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.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Zazzle Bay to Breakers Director Angela Fang: Winning
Zazzle Bay To Breakers Elite Runners Press Conference
This is the only full video of the entire Friday Zazzle Bay To Breakers Elite Runners Press Conference. It's 50 minutes long, and not only includes the introductions of each of the Bay To Breakers Elite Runners, but interviews with sponsor representatives, including Zazzle Founder and CEO Jeff Beaver.
But who are the "elite runners?"
According to the press info, here are some highlights about them:
- American Meb Keflezighi is fresh off a 3rd place finish over 10k in Madrid. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon, and 2009 NYC marathon champ. Meb looks to add to his stellar running resume in his Bay to Breakers debut.
- Lineth Chepkurui from Kenya, defending Battle to the Breakers Champion from 2010, is 23 and is looking to capture her third Bay to Breakers title. Her 2011 campaign includes a victory at the BAA 5k, a runner-up finish at the Crescent City Classic, and a team gold medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
- Also making his B2B debut is 2009 Boston Marathon champ Direba Merga. The 28 year old Ethiopian is the 2011 RAK ½ marathon and Yangzhou ½ marathon champion.
- At 25, Misiker Mekonnin Demisse is coming off a big win at Lilac Bloomsday 12k where she surprised the field to become the race’s first Ethiopian female champion. She looks to continue her success in the streets of San Francisco.
- From Oakland, CA, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet is the fifth fastest American woman of all time in the marathon, setting the mark in the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. Magda is also a 2008 Olympian for the US in the marathon.
Also, Katilin Gregg, from UC Davis, is running the Bay to Breakers for the first time as an elite runner. And Gregg and Neil McDonagh claim the "home field" advantage, where Gregg can walk home as she lives two-blocks from Golden Gate Park, and McDonagh grew up in the Sunset District.
Well, bed awaits. This damn thing starts at 7 AM this time around! That's the only part of the deail I'm not jazzed about.
Plus, it's starting to rain!
Oh, bring your Talking Dog:
Stay tuned.
Under: 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alamo square neighborhood association, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, amendment 2, annual, anschutz, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers
Ridouane Harroufi and Lineth Chepkurui Win 2011 Bay To Breakers
The man crossing the finish line in the photo is the overall winner of the 2011 Bay To Breakers. His name is Ridouane Harroufi - the Moroccan become the first non-Kenyan to win the Zazzle Bay To Breakers. Later expressing a desire to "win it all," Harroufi's time of 34.26 didn't set the record, and he won by three seconds, but it was enough to clear his objective.
Lineth, a Kenyan, continued her dominance of the Bay to Breakers, winning for the second straight year and for the third time since 2008. Chepkurui's time, 39:12, came even though she complained of a minor hip pain that she feared would hamper her performance this year. It didn't.
The pre-race greatly hyped Meb Keflezighi finished in 7th place with a time of 35:34. Hey, give Meb credit; it was his first Bay to Breakers race.
The first Americans to win for the men and women were Jason Hartmann of Boulder, Colorado, and Oakland's Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Her time was 41:26; his time was 35:28.
Other notable finishers were Stanford's Annie Bersagel and Cal's Bolota Asmeron, who posted times of 42:09 and 36:40, respectively.
As this blog post is created, this blogger is at the press tent in front of thousands of people crossing the finish line, and on a day where it was scheduled to rain.
Thankfully, it didn't happen. As Chepkurui later remarked, the weather was "perfect."
Stay tuned. I still haven't spotted that Talking Dog yet.
