Overview The San Francisco Half Marathon is a point-to-point half that runs net downhill from the east end of Golden Gate Park to its far west end, looping through the Panhandle and out and back along the ocean through Sunset Dunes before finishing near the Murphy Windmill. A 5K runs the same morning, and the 2026 edition also carried a 10K. The race bills itself as the Bay's Favorite Day. It is put on by the Pamakid Runners, a Bay Area running club organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and the proceeds go to local charities. On site Race weekend opens at Sports Basement in Stonestown Galleria, where bib pickup sits inside a two-day health and fitness expo open to the public. The 2027 schedule set the half start for 7:45 on JFK Promenade, east of Blue Heron Lake Drive, with the 5K at 8:20; both courses are USA Track and Field certified. Gear check, water and electrolytes wait at the start. The finish is in the southwest corner of the park on Bernice Rodgers Way, off Martin Luther King Drive, and it opens straight into a finish festival of vendor and sponsor booths that every runner and supporter walks through. Finishers go home with a medal and a long-sleeve shirt. Audience The race's 2026 sponsor deck counts registrants from 40 states and 26 countries. Pace groups run every 15 minutes from 1:30 to 3:00, and baby joggers and walkers get their own place at the back of the corrals. The race pitches the finish festival as the place where runners find the friends and family who came to watch. Track record The race dates to the early 1980s, and 2026 was its 42nd year. The deck put the field at more than 9,000 participants for 2026, and the Pamakids say the race has returned more than $1 million to Bay Area nonprofits. Charity partners have included Support for Families of Children With Disabilities, Girls on the Run and Running for a Better Oakland. Brand presence Sutter Health was named presenting sponsor for 2026 and again for 2027. Partner marks go on the start and finish line branding, the expo signage, the race website and the pre-race emails to registrants, and most levels include a 10-by-10 booth at the finish festival and a block of race entries. A virtual event bag carries partner offers to every registrant before the race and stays live for 10 days after it. Sports Basement hosts the expo and pickup, MarathonFoto shoots the course and Coopah supplies the training plans.