1/2 Bay to Breakers and back again = a lot

So there's this thing in SF called the Bay to Breakers race. It started shortly after the 1906 earthquake as a way to build the city's spirit. Runners start at the SF Bay, on the east side of the city, and run west, ending at the Great Highway, or Ocean Beach, on the west side of the city.

The route follows my bike ride home, though I don't have to go all the way to the beach. It's about 7.5 miles.

It's a really big deal. One year, they set the record for the world's largest footrace, with over 100,000 participants. This year, there were about 60,000. This is what that looks like:



But wait, this is San Francisco, so it's not just a serious race for serious athletes, it's also a costume contest/freak show/chance to walk the length of SF naked and drunk at 8 a.m. on a Sunday in May.

It's one huge party where anything is ok and people have a great time. Up close, it looks like this:



Sure, a group of Kenyans won, but that happened long before we even got there.

What we did is walk down by the de Young Museum, which is in Golden Gate Park, around 6th Avenue. That's maybe 2/3 of the way into the race. We then walked along JFK Dr in the park towards the Polo Grounds. That's about 30 blocks.

We saw a group of Storm Troopers (including a Sand Person, Boba Fett, several Imperial officers, etc.), lots of fairies, Thing 1 and Thing 2 (a few times), people with those Halloween costumes that we refer to as "slutty cop" or "slutty nurse," a guy dressed as a rock that said "I'm a rock" on it, three people dressed as Snap, Crackle and Pop, and several naked people whom you wouldn't want to see naked.

At the Polo Grounds, we met up with friends and headed into the neighborhood, not before passing some street preachers from out of town who were trying to convert the heathens, spouting on about how we're all damned because we live in San Francisco and don't mind guys in dresses. They were stationed near some Obama campaign tables (which were likewise kind of random and out of place).

We found a great Mexican restaurant near the beach, then walked back. Cracker was playing at the Polo Grounds. I love that band. But I'd stumbled across their soundcheck set yesterday, and today you could hear them well into our neighborhood, so I didn't feel compelled to brave the sweaty masses. They sounded awesome, though.

All in all, we walked to the race, which was about 4 or 5 blocks from our apartment, then to the beach, which was about 40 blocks, then home, which was about 45 blocks. Sure, it was a lot of walking for a woman 9 months' pregnant, but I was pushing a stroller.