San Francisco Marathon

2000 July

San Francisco Marathon

For some reason I talked my brother into running in the 2000 San Francisco Marathon. Actually, he was fairly keen on the idea so little convincing was necessary. My only goal was to complete the course without stopping and faster than 4 hours. We each succeeded in both regards. My brother could have finished much faster than me but stuck with me at the end when my knees began to act up. Because I had destroyed my running shoes on a backpacking trip the previous weekend I ran my brothers old shoes, shoes that I had never worn before! If memory serves, the blisters were not that bad.

Genuine smiles, for we have just re-entered the Golden Gate Park after the terrible down and back stretch along Ocean Beach that seemed to go on forever. We both know that the end is very near.

Just feet from the finish line, racer #2784 finishes in 3 hours and 52 minutes. I actually sprinted the last 100 yards or so, just to show my body who was boss for making me suffer with bad knees for the last third of the race. For the next week I couldn’t walk properly.