4 hours, 4 mins, 33 secs – yeah, that’s what it took me to complete my first San Francisco Full Marathon.
I did First Half Marathon 2 years ago and First Full Marathon last year, but this was the first Full Marathon on the hills of San Francisco. Even though I could not complete within less than 4 hours but I was happy that I took only 3 short walk breaks and maintained my pace as planned. There was San Francisco characteristic-fog all through the course with no Sun shine anywhere at all, and in a way that helped. Here is the complete breakdown from the official results (bib# 1378):
| Distance ยป | 7.5 miles | Half | 20.7 miles | Finish |
| Time | 1:01:35 | 1:48:49 | 3:03:12 | 4:04:33 |
| Pace | 8:13 | 8:18 | 8:51 | 9:20 |
Some other stats are:
| Place Overall | 1317 out of 4250 |
| Men | 1058 out of 2805 |
| M 30-34 | 178 out of 436 |
| Age Grade | 51.38% |
The fastest male runner clocked 2:25:57 and the fastest female runner was 2:43:41.
The race was very well organized and some of the highlights that I liked are:
- The course was very well marked and the local crowd support was very supportive. This was much better than Silicon Valley Marathon last year where the course was lonely at quite a few spots. Today the course was well guided by cops or event team.
- There were ample water stations and each station was accompanied with a medical aid staff as well. This proved out to be a boon at Mile 23 where they applied Biofreeze to my sore thighs. And there was no stopping after that at all.
- There were music stations all through out the course and the frequency of stations increased during the last miles. This helped me maintain the rhythm closer to the stations. Kudos to all the bands for playing early in the morning.
- National Holistic Institute, College of Massage Therapy were giving a free massage to all the runners after the race. This helped a quick recovery of my sore body parts.
 With my son before Start |
 Start Line |
 Right after the Finish |
 In front of the Bay Bridge |
 2007 Finisher Pose |
 With my wife and son after the Finish |
And lastly, my wife and 4-year old son drove me to the race early morning and cheered for me at the start and the finish line. This was the biggest morale booster!
I read it somewhere "The only thing that does not hurt after a Marathon is your Pride". And I completely felt it today right after the race and the massage turned out to be a big blessing 
Technorati: running runsfm marathon
Congratulations!
Glen
Comment by Glen Mazza — July 30, 2007 @ 8:46 am
Hi Arun,
Heartiest Congratulation on completing the marathon. I am truly impressed by your all rounder attitude both in technology and in your running.
I am a Java Fan and I read almost all your posts. Hope to join Sun Microsystems one day!
Good luck on your future miles…..
Comment by nitinpai — July 30, 2007 @ 10:28 am
Arun,
The marathons of life are truly inspirational. Thanks for being an inspiration, and continued success on all future life runs.
/.rocky
Comment by Rocky Aroda — July 30, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Thanks Glen, Nitin, and Rocky … I could complete it with wishes from readers like you
Comment by Arun Gupta — July 30, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
Wow!! Great Job.
Comment by Rama Pulavarthi — July 31, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
Lala Ji:
The additioanl 4 mins 33 secs can be attributed to strong head wind as well as beautiful distraction for the last quarter 
….kya kare ladkiyo ko bhi dekhna jarroori hai..
Congrat on running the 2nd marathon
We are very proud of you; especially, the commitment of last few months towards this race……
I guess the target has to be 3.50 for next Marthaon to challenge yourself
Dhiraj
Comment by Dhiraj — July 31, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
Hi Arun
Congratulations! Keep it up, I am sure next year will be under 3:30.
Anoop
Comment by Anoop Trivedi — July 31, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Way to go we all new you could do it.
Comment by VA Refinance — April 25, 2008 @ 7:36 pm