took some but I suspect they may have been on a disposable film camera. That or they were sadly lost in a hard drive failure. Makes me sad not to have those pics… but I’m happy to know it happened anyway.
Over the years (2013, 2016, and the last time in 2017), I snapped a photo here and there as we would run across the Golden Gate Bridge in the first half of the race — always the highlight of the event.
And then there’s 2025:
Now I really wish I could find one of Steve and me. There’s a box somewhere that has physical photos that may have one or two but gosh I don’t even know where that box might be. This is why a hoarder needs a Dewey Decimal style library system. But would it be filed under 2008? Steven? SF? Marathoning? All of the above?
Things I’ll have to ponder. And maybe one day I can update this post with a “new” old photo.
***UPDATED: 11:10 AM PST ***
Was able to find a shot of Steve and me on an old MarathonFoto archive page… watermarked as I’m too cheap to buy the thing…
