Wishful Thinking: Bay to Breakers Runners Urged Not to Litter, Get Drunk, Pee

Jim Herd

Per the cops and DPW, as long as she doesn't pee in the corner or litter, she's kosher

​On the eve of San Francisco's yearly Bacchanalia in running shoes known as the Bay to Breakers, city officials are urging race participants to behave themselves and not make a mess.

Well, that ought to do it then.

The Department of Public Works yesterday fired off a release suggesting that folks running, walking, or stumbling in Sunday's 99th annual Bay to Breakers to not toss crap on the streets, not leave items "like float materials" lying where they fall, and to keep parties "clean and behind the property line."

You can read the DPW's quaint plea for civility here: DPW 2010 B2B.pdf

Public Works employees can't arrest you -- or even squirt you with their power-washers. But police can (the arresting, not the squirting). The San Francisco Police Department also issued a dictum stating it will punish Bay to Breakers participants for behaving in the manner one expects Bay to Breakers participants to behave.

Jim Herd

A cop and a hula dancer make friends; the social intercourse at Bay to Breakers is well-lubed

​Per the cops:

There will be zero tolerance for public drunkenness and public urination. Police transport wagons will be on hand to transport and detain those intoxicated in public and who are unable to care for themselves. This year the following policies are in effect:

The San Francisco Police Department has coordinated with race organizers to remove kegs and bottles of alcohol from the race course.

Wheeled objects and floats must be registered and start from the starting line behind all runners and walkers. No wheeled object or float will be permitted to join the race along the route.

If the police are serious about arresting every last public drunk at B2B, they'd better start commandeering some of those unregistered floats to transport them to the county jail.

Finally, as we've pondered in the past, the wording regarding "bottles of alcohol" seems awfully specific. Are cans or flasks okay? Police spokesman Officer Boaz Mariles said no dice, outside of designated "open container areas." He also encouraged people to take advantage of extra port-a-johns at this year's race -- hint, hint.

Hey -- especially you, pissing in that guy's yard -- let's be careful out there!

Photos   |   Jim Herd