Alvord Lake Bridge & Haight Street | SFM Ambassador Scott Benbow’s City Guide

The San Francisco Marathon is a city race, but much of the course lies in quiet parks on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge. Because the race begins before sunrise, there aren’t too many spectators along the course for the first nineteen miles. That, however, changes once you run under the Alvord Lake Bridge onto Haight Street.

Written by SFM Ambassador Scott Benbow
Edited by Pavlína Marek

Golden Gate Park, where you will run miles 16-19 along paved trails under cypress and eucalyptus trees and around Blue Heron Lake, includes an architectural novelty: the Alvord Lake Bridge. You’ll hit it right before you arrive at Haight Street and enter the most colorful neighborhood in the city, the Haight-Ashbury.

Alvord Lake Bridge

You’ve run across the Golden Gate Bridge, and near the finish line, you’ll run under the San Francisco Bay Bridge. So what’s important about the frankly unimpressive Alvord Lake Bridge?

Although dull and unremarkable in appearance, it has a rich history and holds special significance for American city planners and engineers. Built in 1889, it was the first reinforced concrete bridge in the United States, representing an enormous engineering breakthrough. You can learn more about the architectural importance of this bridge in the awesome podcast 99% Invisible.

Have you enjoyed the peaceful miles that led you through the Golden Gate Park? Then get ready because with the dark, cool, and quiet tunnel under the bridge behind you, everything about the course is about to change.

Alvord Lake Bridge at sunset, leading from the Golden Gate Park to Haight Street

Hight Street

Haight Street hits you like the powerful opening chords of “Volunteers” by the inimitable San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane. It’s louder here and more chaotic, but in a way that elevates the spirits if the twenty early-morning miles are beginning to take their toll. The crowds press closer, and bands appear at various places along the course. After the quiet miles you’ve already run, Haight Street is gritty, electric, and surreal.

You’ll be running through Haight-Ashbury for a mile of flat roadway before descending into the neighborhood known as the Lower Haight. It’s a major commercial street with restaurants and shops lining both sides of the street.

The brunch crowd, perhaps feeling hungover from the night before and a bit guilty about the pancakes they just consumed, spill out onto the sidewalks to watch the runners–the ones who really needed those carbohydrates–embark on the final 10 kilometers of the San Francisco Marathon.

Enjoy those miles because this is where the finish line begins. The party doesn’t end until you cross under the arch, having finished an entire marathon and earned that sweet medal.

About Scott Benbow

Scott Benbow is a San Francisco Marathon Ambassador, attorney, nonprofit specialist, and passionate SFM runner. He lives in San Francisco and runs the hills of our incredibly beautiful city with us every year.