How A Health Scare Motivated This Runner To Run A 50K For Her 50th Birthday | Runner Spotlight Series

“I don’t know how to swim, I don’t know how to ride a bike, but I can run!” San Francisco Marathon runner Marlena said when she decided to start running. At the age of 43, Marlena thought she may be having a stroke. She’s a nurse, so she knows the symptoms, and she ended up in the emergency room while she was having a really bad ... More

Gold Story: Running To Heal – How Having PTSD Helped Me Qualify For Boston

“My mantra is Run Positive,” Nathan says. Running has become Nathan’s therapy, his calming force, and his way of moving forward after suffering a brutal attack in front of his home in Santa Clarita and years of PTSD afterwards. On July 11, 2013, a group of kids in their teens and early 20s who had been partying at a condo across ... More

Gold Story: Fighting Cancer One Mile At A Time

“If you don’t keep the pace, we all lose our way.” This statement from Joel’s high school band director has stuck with him over the years. He was a drummer, although he says he wasn’t very good at keeping tempo for the band. But, now he thinks of this statement on a more philosophical level because in 2015 he was diagnosed with ... More

Gold Story: 2019 San Francisco Marathon Female Winner Says, “I’m Not Afraid To Dream and Work Hard”

January 20, 2020 | Nina was born and grew up in Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation. She says she liked math and computer science and was a “normal nerd until age 25, without any serious sports background.”  She has a Masters of Science in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Moscow State Technical University and ... More

Earn ALL The Medals When You Take On A Challenge

January 17, 2020 | If you’re anything like Mike Dasalla, San Francisco Marathon Race Ambassador, then you love getting ALL the medals, and with so many different race challenges, there is a lot of opportunity for medals in San Francisco. Whether you take on one of the year-over-year challenges or a partner challenge, you don’t want to ... More

Gold Story: Pushing Limits and Achieving Goals — Running, a Baby, and a Business

January 13, 2020 | Kimberly served in the Air Force for five years. After being stationed in Hawaii, the birthplace of the Ironman events, she decided to start training and competing in Ironman events. Eventually, Kimberly decided she wanted to focus just on running and see how well she could do in a marathon if she only had to run (and ... More

Gold Story: SF Marathon Runner Says “Train Hard. Run Hard. Love Hard. Be Stronger Than Your Excuses.”

January 6, 2020 | “With my entire heart, and all the energy I had to give from the moment I stepped up to the starting line to when I crossed the finish line, I accomplished my only marathon goal of a sub 4 hour finish,” Michelle posted on Instagram after running the 2019 San Francisco Marathon. It was only her third full marathon and ... More

4 Tips To Training for the SF Marathon From USATF Certified Head Coach

December 19, 2019 | Are you thinking about running the San Francisco Marathon in July? If so, it’s time to get off the couch, put those running shoes on, and start training! Dr. Lisa Gonzales, 7-time pacer for the San Francisco Marathon and USA Track & Field certified head coach of the South Bay RUN365 training club, has four ... More

Flat Can Be Boring: Why You Should Be Excited For Those San Francisco Hills!

December 17, 2019 | When San Francisco Marathon runners are asked what makes this course unique to other races, they talk about seeing all the iconic sights in the City, the majestic experience of running across the Golden Gate Bridge, the views of the ocean, the seacliffs, and the Bay, the amazing San Francisco weather, and the fact that ... More

Gold Story: Inmate to Marathoner. How Running A Marathon Can Change Your Life.

December 16, 2019 | On December 24, 2017, Waldo got out of prison. He had spent his late teens and early 20s with the wrong crowd. He did drugs, he had a friend who died in his arms, he was involved in a carjacking. And then he was caught in possession of a firearm, which is ultimately what sent him to prison. He took a plea deal, but ... More