Thursday, May 25, 2006

Smurf-to-Breakers!

San Fransicso is a strange place. Where else can you see several Elvis (Elvi?), the US Jump Roping Team, a pink elephant, way too many hairy naked old guys, and 62,000 other people drinking their way along a 12K (7.46 mile) race?

Bay to Breakers is an annual race in San Francisco that began in 1912 as a way to get the city back on it's feet (literally) after the 1906 earthquake. That race has transformed over the years into "a testament to San Francisco’s uniqueness and audacity," as you will see.

This year, we just couldn't stop our inner Smurfs. We had to race! A friend of Sarah's put together a bid for the Guinness Book of World Records that was something to the theme of "the most people dressed up as Smurfs." Since there was not a previous record in this category, I think that we may have it locked up (we'll keep you posted).

In this year's race, Gilbert Okari, 27, of Kenya (shocking!), was the first man to finish. He did so in 34 minutes, 20 seconds. For comparison, it took our group 53 minutes and 35 seconds just to get to mile 2.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights:







Sarah, getting all smurfed up prior to the race.











The smurfs gather...















The giant mushroom (housing DJ Gargamel and 6 taps of smurf-tastic brew)!













Brainy Smurf (Calvin from Canada) and Sassette Smurf finally make it to Mile 2! Whew! Only 5.46 more miles to go!











That damn mushroom only ran on smurf-power!














And smurfs weren't the only celebrities there!