Sleepless in San Francisco

This weekend was unlike most others in the city. For one, the mercury was touching 90, when usually it shies away even from the 70s, this time of the year. But the other major reason was Bay To Breakers, the annual footrace that has set a legacy for 97 years.

I reached Saturday morning and just breathed the city in. SFO has the power to enchant any soul and the creativity dimension of that city always intrigues me. Later that night, I somehow got pulled into hitting a night club with my kiddo cousin. It was a fantastic nightclub at the first look, until it hit us that it was 'techno night'. Music where you can just do a robot or break dance or mime or something. I tried every move I knew but it just didn't fit. A zillion clubs in the city and I end up with little girls in an Asian night club with techno music. Just my luck! But the city was so alive even into the wee hours of the morning. Just another venue and I almost forgot about the fiasco. Too many lessons learnt.

8 am was the official start time of the race. I was categorized as a 'walker' since I had a stroller and couldn't join the 'runners'. Almost completely sleep deprived, I put on my costume with double the enthusiasm that goes with relishing a chocolate cake after a severe detox diet. First came the runners who were a few hundreds packed with strength and determination. Then came the walkers and I joined the 60,000 odd peeps with costumes and smiles. Saw everything from the typicals to funs to elaborates to eccentrics. Hot guy in a cheer leader skirt, gang of boys dressed as bacon, a large group dressed in 'catch me if u can' theme, hula skirts on men and women, a woman with a sign that said 'i just got my pink slip', a man nurse with dozens of plastic babies hanging on his waist, greek gods, all major and minor movie characters, rock bands dressed as rabbis, nude girls with body paint that looked so real, Elvis impersonators and lots of naked people running with a yellow balloon and the widest grin on their faces. It was way too much nudity if you ask me for 8 am but it's perhaps typical of a liberal city. I'd heard they were going to crack down on all the peeps who ran the race with alcohol in their hands but it wasn't quite the case. It ended at the Footstock festival with the winning ceremonies.

I loved the race for it's diversity, ingenuity and the insanity factor. It had started in 1912 as a way to lift the city's spirits and decades later, it continues with the same theme.

As for me, I lived my share of the wild 70s in my hippie costume.