Race Report: Bay to Breakers 2010

See more photos on Flickr

I ran the Bay to Breakers 12K this morning, and it was awesome! We're definitely coming back next year and dressing up, but I will not wear a wig -- though it did help keep me warm in the breezy morning.

We awoke before 5 am to get into our costumes, hopped on a bus by 6 am, and were lined up at Corral C by 7 am. We lined up at the front of the corral and enjoyed admiring all the costumes while we waited for the 8 am race start. It wasn't long before the famous tortilla toss began (you can see a blurry tortilla above our heads in the pic to the right). While we waited, a lot of people asked us to pose for photos, and Jason even got interviewed on camera about his awesome costume! How cool is that?

My main goal above all else was to have fun and take in the full experience. I initially planned to run using 2:1 or 3:1 intervals and take photos during the walk breaks, but I abandoned that idea and let the excitement carry me. I figured I'd walk every mile or so, or at the water stops, or whenever I saw a cool costume I wanted to photograph. While I know I can run this distance faster, I'm pleased with a sub-12 min/mile pace since I ran most of the 7.5 miles without walk breaks, except for the big hill and 2 water stops. I chose to walk up that entire hill, and take photos, so I wouldn't deplete my energy for the rest of the race and still enjoy myself. After a quick pause at the water stop at mile 5, I picked up the pace for the last 2.5 miles and made up all the time I lost walking up the hill.

The costumes were abundant and really creative, both from the runners and spectators. Running in costume is so much fun, and I am starting to embrace the running skirt. It is no more or less comfortable than shorts (since I had some underneath) but it sure is more fun! :) The course itself is gorgeous and pretty fast -- except for the one big hill, the course was fairly flat and the 2nd half was downhill. I wish I had taken more photos, but I think I captured the essence. You can see all the photos in my B2B Flickr Set. We intended to hang around after the race to see some of the costumes and take more photos, but we were were freezing. So after a quick photo we found Chris and walked back to the apartment for a hot shower, change of clothes, and a warm meal.

Below are my stats:

• Garmin - 7.57 miles in 1:29:15 @ 11:46 min/mile pace
• Chip Time - 1:29:13
• Overall - 10999th of 24304 (top 45%)
• Female - 4232nd of 12477 (top 35%)
• F30-39 - 1375th of 3512 (top 39%)