“Here’s your routeprofile, starting from the SoMA near the bay going all the way to the breakers of Ocean Beach. See that big incline just before mile marker three? That’s the vaunted Hayes Street Hill. (And actually, the highest part of Hayes Street on this part of the course is near Pierce, not “at Fillmore and Steiner“ and not ”between Fillmore and Sutter.”)
Now, here’s your winner. It’s the 270-something foot high saddle on JFK Jr. Drive betwixt Prayer Book Cross and Stow Lake / Strawberry Hill, where ”Kennedy” is written:
“Race organizers and media have reported that the course records set by Sammy Kitwara in 2009 and Lineth Chepkurui in 2010 are also world records at the 12 km distance;[31] however, the International Association of Athletics Federations, the international governing body for the sport of athletics/track and field, does not recognize world records or world bests in either an indoor or outdoor 12 km.[32] The Association of Road Racing Statisticians, a non-regulatory group that collects road running data, does recognize world records in the outdoor 12 km provided that the race course meets certain criteria.[33][34] In order to rule-out the possibility of wind assistancein point-to-point courses, the ARRS stipulates that the course must have “not more than 30% of the race distance separation between that start and finish”, or 3.6 km for a 12 km race.[34] Given that the Bay to Breakers is run on a point-to-point course in which the start and finish of the event are approximately 10.5 linear kilometers apart, the ARRS recognizes two other marks as 12 km world records: Kenyan Simon Kigen‘s 33:46 in Portland, Oregon on May 19, 1985 and Chepkurui’s 38:10 at the 2010Lilac Bloomsday Run.[33][nb 2]
“The Bay to Breakers is known for the large number of unregistered runners, or “bandits”, who participate in the race. Ross Mirkarimi, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, reported that over half of the 60,000 participants in the 2010 Bay to Breakers were unregistered.[19]San Francisco MayorGavin Newsom was among the runners in 2010 who did not pay the registration fee to obtain a race number.[19][22]Registered participation was 24,430 in 2010,[23] 43,954 in 2011,[24] 23,072 for 2012,[25], and approximately 20,000 for 2013.[26]“
One car gets away in the nick of time, but three others aren’t so lucky:
Ted and Al’s had like ten yellow tow trucks ready to go late Saturday night, in the driving rain. (Note how Bank of America is protecting its windows – the IndyBay crowd got to them, smashy smashy, about a year or so back, unrelated to Bay to Breakers.)
Now, speaking of prêt-à-porters, this is the main body, this is the largest array for the Golden Gate Park Panhandle:
And here’s the second-biggest grouping, along Masonic:
And there are some on the other side of Fell, typically in groups of six on some of the blocks.
But that’s it.
Not sure where B2B is hiding their 1000+ portable toilets claimed for 2011, at this point, just hours before the Kenyans take off on their winning runs.
Oh well.
And there’s no sign of the fencing neither, except for what they have every year.
We’ll see.
The Great Fence of B2B100 is supposed to have upon it either images of Christ hand-selected by P. Anschutz or photos of people who ran the race before white NIMBYs moved into the Western Addition. (You’ll have to tell me about it…). Anyway, here’s the baby fencing they have on scene already along with, and isn’t this cute, a message from San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers. Apparently, the cops can’t arrest for an open container in San Francisco…
And doesn’t this just break your heart – this Vespa scooter has been forgotten on the slopes of the famed Hayes Street Hill, the second highest point on the “racecourse.” Will Auto-Return charge $700 for its return?
Oh, you are a sucker. Well, then be my guest – pay $48 for a number. And actually, and you’ll enjoy this, sucker, it’s already too late to get a good deal on registration for 2013. Prices be higher now.
Most people who aren’t professional runners don’t pay and here’s a good reason not to pay:
How many bibs do you see? Every year they say they will eject all these people and every year they don’t actually do it.
Now the San Francisco Nike Womens Marathon is different. You see, they give out coveted awards and people just can’t help themselves. And then stuff like this happens; “NO BIB NO BIB NO BIB!”
But B2B aint like that.
One difference this year will be a limit on the size of the bags you might carry.
So, somebody painted these parking T’s where there were none before and then somebody else came along three months later to blank them out with black paint and then, over the years, the black paint wore out leaving the still-visible, commercial-grade white T’s.
The notorious Rick Thurber crew is back threatening people over signs posted about the 415 again. The latest names used are “Community Action” and “Jack Sween.” The latest letters “served” upon people look just like the one posted below.
