Beginners and Beyond

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Bay to Breakers RR (Read 107 times)

CeeDotA


    image

    The Bay to Breakers field making its way down the Hayes St. hill.


    You’ve probably heard of San Francisco’s classic race, Bay to Breakers. It’s a 12K that starts near the Ferry Building just above San Francisco Bay, and finishes on the coastline with a view of the Breakers at Ocean Beach.

     

    It’s not just a race, though. It’s essentially a moving street party that takes over the mid-section of San Francisco. There were 20,000+ registered participants this year, though I would imagine not all of them were seriously running.

     

    The race? It was fantastic.

    I was fortunate enough to register in Corral A, and was only one minute off the gun when I crossed the starting line. Getting to the appropriate corral was easy enough — though I definitely had to be aggressive in making my way through the entries for Corrals B, C, and D. It was quite obvious the race organizers had either oversold Corral A, or failed to make enough room for the number of runners signed up for Corral A. With 10 minutes left to go before the start, Corral A runners had to push and shove just to get off the entry path and into the corral. Fortunately for me, I managed to sneak in and get settled just moments before the gun.

     

    However, even with corrals set up, there was no wave start. There was a small elite group, with Ryan Hall and Diane Nukuri-Johnson headlining. That group left the same time the rest of Corral A did. All corrals were released as soon as they could move, which made for a very congested start. Portland’s Shamrock Run had a wave start, as did the Eugene Marathon. Why would a race with 21,000+ registered not also use a wave start?

     

    Once we were moving, mile one was understandably slow. With thousands of runners all making their way up Howard St., mile one started a little slow. A few small elevation changes thinned out the crowd, and soon enough I was moving comfortably and finished mile one at 9:10. Besides, it was fun to take in the eclectically-dressed (and some not-so-dressed) crowd and all the sights.

     

    Knowing the Hayes St. hill and its 11% grade was coming soon, I held back on mile 2, and finished this one at 9:10 as well. I’ve run plenty of steep hills before, but Hayes St. was something else. The grade starts innocently enough, but it quickly ascends as you near Alamo Square. At its steepest point, it’s a half-mile of sheer torture. It was a huge struggle attempting to keep my legs turning over and moving. Somehow, I made it — but with a disappointing 10:16 split on mile 3. This was even with a sharp downhill portion of about two blocks on the other side of Hayes.

     

    Still, as torturous as the climb was, throngs of partiers and race-watchers were lined up along the houses on Hayes even at 7:00 in the morning!

     

    From here, runners turned left on Divisadero then up Fell, making their way down to Golden Gate Park. The trees in the park provided for some-much-needed shady relief — as cool as SF weather usually is, it was pretty warm Sunday morning. The sun beating down our backs left me totally drenched with sweat!

     

    This section was mostly downhill, with a few very minor uphill sections. There was a nice downhill slingshot towards the final turn and ascent up to the finish. This section moved particularly quick for me — mile 4: 9:05; mile 5: 8:38; mile 6: 8:22; mile 7: 8:18; mile 7.5: 7:23.

    The route’s finish changed slightly. It had finished with a right turn from JFK and then a left onto Great Hwy. This year, it was a left off JFK, and then a Z-turn on MLK before heading right onto Great Hwy and on to the finish. I had hoped to finish at 1:08 or better, but given Hayes St, I was OK with finishing in the 1:10 neighborhood. I beat both targets easily.

     

    image

    Medal awarded to 2012 B2B finishers.

     

    Disappointments? For one, no medals! B2B had awarded medals in years past, but chose not to this year. Makes me wonder if the lack of a title sponsor until March or so had anything to do with it. If you peruse the posts on B2B’s Facebook page, it’s clear I wasn’t the only one. Sure, it’s just a shiny piece of metal, but I love shiny pieces of metal! A medal really feels like it should be a given for a race of this size.

     

    Equally disappointing? The quality of the $30 event shirts. Tech shirts, yes. Highest quality (Nike Dri-Fit, Adidas ClimaLite, etc.)? Not at all. Just cheap A4 brand shirts. I know how much it costs to screen print these things. And with the volume of shirts B2B ordered, it’s highly likely the organizers paid less than $3-4 per shirt — which they proceeded to charge runners $30.

     

    And don’t get me started on the finish area-turned-airport. The entire finish area was completely barricaded from end-to-end. All of the paths from Golden Gate Park and Fulton St. were completely sealed off and kept spectators from accessing the finish. I get this — we’re all afraid of Boston happening all over again. Just like airport “security” however, this is all farcical. This is punishing the thousands of innocent and keeping them from what they want to do as opposed to providing any real sense of security.

     

    Biggest disappointment? Complete lack of coordination whatsoever with MUNI. B2B organizers were pimping $12 fare stickers at the expo. Did they have any information on how useful were these stickers? Not one bit. They deferred all transit-related questions to MUNI. Which would’ve been fine, had MUNI bothered to show up to the expo.

     

    As a parallel — TriMet had representatives to answer all transit-related questions at the Portland (OR) Shamrock Run expo.

     

    MUNI also failed to release any B2B-related transit information until May 16th — just three days before the race. With this event shutting down multiple transit lines, they failed to get information out in adequate time. I finally deciphered their press release mere hours before we left for the race. We managed to figure out how to get to the starting area just fine, but why this information wasn’t obvious, or released early is a mystery to me.

     

    MUNI’s fail doesn’t end here, unfortunately. Once the race commenced, with a large chunk of the runners finishing within an 60-90 minutes of the start, MUNI didn’t have a single outbound bus or train from the start area to the finish until nearly 7:45. This bus wouldn’t reach the finish until 8:30, guaranteeing hundreds, if not thousands of would-be spectators never got the chance to make it to the finish area. MUNI has two lines — N Judah and 5 Fulton — that would’ve made it there. Only the 5 was functional at the time. How an otherwise well-run transit agency could’ve failed so horrifically during an event that happens every year in San Francisco, I don’t know.

