Run the Virgin Sport San Francisco Half Marathon [UPDATE- CANCELLED]

Virgin Sport is bringing a half marathon back to San Francisco. See details below.

*** UPDATE, Oct. 12th - Virgin Sport has unfortunately had to cancel this weekend's inaugural Virgin Sport San Francisco festival of fitness due to health issues caused by multiple wildfires in northern California. All events are cancelled, including the half marathon and the one-mile race.

The official cancellation notice from Virgin Sport begins (click link for full statement):

After careful consideration and consultation with the City and County of San Francisco and local officials, we are canceling our Virgin Sport San Francisco festival of fitness, including the Twin Peaks Mile and SF Bay Half, scheduled to take place this weekend, October 14-15, given the ongoing public health air-quality issues associated with the Napa and Sonoma wildfires, and following an official Health Advisory warning from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. 

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The Nike women's half marathon in San Francisco was a big favorite for runners in the years it was held, and it left a big gap when it ended. Now the relatively new group Virgin Sport is holding a brand-new San Francisco festival in October, with the lead event being a half marathon (for both sexes, as all events are).

The event, called Virgin Sport San Francisco, is the latest in the group's series of races with related festivals. 

Even if you're not running a half marathon, you can get down with us and celebrate the weekend with fitness, food, music, classes, art and beer. On Sunday October 15, the festival will go strong, along with mix of free and pre-registered fitness classes at our Go Fit Yourself line up. Stay tuned for more updates and pre-register now to be the first to hear on who we will have leading the pack.

The festival, which takes place this Oct. 14th and 15th, features the half marathon and a one-mile race, and plans to include a lot of local San Fran color with events involving the city's culture and community—with art, music, and more. 

The athletic events:

• Saturday, October 14th  - Twin Peaks Mile, 9 a.m.
• Sunday, October 15th, Civic Center Plaza - Virgin Sport SF Bay Half Marathon, 7 a.m.
• Sunday, October 15th - Go Fit Yourself fitness experience, with a number of free and register-in-advance fitness classes taking place on several stages.

The San Francisco Bay Half Marathon starts and finishes in Civic Center Plaza, and the course winds around the hills and streets of the city, promising plenty of great views. 

The Twin Peaks Mile goes up and up and up, and the organizers say you'll have the chance to do it one of "four different styles: Straight Up, Better Together, Style Mile, and HIIT & Run."

And both of the races include a medal and a beer. Not to mention the gorgeous San Francisco scenery. 

The weekend's final event is the Go Fit Yourself fitness experience, with a number of free and register-in-advance fitness classes taking place on several stages.

See the links for each event or the Virgin Sport San Francisco website for more details and to sign up for the half marathon or other events.

Virgin Sport is one of the more recent projects of serial entrepreneur Richard Branson, found of Virgin Airlines and Virgin Records. Branson hand-picked Mary Wittenberg, former CEO of the New York Road Runners Club, to head Virgin Sport when he started it up a few years ago.

2015 Nike Women's Half Marathon, San Francisco - [RESULTS Added] Race Details

See course map, runner tracking, and more below for the Nike Women's Half Marathon- San Francisco.

[UPDATE, Oct. 19th: It took a while to find it, but results for the 2015 Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco are posted online. If you have the mobile app, you should be able to find the results there. If you don't have the app, or just want to view the finishing times and other stats on the web, you'll find the race results for the Nike Women's Half Marathon here. Also on that page you'll find a link to race photos. Congrats to all participants!]

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Get ready for the 2015 Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco with the links below for practice runs, an interactive course map, runner tracking, and more.

• get focused with the Nike+ Training Club, Friday, Oct. 16th at 5 p.m. There's a workout geared for specific areas of your body, to prepare to run your best half marathon
• go for a shakeout run with the Nike+ Run Club, Saturday, Oct. 17th at 7:30 a.m.
• visualize your race route with this course description from halfmarathons.net
• see the Nike Women's Running Facebook page and Run Nike Women Twitter account for updates
• view the interactive race weekend map, showing mile makers, location of aid stations, store locations, and more
• track runners during the race with Track My Run

Good luck to all runners in Sunday's 2015 Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco!

2014 San Francisco Marathon - Race Results

Now that the 2014 San Francisco Marathon is in the books, check the race results here to see how you or your friends did. You'll find results for the marathon, half marathons, 5K, and other races this weekend.

You can check the leaderboard, view finishers by gender or age group, or search for specific runners.

Congrats to men's winner August Brautigam (2:32:17), women's winner Anna Bretan (2:47:51), and all the runners in the 2014 San Francisco Marathon and other races!

2013 Nike Women's Marathon SF- Runner Tracking & More

[UPDATE Aug. 22nd, 2017: The Nike Women's Half apparently is no more, but there's a brand-new, co-ed Virgin Sport San Francisco Half Marathon this October. It includes the half, a one-mile run, and a fitness festival. Learn more about Virgin Sport's new half marathon.

