What It Means to Be a Runner in the Bay Area
There are many wonderful subcultures that exist in the Bay Area, but one in particular can’t be avoided — they zip half-naked down the city streets, breathing heavily and dripping with sweat. I’m talking about San Francisco’s runners.
In general, runners are quirky. But Bay Area runners have a little extra sparkle in their tutus. We run in costumes and consider sunrise summits to the top of Twin Peaks fun, even when we have a 10-hour workday ahead of us.
To understand these peculiar creatures, you must first understand the genesis of any runner. It starts like this:
- You try out for the high school soccer team (or football or field hockey / lacrosse) but lack the coordination to make the cut.
- You panic when you think that your social life is now over, because it’s high school, but WAIT—the track team lets ANYONE walk on. Score.
- You start running, realize that you’re actually pretty fast and make awesome friends on 10-mile runs at 8:00 a.m., bonding over conversations covering the gambit of runner topics like digestive issues, chafing, your crush on the guys’ team and how “speed goggles” (beer goggles for runners) are totally a thing.
- College starts. You get a harsh reality check when you realize that you’re a small fish in a big pond and not the fastest anymore. You become humble. You work hard. You get faster.
- You graduate from college. You realize the beauty of sleeping in past 8:00 a.m. You make friends in new cities more easily because runners are a global tribe.
- You get a real job — a professional job. But you’re still a runner at heart. You still stop mid-run to pee in the woods. You meet other professionals who run and have the same “pee in the woods” stance, and you form a lifelong bond.
Now that might be an overly specific description of your average runner’s journey into adulthood. The overarching point is that most runners are driven, self-motivated, hardworking and young at heart.
Bay Area runners embody all these qualities to the extreme. In a city full of Peter Pans, we’re encouraged to let our freak flags fly. We work hard, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
“Most runners here use running as a tool to enhance their lives, not take it over.”
We dress up as Princess Leias, sharks and bumblebees to race (and win) Bay to Breakers. We reach for unique world records, like the Beer Mile. As Lyndsay Harper, an elite runner and Beer Mile medalist who also happens to be a 2012 Olympic Trials qualifier, describes it, “This is an event where runners who love to both run and drink get together to run four laps and chug four beers as fast as they can. The Beer Mile World Classic was hosted last year on Treasure Island, and I was lucky enough to be on team USA for a podium sweep on the women’s side.”
When it comes to striking a work/life balance with running, Lyndsay says, “Almost all the runners I know here are recent med-school grads, marketing vice-presidents, CEOs, shop owners … they all have passions outside of running, and I think that makes their running even more impressive. Whether it’s for general fitness’s sake or setting Strava records, most runners here use running as a tool to enhance their lives, not take it over.”
Sometimes running is just a mode of transportation; many runners jog to work or literally run errands because it’s faster than public transportation or driving.
A classic San Francisco run, as told by Rudy Rutemiller (who runs 100-mile races regularly), goes something like this: “Floating in and out of the fog, microclimate to microclimate, is uniquely San Francisco. Grabbing toast mid-run, working out with 200 people at Kezar on Tuesday nights or waking up at 5:00 a.m. to run 12 miles before work through the Headlands is commonplace for hard-core runners.”
“Even though there are many different running groups and racing teams, the running culture here is incredibly supportive and all-inclusive. Runners from all ages, backgrounds and teams encourage one another to improve their athletic abilities, then cement their running friendships by giving kudos on Strava,” says Michelle Meyer, a 1:16 half-marathoner and member of the Impala Racing Team.
From Bay to Breakers to Beer Miles, it’s clear that San Francisco runners crave adventure. Our hearts beat to the sound of our own drum, and while that weirdness may have isolated us from our peers when we were younger, it unites us in the wonderful, wacky city that we’ve come to call home.