Runnin' Nekkid

5 years ago this summer, I had a life changing experience. My uncle, an avid runner, invited me to spend part of a summer with him at his ranch in Colorado. I accepted his invitation, knowing full well that he was going to take me and try to turn me into a runner. What I didn't know is how well he would succeed.

In six weeks, he taught me not only that I could run, but that I could enjoy it. During that time, he bought me a pair of Nike running shoes and I figured that I owed it to him to use them. So I started going out about four or five times a week and running. I got to the point where running was not a chore, but a release. When things got a little hay wire at home, when the girl I liked didn't call me back or when my mom got on my nerves, I could pull on my running shoes and head out the door for a 45-90 minute run.

When I moved to California, I kept up running and one of my favorite runs became the Bay to Breakers race that takes place annually in mid-May in San Francisco. The run gets its name from the course, which travels from one side of the City ("the bay") to the other side ("the breakers" of the Pacific ocean.)

It's a tough run, because San Francisco is VERY hilly. The official Bay to Breakers T-shirts often brag that the wearer "survived the Hays St Hill," a brutal climb that lasts several blocks through the city. But there is more to the "B2B" than just pain. Part of the fun of the Bay to Breakers is the tradition of running in costume. This is San Francisco and it wouldn't be the Bay to Breakers if people didn't run in every imaginable outfit, including some who run au natural.

Every year that I have run the race, it's been better than the time before. The first time, I didn't even pay the registration fee, instead "Bandit running" the race. The second time, I registered late and had to pick up my number the day before the race. The third time, I registered early enough that they mailed me my number. I also had half baked costume the third time (a mask).

Today , not only did I register in time but this time a friend of mine ran with me. We didn't do an elaborate costume, but I wore the same mask I used las year and he had Mardi Gras beads and a Johnny Ramone wig. Running with my pal was a challenge. First of all, my buddy is a lean, lanky guy who ran in High School. I think that if he had not run with me, he could have completed the race a little bit better time. As it was, I felt obliged to run a little faster than I would have otherwise so as not to slow him down to much, which I think was goodfor me.

The timing on the race is interesting. The official race clock said that we ran the entire course in 2:00:46. However, there were SO many people that it took us a while to make it to the starting line after the gun went off. So my friend timed the our run himself with his watch and I think he said we ran it in about 90 minutes.

Regardless of the timing on the race, we had a lot of fun. After the race, we bought Gyros at the Polo fields, where there is huge festival called Footstock. We bought delicious "gyros," and sat on the grass and then went home. My grandma bought us Pizza for dinner.

I am already looking forward to running the Bay to Breakers in 2006. I have to find a better costume than that dumb mask (I want to run it in a Kilt). My friend has just been offered a job in another city and so I don't think that he will be running with me next year. But anybody on this list who wants to has a year to train. Any takers?

John East Bay, CA http://thesloop.blogspot.com/