I mentioned way back in October that Naseem and I were going to start doing some races under the moniker of Team Bacon. We started with 5K runs and…well, honestly that’s all I’ve really bothered to do over the past seven months. Until last weekend. On May 15 we officially took Team Bacon on the road to San Francisco and ran Bay to Breakers! And when I say we ran it, I mean we ran the entire 7.5+ miles. It took 81 minutes. Did everyone hear that? I ran for 81 minutes straight. Honestly, you could have knocked me over with a feather (for more reasons than one) when I crossed that finish line. I had said, not 12 hours earlier, that I would not be able to run the whole way, but with the support of Team Bacon I did just that.
So here we are, a small but powerful team of Bacon Girls, gearing up at 7 am for the big race. As you probably know, lots of people go all out with their costumes for the big day, often not even bothering to run or finish the race. What surprised me was how many actual runners were dressed to the nines. They outstripped us in originality by a mile. We didn’t get too elaborate with our costumes because we were afraid they would hinder our running ability, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our fellow runners for the mighty pork belly. I can report that we heard the word “bacon” more than 100 times on the walk to the starting line, during the 81 minutes of run, and at the proceeding Footstock celebration. People were genuinely excited to see bacon on the course, and their three favorite lines were:
#3 – I love bacon!
#2 – Are you guys bacon?
#1 – BACON! (shouted; most often using the voice of the dog from the “Beggin’ Strips” commercial)
Sometimes it was just a single-worded utterance of surprise (bacon!) and we were glad when someone mixed it up, like the happy runner who asked us, “are you ladies bringing home the bacon?” Some super heroes thought it was worth their while to draft off the bacon (they totally beat us) and there was the occasional suggestion that we get in someone’s belly. But seriously, I never would have guessed how much joy a panful of bacon could bring to an already super fun event. Lots of people wanted their photo taken with bacon, and we can’t wait to find the links to all of their blogs or Flickr accounts so we can share them with you. (Like this one here. And the costume contest we really shouldn’t have entered!)
I cannot emphasize enough how fun Bay to Breakers was, all the more so because I didn’t die on the Hayes Street Hill. I’m already making plans for 2012. I have to thank my teammates, Naseem and Paige, for being the best bacon ever and crossing the finish line with me. I literally could not have done it without you. And for anyone interested in joining Team Bacon, either for runs in Santa Barbara or for next year’s B2B, please email us! Bacon is a total celebrity; this is your chance to get a piece of the action!
Hey I was bacon at Bay To Breakers this year!!! Oscar Meyer Bacon 🙂