23 YEARS
AGO IN SF RUNNING HISTORY
   
1986

Grete Waitz and Ed Eyestone win Bay to Breakers, which sets a Guinness World record for being the world's largest footrace, with 78,769 registered runners.  Throw in bandits and the number is estimated to be 110,000 runners!

Holy sourdough chowder bowls!!

RACE PHOTOS

View 577 photos from the 2006 Emerald Nuts Across the Bay 12K

If I wore these today, they would be more revealing than Speedos.

This was my second road race--the first being Bay to Breakers earlier in the year.  Because I had not yet been taught about the evils of race banditry, I ran this race with the bib of my sister's college roommate or someone like that.  I am a staunch opponent of race banditry now. 

Ran the race in 5 lb ankle weights--was training for XC at the time.

WOW--a classic was born.  This was the inaugural year of the race with only something like 600 runners.  Ran with two of my sisters.  This was the only time they had a SHORT sleeve t-shirt.

This would be my favorite race t-shirt for the next several years.

Anyone want to bid on this piece of SF running memorabilia?

Close up, the cheetah, or whatever it is, is lacing up a newly-purchased pair of running shoes.

Gary Larson, ha ha.

Memorial Day weekend. This came off the heels of Band Aid, Live Aid, USA for Africa, Farm Aid, and Hands Across America.

I won my age division and received my medal from and shook hands with a then-unknown guy by the name of Jerry Rice.

This race series celebrated the renovation and 100th anniversary rededication of Lady Liberty.

Those are squid ink stains on the shirt, from the 4th of July BBQ party my sisters and I had while my folks were in China for vacation.  As an impressionable sophomore, that was the first time I had alcohol--a greyhound and an oh-so-cool-at-the-time Seagram's wine cooler.

This would be my first marathon--during summer vacation between sophomore and junior year in high school.

An eager beaver interested in all things marathon, I volunteered at the Pamakid's office during vacation.  They told me I was the youngest runner entered that year.

This was a training run for the upcoming SF Marathon.  Came in second, as well as last, in my division!

This was the first time I got acquainted with running on the beach.

I volunteered at the race.  High school kids don't run the Corporate Challenge.

The course was held downtown, in the shadow of the old Embarcadero Freeway.  Nowadays, the Corporate Challenge is in the Presidio.

I volunteered.

This was back when the race was held in December--now it's on Superbowl Sunday.

I volunteered again.

My sister, a Lowell High School alum, came out to support me, a Washington High runner, at my final high school XC meet.  She desecrated her old Lowell tee for the occasion, with a sprinkling of Eagle pride.

That's me in the Hard Rock tee.

At Lake Merced.

I volunteered again.

I ran a 1:17, and placed 3rd in my division.  This race was held to fill in the void left when the SF Marathon was cancelled this year.

Started at the Zoo, finished at the Marina Green.

I placed 2nd in my division.  One of my all time favorite races--too bad it's gone now.

Across both sides of the GG Bridge.

Classic SF race.  I won my division--gift certificate for brunch at the Cliff House.

For some reason, the 2005 Hook & Ladder was cancelled after 26 years!  Petition the SFFD to bring this race back in 2006!

Ran my high school PR here.

If memory serves correctly, it was here I had my very first Power Bar.

2 mile midnight run in the Presidio, with fireworks at the start.  Race was discountinued when Chrissy Field started getting it's facelift.  Well, the makeover was complete years ago--let's bring this race back.

Course was lit by camp lanterns along the course.  As a race director today, all I can think of is L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y, as I recall tripping over those things in the dark.

This race is now defunct.  Apparently the Irish economy has improved so much that the organizers, along with the owners of the Mad Hatter, decided they had enough of San Francisco and went home?  J/K

FUN race!  This was a race up 40 flights to the top of Embarcadero 4 (or maybe it was 1, 2, or 3).

I won my division in a little over 5 minutes.

This was in June.  I later went to summer school in New York and had my taste of NYC running.   Absolutely sucked, b/c I lived in Greenwich Village and had to take the subway up to Central Park, or be stuck running laps around Washington Square.  For sure, SF is the better running city, but those people at the NY Road Runners Club were very friendly.

My all time favorite San Francisco race.

Volunteered again.

Takara = Sake!

BEEYOOTIFUL marathon.  Ran my first sub-3 hour here.  Good times--drove down with friends from Davis the day before the race.  Ended up driving around Monterey and Carmel from 9PM-midnight looking for a hotel room--there was a Laguna Seca auto race or something going on that weekend and everywhere was booked (lesson learned:  PLAN AHEAD).  Only got a few hours of sleep, woke up around 3AM, hit my head HARD on the shuttle to the start line, and ended up running what is still my best, albeit not fastest, race here.

Ran my PR race here.  Great course that started at the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge and finished with a lap around the then newly renovated Kezar.

Boy, did we get this wrong!  I was an event and newsletter volunteer.  We lost the bid to NY.  It's just as well--track events and the marathon for a potential "SF" Olympics would have been staged at Stanford, not San Francisco.

Note the actual elevation map showing the grades of California Street and Nob & Russian Hills.