Many ways to reach Marathon finish line
Thousands will challenge themselves in grueling S.F. event
More than 9,000 runners will toe the line at Sunday’s 40th annual San Francisco Marathon expecting, or hoping, to go the full distance. And every runner who shows up will have trained in his or her own way to get there.
The marathon — 26.2 grueling miles — is more than the premier event of road running. Almost anyone who has picked up a jogging habit has at least entertained the idea of tackling one someday, and indeed, interest in the marathon has exploded in the United States and elsewhere over the past couple of decades. These days, roughly half a million Americans run a marathon each year.
“The marathon has this lore about it. Even for a guy like me, who’s run hundreds of them, I still know it’s going to test me every time,” said Dean Karnazes, a Ross resident and world-famous marathoner and ultra-runner — someone who runs races longer than marathon distance. On Sunday, he’ll run a double San Francisco Marathon — starting at the finish line at midnight, running 26.2 miles to the start, then joining the masses to run the whole thing again at 5:30 a.m.
A casual runner’s marathon is quite different from the race of an elite athlete, and different goals require different training methods. In every race there are firsttimers just hoping to cross the finish line before the course closes, more seasoned amateurs gunning for a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, retirees trying to win their age group, and runners in their 30s hoping for a personal best.
Their goals define their training, and vice versa. Some runners will have nailed every 50-mile week of training. Others, due to an injury, an unexpected commitment or a simple lack of motivation, will barely muster 50 miles a month.
At SFChronicle.com are profiles of seven runners with seven goals and seven methods. They agreed to share their training data over 15 weeks, from April 1 to July 16. Read and be inspired — or forewarned. And check back next week to see how they did on race day.