Due to COVID-19, our 2020 San Francisco Marathon has been cancelled. Please review our FAQ.

A Letter to Our Runners

When we moved our race to November, we had high hopes that our world would have made progress against COVID-19 and life would have returned to some form of normalcy.

Now as we are 3 months away from our November date and with cases still on the rise in California and other parts of the country, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 San Francisco Marathon.

We have worked tirelessly with the City and County of San Francisco, the State of California and our own medical advisors, with the goal to provide a safe event for our runners and volunteers. Sadly, with too much uncertainty surrounding the continued spread and rise of the virus, it is now the safer decision to cancel.

We know this decision will be met with both relief but also disappointment. We know the hard work and training that goes into running our race as well as the elation of crossing the finish line in SF. We are equally heartbroken.

We also understand how the pandemic has impacted you as a runner and your investment in our race. We hope you will understand there are certain fixed costs that were made months in advance of the race and these costs are unrecoverable. Providing refunds or free deferrals to future races are not feasible options if we want to ensure the viability of the event when it is safe to do so. We appreciate your understanding of the position we are in and our need to follow our “no refund” policy that was noted in our registration materials.

If you were a registered runner of our 2020 race, you should have received an email from us regarding your specific options. If you did not receive an email please check your spam folder and then email us at customersupport@thesfmarathon.com.

Below you will find the answers to some of the common questions regarding our 2020 race cancellation.

• How do I convert to virtual or defer my registration?

  Use this link.

• How does the 2020 SFM Virtual Race Work?

  OPTION 1
  Run on November 15th with RTRT.me to provide an in-person race day experience.

  OPTION 2
  Run on your own and submit your time to our leaderboard.

  Learn more about virtual.

• Why are you not offering refunds?

  There are certain fixed costs that were made months in advance of the race and these costs are unrecoverable. Providing refunds or free deferrals to future races are not feasible options if we want to ensure the viability of the event when it is safe to do so. We appreciate your understanding of the position we are in and our need to follow our “no refund” policy that was noted in our registration materials.

• Why is there a deferral fee charged?

  There are significant expenses paid at the beginning of a race season that are unrecoverable. Then there were additional expenses when we postponed our race to November in hope the COVID situation would have improved. Then we have original costs in 2021. As a registered 2020 runner, there is one registration fee that has to cover your part of that. The deferral fee is to help offset costs that are unrecoverable and not be earned in 2021 from new runners since we are capped race.

• What happens to my items (gifts with registration, referral and loyal) if I convert to virtual?
  Participation Shirt/Medal, Gift with Registration and Referral Items will be available early November for pickup in the greater Bay Area at Sports Basement locations during the month of November. We will share the details and schedule soon! 

  For our non-local runners, we will ship your items to you in early December.

• I paid for Bart and/or VIP when I registered. What happens to those if I convert to virtual?
  Charges for Bart and/or VIP will be refunded if you choose to move to our virtual race. Please allow 2 to 3 billing cycles for this to reflect on your account. Credits will be marked ‘Race Central’ on your statement.
• What happens to my items (participation items, gifts with registration, referral and loyal) if I defer?
  Participation items – you will get the shirt and medal of the year you deferred to at the expo (shirt)/race day (medal).  

  Gift with registration/Referral – you will be able to pick up a comparable gift at the Expo of the year you defer to.  

  Loyal items – Our Loyal Program is paused for 2020. No items will be awarded. It will restart in 2021, you must run either in person or virtually in 2021 to retain your loyal status.

• I paid for Bart and/or VIP when I registered. What happens to those if I defer?
  Your existing Bart and or/VIP tickets purchased will automatically be deferred to the year you select. 
• I originally purchased a Climate Change registration and did not meet the minimum fundraising goal (75 days from purchase), what happens to my registration?

  Please refer to your email for specific options for your registration. If you have questions please email customersupport@thesfmarathon.com.

• What happened if I purchased training?

  Please email labrahamsen@thesfmarathon.com. 

• What happens to my hotel reservation?

  If you made your reservation directly with our partner hotel, no cancellation fee will be charged.  Please contact your hotel to cancel or move your dates.

• What's happening with challenges?

  Only the Double Up Challenge will be held in 2020. All other challenges, including Half It All Challenge, 52 club, SF/Berkeley and Time Travel, will be paused for 2020 and resume in 2021. You must run in person in 2021 to complete/continue those challenges.

• What is happening with Loyalty?

  Our Loyal Program will be paused for 2020. No items will be awarded, even if you run virtually. It will restart in 2021, you must run either in person or virtually in 2021 to retain your loyal status.

• When will 2021 registration open?

  2021 registration will open in October 2020.