Run, Karla, Run!

Runners in Golden Gate Park (Photo: Nike)

Want to take part in the Nike Women San Francisco Race Weekend from October 16-18, 2015, including the Nike Women’s Half Marathon? Registration for the random draw is open until Monday June 29, 2015 at 11:59 a.m. PDT. The random draw will take place July 8, 2015.

Registration is $200, and only runners picked through the draw will be charged. You can enter the lottery as an individual or as a group, and men are welcome too.

If you’re one of the lucky runners to get a half-marathon entry, you’ll also be able to register for other Nike Women San Francisco Race weekend events at no additional cost, until events have reached capacity. For more information or to register, visit nike.com/sf.

Running San Francisco!

I ran the 2014 Nike Women’s Half Marathon San Francisco courtesy of Nike as part of a media group. I went in with high expectations and, somehow, the race managed to exceed them. I love, love, love this race. I’d never run a Nike event before, and I’d never run in San Francisco before. From start to finish, I was thoroughly impressed.

From the start at Union Square and on-course signage that let you know the next bathrooms were 1.4-miles away to the red carpet finish and free race photos after the fact, it was a superbly executed race and incredibly fun, too. Not to mention, instead of a finisher medal, I got a Tiffany & Co. finisher necklace. Yep, I’ve been wearing mine all the time. And Tiffany will be back for 2015.

The course’s natural beauty was among the most scenic of the 90 races I’ve run—behind the Kauai Half Marathon and Bermuda Half Marathon. Even through San Francisco’s famous fog I was able to appreciate the beauty of the city’s architecture, Golden Gate Park and the beach. No, we weren’t able to see the Golden Gate Bridge on race day because the fog was so thick. Thankfully, I got a shot in front of it the day before at a shakeout run.

If you’re thinking of registering for the random draw, here’s what you can expect come race weekend! Read the rest of this entry →

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. (Nike)

A few weeks ago, I announced that I’m running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon San Francisco on October 19 as part of a Nike media group. I was waiting for Nike to release the course map before I decide if the race will be the scene of my sub-2 hour half marathon attempt.

Well, the course map is finally here! For the 11th edition of the race, Nike has drawn a completely new route through San Francisco.

Course Map

Like years of yore, the Nike Women’s Half Marathon starts in San Francisco’s Union Square.

But instead of heading north to the Marina and Presidio, the first three miles take runners through the city streets, including the iconic Alamo Square neighborhood with its rows of Victorian houses.

San Francisco’s Alamo Square neighborhood. (Nike)

Miles 4 through 8 tour the bucolic 1,017-acre Golden Gate Park before another mile through the often-foggy Richmond District. Read the rest of this entry →

(Courtesy of Nike)

Have you ever had a running gait analysis? I now have video of mine thanks to Nike Running.

On Sunday, October 19, I’ll be running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco! I’ll be attending the race courtesy of Nike as part of a media group. Along with the race, they’re helping me train and gear up for the event. Excited? You bet!

Gait Analysis

To help me gear up for the race, I got fit for shoes at the Nike Running store in New York City’s Flatiron district. I’ve had my gait analyzed four times before at various running stores and in physical therapy. I have it checked periodically in case my form has changed dramatically since I’ve gotten faster, been diagnosed with arthritis, injured my hip in a horseback riding fall, and all the other things that affect how I run.

But year after year, gait analysis shows I’m a steadfast neutral shoe runner. This time I have video proof.

But what does it mean to be a neutral shoe runner? Read the rest of this entry →

The Nike Women’s Half Marathon SF. (Photo: Nike)

So you didn’t get into the 2014 Nike Women’s Half Marathon SF? If you want to be one of the 25,000 runners at the start on October 19, you still can. Charity bibs are available with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (TNT), the series’ major beneficiary.

A TNT runner. (Photo courtesy of Team in Training)

Since the first Nike Women’s Marathon in 2004, Team in Training participants have raised more than $147.9 million in Nike Women Series events, helping The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) fund research to advance lifesaving blood cancer treatments.

Through its 25th anniversary last year, TNT had trained more than 600,000 participants and raised more than $1.4 billion for LLS.

If you want to run the Nike Women’s Half Marathon SF with TNT, you’ll be asked to raise funds in exchange for your spot in the race. You’ll also train with TNT coaches for four months, receive access to clinics on nutrition and injury prevention, and race past San Francisco’s iconic sites.

Nike has yet to reveal the 2014 course. Previous editions started at Union Square in San Francisco and finished on the Great Highway at Ocean Beach, travelling along the San Francisco Bay with views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Read the rest of this entry →

The Nike Women’s Half Marathon San Francisco. (Photo: Nike)

UPDATE: The 2014 lottery is now closed. To run the race via charity, read Run Nike Women’s Half Marathon SF for charity with TNT.

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Registration for the 2014 Nike Women Half Marathon San Francisco random draw opened Wednesday, June 4 at 11 a.m. PDT. Runners have until 11 a.m. on June 19 PDT to register for a chance at being one of the 25,000 runners expected on October 19.

The half marathon is the focus at the 2014 Nike Women’s Half Marathon San Francisco. (Photo: Nike)

For the 11th year of the world’s largest women-focused race, Nike has decided to forgo the marathon distance and concentrate on the half.

“Due to runners’ feedback over the past few years, we have decided to only offer a half marathon,” reads numerous responses to runner inquires on the race’s Facebook page. “But we are dedicated to bring you one of the best Nike Women’s Half Marathons yet!”

The Nike Women’s Marathon and Half Marathon San Francisco debuted in 2004 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, won by American Joan Benoit Samuelson. The Nike Women’s Marathon and Half Marathon went on to become the largest women’s running event in the world. More than 30,000 runners finished races at the event in 2013. More than 26,000 of them ran the half marathon. Read the rest of this entry →

Hollie Estupinian, 32, of Capitola, Calif., wins the Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco in a time of 3:05:13 on Sunday, October 16, 2011. (Photo: Susan Goldman Photography/Nike)

Time is running out to enter the random draw lottery for the 2013 Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco. Runners have until June 14 at 12 p.m. PDT to apply for one of the 30,000 spots in the marathon and half marathon. The event is celebrating its 10^th anniversary on Sunday, October 20.

The Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco began in 2004 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of a major milestone in women’s running: the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, won by American Joan Benoit Samuelson.

The event has gone on to become the largest women’s running event in the world. More than 22,000 runners finished the Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco in 2011, and another 25,000 ran in 2012. This year, 30,000 runners are expected to take part. Read the rest of this entry →