The annual Bay to Breakers race returns to San Francisco this weekend with its legion of runners and spectators in diverse colorful costumes.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Bay to Breakers is the once-a-year opportunity for San Francisco residents to don their Spandex shorts and chug up Hayes Hill, maneuvering around people dressed as bananas or fluffy birds, or those braving the elements in no clothes at all. But it’s also a massive, bright, and famously obnoxious street party for revelers swarming in from the suburbs.
Which creates a quandary for transportation officials and planners of the 12-kilometer race: How to get everyone to the city smoothly, avoiding a traffic jam that would snarl neighborhoods from Embarcadero to Ocean Beach.
The conventional wisdom is to refrain from driving, a difficult prospect for runners who want to hit the starting line at 8 a.m. Sunday. To help accommodate them, BART will offer four special event trains with limited stops, running from the Daly City, El Cerrito Del Norte, Dublin/Pleasanton, 16th Street/Mission, MacArthur, Millbrae, West Oakland, Pleasant Hill/City Center and Bayfair stations. Each route is scheduled to drop people off at Embarcadero Station around 7 a.m., providing ample time to arrive at Howard and Main streets for the race.
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A map showing the downtown San Francisco Muni lines that will be rerouted this weekend because of Bay to Breakers.
SFMTA
Caltrain will also add early-morning service on Sunday for runners and celebrants heading in from the Peninsula. Two northbound trains will depart shortly after 6 a.m. from Palo Alto and San Jose Diridon stations, aiming to arrive at the Caltrain depot in SoMa no later than 7:20 a.m.
Getting around San Francisco will be tough that day. The “unique geography” of Bay to Breakers, through downtown, Hayes Valley and Golden Gate Park, will effectively bifurcate the city, officials at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency warned in their pre-race advisories. Given that several Muni bus routes will be chopped in half, SFMTA recommends taking the subway instead, and “walking or rolling across the race route.”
A map showing the Muni lines in San Francisco’s Panhandle that will be rerouted this weekend because of Bay to Breakers.
SFMTA
Like other transit operators, Muni will offer extra morning service on Sunday, with inbound N Judah trains departing every 20 minutes from Judah and La Playa streets between 5:30 and 6:50 a.m. S Shuttle trains will run every 12 minutes from West Portal and Embarcadero stations from 6 to 8 a.m.
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Drivers, brace yourselves. A huge swath of San Francisco roads will be shut down on Sunday, including all of Howard Street from the waterfront to Civic Center, and long strips of Hayes and Fell streets from the City Hall area, through Alamo Square and the Panhandle and along John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park, until runners reach the finish at Great Highway. Closures will start at 7 p.m. Saturday evening at Embarcadero and SoMa, with some streets remaining off limits until 5 p.m. Sunday. (SFMTA has provided maps and lists of road closures here.)
A map showing the Muni lines on San Francisco’s west side that will be rerouted this weekend because of Bay to Breakers.
SFMTA
Any San Francisco resident planning a shopping trip Sunday morning would be better advised to dust off their running shoes or drag that old hot dog costume out of the closet. If you can’t cross a street packed with sweating, beer-swilling, boa-wearing race participants, you may as well join the masses.
Here are the street closures related to the race:
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Saturday, May 16 at 7 p.m. to Sunday, May 17 at 11 a.m.
Howard Street between Embarcadero and Beale Street, with intersections closed at Steuart, Spear and Main streets.
Steuart St. south of Mission Street.
Spear Street between Mission and Folsom streets.
Saturday, May 16 at 7 p.m. to Sunday, May 17 at 5 p.m.
Main Street between Mission and Folsom streets.
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The annual Bay to Breakers race takes place in San Francisco this weekend, meaning streets will be closed and transit routes will be altered as running cut across the city.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Sunday, 3 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Beale Street between Mission and Folsom streets.
Fremont Street between Mission and Folsom streets.
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First Street between Mission and Folsom streets (with exceptions for Muni from Market to Mission Street).
Second Street between Mission and Folsom streets.
New Montgomery Street between Mission and Howard streets.
Howard Street. between Beale and Third streets with intersections closed at Beale, Fremont, First, Second and North Montgomery streets.
Sunday 5 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Mission Street between Fremont and Steuart streets (exception for Muni).
Beale Street between Market and Mission streets.
Spear Street between Market and Mission streets.
Market Street between Drumm and Steuart streets.
Howard Street between Third and Ninth streets.
Ninth Street between Howard and Market streets.
Sunday 6 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Hayes Street between Market and Divisadero streets.
Scott Street between Grove and Hayes streets.
Steiner Street between Grove and Hayes streets.
Divisadero Street between Grove and Oak streets.
Fell Street between Divisadero and Stanyan streets.
Sunday from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Baker Street between Oak and Fell streets.
A racer wearing a BART-inspired costume crosses the finish line at Bay to Breakers in 2025.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
NEAR THE FINISH LINE AND FESTIVAL
Sunday 3 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Balboa between 46th Avenue and Great Highway.
Cabrillo between 46th Avenue and La Playa.
Fulton, westbound, between 46th Avenue and Great Highway.
Fulton, eastbound, between Great Highway and 48th Avenue.
La Playa between Cabrillo and Fulton.
Lincoln Way, westbound, between 45th Avenue and Great Highway.
Lincoln Way, eastbound, between Great Highway and 48th Avenue (with intersection closures at Lower Great Highway and La Playa Street).
Point Lobos between 48th Avenue and Great Highway.