The National Weather Service has a warning for participants in this weekend’s Bay to Breakers: Don’t actually get in the breakers.
The Bay to Breakers path takes runners through downtown San Francisco to Ocean Beach, tempting some to take a post-race dip in the eponymous breakers that await them at the finish line. But a beach hazards statement cautions of “dangerous wind and wave conditions,” including strong rip currents, that could threaten to carry swimmers far offshore.
“I would highly discourage the general public from entering the water at all this upcoming weekend,” said Roger Gass, a weather service meteorologist. “We have gale-force winds. The water is definitely going to be turbulent.”
The 12-kilometer race has been a San Francisco tradition for more than a century, drawing tens of thousands of costumed-runners to traverse the city from east to west.
“At Bay to Breakers, for someone to get totally hammered and run naked into the water is not totally out of the ordinary,” an Ocean Beach lifeguard told the Chronicle in 2013.
That year, lifeguards rescued seven people from the water after the race. One man, Beau Rasmussen, went missing after the race, with his clothes being found on the beach. Rasmussen was never found.
The South End Rowing Club also hosts an annual aquatic Bay to Breakers, covering 10 miles across the north coast of the city. The club’s president, Vanessa Marlin, told the Chronicle this year’s swim will take place next weekend.
Surf forecasts for this weekend projected wave heights of 10 feet or higher along San Francisco’s coast. The weather service’s hazard statement lasts from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. It also advises against surfing and boating amid the windy conditions.
“I would not encourage those with small craft to go out into the water. There are a lot of folks that come from the Central Valley to salmon fish,” Gass said. “That is highly discouraged.”
Sunny conditions should otherwise make it a pleasant weekend for a run. Temperatures are forecast to peak in the mid-60s to low 70s across the city.
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This article originally published at Bay to Breakers runners warned: Stay out of the breakers.