Sunday Runday: Bay to Breakers

What an amazing weekend you guys!  This is one of my new favorite races.  The race is fun, the course is gorgeous, and the crowd support is unlike any other.

We flew in to San Francisco Saturday morning and headed straight to the expo. 

 

When Expos are done right, I love them.  This one was great.  Easy to navigate, full of free goodies and race necessities.

I walked away with two cases of redbull, a pair of free sunglasses, a pair of sunglasses I bought for racing which I desperately needed, drinkable yogurts (which Thatbaby enjoyed all weekend - he also claimed the free sunglasses), a free under armor water bottle for having the Map My Run app on my phone, samples of crunchies, a bag, Kind Bar, and my race t-shirt.

We stayed at the race hotel, which meant we didn't have to get up early for the race on Sunday morning.  We got up, got dressed, and the boys walked me half a mile to the corrals before catching some public transport to the finish where'd they'd meet up with me again.

Before they left, we hung out and checked out some of the costumes.  Bay to Breakers is known for the crazy getups runners wear.  Which I knew would be entertaining for Thatbaby.  It was.  He loved the funny, colorful, costumes.

Then the boys left and I headed into my corral.

 

We actually ended up being delayed from the start because of some problems with the course, but that gave more people time for another Bay to Breaker's tradition - The tossing of the tortillas.  Yup, throwing tortillas like frisbees.  Fun, but it kind of hurts when those suckers hit you!

Finally it was time to start the race!  Which meant, it was time for some people to get into their racing gear.

 

Another Bay to Breakers tradition.  The nudity.  Nudity is specifically prohibited during the race.  Which only means that these people don't take off their clothes until the race has started (or their garbage bags like some guys I saw.)  My total nudity numbers:

6 - naked men running the race

2 - naked spectators

1-  naked woman running the race

 

Mr. Naked shedded his clothes before we even got to the start line.  But not too much earlier.  Before long (actually it was kind of a long time because of the delay) we were crossing the start and heading out.

The first 2 miles weaved through the city of San Francisco.  Which was so cool for me.  Because I'm really unfamiliar with the city.  It was the best way to tour it.  Running past landmarks - famous streets and homes.  It was also really great because every single block of every single street was just filled with people.   Really, it was unlike any race I've ever run.  There was never an empty space.  People were out, cheering, dressed in costumes of their own, having as much fun as the runners.  

At mile 2, we hit Hayes Hill.

I'm not going to lie.  I was a little nervous about this hill.  I'd heard horror stories, and after the Safari Half, I wasn't sure I was going to be up for it.  Especially when I checked the elevation online and realized it was much steeper than the one I had just run.

But you know what?  That hill was NOTHING!  I mean, yeah it was steep.  But it was also really short.  I didn't have nearly the problem with it that I did with the Safari Park hills.  By the way, just check out all the people on the side here - this is what I mean by crowd support.

The next 2 miles were also through the city, more residential areas with parks and "painted ladies" (the houses, although some of the spectators were questionable).  And then around mile 4, we entered Golden Gate Park.

It was so nice to run through the beautiful park, tree lined and shady.  Although the weather for the run was perfect even without the trees.  But Golden Gate Park has such beautiful scenery between the buildings and the trees it was a highlight of the run.  I also got to FINALLY see the bison that live in the park!  I've wanted to see them for years.

 

At mile 7, we headed out of Golden Gate Park and towards the finish line - where my boys were waiting for me.

Because this was my first 12k, it was an instant PR!  The race ended at Ocean Beach, and we took advantage of that for a little beach time before heading back to the hotel.

 I really liked this race and would recommend it to anyone.  In fact, I'm already planning on running it again with Thatniece!