About a month ago I took a little trip to the bay area for a fun race - Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco. Both of my roommates were out of the country, I was out of a job, and two old teammates live in the bay area - perfect conditions for a destination race.
As competitive runners, we often take our races very seriously. And that's not necessarily a bad thing; it leads to faster and faster times. Of course, it's easy to get burnt out on endless racing; it can feel like a chore. We sometimes forget that our sport is actually a lot of fun.
And that's the benefit of having a destination race every once in a while. Sure, it's still a race...but more than that, it's a vacation. It's a novel stimulus. It's fun.
That was Bay to Breakers for me. I didn't run all that great: I finished 16th in 39:58, about the same pace I went through 18 in Boston. But boy, was it an experience.
Bay to Breakers has a bit of a reputation as a party that thinks it's a race. Literally, the race runs from the San Francisco bay, across the city, finishing at the breakers side of the Pacific Ocean. The course runs around the corner from the Full House house and through beautiful Golden Gate Park. It brings in great competition each year, including Ryan Hall this year. But it's the masses that make this race ridiculous. They have a costume contest, so probably a majority of people were in costume...some of the better ones included: 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, Batman, an entire clan of Lucha Libre wrestlers running with their wrestling ring, etc.
Oh, but that's not the half of it. I'm convinced that after the race those who finished drive back to the start and then walk the course drinking, as if it were a 7+ mile long block party. And how could I forget the naked people! Yes, people running the race naked - and some of them pretty darn fast, too! Apparently the race directors only recently banned naked running, but it didn't take. What can I say, San Francisco is...eccentric.
So anyway, while I was out there, I took a lot of video. None of it of the race (well, duh), but I got a lot of everything else on my trip. I've spent the time since editing the footage into a YouTube clip. It doesn't show the race, but it was still fun documenting the trip. And so, without further ado, I present to you my first film production:
...well, it turns out I'm having trouble embedding the actual video into this post. (Read: I'm technologically inept.) But that's ok, because the video would look better not in micro-size on this blog. Here's the link to watch it on YouTube.
As competitive runners, we often take our races very seriously. And that's not necessarily a bad thing; it leads to faster and faster times. Of course, it's easy to get burnt out on endless racing; it can feel like a chore. We sometimes forget that our sport is actually a lot of fun.
And that's the benefit of having a destination race every once in a while. Sure, it's still a race...but more than that, it's a vacation. It's a novel stimulus. It's fun.
That was Bay to Breakers for me. I didn't run all that great: I finished 16th in 39:58, about the same pace I went through 18 in Boston. But boy, was it an experience.
Bay to Breakers has a bit of a reputation as a party that thinks it's a race. Literally, the race runs from the San Francisco bay, across the city, finishing at the breakers side of the Pacific Ocean. The course runs around the corner from the Full House house and through beautiful Golden Gate Park. It brings in great competition each year, including Ryan Hall this year. But it's the masses that make this race ridiculous. They have a costume contest, so probably a majority of people were in costume...some of the better ones included: 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, Batman, an entire clan of Lucha Libre wrestlers running with their wrestling ring, etc.
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| Typical of the race, this picture was taken right after the start. Batman on the left, Ryan Hall in the center, USA man next to him, Jim Harbaugh on the right. And ME peering over Ryan Hall's left shoulder! |
So anyway, while I was out there, I took a lot of video. None of it of the race (well, duh), but I got a lot of everything else on my trip. I've spent the time since editing the footage into a YouTube clip. It doesn't show the race, but it was still fun documenting the trip. And so, without further ado, I present to you my first film production:
...well, it turns out I'm having trouble embedding the actual video into this post. (Read: I'm technologically inept.) But that's ok, because the video would look better not in micro-size on this blog. Here's the link to watch it on YouTube.
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