RunRace USA › California › SF Marathon
The complete, course-first guide
SF Marathon
Sunday, July 25, 2027 · 5:15 a.m. (Corral A); later corrals at 5:20, 5:25 and 5:30 a.m.
Embarcadero at Market; finish at the Embarcadero near Howard, under the Bay Bridge
The race in 60 seconds
First run in 1977, SF Marathon has had time to become part of the city's running calendar. The route is a loop, keeping the start and finish in the same part of the city. The modeled line carries about 1850 feet of total climb and ranges from roughly -6 to 300 feet above sea level. Look for San Francisco Ferry Building, Four Embarcadero Center, Palace of Fine Arts, de Young Museum (Hamon Tower) in the flyover, with recognizable forms modeled from architectural records.
Fly the course
The whole course, built from the best available published route trace and an extruded model of San Francisco. Scrub it, change the camera, or let it play. Nothing here is a video: it is drawing the city live.
Route statusCurrent community course trace cross-checked against the published route. Direct no-login GPX from goandrace.com's SF Marathon 2026 course page (race1 = full). Downloaded via curl: 1,006 trackpoints, haversine total 42.74 km / 26.56 mi. Starts 37.7953,-122.3937 (Embarcadero at Market) and ends 37.7925,-122.3910 (Embarcadero at Howard), matching the official current-course description.
The route line uses the best published course trace available. Public-domain USGS and USDA aerial photography plus USGS 3DEP elevation are baked into RunRace USA, so the flyover makes no paid map API or third-party runtime requests. Buildings, roads, parks and water use OpenStreetMap, ODbL. This is photographic terrain with modeled architecture, not photogrammetry. Bridge approaches, elevations and facade details are approximations; the organizer's published route remains the reference.
The elevation profile
This Marathon profile covers 26.2 miles, ranges from roughly -6 to 300 feet, and contains about 1850 feet of modeled climb.
- , mile 3.58 to 8.55: 256 feet up, 1.0% average.
- , mile 10.52 to 12.09: 250 feet up, 3.0% average.
- , mile 14.48 to 17.58: 213 feet up, 1.3% average.
- , mile 13.05 to 13.59: 80 feet up, 2.8% average.
- , mile 1.56 to 2.49: 54 feet up, 1.1% average.
The route at a glance
Gold is the selected modeled course; route provenance is stated beside the flyover.
Race-week weather, measured
At the start line, July 21-29 averaged a low of 56°F and a high of 65°F across 2016-2025. The same window reached 80°F at its warmest and 52°F at its coldest. Measurable rain appeared on about 0% of sampled days. Treat the range, not just the average, as the packing list.
Pace it by effort
The profile and grade strip come from the same route currently loaded in the flyover. Use even pace as a baseline, then protect effort on the highlighted climbs and exposed sections.
| Finish | Even pace | Halfway |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | 6:52 /mi | 1:30 |
| 3:30 | 8:01 /mi | 1:45 |
| 4:00 | 9:09 /mi | 2:00 |
| 4:30 | 10:18 /mi | 2:15 |
| 5:00 | 11:27 /mi | 2:30 |
| Published course limit, 6:00 | 13:44 /mi | 3:00 |
Build your race weekend
The course
Live 3D flyover, synchronized elevation, route map, mile-by-mile shape and local landmarks.
Where to stay
167 mapped places to stay, compared by the endpoint that matters.
Expo and logistics
Packet pickup, the published weekend schedule, transit, parking and current entry tiers.
Spectators
Route-aware viewing anchors and a plan that respects the actual course geography.
The weekend
A city guide built around the places modeled beside the course.
Official race site
The organizer's current dates, entry details and late course notices.
Common questions
Does the San Francisco Marathon have a real cutoff, and what is it?
Yes, and it is stricter than many big-city races. The official course limits are 6 hours for the full marathon, 3 hours for the 1st Half, 3.5 hours for the 2nd Half, 1 hour 40 minutes for the Alexi Pappas 10K and 1 hour for the 5K. The full marathon page states plainly that to be an official finisher you must finish inside the 6-hour limit.
