Ran my 13th Bay to Breakers race in 1:55:31 today! 4min+ faster than last year.
Once again the Midnight Runners crew cheered runners in Hayes Valley at the park a couple of blocks before the hill.
Felt better than I did last year, more able to sustain a moderate pace.
One quick pitstop in Golden Gate Park, and then picked up the pace to finish with a negative split and well under 2 hours. This time I made sure to keep running until I was well past the last timing strip.
Other than the Midnight Runners cheer gang, this year I did not see anyone I knew the whole race. Bus + BART + jog to the start. Howard street up to Hayes hill, then by the Panhandle and through Golden Gate park to the finish.
I did spot a neighbor after the finish and we caught up on the walk to the N-Judah light rail. Seeing the long line I decided to easy run backwards along the race course to see the costumes and a few human carried floats.
Caught the Midnight Runners crew on the Conservatory of Flowers steps and hiked back to the Panhandle together. After catching up with a few friends I went home to shower and eat before heading back to the Panhandle.
In contrast to last year, last Friday I only did a short shakeout run — no evening run and staying out late with Midnight Runners. Saturday SFRC was about the same distance.
Similar to last year I took a bus to Van Ness, then jogged to the Civic Center station and took BART to Embarcadero. It seems that’s the only reliable transit option, no matter what any mapping application (Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Routesy) claims about bus or lightrail times or routes (they were all wrong, yet again, just like last year).
Despite not seeing any friends running the race, feeling both stronger and more confident in my training was enough to boost my mood for the duration. I was grateful to be out there running on a beautiful day.
Last year: https://tantek.com/2024/150/t1/ran-baytobreakers
#SanFrancisco #run #runner #race #roadRace #B2B #Bay2Breakers #BayToBreakers