Zazzle Bay to Breakers Director Angela Fang: Winning

Bay to Breakers winners with Angela Fang, a photo by zennie62 on Flickr.

For as much criticism and, at points, awful comments from activists and some bloggers over the years, Zazzle Bay To Breakers General Manager Angela Fang (third from left in the photo) must be congratulated for pulling off what everyone here says has been a successful 100th Bay To Breakers.

Over the last decade, Fang has seen everything from rains, record-breakers, and drunks, over the evolution of San Francisco's giant excuse to party.

But Fang's biggest challenge has been dealing with angry community groups who want change on one side, and "race preservationists" who want nothing about the Bay To Breakers to change, including the floats and open containers of booze.

Fang has weathered all of the public relations turmoil with a smile and a determination to complete the job of producing what really is a magnificently complex undertaking. It's no small feat to coordinate an event that draws over 100,000 people.

And like, say, Comic Con in San Diego, those 100,000 people aren't under one roof - they're all over the place! The potential for disaster is extremely high, and Fang's team has experienced a number of events that could have gone extremely bad.

One of them, involved Ken Bye, who had a heart attack while running the 2010 Bay To Breakers, went into a coma, then came out of it, only to go into another one sometime later. Mr. Bye's back this year, walking with a group of supporters.

Rather than cover an event like that up, Fang and her staff talk about their support for Mr. Bye, and celebrate his return to The Bay To Breakers.

So, if you happen to see Ms. Fang on the streets of San Francisco, give her a nice statement of congratulations. She deserves it.