Pedestrian Day to Marathon Day on the Golden Gate Bridge | Scott Benbow’s City Guide

Before you ever think about cars, tollbooths, or traffic reports, it helps to remember what the Golden Gate Bridge really is: a ribbon of steel stretched across one of the most dramatic entrances to any city on earth. For San Francisco Marathon runners, it is also the moment the race turns cinematic. You are running on a living landmark of astonishing beauty.

Written by SFM Ambassador Scott Benbow
Edited by Pavlína Marek

Pedestrians Preceded Automobiles

Unlike most other bridges of its era, The Golden Gate Bridge has walkways for its entire length. In Golden Gate Bridge: History and Design of an Icon, Donald MacDonald and Ira Nadel describe how the bridge was unofficially opened on May 27, 1937, for “Pedestrian Day,” before vehicles were allowed. This echoed a tradition from the Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883 and welcomed huge crowds on foot before vehicles were allowed to use it.

As an avid runner and hiker, I appreciate the symbolism. Before the Golden Gate Bridge became a commute, it was an experience at human speed. People could feel the wind and take in the views of the Pacific from the west side, and the City and the Bay from the east. A bridge that would soon be synonymous with motion first introduced itself as a place to move slowly.

A Victory Lap with a View

That original spirit is still available to anyone, any day. You can walk or run across the Golden Gate Bridge at no cost whenever you want, and it is one of the simplest, most satisfying San Francisco outings.

Which brings us back to the San Francisco Marathon, and why the bridge feels so perfectly cast in the course. The marathon and first half marathon will take you over the Golden Gate Bridge twice, once heading north toward Marin County and once heading south back into San Francisco. The first crossing feels like a launch, with the Headlands pulling you forward. The second is a return, a homeward arc where the bridge is no longer a novelty but a victory lap with a view.

For people who enjoyed Pedestrian Day 89 years ago, it must have felt like a victory lap. Runners get to relive a version of it every time the course carries them across the Bridge. In a city full of scenery, this is one landmark that meets you at eye level and lets you travel through it, step by step, mile by mile.

About Scott

Scott Benbow is a San Francisco Marathon Ambassador, attorney, nonprofit specialist, and passionate SFM runner. He lives in San Francisco and runs the hills of our incredibly beautiful city with us every year.