When I was in San Francisco for VMworld a couple of weeks ago, I went for an early morning sunrise run down Market Street. It is one of my favorite runs and I always make sure to do it at least once while in the city.
Starting out at sunrise, you see a version of Market Street that is completely different than during the day. It is strangely empty. Almost no traffic. Just a few lonely souls and a few other runners.
This picture is about where I usually start running. You can see the treadmills in the gym on the 3rd floor of the Four Seasons hotel. Who would want to run inside on a treadmill in San Francisco?
Market goes straight and slightly downhill until it reaches the water and this very cool tower. The bay is just on the other side of the building.
At this point I turn to the right and run along Embarcdero. The city is on one side and the bay on the other. The views on both sides are incredible. And early morning makes it more dramatic.
The bay bridge and treasure island are visible in the background of this great picture of the bay at sunrise.
On the city side you can see tall buildings being fully hit by the sun, but the rest of the city still in shadow. I have made the turnaround near Pier 39 and headed back to Market at this point.
As I turn to go back up Market Street it is remarkable how busy things have become in just the last 30 minutes. It is no longer an empty feeling city and there are people and cars and buses and trains and trolleys everywhere.
I usually have to wait at lots of cross streets for the crosswalk signal to change, but this time I hit them all without having to stop except for one. Probably because my pace is slower than it used to be, but it was nice to not have to stop.
