Bay2Breakers

I have no clue who this guy is...but I guess he was having a good time!

Holy smokes...what a day it was!

Or...at least I think that was the case.

Bay2Breakers is a San Francisco tradition. I can't imagine there is anything else like it in the world. To the uninitiated, B2B is, "The Bay to Breakers is an annual footrace which takes place in San Francisco, California. The name reflects the fact that the race runs from the northeast end of the downtown area near The Embarcadero(the Bay side of the city) to the west end of the city and Ocean Beach (the ocean breakers near the finish line on the Pacific coast). The race is 7.46miles (12 kilometers) long." (thanks, Wikipedia!) Some of us know better, though. It is the wildest ride you can take in SF.

The morning for me started around 7am, which is late by B2B standards. I had been drinking the night before, and was a little woozy in the morning, so almost called the whole thing off. But I rallied, got my costume on, and took the dog for a walk. People were honking as they walked by me, and I couldn't figure out why. Then I remembered...I was wearing knee high socks and 1980's white BlueBlockers. Doh!

I got home, mixed myself a drink, and headed over to my friend's house where the group was meeting. Our theme was ping pong, and we had a big beer pong table that'd we supposedly be walking along with us. I arrived at around 8.30am, already almost one drink down. And I was behind all my friends!

But, we had to catch up to the rest of the racers! We started at around the mid-point of the race, which means most of the "racers" were already 3 miles into partying by the time they hit us. We headed out to the field, and within about 5 minutes, we had seen the quintessential B2B site - lots of naked men! We also saw folks partying at the moontower, playing "double dare," running with the bulls...and more naked men. Lucky for them, this year it was a nice day, and not as cold as past races!

I eventually ran into another friend and started walking down the street with him. We danced at dance parties all down Fell St. Shook it down while the flying Elvis' (Elvi?) were boogieing on the roof. Supported the breast cancer research cause. The day for many of us got hazier as we entered the park, and the rest stops got more frequent. It was worth it to just sit back and take in the sights.

40,000+ people register for this race. 70,000+ run/race it. And another 10,000+ just hang out on the sidelines and enjoy the action. It cuts right through the heart of San Francisco, so it's a Sunday you can either stay on your side of The City, or come to the center and be a part of it all. It is a pretty amazing and awesome experience, if you can remember it!