True story · No. 21

Bay to Breakers: Salmon, Tortillas and 110,000 Runners

At the start, people throw tortillas. On the course, salmon swim upstream and teams of 13 runners move tied together. Here is the Bay to Breakers history: it began as a serious race.

By the PacePoster desk · October 16, 2026 · 3 min · 9 sources

Front page of the San Francisco Bulletin of January 2, 1912, reporting on the first “Cross City Race,” which became Bay to Breakers San Francisco Bulletin, 1912, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — PacePoster duotone

01A race to lift spirits

It all begins on January 1, 1912. The “Cross City Race” crosses San Francisco, from the bay near the Embarcadero to the ocean at Ocean Beach. The city is rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake, and the race is meant to lift its spirits. Bobby Vlught wins in 44 min 10 s. How many starters? 140 according to KQED, 186 according to the organizers' own history; 121 make it to the finish.

1912first edition

110,000participants in 1986

12 kmfrom the bay to the ocean

02Bay to Breakers history: the race dozes off, then wakes up

The years pass. In the 1960s the event is nearly dead: at one point just 15 entrants, according to the San Francisco Standard. In 1964 a local newspaper takes over sponsorship, renames it “Bay to Breakers” and changes everything.

The crowd throws tortillas like frisbees.

03The first costume

In 1940 a competitor shows up dressed as a pirate, as Captain Kidd. Officials, KQED says, refuse to let him start. He starts anyway and finishes last. It is the first known costume in the race. He opened the way.

A pink gorilla at Bay to Breakers, May 16, 2010 Geoffrey Weber, 2010, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — PacePoster duotone

04Thirteen runners tied together

In 1978 runners from the University of California, Davis, come up with the idea of running tied to one another in a line, like a caterpillar. This is the “centipede”: a train of at least 13 runners joined by an elastic cord. In 1983 the Christian Science Monitor describes a centipede division requiring at least thirteen tied runners, and 26 members of a fraternity running with a 132-foot replica of the Bay Bridge held over their heads. Today the race presents itself as the birthplace of the world centipede championships.

Ran it? The Bay to Breakers poster, with your name and your time →

05Salmon swim upstream

In a race where everyone heads west, some go east. These are the salmon: runners dressed as fish who run the course “upstream,” against the crowd. Every year they come back. Who started the tradition, and when? We found no solid source, and we would rather not hand you a legend.

06The tortillas at the start

Right before the starting gun, the show begins. The crowd throws tortillas like frisbees. Why tortillas? Here too, nobody says clearly.

07110,000

The peak dates from May 1986. Guinness World Records counts 78,769 registered runners and puts the total number of participants, unregistered ones included, at 110,000: a world record for participation in a footrace. Back in 1983, a Christian Science Monitor reporter already saw “80,000 costumed crazies” set off. Even today, the San Francisco Standard talks about tens of thousands of participants for the 115th edition, in 2026.

Sources for this story (9)

Every fact was cross-checked in at least two independent sources. Where they disagree, the story says so.