Gregory Rouson's Staging Area

Here is a summary of my experience at the The San Francisco Marathon 5K and 1st Half Marathon / Bridge Half this past weekend:

Saturday 5K
1. There was no bag check (runners were instructed by a race official in the solutions tent to “just put your bags on that picknick table over there”. Said picknick table was not covered, secured, or supervised by any race official.
2. The course was shorter than the advertised 3.1 mile distance (it was short by 0.05 miles); a portent of things to come.
3. The finish line area was VERY cramped which created a log jam right as we crossed (ANOTHER portent of things to come!).
4. There was ZERO signage to indicate where we should have gone to collect post-race gift items.

Sunday 1st Half Marathon/Bridge Half Marathon
1. There were only 28 port-a-potties for 5,162 runners (a fellow runner counted them). Twenty. Eight. 😠
2. There was VERY poor signage overall, especially for gear check (which was labeled “Sweat Check” for some reason which confused everyone).
3. The race was AGAIN short by .10 miles (I verified with other runners who also recorded distances less than 13.1).
4. The finish line area was SUPER cramped and disorganized caused by the race organizers deciding that the finish line area was the best place to put a premium distribution point manned by one official who resorted to throwing our finisher item (towel) at us like we were peasants begging for scraps of food.
5. The finisher jacket area was ALSO very disorganized and confusing. Apparently, there were separate men’s and women’s jacket tents. Runners were not made aware of this until they approached the table because (you guessed it)…THERE WERE NO SIGNS to indicate which tent was which. A visibly overwhelmed volunteer finally made a rickety carboard sign written in black Sharpie to communicate with people in the line. Then, of course, they ran out of sizes, so some people had to wait even longer.
6. I found out the hard way that the challenge medals were handed out at the EXPO, not the finish line for some odd reason so I didn’t collect my third medal for completing the 5K and half after the race. This was just a really odd choice to me. Why weren’t the jackets distro’d at the Expo and the special medals distro’d on race day you know…AFTER we actually completed our respective challenges?!?!
7. Because of the lack of proper signage, runners didn’t’ know where to go to catch shuttles back to the starting area (SOME runners, that is…).
8. Runners who ran the 1st Half Marathon didn’t have shuttles for us back to our starting area which was 3.5 miles from the finish line; we were left hanging. I was able to get a Lyft and shared my ride with a fellow Bridge Half runner. This was the final straw for me…
The highlight of the weekend was seeing my wear blue: run to remember family on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the Blue Mile.
Given everything that I experienced, I can safely say that this was the absolute worst race I have EVER participated in. The fact that I traveled all the way across the country to experience it makes it somehow even worse; I feel like I wasted thousands of dollars on a rather forgettable experience. I won’t be running this event again and I highly recommend you not do so either.