 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 Back
of the Pack |
Largest
Footrace in the World |
|
|
Bay
to Breakers |
Mardi
Gras in May |
|
|
Centipede |
Marketplace |
|
|
City
on the Loose |
Masters |
|
|
Conservatory
of Flowers |
Mile
Markers |
|
|
Costume
Contest |
Pace
Car |
|
|
Costumed
Runner |
Painted
Ladies |
|
|
Cross
City Race |
Palace
Guard |
|
|
Drawbridge |
Seeded
Division |
|
|
Elite
Athletes |
Sub-Seeded
Division |
|
|
Footstock |
Team
Challenge |
|
|
Fun
Runner |
Top
Ten Thousand |
|
|
Greater
Body Expo |
Twelve
Kilometers (12K) |
|
|
Hayes
Street Hill |
USAT&F |
|
|
Human
Wall |
Water
Stations |
|
|
"I
Survived" T-shirt |
Windmill |
|
|
|
Back of the Pack - noun, a special
section for walkers, striders and families who want to participate but want
to walk the course leisurely. This group has a special meeting area near
the Ferry Building. Established in 1990. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Bay to Breakers - noun, annual rite
of spring in San Francisco where as many as 70,000 participants run through
the streets of San Francisco, starting at San Francisco Bay and running
to the breakers of the Pacific Ocean. The race is held on the third Sunday
in May. Presented by The Examiner since 1966, the race has been a
Bay Area tradition since 1912. Costumed participants and human centipedes
are hallmarks of this event. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Centipede - noun, 13 human runners,
who run linked together. They can be costumed or competitive. The World
Centipede Championships started at the Bay to Breakers in 1978. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
City on the Loose (aka Moving Block Party)
- see Bay to Breakers. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Conservatory of Flowers - noun,
a beautiful greenhouse of flowers in Golden Gate Park along the racecourse.
Site of the Costume Contest judging. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Costume Contest - noun, a contest
for all costumed runners. Judges located by the Conservatory of Flowers,
just past the 4-mile mark in Golden Gate Park. The Bay to Breakers is the
only athletic event in the country where intense training is eclipsed by
deciding what to wear. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Costumed Runner - noun, a participant
who runs in costume in the Bay to Breakers. Some runners are known to come
in their birthday suits. Political statements often made. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Cross City Race - noun, original
name of the Bay to Breakers. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Drawbridge - noun, to ensure the
safety and integrity of the starting line, volunteers dressed in a uniform
link arms and block entrance to the race from the side streets. The Drawbridge
lines the course at key intersections. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Elite Athletes - noun, world-class
athletes from around the globe who are invited by race organizers to participate. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Footstock - noun, the annual post-race
concert and festival attended by over 70,000 people at the Polo Field in
Golden Gate Park. Live bands, a children's area plus food and other entertainment
make this a Sunday event perfect for the entire family. And massive T-shirt
distribution! |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Fun Runner - noun, a participant
running or strolling the course just for the fun of it. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Greater Body Expo - noun, a two-day
exposition of health and fitness exhibitors, held the Friday and Saturday
before the race. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Hayes Street Hill - noun, the notorious
hill on the course beginning at the 2.5-mile mark. The hill makes or breaks
the lead runners. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Human Wall - noun, conceived by
Len Wallach, an Army Major and former Breakers course coordinator with a
knack for maintaining order without spoiling the party atmosphere. The Human
Wall consists of 200 swift, burly volunteers who link arms roller-derby-style
to separate the elite athletes from the masses, protecting the athletes
from a rough start. The Human Wall volunteers must qualify as seeded runners. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
"I Survived" T-shirt - noun, the
official Bay to Breakers T-shirt that only finishers of the 12K race receive.
Available to registered runners only. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Largest Footrace in the World -
noun, the Guinness Book of World Records documents the May 18, 1986
Bay to Breakers as the world's largest footrace, when more than 110,000
runner participated. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Mardi Gras in May (aka Madness in May)
- see Bay to Breakers. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Marketplace - noun, a pavilion of
food, beverages and picnic fixings for runners attending Footstock, the
post-race festival. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Masters - noun, runners 40 years
and older. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Mile Markers - noun, horizontal
banners hung across city streets designating mile points along the course. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Pace Car - noun, a car bearing a
large digital clock leads the elite men and women down the course. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Painted Ladies - noun, the string
of pastel Victorian homes lining Alamo Square Park on Hayes Street hill.
Like the Golden Gate Bridge, the painted ladies have come to signify San
Francisco to the nation. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Palace Guard - noun, a cadre of
swift male runners who run with the fastest women to prevent them from being
jostled by the pack. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Race Central - noun, the Breakers
timing operation which is inconspicuously located in a trailer at the Finish
Line. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Seeded Division - noun, a section
devoted to competitive runners and world-class athletes who qualify to run
the race at specifically stated fast times. The Seeded division lines up
at the very front of the race and is limited to 350 athletes. Twenty of
the very best athletes are considered Elite and run in front of the seeded
runners. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Sub-Seeded Division - noun, a section
of serious runners who qualify at times just under those of the Seeded Division.
This division begins the race just behind the seeded runners. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Team Challenge - noun, a division
of 3,000 participants from various Bay Area corporations, organizations
and schools who run as teams. They are behind the Sub-Seeded section. Established
in 1991. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Top Ten Thousand - noun, the top
10,000 finishers listed in the souvenir edition of the San Francisco
Examiner the day after the race. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Twelve Kilometers (12K) - noun,
a distance used as a name of a type of race. A 7.46-mile race. The length
of the Bay to Breakers run. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
USAT&F - noun, abbreviation
for the United States of America Track and Field Association, formerly known
as The Athletics Congress (TAC), the formal sanctioning body of track-and-field
events in America. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Water Stations - noun, water stops
along the race. |
|
|
Top |
|
|
Windmill - noun, The Dutch Windmill
and Queen Wilhelmina's Tulip Garden greet runners in Golden Gate Park as
they make their way to the Great Highway and the Finish Line. |
|
|
Top
|
