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Having run the Bay to Breakers Race so many times, I cannot imagine this year's "rules" prohibiting alcohol, nudity, and floats. Talk about ruining an institution, a living testament to all of us who have ever run in this great race. OK, I will dismiss the floats. But nudity and alcohol go together like Laurel and Hardy! Since I have never been a real spectator, I was planning to take BART into the City and observe the festivities for the first time. But the cold and rain has forced me to stay home and watch the Giants and Cubs game of YV.
When running the race, the biggest problem is to avoid falling or running into someone. It is rather difficult to catch a glimpse at interesting costumes, or lack thereof. As far as alcohol, I found it detrimental to my running, but excellent for an after race celebration. A cold beer after the rather hit and miss race regimen is quite welcome. Most of the time, I preferred water.
I have run the race both as a solo runner, and with a group of friends. Needless to say, it is rather hard to keep a group of more
than two runners together, when some of the races had over 100,000 registered runners, centipedes, dogs, and floats. In most cases, many runners were yet to cross the start line by the time the elite runners finished the race. And I was never able to find myself on television reruns.
My fondest memory of this race was in 1986. My ex brother in law had been training for the race the year before. He jumped off of the roof of his home and broke his ankle. A year later, we ran the race together. It was the pinnacle of his recovery!
One year, I ran with some friends, a bunch of good ol' boys from Hotlanta and Little Rock. Talk about a whacky way to spend a Sunday morning. First, we stayed up most of the night before drinking in their hotel suite. Then Frank and Jerry went to breakfast with me, and tossed their cookies at the start line of the race. Somehow, they finished the race, badly dehydrated, and in need of a celebratory beer or five! They went right back into party mode until I dropped them at the airport late in the afternoon.
The best costume(s) I ever saw were a pair of runners, one dressed like a carrot, in full orange with a bushy, green top, being chased by a white rabbit, who just cannot quite reach the carrot. The worst costume is a tie among many, but the one I remember is gross. The guy (I assume it was a guy), was dressed as a penis. His prop was a can (or several cans) of shaving cream. I need not tell you the rest.
I never wore a costume, though I was invited to join some of my clients in pushing a hospital bed through the race. I felt it was difficult enough to get myself through the race, much less push a bed and help a dozen drunks stay on course. Of course, the nurses were dressed rather scantily with band aids in appropriate places, and the docs only wore red jockstraps and stethoscopes. I am not sure if they made it onto local TV or not.
But this is a uniquely San Francisco and Bay Area event. It was always the most enjoyable race of the year. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the race were the
homeless. As each of us crossed the start line, we shed our jackets and sweatshirts, tossed them on the ground or onto the sidewalk. The homeless would come along and pick up the discarded clothes. The same went for various snacks, sports drinks and water bottles.
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