“A city that outdistances
man’s walking powers
is a trap for man.”
Arnold J. Toynbee

If you live in San Francisco, or anywhere in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, you are most certainly aware of the Bay-to-Breakers race, which takes place in The City on the third Sunday in May each year. The event is a 7.5-mile race for serious runners. It’s also an annual 7.5-mile experience for thousands of others who run or walk, many in bizarre costumes, from the San Francisco Bay on the east side of The City to the Pacific Ocean on the west side. If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, click here to watch a two-minute video: Bay-to-Breakers.

I have never participated in the Bay-to-Breakers race, though I have attended a few Bay-to-Breakers parties at the home of my friend, George Horsfall, who lives in a home just a few doors down from the dreaded Hayes Street hill. After enjoying a delicious breakfast at George’s with a number of others, we would walk up Steiner Street to watch the runners and walkers pass by Alamo Square. It’s an unforgettable event.

Yesterday, I flipped the script. I took Caltrain to The City, then the N-Judah streetcar to Ocean Beach at Judah Street. As I do quite often, I began my day with a delicious bowl of oatmeal with dried cranberries at Java Beach Café. After breakfast, rather than a Bay-to-Breakers experience, I began my Breakers-to-Bay walk. Instead of a direct path through the heart of San Francisco, I opted for a more circuitous route.

I started walking north on The Great Highway at Judah. I turned east on Clement and walked to 25th Avenue. I continued north on 25th to California Street, where I enjoyed a veggie burger and vanilla shake at Bill’s Place. Back on 25th, I continued north to Lincoln Boulevard, which led me to the Golden Gate Bridge. From there, I made my way down to Crissy Field, past the Marina Green, through Fort Mason to Aquatic Park and Fisherman’s Wharf, then along the Embarcadero past the Ferry Building and Oracle Park to the CalTrain station at 4th & King Streets.

Along the way, I met and conversed with a variety of people from around the globe — Oregon, Philadelphia, the Philippines, Tunisia, Jordan, and Poland, to name a few. This reminded me of what poet Maya Angelou said about walking in The City. She said, “In San Francisco, I can walk down the street and meet people who are not like me, who do not think like me, who do not look like me. And yet, we can walk down the street together.” Yes, this is San Francisco!    

By the end of the day, I had walked 34,000 steps… more than 15 miles! One segment of the walk was especially meaningful for me.

It was about 25 years ago when my Dad and I took a long walk in The City. We walked from Letterman Hospital to the Ferry Building. The most challenging part of the walk for both of us was the segment of Lincoln Boulevard leading up to the Golden Gate Bridge. I was fairly young then, but Dad was a veteran walker in The City. As we climbed the slope overlooking the entrance to the Golden Gate, I struggled, but I didn’t want Dad to know I was struggling. I just wanted to keep up with him. Several years later, I learned that Dad was struggling on that hill, but he didn’t want me to know he was struggling. He just wanted to keep up with me! 

Dad was very much on my mind as I navigated my way up that hill for the first time in 25 years.