The 99th Bay to Breakers — a 12K Hieronimus Bosch painting

A giant hot tub with lots of suds thrilled the crowd near Alamo Square. Thousands took part in the 99th annual ING Bay to Breakers event Sunday morning in San Francisco.

I was going to write about the amazing Kenyan runners who won today's Bay to Breakers (I watched this year instead of running myself, so I saw them for the first time) but I was struck by the San Francisco Chronicle's lead photo on the story, above.

Does this or does this not look a closeup from Hieroniumus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delight?

The annual 12K run across the city is probably the closest thing to the kind of contra natura, collective, end-of-the-world debauch that Bosch was getting at:

(05-16) 14:39 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Just as the cross-dressing ballerinas and the half-dressed pirates began their trips through San Francisco, a world record performance broke out in the 99th ING Bay to Breakers this morning.

 

Lineth Chepkurui, a 22-year-old Kenyan, broke her own record for the 12-kilometer run with a time of 38 minutes and 7 seconds, three ticks quicker than the mark she set May 2 in Spokane, Wash. She also shattered the 5-year-old record of 38:22 for the San Francisco race.

 

But it was the 60,000-person party that followed Chepkurui and the other world-class racers that makes the third Sunday of May a unique part of the city's continuing history.

 

Ballerinas' tutus and vividly colored wigs were the uniforms of the day for many on the course, joining runners dressed as butterflies, harem girls and the occasional pharaoh.

 

"We had just a phenomenal day," said Angela Fang, general manager for the race. "Everybody is saying they had a great time."

 

The Bay to Breakers is an event, as one of the announcers told the crowd of runners waiting for the starting bell, that's "a celebration of the active lifestyle and individual flair."

 

The chilly, overcast morning didn't discourage scantily clad runners of both sexes from displaying that flair by choosing style over warmth.

 

The crisp weather was welcome news for the runners, especially after last year's scorching heat, which forced dozens to seek help from Red Cross volunteers.

 

"If the weather (reports) are saying it's a perfect day for running, that generally means it's way too hot," said Josh Muxen, coordinator for the event's elite runners.

 

The 12K (7.46 mile) race from the Embarcadero to the Great Highway is both one of the road racing world's top events and a fun run/walk/stumble for tens of thousands of others who just want to say they were there.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/16/BAH31DFIVT.DTL&tsp=1##ixzz0o9y58qUB

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