Anyway, here’s what the city and county has to say about you posting signs about garage sales and missing pets and whatnot – it’s not illegal. SFGov goes on to add:
“The SF Cleanup Project and Quinn Cooper are not affiliated with the Department of Public Works or the City and County of San Francisco. If you receive a letter from one of these entities about signs you have posted, please submit it to DPW, Director’s Office, City Hall, Room 348, San Francisco, CA 94102 and DPW will deliver it to the City Attorney’s office. For more information, contact DPW’s Bureau of Street Use and Mapping at 554-5810.”
See? The Thurbians accuse you of a crime but, in fact, the City is trying to hunt them down for their transgressions.
(Isn’t ironic, dontcha think?)
These days, frustrated San Franciscans are resorting to posting on the craigslist to get the word out. Thusly:
The person(s) going around threatening people with fines for posting garage sales signs needs to stop. Get their name and ID please. Forward their emails to Eric Mar (Richmond supervisor) and also to craigslist. These people are bullies at best. If they are actually collecting fines, they are committing a crime. Stay legal, but make them stop. Call the police if they approach you in person. Thanks. It has happened before:
So when you get one of these illegal notices after using a phone pole or whatever to posting a notice about a lost pet, turn it over to the City and let it figure out what to do.
D’accord? D’accord.
The gritty nitty from the City:
“The public may post information on some utility poles if the postings follow regulations outlined in the Public Works Code. The law was adopted to ensure that flyers posted on public property do not contribute to litter or blight. Illegal postings may be removed by DPW and are subject to fines from $50 to $500.
Signs are defined as any card, decoration, poster, campaign sign, or any object containing or bearing writing that is affixed, posted or fastened to a utility or light pole that is permanently attached to the street or sidewalk. Signs do not include handbills, banners or A-Frame boards. Bulletin boards designed for neighborhood postings are exempt from this regulation. Signs attached to buildings are regulated by Part II Chapter I of the Building Code.
Tips for Legally Posting Signs on Public Property
To legally place a sign on a utility pole, it must:
Be less than 11 inches in height
No higher than 12 feet from the ground
Conform to the shape of the pole
Be attached with tape or other non-adhesive material such as twine, string or other non-metal banding material
Include a legible posting date in the lower right hand corner
Be removed after 10 days, if the sign is promoting a date specific event
Be removed within 70 days of the posting date
Not be installed on historic street light poles*, traffic signal poles or traffic directional sign poles.
* Historic street light poles are on these streets:
Market Street from 1 Market to 2490 Market
Mission Street from 16th Street to 24th Street
Grant Avenue from Bush Street to Broadway Street
The Embarcadero from King Street to Jefferson Street
Lamp Posts on Fisherman’s Wharf from Hyde to Powell
Oh, and NEWSFLASH, HOMEOWNERS: You actually live in the Western Addition. And actually, you’re not special.
Oh, and NEWSFLASH, HOMEOWNERS: The pols you consider friends actually don’t like dealing with you.
Oh, and NEWSFLASH, HOMEOWNERS: The white trash visitors you despise are happy people, generally. The white trash visitors you despise are BETTER THAN YOU, believe it or not.
I’ll tell you, the TJ’s underneath this rooftop parking lot is a beehive of activity.
So much so, that there are attendants to direct people on how and where to park in the tiny parking lot down below. And there’s almost always a line of cars blocking Masonic Street. So much so, the City and County decided to take out the parking / rush hour lane on southbound Masonic. But even so, a ton of shoppers park on northbound Masonic to make a dangerous journey across five lanes.
So that’s down below. But up on top there’s nothing going on. There’s a gate for people with passes. I think that City Car Share or ZipCar or somebody stores cars up there. But there also junked wrecks.
Like this. Camera left shows an old blue pickup what’s not in operating condition and in front of it is a Fred Sanford truck without its engine and in the background is a Miata* that someone’s been working on
Click to expand
Oh, and then randomly, there’s an SFBG news rack up there blocking the lanes, not that it matters because nobody seems to be using this lot all that much.
I think if TJ’s shoppers knew they could park up here, they’d do so. This rooftop would experience a, in the words of our time, Dramatic Transformation and become a Vibrant Crossroads and maybe TJ’s shoppers would kill themselves less.
But no, it’s just a ghost town up there now, arrested decay and whatnot.
Does San Francisco have too much democracy? What explains this situation?
And after you think about that, think about What Can Be Done Now to fix the results of poor planning from San Francisco’s (Poor) Planning Department.
*Is it missing some lights, like the parking / driving / turn signal lights? I’ll tell you, if you drove that rig on Geary Boulevard a few times, the SFPD of the Richmond District would catch you for sure.
