Early Sunday morning, 25,000 runners laced up their tennis shoes and hit the pavement for the 46th annual San Francisco Marathon.
The race wasn’t just for those running 26.2 miles. There was also a half marathon, 5K and 1K, which is a little more than half a mile.
The first runners took off from the starting line along the Embarcadero at 5:15 am Sunday, ran over the Golden Gate, through Golden Gate Park, out to the Mission and ended back on the Embarcadero.
There was a special stretch of the marathon route.
Waving American flags, service members, veterans, and families of the fallen lined the street along what’s called the “Blue Mile”, to cheer on the runners as they passed through part of Sausalito.
They are part of the “Wear Blue: Run to Remember,” a community that honors the service and sacrifice of our nation's military.
Bay Area Native Lisa Hallet started the organization for a very personal reason.
Hallet’s husband, Capt. John Hallet, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.
“Running was a place where I can feel my big feelings and then come home and be the mom they needed me to be,” Hallet said.
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Their children were 3, 1 and 3 weeks old.
Nine Gold Star family members with “Wear Blue” also ran in this year’s marathon.
“You know when we say ‘never forget,’ this is what it looks like,” Hallet said. “It’s speaking their names, learning their stories. So today we have a chance to share the courage and love of country.”
