Today, San Francisco ran it's annual Bay to Breakers Run. The general idea is a race about 7.5 miles long from the Bay to the Breakers on the Penninsula. We were advised ahead of time that this was as much a race as it was an excuse for tens of thousands of San Franciscoans to get drunk and put on costumes or strip down naked and run through the city.
There were some real racers here. Kenyans, Ethiopians and other genetic wonders from other countries ripped off five minute miles through the streets of San Francisco. We were awed by how graceful, lean and strong the professionals looked as they effortlessly glided down Hayes Street. Wow!
However, the story of the day for us was...Naked People!
I am not going to post pictures as this is a G rated site...BUT....if you want to look yourself, go to Google and type in "Bay to Breakers, nude, photos".
There were hundreds of naked people, yes buck naked people with shoes - running, walking and dancing down the street. As in the Seinfeld episode, none of them were what you would call "good" naked. Seeing a fat, guy/gal 55 years old strutting down the street with his/her hoo-hah hanging out is not necessarily something you clamor for on a Sunday morning...or any other morning for that matter. Start them running and....yikes!
Christine and I wondered about the thought process of leaving your house with nothing but shoes, a hat and maybe a bottle of Gatorade.
"See you later Harriet, I am going for a stroll...I think I am going to skip clothes today."
"Whoops! I walked out the door without any clothes on. I guess I am out...might was well stay out."
Some were "Winny the Poohing" (Buck naked from the waist down but wearing a shirt.) Also, a lot of these people did not have back backs or anything. I am assuming that they walked home from the finish line...with no clothes on. I hope they did not ride the bus or take the subway! Remind me to Clorox my subway seat in the morning!
There were miles of people lugging beer, fifths of liquor, pony kegs and the like dressed in all kinds of costumes. Some very creative and funny. There were also a lot of folks who decided that a run was a good time to smoke - cigarettes and funny smelling stuff.
All in all it was a great spectacle. All that is right about America...and all that is a little off kilter about us in a 7 mile parade.
I did get in a long 44 mile run Saturday. Sunday, I put some bike miles in on a new bike that I had garaged in South Carolina previously. Both the run and the bike were great!
Back to the grind tomorrow!
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