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Entry details on the organiser’s site →
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Bay to Breakers
At a glance
- Race day
- The 2027 race
- Start
- 08:008:00 AM
- Distance
- 12.0 km7.5 mi
- 12K · 15K
The course
The organiser describes a 12K that starts in the Embarcadero neighborhood by the San Francisco Bay, runs through nine of the city's neighborhoods and ends at the Great Highway, where the breakers crash into Ocean Beach.
- From the bay to Ocean BeachStart by the bay, nine neighborhoods, finish on the Great Highway at Ocean Beach.
- Through Golden Gate ParkStations along JFK Drive in the park, Lindley Meadow just past mile 6.
- Time limitBe past JFK and Chain of Lakes by 12:30 PM; the finish line closes at 1:00 PM.
Course notes 4 short reads on the course
Whole courseLandmarkFrom the bay to Ocean BeachStart by the bay, nine neighborhoods, finish on the Great Highway at Ocean Beach.
The organiser’s 2027 page puts the start at the intersection of Howard Street and Fremont Street in downtown San Francisco, and the finish at 1000 Great Highway. In between, the race “takes you through nine of the city’s most notable neighborhoods”, and ends where “the breakers crash into Ocean Beach”.
The distance is 12K, which the organiser gives as 7.45 miles. A 15K option, the “Breakers Bonus”, adds 3K to the same event. The organiser’s published course map is the 2026 one, and its 2027 page describes the same start and finish.
Sourced
Whole courseLandmarkThrough Golden Gate ParkStations along JFK Drive in the park, Lindley Meadow just past mile 6.
The organiser’s 2026 race-day guide lists the water and runner-support stations, with restrooms at all of them. In the city the stations are at Howard and 4th, Hayes and Polk, Scott and Hayes and Fell and Baker. In Golden Gate Park they are on JFK Drive: JFK and Nancy Pelosi, JFK and 8th Avenue, JFK and Transverse Drive, JFK and East Stow Lake, JFK and Spreckels Lake, JFK and Chain of Lakes. The list then goes on to Point Lobos Avenue at the Sutro Heights parking lot, Great Highway and Noriega, and the finish.
The organiser’s Centipede page places Lindley Meadow in the park “just beyond the 6-mile point”, where fun-runner centipedes make a 360-degree turn.
Sourced
Whole courseConditionsTime limitBe past JFK and Chain of Lakes by 12:30 PM; the finish line closes at 1:00 PM.
The limit is a clock time, not a number of hours. In the organiser’s words, “participants who have not passed this intersection by 12:30 PM will not have the opportunity to cross the Finish Line”, and “the Finish Line closes promptly at 1:00 PM”.
The first wave takes off at 8:00 AM and the last wave at 8:45 AM, so the time a runner has to reach that intersection depends on the wave. The organiser asks runners to arrive 45 to 60 minutes before the start of their race.
Sourced
Whole courseCrowdCostumes and centipedesCostumes are the point, and groups of 13 to 15 run linked together as centipedes.
The organiser’s 12K page promises “bumblebees, brides, unicorns” and “probably at least one Spider-Man”, and its race-day guide says “Dressing up is what makes Bay to Breakers, Bay to Breakers!”. The homepage calls it a “historic fun run” that is “over 100 years in the making”, running since 1912.
A centipede is a group of 13 to 15 runners who travel the 12K together, linked by a bungee cord “or any other safe mechanism”. Seeded centipedes compete for awards, and fun-runner centipedes have no limit on length. The organiser says Bay to Breakers is the birthplace of the Centipede World Championships: the first champions, in 1978, were the U.C. Davis Aggies Track Club.
Sourced
Race weekend
Thursday 13 May Expo
-
15:003:00 PM–20:008:00 PM
Race expo and packet pick-up Every participant picks up their bib at the expo, unless they have paid for packet mailing or bought the VIP entry.
Friday 14 May Expo
-
13:001:00 PM–20:008:00 PM
Race expo and packet pick-up Every participant picks up their bib at the expo, unless they have paid for packet mailing or bought the VIP entry.
Saturday 15 May Expo
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10:0010:00 AM–18:006:00 PM
Race expo and packet pick-up Every participant picks up their bib at the expo, unless they have paid for packet mailing or bought the VIP entry.
Sunday 16 May Race day
-
08:008:00 AM
Race start, first wave Howard Street and Fremont Street. All distances start here. The first wave goes at 8:00 and the last wave at 8:45. -
08:008:00 AM–13:001:00 PM
Finish festival 2100 Martin Luther King Jr Drive. Live music. -
08:458:45 AM
Last wave Howard Street and Fremont Street
Cut-offs (2)
-
12:3012:30 PM
Course closes at JFK Drive and Chain of Lakes Anyone who has not passed this intersection in Golden Gate Park by 12:30 does not cross the finish line. -
13:001:00 PM
Finish line closes The finish line closes promptly at 1:00 pm.
Times as published by the organiser, in San Francisco time, checked . Confirm on their site before you travel.
The forecast for Sunday
Race morning, on the record
Add to calendar .ics file, times in San Francisco time
Entry
Race fuel
Energy gel
No gel needed at this pace
Finish
One every 40 minutes, by the clock:
Under about 75 minutes most runners need no gel: water at the aid stations does it.
For your long training runs:
Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side. Enough for race day and two test long runs.
Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.
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In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.
Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.
Anti-chafe
Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml
An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.
Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.
Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.
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Number belt
Compressport Race Belt
Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.
Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.
Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.
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Electrolytes
SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20
One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.
One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.
Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.
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Blister plasters
Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6
One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.
Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.
Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.
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We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
Keep exploring
More races to look at after the Bay to Breakers.
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