Facts, Figures & Noteworthy Years

ING Bay to Breakers Facts and Figures

  • The course is a 12K footrace (7.46 miles) that starts at the San Francisco Bay (Howard and Spear streets), crosses the city, and ends at the Pacific Ocean (the Great Highway).
  • 60,000 participants, including 33,000 registered runners and walkers, participate annually and represent the serious and not-so-serious side of the sport, including world-class runners, costumed contenders, and weekend warriors.
  • The international scope of the Bay to Breakers attracts elite runners from countries throughout the world, including: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine, the United States, and Zimbabwe.
  • Bay to Breakers is the 14th most run road race in the world and 4th longest consecutively run.
  • American Red Cross volunteers treat approximately 450 participants on race day.
  • Between 1,500 and 2,000 volunteers help out on race weekend.
  • From 1993-1996, the Examiner Bay to Breakers was the first official 12K National Championship by United States Track & Field (USAT&F). USAT&F is the governing body of U.S. running. In 1994, American runners were able to use their Bay to Breakers race times to meet the standard required for entry into the Olympic trials.

ING Bay to Breakers Noteworthy Years

1912: The Bay to Breakers, originally called the Cross City Race, is created to lift the spirits of the people of San Francisco during the tedious reconstruction following the 1906 earthquake. The first race hosts 150 runners. Bobby Vlught, a St. Mary's College student and part-time newspaper copy-boy, is the first to cross the finish line, with a time of 44:10.

1940: Bobbie Burke is the first woman to participate in the race. She unofficially enters and finishes the race disguised as a man. (It was not until 1971 that the first officially registered woman, neurosurgeon Dr. Frances K. Conley, crossed the finish line.)

1940: The first costumed runner participates dressed as Captain Kidd and finishes last.

1964: The race is officially renamed the Bay to Breakers. Fewer than two dozen runners register.

1966: The San Francisco Examiner assumes sponsorship of the race and begins developing it into what it is today: an event that draws participants and spectators from around the world.

1978: Centipedes are founded by Dwayne "Peanut" Harms from the men's track team at UC Davis. Trophies are first awarded to this special division of the race called "centipedes", or 13 runners connected as a unit. The Examiner Bay to Breakers is the official site of the World Centipede Running Championships. A record 16,000 enter the race.

1983: The race distance officially becomes 12K (7.46 miles). (Prior to that, the distance was 7.51 miles.)

1986: The Guinness Book of World Records officially recognizes the May 18, 1986 Examiner Bay to Breakers as the largest footrace in the world. More than 110,000 people participate.

1989: Qualified men's and women's centipedes officially compete among Seeded runners.

1990: The Back of the Pack Club, made up of walkers and striders of all ages, emerges as a result of the latest fitness trend among Baby Boomers.

1992: A Sub-Seeded section is added for runners meeting the new time qualifications. (12K times: 45:00 for men and 55:00 for women.) Costume judging is held on the race course for the first time.

1993: The men's course record and world record is set by Ismael Kirui, Kenya; 33:42.

1993-1996: Bay to Breakers is designated the first official 12K national championship by the United States of America Track & Field (USAT&F), the governing body of U.S. running, in support of the 1996 Olympic Games.

1994: Bay to Breakers hotline, sponsored by Crystal Geyser, becomes a complete voice information service. More than 63,224 Breakers enthusiasts place calls this year.

1995: The Bay to Breakers appears on the internet. The women's course record and world record is set by Delillah Asiago, Kenya; 38:23.

1996: The Tonight Show host Jay Leno serves as the Breakers Grand Marshal.

1997: The Bay to Breakers enjoys an astonishing increase of more than 8,000 registered runners. For the first time in the history of the race, more women register than men.

1998: The Examiner publishes the first 50,000 timed finishers' names on the Examiner Bay to Breakers website.

1999: On-line registration makes its debut. CBS's Late Late Show host Craig Kilborne is Grand Marshal.

2000: Bay to Breakers Sports Expo moves to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and is sponsored by Pontiac. Rashad Williams and Lance Kirkland serve as Grand Marshals.

2001: 90th Anniversary of the Bay to Breakers. Organizers of the world's largest footrace announce new, heightened emphasis on the event's charitable mission: San Francisco Bay to Breakers Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of Bay Area children and youth, and assisting young people in crisis.

2005: With a finishing time of 38:22, Asmae Leghzaoui (Morocco) sets a new women's world record and bests the course record, set by Delillah Asiago (Kenya) in 1995, by one second.

2006: Race organizers instituted an equalizer, starting the elite women athletes ahead of the men, based on the average difference between each division's course records.

2007: As a result of the equalizer started the year before, Edna Kiplagat becomes the first female elite in Breakers history to cross the finish line ahead of the men.

2008: Every US state except Rhode Island is represented at the 97th Annual Bay to Breakers.

2009: Sammy Kitwara (Kenya) sets a course record and ties the 12K world's best with a time of 33:31.