Run along a backdrop that combines gorgeous natural vistas with views of San Francisco’s urban skyline in the distance, as well as a hilly and challenging course, the Golden Gate Headlands Marathon, Half Marathon & 6-Mile race unfold over a course that features some dramatic changes in elevation — the half marathon course climbs and descends roughly 800 feet overall in elevation.
The race starts across the bay from San Francisco’s Presidio, in Sausalito at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, where runners start the race at the spot known as Rodeo Beach.
From there, participants follow an out-and-back loop course through the area known as the Marin Headlands, which overlook the city and the Golden Gate Bridge, and take runners along a course that’s truly postcard-perfect, a combination of single-track hiking trails, fire roads, pavement and a beach crossing, running throughout along the lush Pacific shoreline dotted with vibrant wildflowers.
The course through Sausalito is a single 13.1-mile loop that runners in the half marathon run once, and those running the full 26.2-mile marathon run twice.
