Bay to Breakers

On May 20, I participated in the Bay to Breakers race. It was probably the funnest event I've been to since moving to San Francisco. In total there were probably 40-60 thousand people and it's basically one big party that starts downtown and ends 7.5 miles away at the ocean. It is a race and quite a few elite runners partake in it but the draw for most people are the costumes and the party atmosphere. Most people just dress up in a costume or go nude, start drinking, and proceed to walk towards the finish line. I decided to actually run the race to see what time i would get and then run back to where my friends were. Since I was going to be out all day and didn't want to be in my running clothes, I ran with a backpack. The race started at 8 am and I ended up meeting up with my friends around 9:30/10 at which point most of them had drank a few drinks. It really was interesting to see so many people intoxicated at such an early hour. Being the college graduate I am, I spent the first couple hours after running only drinking water. This turned out to be my saving grace as many people were worse for wear by about noon. I did have a couple drinks and enjoyed the festivities. It was a beautiful day and I actually ended up randomly meeting somebody I knew in Okinawa. Claire and I had been on JET together 4 years ago and she was in town for this event with her sister. It really is a small world. I've posted some pictures and my finisher's certificate below.

Claire who I knew from Okinawa