Direct Transportation Goes to Bay to Breakers

By Joseph Forte

This Sunday, Santa Clara students will board the 5:30 a.m. northbound express train at the Santa Clara station, ready for the highly anticipated 101st Annual Bay to Breakers race and eccentrically clad in their most colorful costumes. This Bay Area tradition has given rise to countless tales of fun, mischief and inebriation for generations of students. The Bay to Breakers race, sponsored by e-commerce firm Zazzle, is set to begin at 7 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Howard Street and Beale Street, near the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The historic 12K race has already been marked on the calendars of several Santa Clara students who eagerly anticipate it.

Senior Oliver Glenn, planning his second visit to the race, said, "I'm excited to have some fun with my friends before I graduate. Being a senior is kind of depressing."

Santa Clara students will not be the only college students attending Bay to Breakers. The race, which attracts thousands of young people from around the Bay Area, is almost certain to see attendance from many of the area's colleges. For many Bay Area students, the party-like atmosphere, crazy costumes, public nudity and wild antics that the race evokes every year have become a collegiate tradition.

Mission College student Matt Dimanlig, who will make his third journey to the race this year, said that he plans to attend "for the atmosphere. Everyone's really happy. For that many people being there and being drunk, I never saw one fight."
The race became the center of local controversy last year when the Anschutz Entertainment Group, the conglomerate that organizes the race, decided to prohibit intoxicated and unregistered racers, as well as wheeled objects.

In a 2011 San Francisco Chronicle article, city publicist David Perry said, "(2010) was the tipping point. (It) was such a mess that organizers, the city and police decided we had to change something."

Perry echoed sentiments expressed by many San Francisco residents fed up with drunken revelers. Previously, in 2009, race officials banned alcohol and floats as well as nude racers, but shortly lifted many of the restrictions.

Despite last year's new regulations, Dimanlig, who attended last year, said that the atmosphere of the race remained virtually unchanged and alcohol rules were not strictly enforced. Though this year's official Bay to Breakers website explicitly forbids alcohol. Dimanlig still foresees heavy drinking. "They've said that every time. I'm pretty confident it's not going to stop anyone."

CalTrain has also been a source of issues. In 2011, CalTrain did not offer any service from the Santa Clara Station to San Francisco the morning of the race.

This year trains departing from San Jose and Palo Alto will reach the San Francisco station at Fourth Street and King Street (approximately 1.4 miles from the starting line).

Contact Joseph Forte at JFForte@scu.edu of (408) 554-4849.