Bay to Breakdown

Related Content

• Tri, Tri, Tri Again
  June 1, 2011
• San Francisco's Last 'Disappearing Gun'
  March 7, 2011
• A Roving Rock Band Called the Violators Came to Terrorize Haight Street Last Night
  October 25, 2011
• 10 Things: Good Bands, Gay Pride, Free Market and The Life and Death of an Italian Cat
  June 25, 2010
• Maurice James Update: Search Party Begins for Missing Bayview Man
  August 5, 2011

More About

• Baker Beach
• Triathlon
• Outdoor Recreation

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Many people think the 1.5-mile swim is the most demanding part of the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, but we can't even understand that sort of swimming. It seems more like a rescue operation. But we can wrap our heads around the sand ladder: At mile 4.5 of the 8-mile run, after 1.5 miles of swimming and 18 miles of biking, the competitors are deposited on Baker Beach and told to run in the sand. Usually, there's bitching: What are we, in third grade? But run everybody does, down the beach, past the naked people (day off, fellas?), until they reach the sand ladder. Typically, this is where everybody just stops, looks at the nearest official, and says, "What?" Because they're being told to run up a cliff. And many will use the hand rails, because they're not winning the triathlon and it's all gone to hell already. The 400-step sand ladder: foolhardy yet understandable, like taking the stairs at work. The swim? Too close to crazy.
Sun., May 2, 8 a.m., 2010