Is there an intermediate cutoff on the Golden Gate Bridge?
Yes. The official full marathon page says the Golden Gate Bridge has its own posted cutoff times, separate from the 6-hour overall limit, and directs runners to the support site for the current year's numbers. Plan on the bridge, not the finish line, being the checkpoint that ends slower runners' days. The exact clock time for 2026 is not published on the pages reviewed here.
How are corrals assigned, and can I just line up wherever I want?
Corrals come from the Estimated Finish Time you entered at registration and are printed on your bib, so they are checkable on the ground. To move up to a faster corral you must go to the pacer booth or solutions table at packet pickup and have your bib stamped, and that move depends on availability. Starting in a slower corral needs no stamp.
How early does this race actually start?
Very early, in waves. The full marathon sends Corral A at 5:15 a.m., Corral B at 5:20, Corral C at 5:25 and Corral D at 5:30. That is a pre-dawn start in the dark, which means an alarm around 3 a.m., a lodging choice near the Embarcadero start, and a warm-up plan that assumes 50-degree damp air, not sunrise.
Can I give or sell my bib to someone else if I get hurt?
No. The race states registration is non-transferable and that you may not give or sell your bib to another person; doing so can disqualify both the original registrant and the person wearing the bib. There is no runner-to-runner transfer window, so an injury close to race day generally means eating the entry rather than passing it along.
Can I get a refund or defer to next year?
Assume no. The Terms say your registration fee is nonrefundable even if the race is canceled for any reason, including weather, war, terrorism or acts of God. A separate Tower Refundable Registration add-on, if purchased, covers the entry fee and BART or VIP tickets minus processing fees, with a 30-day-before deadline. A documented $39 deferral applies only if the race is rescheduled.
Can I switch from the marathon to a half?
Yes, for a fee. The Terms set an event-change charge of $15. Upgrading to a more expensive distance costs that $15 plus the price difference; downgrading to a cheaper distance costs the $15 and you forfeit the difference rather than getting money back. Decide early, because entry prices rise through tiered pricing as inventory in each tier sells.
How does gear check work, and what bag can I use?
You must use the clear plastic gear-check bag handed out at the Expo, with your name and bib number written on it. Full Marathon and 1st Half gear check is at the main start/finish area, the Embarcadero at Ferry Plaza. 2nd Half runners drop near the Ocean Beach parking lot and collect at the main finish. The race is not liable for lost, stolen or damaged items, so leave valuables behind.
Will there be a heat sheet waiting at the finish?
No. The full marathon page states heat sheets will not be provided at the finish line, though medical staff can supply one if you need it. That is a real problem in a 55-degree foggy, breezy finish area after 26.2 miles, so the race tells you to pack your own lightweight warm layer in your gear-check bag before you start.
What does the weather actually do on race morning?
The race's own weather guide gives mid-50s to low 60s Fahrenheit at start time and low-to-mid 60s later, with fog that makes 55 feel like 50 when you are standing still, and wind that is most noticeable crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Real humidity is rare. Their advice: dress for mile 2, not minute 0, and use a throwaway layer at the start.
What on-course support should I expect?
The full marathon has 14 water stops carrying water, electrolytes, medical support and toilets across 26.2 miles. That is roughly every two miles, but combined with the 5:15 a.m. start and the bridge crossing, the practical issue is that early miles are dark, cold and crowded, and the bridge section has limited room to pass, so plan your fueling around the stops rather than around pace.
Register for the 2027 SF Marathon →on the official race site
Course geometry provenance is stated beside the player; elevation profiles always use the same route loaded there. City geometry is OpenStreetMap, ODbL. Aerial imagery is from USGS and USDA; other images carry their own source credits. Weather figures use Open-Meteo reanalysis for July 21-29 across 2016-2025 at the start line. Schedule, prices and expo hours were checked in 2026-08-26 and are the fields most likely to move: confirm them on www.thesfmarathon.com before you book anything. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.