The San Francisco Marathon returns to The City this weekend, and it is shaping up to be the biggest year yet with 25,000 runners registered, including virtual participants remotely running a computerized version of the course. Event organizers are also putting inclusivity and accessibility at the forefront of the 45th annual race.
Gender registrations have expanded to include nonbinary, trans and two-spirited runners. The weekend also marks the return of a division for runners with disabilities.
This year, event organizer Jumping Fences partnered with Jake Federowski, a Seattle-based LGBTQ+ activist who serves on the board of the Seattle Frontrunners, an LGBTQ+ running club with chapters all over the U.S., which recently created a guide for nonbinary inclusion in running.
Federowski said, “It’s one thing to add a nonbinary category on your registration platform. Someone goes to register, they have to identify as a man or a woman or nonbinary. It’s a crucial step, but it is in no way shape or form the only step.”
Creating new gender categories, Federowski explained, requires marathon organizers to “build out a division that is equal to its counterparts.”
At San Francisco’s race this weekend, scoring and age group awards will be given to the top three male, female and nonbinary runners in the full marathon, the first half-marathon and the second half-marathon.
Back-end programming, such as the marathon’s timing systems, had to undergo high-tech modifications to accommodate the growing number of runners. Participants across the race’s three divisions will be able to review their split times while friends and family can get real-time alerts indicating when their runner crosses the mid-way point and is expected to finish the race.
Lauri Abrahamsen, Jumping Fences’ director of operations, said the S.F. Marathon had discussed inclusive efforts, such as adopting a nonbinary division, for a few years.
“The back-end programming that had to be done to accommodate this was sort of a big lift and not something that could be done easily. There’s a lot of things that come into play when you’re going to give awards,” she said.
The San Francisco Marathon has also gotten creative with its age-related prizes, especially as organizers are seeing a younger audience participate in the race. Abrahamsen said this year millennial runners surpassed those from Generation X.
“The marketing aspect is slightly different; it’s a slightly different audience than it was two years ago, so we had to pivot a little,” said Abrahamsen. “This audience has more consciousness of consumerism and saving the planet.”
Ahead of the race, participants could opt into a “Trees not Tees” program, which gives runners the option of planting a tree rather than getting a t-shirt they won’t wear. Roughly 2,000 runners chose the eco-friendly approach, according to Abrahamsen.
This year’s race also features an augmented reality medal that runners can pose and interact with by using their phone’s camera to take pictures or record videos.
Other festivities include a beer garden, a health and nutrition expo and a race day party with vendors and opportunities to learn more about the San Francisco running community.