Last weekend, i completed the Bay to Breakers in (allegedly) 1:37:32.
I say "allegedly," because the chip time is identical to the gun time, which definitely did not happen.
More accurately, my GPS watch, which i started exactly when i stepped on the starting line and stopped immediately after crossing the finish, indicates that i actually finished in 1:27:35. I suppose i could complain and request a correction of my official result, but i don't care THAT MUCH about what the record shows.
This is the second time i've run B2B, the first time being 2016, when i finished in 1:33:04. I was not particularly enamored of the race, but i had to be in San Francisco this past weekend and was planning on doing a long run anyway... so i decided to incorporate it into my schedule.
My actual requirement for the day was 16 miles. I couldn't quite figure out how get the total mileage in... Should i run a double? Should i do the 7-some miles and just do the long run the next day? In the end, i realized that the simplest solution was the best: i ran the race... and then ran back to the hotel.
All told, i ran around 15 miles, which is still ok because of all the hills. Honestly, they were great, and i wish i had more where we live in the Central Valley (i'm not even kidding). My quads burned quite a bit, which i hope translates into some strength gains.
For the uninitiated, B2B is a 12k that runs westward through the city of San Francisco, starting around the Embarcadero and finishing around the Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park. While nominally a "race," (especially for the seeded and sub-seeded runners), it's more of a 4-hour party through the streets of the city. As seen from my placing (i am a plodder), a lot of people take their time meandering through, and just try to enjoy the spectacle. Many people do it in costume, and some do it butt-naked. Some spectators along the route give you high-fives (standard), hugs (a little off, especially in the middle of a pandemic), the opportunity to do a "dancing break" (strange, but ok), and even vodka or jello shots (potentially hazardous). It doesn't take itself seriously, and it doesn't sound like most people do, either.
Therein lies my beef:
1. Participants start in corrals, of which there were eight, labeled A through H. In THEORY, these are based on your projected times, with the fastest, seeded, "serious" runners in corral A, sub-seeded in corral B, and so forth. Each corral is released in subsequent waves after the gun goes off. I started in corral D. In PRACTICE, although volunteers at the start make sure you're wearing a bib, no one checks which corral you're supposed to be in. While waiting to start, i surreptitiously checked out what the bibs of the people standing beside me and saw some Gs and Hs just hanging out. Not to be a stickler, but what's the point of assigning corrals if you don't enforce them?
2. This naturally leads to the problem of the slow start... After crossing the starting line, there are numerous walkers that one has to avoid. This persisted until about one mile in, leading me to conclude that some people probably snuck into corrals A, B, and C with the intent of just walking the race.
3. The finish line was highly chaotic. I couldn't figure out where to get my medal, then noticed that there were volunteers along the sides handing them out. It didn't seem like these kids were checking bibs; they just gave them to whoever had their hands outstretched (i know, because i just reached over someone's head to get one). Worst of all was that they only gave out shirts after the race. Almost immediately after crossing the finish, i noticed a winding queue of people lined up to get their shirts. I suppose i could have joined them, but i was in a hurry to get back to the hotel for lunch. There must be a better way to give out the official shirts than to expect close to 17,000 people to just line up after a race.
Oh well.
RACE NOTES:
1. There was no expo. The bibs were mailed out a few weeks prior. At least there wasn't any pressure to get into the city earlier the day before the race.
 |
| The Bay Bridge in the background |
2. The weather was great, hanging out around the 50s for the entire duration. It was foggy, but not very windy. Nice.
3. Since we stayed in a hotel off of Market Street, it was just a short walk to get to the start. The gun went off a little after 8 AM (10 minutes prior to me crossing the starting line), which left ample time to wake up at a decent hour, eat breakfast, take a dump, etc.
4. In terms of breakfast, one has to factor in the fact that the race is basically in the middle of the financial district on a Sunday morning; meaning, there are really no restaurants open that early. If your hotel has a "grab-and-go" counter (ours did), or an early buffet breakfast, then you're golden. Otherwise, the only viable option would be the Philz Coffee at the Embarcadero Center (right underneath the Hyatt), which opens at 6 AM.
5. It's hard to be sure how many people actually participated in the race. My results indicate that there were close to 17,000 participants. Previous B2Bs have evidently swelled up to over 40,000 (which is Chicago or New York levels) due to bandits. Except for the starting line, ANYONE could have joined the course and be part of the massive moveable party. There were parts of the course where the crowd got really dense, notably the starting line, and at the base of the Hayes street hill/hell. For the most part i felt like there was ample spacing between racers... The naked ones we gave an especially wide berth.
6. The course winds through several neighborhoods which, while not being "touristy," were fairly picturesque. I actually prefer this, since San Francisco is so quirky, with interesting architecture. There was a decent amount of hills, natch.
7. Since i had to run back to the hotel before my legs cooled down enough to realize that they were suffering, i didn't hang around for the post-race party.
All told, i wouldn't do it again. Or if i did, i would just sneak in a little after the start. For $77, i don't feel like i got my money's worth.
At any rate, my main goal for this race was to finish injury-free, using recovery techniques i codified after my last run. Mission accomplished.
I didn't take any pictures during the race, but here are some rando shots of me running around the city in subsequent days:
Next, Santa Cruz.
