Eleven From Albany Complete the San Francisco Marathon

Of the 24,000 people registered to run in the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday, 11 of the finishers hailed from Albany. 

Another 26 runners finished the half-marathon, and 20 completed a 5-kilometer race around the city during the July 25 event.

The full course included the Embarcadero, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Golden Gate Park and many other San Francisco highlights. 

Albany runners in the full marathon ranged in age from 25 to 59.

The quickest in the Albany bunch, Erik Charp and Taran Thomas, averaged a pace of about one mile every eight minutes. Charp, 42, clocked in at 3:33:59, while Thomas, 35, came in less than three minutes later.

Laura Lenz, 38, was the first Albany woman to cross the finish line, which she did in 4:08:55. She was followed less than four minutes later by 30-year-old Anna Collins. 

The race winners for each gender, Keith Bechtol and Emily Hardin, completed the 26.2 mile course in 2:23:29 and 2:51:55, respectively. Bechtol is from Palo Alto and Hardin is from Alabama.

See the attached pictures for full Albany race results.

According to Race Central, 5,955 people finished the full marathon. Click here for results for the entire race.

See profiles of some of the Albany runners here:

• Erik Charp
• Harold Lueders
• Natalie Kay