It's done. My first Bay to Breakers Fun Run is over. I did all 12 kilometres, start to finish, naked. But this story starts last night. You see, this weekend has been a very busy one for me. Saturday afternoon I have to go into the recording studio to record songs for a CD that the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus's small ensembles are producing. Two and half hours and only 3 songs later, my friend Zack and I make a mad dash back to my house so I can grab a change of clothes, get my bag ready for the race, and also pull a few leather things out of my closet for an IML sendoff at a bar in San Francisco. [Right: At the begininning of the race as people are waiting for their section to start]
We drive back into the city, have an okay time out at the bar party. I actually met 3 players from the Sydney Rugby team. (Not sure exactly which one, but they were Aussie rugby players, the rest is just pointless details!) One of them actually looked like Brenton! So guess where my harness wearing jockstrapped butt headed... hehehe. They were great blokes and we had a good chat. But eventually (1:00am) Zack and I decided that it would be best if we went ahead and left.
Cut to Zack's apartment. He has a roommate so I bunked in his room. His bed is big enough. But I forgot about what is probably Zack's one flaw. He sleeps with ear plugs, and a noise machine. Now this is not your normal babbling brook playing softly in the background, or chirping crickets lullabying you to sleep. No. This is 90 decibal white noise, so it sound like the TV has been turned to station 84 and the volume cranked. I looked at him like he had six heads and wanted me to swallow a parakeet. He just handed me some earplugs and smiled.
I acutally woke up 15 minutes before my little cell phone alarm went off. Thank god for adrenaline, because I actually hauled my butt out of bed, put on my running gear and headed out. It was a nasty day to run, even with clothes on. Crap. Oh well, I said. I might as well go to the meeting point and see what happens. I did pay a registration fee after all, and I was bound and determined to get my free T-shirt if nothing else!
Luckily the rain stopped and the rest of the day turned out to be rather nice. We got down to the Embarcadero area (east side of SF) where the race was to begin and there were thousands of people. A lot of them in costume, a lot of them just in normal workout gear. This is basically a huge fun run that most of the city turns out for. We got about 100 metres from the starting line, in a throng of people who, by the way, were tossing 6" tortillas like frisbees ALL over the place, and stripped. In hindsight, that was actually the most difficult part of the race. I've gotten naked before, but never with 30,000 members of the general population. [Right: Just after the start of the race. Adjusting the shoulder straps on my backpack. Oooh.. it's a bit chilly apparently!! ]
We crossed the start line and from that point on, it was the most natural thing in the world. My group got an overwhelmingly positive response during the race. There were a few stupid remarks from a idiot or two, but nothing more than that. We jogged most of the way, and walked when we needed a break. [Right: Standing at the intersection of Hayes and Van Ness Avenue with the dome of San Francisco City Hall in the background]
Toward the end of the race, we stopped in front of a waterfall to take pics. The next thing we know there are about 20 people standing in front of us taking pics with everything from cell phones to full on SLR cameras with 500mm lenses. A lot of people were also jumping in with us to have their picture made. It was like a little bit of celebritydom. Just a bit. One woman even walked up and just pointed her disposable camera right at our bits and snapped a couple of pictures. At least she was honest about what she wanted!!
We went ahead and crossed the finish line naked, again with media camera crews focused on 5 naked butts. And then it was over. We put on our shorts and walked to the rest area. We hung out for a bit and I just got back home. And now I'm beginning to feel the drain of the past 24 hours. I know Brenton would have LOVED to have been a part of that. And I'll make sure he's there next year. Until then.. enjoy the pics! [Right: The waterfall, right before we were mobbed by the papparazzi!]
This pic was sent to me by Zack, my dear friend. Apparently it was sent to him from a Yahoo Group he has joined. I wonder how far around the world pics of my cold naked bits are going to go? It's funny, but when I was running I almost completely forgot I was naked. I mean, other than people yelling "Hey naked guys!" or the fact that my bits were getting a bit numb from flopping around all the time. Then I see a pic and I start to feel a bit self conscious again. Awww fuck it. It was a hell of a good time and I'm doing it againg next year!
