San Francisco Marathon 2012: Worth the Hurt for Winners Krah and Crosby-Helms

San Francisco Marathon winners Nathan Krah and Devon Crosby-Helms conquered a formidable opponent on July 29.

The winners, Krah, 26, clocked in at 02:26:45 while Crosby-Helms, 30, finished after him but ahead of the rest of the women at 02:44:05.

The marathon may not be one of the most well-known or rewarding, only offering a purse of $1,500 to the winners, but it is definitely one of the most challenging. The 26.2-mile course and its 52.4-mile “ultramarathon” dubbed “Worth the Hurt” is centered on the hilly lands of the San Francisco Bay area. It included an exciting haul across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Tom Ziller, a runner in the race and contributor at SBNATION.com, wrote:

"

Oh my God, the hills! They never stop. They just stop being insane. Some runners are under the impression they end when you get off the bridge (which itself is a hill you run twice), but they don't. Some runners think they end once you're safe in Golden Gate Park, but they don't.

"

Krah, a former All-American and current Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, agrees with Ziller on the tenacity of the hills he faced on his way to winning the marathon.

"Even coming from a mountainous area, this was still really hard," Krah said in a statement after winning. "It was just an endless assault of hills."

Crosby-Helms had a bit of experience and a home-field advantage working in her favor.

"These are my people," said Crosby-Helms, via the San Francisco Chronicle, who until recently lived in San Francisco's Cole Valley. "For the time the race started, I was actually shocked that somebody came out to cheer."

The two victors defeated approximately 7,000 of their peers on their way to the marathon’s prize money and momentary fame.

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