SFRunner's First Bay To Breakers

The famous Hayes Street Hill, between two and three miles, of the Bay To Breakers 12K and 15K events.  I will try and get today's photo later today and have it below the 1972 photo.

The date was Sunday, May 21, 1972.  It seems like a long time ago.

There was a lot going on worldwide and locally.  The Vietnam War was unpopular worldwide and it seemed no end in sight.  Locally, a sports entertainment known as Roller Derby was unpopular.  The Bay Area's favorite home team, the Bay Bombers had been replaced by the Chiefs.  That would change about a week later!

This runner had been training longer miles (like 30 miles per week over the past year).  The San Francisco Examiner, the sponsor of the Bay To Breakers, had entries in their newspaper for over a month.  The previous year, I had participated in the Dolphin South End Runners practice race and finished around 61 minutes.  It was so much fun, it was time to do it again!

The race itself was free.  The only thing that runners needed to do was to join the Pacific Association of the AAU for one year.  The fee was one dollar.  Also, runners had to take a physical, either by their doctor, or on the morning of the race.  No problem.

The course.  Thank you to Map My Run in recreating the course.

The morning was partly cloudy with no wind.  That would change as we would enter Golden Gate Park as patchy fog would settle in over the area.

According to the Examiner, 2585 participants started and 2282 registered.  Ken Moore (pictured above) would win his fifth consecutive B2B in a record time.  A few years later at a corporate event, this runner had a chance to meet him several years before his untimely death.  We talked about the race and exchanged many memorable moments from the event.

Moore would go on to finish fourth in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich running in the Marathon.  This runner would finish his first B2B in just over 61 minutes.  Since then, I've completed 47 more of them.

Back in 1972, the race itself was far more serious with an occasional costume or two.  Today, it is far more of a party atmosphere.  In 1972, we received a certificate and water/juice for our efforts plus a blister or two.  Today, all official entrants receive a finisher's medal.  The race is one of the top 15 in the world as far as the longest running.  It doesn't look like it will end anytime soon.