     

    Obviously, the transit agency’s problems aren’t those of the B2B organizers. That said, with the massive missteps that the organizers made, and the utter cluster that transportation was made for a pretty crappy logistical experience. Thank goodness the race itself was one to remember.

    Current PRs:

    5K: 27:06 (11/10/12) | 5M: 44:03 (6/1/13) | 10K: 1:00:48 (7/4/12)

    15K: 1:27:53 (3/17/13) | 10M: 1:30:25 (4/13/13) | HM: 1:59:55 (4/28/13)

    Next race: Ashland 4th of July 10K

    Docket_Rocket


      Thatnks for sharing.  Sorry for the snafus with the transportation issues.

       

      I have always wanted to do this race.  3 years ago I was in SF for a day and started seeing all these weirdly dressed runners with bibs and it took me 5 minutes to realize I was there in the aftermath of the B2B.  I'll be there for the SF Marathon but I really REALLY want to do this one.

      Damaris

       

      As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

      Fundraising Page


      Hip Redux

        This race is totally on my "must do" lists.  It's like a running version of the How Berkeley Can You Be Parade, which I also loved when we lived in the bay area.

         

        I'm sorry MUNI sucked, but glad you enjoyed the race!  I would have been peeved about the no medals thing too.

         

        LRB


          Very thorough race report, the screw ups suck but hopefully they are rectified moving forward.

          redrum


          Caretaker/Overlook Hotel

            Great RR.  Brutal honesty there.......I like it!  Big grin

             

            As much as I love Frisco, I would not like that race.  That Hayes St. Hill pic is ridiculous.  Again, at some point you're just hiking.  If I'm gonna run, I run.  If I'm gonna hike, I hike.

             

            I ran embarcadero to golden gate & back via the bay trail last time I was there.....(some of the funnest miles of my life)......even over the ft mason hill which was kinda cool cuz it wasn't ridiculous and THAT'S what I call a great run.

             

            Glad Ryan Hall ran it, though & hopefully you still got some thrills out of it.  For the money they took, they owed you that much. Wink

             Randy

            Zelanie


              Great report, and it sounds like you had a good run despite the frustrations.  Apparently the race is popular enough that they don't have to be well organized, or even have medals, to draw a crowd.  Best to stick to Oregon races for the time being! Wink

              So_Im_a_Runner


              Go figure

                Thanks for sharing your experience.  I'm all for big races, but this is the type of mega race that I think I'd much rather experience 2nd hand.  That's a shame about the medal.  I'm not huge on medals, but for such an iconic race, it would have been nice to have one.  It looked like you paced a very smart race out there.

                Trying to find some more hay to restock the barn

                scottydawg


                Barking Mad To Run

                  Wow, Corral A, you must be speedy!  I'd be in the last corral, lol.  Congrats on your race!

                   

                  Like Damaris, I've always wanted to do this one.  Will someday.   And will make everybody else there feel better as I'll have last place covered. Big grin

                  "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt


                  Resident Historian

                    Well run and a good race experience; thanks for a well written report.  A race everyone should do (at least) once.   One of these years...

                     

                    Scottydawg, I understand things are more... interesting... relaxed... at the back of this race.  But pretty sure, no matter what, you wouldn't be DFL

                    Neil

                    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    “Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson

                    Just B.S.


                      Thanks for the report! Sounds like quite a challenge all round.

                       

                      Sounds like the organizers needs to get their stuff together.

                       

                      I hear ya on the medal disappointment. I don't expect them for every race of course but when I did my

                      first full (small local race in it's 8th year) I didn't find out until the finish line that the RD had decided

                      not to give medals that year.  Apparently nobody knew and yes, I was pissed. 

                      Better I Leave


                        Well written report there. Glad you enjoyed yourself despite the transportation issue(s). When I lived in the Bay Area, it was most certainly a big event. I might do it someday...maybe just to see Golden Gate Park again.

                        Philliefan33


                          Thanks for the report.

                           

                          I'm just learning about all these "must do at least once" races.  I took a look at the Bay to Breakers website...if I ever travel to do this race, I think I want to be in a centipede.  How silly is that?

                          outoftheblue


                            Thanks for your detailed RR.  This is one I want to do and I'm not that far from SF,  but am slightly deterred by the crowds/congestion.

                            Life is good.

                            Love the Half


                              Wow.  I am used to logistical issues with smaller races but I would expect the larger races to have this stuff wired down.  Boston, for example, was incredible.  So is Indy with the Mini-Marathon and 35,000 or so.  Then again, we have all read about how badly R&R fucked up a couple of races and Chicago ran out of water in a hot year.  I have decided that the perfect races are those with 1,000-2,000 people that have been held for 5 or 6 years at a minimum.  In races of that size, you can generally park within a few hundred yards of the start/finish area, there are enough people in the race that you aren't on your own but the race is small enough that you're not fighting for position at aid stations, and the race has been run enough times that they have worked out the glitches.  If they screw things up in a local 5K, meh, I'm OK with that.  A major event just shouldn't have these issues.

                              Short term goal: 17:59 5K

                              Mid term goal:  2:54:59 marathon

                              Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life.  (I started running at age 45).

                                Nice report.

                                 

                                Were you able to opt out of the shirt?  If so, that's not really such a bad thing.  What's really annoying is when an entry fee is fixed, with the caveat "shirts to the first 300 registered runners" or some such, and they still happily charge you the same entry fee on race day with no shirt.

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