Bay To Breakers

Sunday, May 20th – Months ago, when we were planning this visit for Laura’s graduation time, Laura mentioned that the Bay to Breakers race was the following weekend and she thought that it would be fun if we all ran (or walked) in this race. Now, we had heard of the Bay to Breakers for years……but had never seriously considered running it.

The Bay to Breakers is the largest footrace run in the US with over 50,000 participants and more than 100,000 spectators, and this year is the 101st year of racing the 12 km (7.5 miles) across San Francisco, from the Bay to the Pacific Ocean (the Breakers).

We said “Sign us up”, then started training……Fred running, me walking….only hoping to not injure ourselves in the effort. But, good intentions……well, you know….and we have been on the road for two months…….So, with the race day upon us, Fred opted to keep me company walking, while Laura and Dave planned to run/jog the course.

We spent Saturday night at Laura’s, so we could be up bright and early. We caught the 6:20am BART into San Francisco for a 7am start time. This is the ‘corral’ where we lined up.

People like to dress up for the Bay to Breakers…..running or walking in costumes. The less imaginative just go naked…..It was kind-of odd, I thought that the naked people might be like ‘streakers’, running through the crowd and causing a stir, but some ran, some just sort of strolled along….and no one paid them any attention, not even the police. It IS San Francisco, after all!   ;- )

Once we were given the ‘go’, it took us several minutes just to cross the start line…..

Crowds of people to watch, plus a tour of downtown San Francisco made the time pass fast.

You never know who might be walking in the Bay to Breakers…..Nero…Wonder Woman….and even Elvis…or several Elvis's….

A sea of people walking up the hill…..Even with this many walkers, Fred and I were able to maintain a pretty consistent pace. Laura and Dave were jogging this race and had taken off at the start.  We did not catch up with them during the race, so it was a good thing that we had decided on a meet up place afterwards .

The Pacific Ocean….. the breakers….. in sight….

And the finish line   : )   That is me (Sue) on the right in the blue shirt. Fred and I finished the 7.5 miles in 2hr 10 min, feeling tired but otherwise in good shape.

We met back up with Laura and Dave, who had run the course in 1hr 35min 04sec. It had been quite an experience! Colorful…..fun…..and VERY San Francisco……