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[UPDATE Oct. 16th, 2015: See details on the 2015 Nike Women's Half Marathon, San Francisco, including interactive course map, runner tracking, and more. The race takes place Sunday, Oct. 18th.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Sunday, Oct. 20th is the big Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, and you can track runners in real time with Track My Run at this link: gonike.me/sf13trackmyrun. At this site you can track multiple runners, follow them through the course with an interactive map, and even see the elevation at the point they're running (no small factor in a race that winds its way through the hills of San Francisco).

All you need to track runners is their bib number or last name.

Track Nike Women's Marathon runners in real time.

More information on the 2013 Nike Women's Marathon: check out the course map (JPEG), the race info sheet, and the race weekend FAQ. The race begins at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

What's more, the website says you can "Get your race results and celebration photo on your mobile device right as you cross the finish line with the Nike Women’s Marathon Training App," which you'll find at http://gonike.me/werunSF.

For more information and updates on the Nike Women's Marathon, see its website here, check its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RunNikeWomenSeries, or follow it on Twitter at @runnikewomen. You can also search on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #werunsf.

Good luck to all participants in this year's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco!

2011 Nike Women's Marathon Results - San Francisco

The 8th Nike Women's Marathon took place October 16th, 2011.

[UPDATE Oct. 16th, 2015: See details on the 2015 Nike Women's Half Marathon, San Francisco, including interactive course map, runner tracking, and more. The race takes place Sunday, Oct. 18th.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Results for the 2011 Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco can be found here. [UPDATE: You can find results for the 2011 NWM marathon and half marathon here. Get information on the 2012 NWM Marathon (in San Francisco) and NWM Half Marathon (in Washington, D.C.) here] Or as much of the results are available. There doesn't yet seem to be a way to view overall results; you enter a runner's name or bib number in a "Find Your Results" search box.

There are images of finishers' medals with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, but no times, with "Official Results Coming Soon" noted. (Update: it was later changed to say that final results will be posted as soon as they are available.) You might be able to find more information at the 2011 Nike Women's Marathon Facebook page, or at the race's website.

For some reason, Nike has never made it easy to find the results for this race. Most races have a straightforward "Results" link clearly visible on the home page, but not this one.

The 2011 Nike Women's Marathon took place October 16th.

2011 San Francisco Marathon - *RESULTS!* Course Maps, Runner Tracking, More

The 2011 San Francisco Marathon and other races take place July 31st

UPDATE, 7/31: 2011 San Francisco Marathon results are posted here. As you can imagine, the main site, www.thesfmarathon.com, is groaning under heavy traffic, so the Bazu Media site in the previous sentence has been set up to provide race results. You'll  be able to search for specific runners by bib number, etc. and view different race divisions, and see finishing times as well as splits. You can also view the leaders in the San Francisco Marathon, the two half marathons, and the 5K.
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July ends with a bang this year in the city by the bay, as the 2011 San Francisco Marathon takes place on July 31st. Here are some links with handy information if you're taking part in the race, or just watching and cheering people on.

* Registration: The registration page says that the Marathon, Half Marathons, and other races are closed, but then says "There is limited availability in the Full Marathon, 2nd Half Marathon, and Munchkin Kids Race." Since it's unclear whether you can get into the Marathon and the second Half, it might be worth it to check to see if you can still register.

* Runner tracking/athlete alerts: the SF Marathon has a smartphone app for both iPhone and Android, which it says shows the course map, lets you track runners, lets you see comments about the race from social media, and more. It doesn't say whether the apps are free or paid, but runner tracking from MapMyRun is available, which does involve a fee: "Please note SMS bib number tracking is sold separately from mobile live tracking..."

* Course maps and tours: Check course maps and elevations profiles for each race, and see video tours of the marathon course.

* Schedule of events: The San Francisco Marathon Expo takes place Friday and Saturday; see expo times here. All races take place on Sunday the 31st, and start at Embarcadero at Mission (except as shown below). Race start times are:

• San Francisco Marathon: Wave starts from 5:30 a.m. – 6:45 a.m.
  
• First Half Marathon start: Wave starts from 5:30 a.m. – 6:45 a.m.
  
• 5K/Progressive Marathon: Registration- 6 a.m.; Start- 7:45
  
• Second Half Marathon start (John F. Kennedy Drive at 36th Ave.): Wave starts from 8:15 a.m. – 8:35 a.m.
  

2010 Nike Women's Marathon - Searchable Race Results

You can find race results for the 2010 Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco here. The race was held October 17th in San Francisco, and you'll find a searchable results form below, as well as listings for the top 10 men and women marathon finishers, and the top 10 women half-marathon finishers.

You can find more information about the Nike Women's Marathon at the race's website.

Congratulations to all finishers of the Nike Women's Marathon!

2010 Bay to Breakers - You Can Still Register

The 2010 Bay to Breakers run takes place on May 16th, and you can still register for the race. This is the 99th year of the classic 12K race in San Francisco, which features everything from competitive runners to fun runners in wacky costumes.

If you like, you can be a part of the "world’s longest centipede," and help break a Guinness World Record on race day.

To learn about registration, course map, street closures, and more, visit the Bay to Breakers Web site.

You can find the latest updates about the Bay to Breakers on Twitter at @INGB2Breakers or @baytobreakers.