Bay to Breakers Participant Missing

I received this email today. If you were there on Sunday and saw something, please call the police:

To all participants of Bay to Breakers 2013:
As you may have seen on the local news, Beau Rasmussen disappeared on Sunday, May 19.  He broke away from his group of friends around 12 noon at 30^th and JFK at Golden Gate Park.  Beau was headed to Ocean Beach with intentions to meet back up with his friends.  Beau never returned to the meeting point and a passerby on the beach found his clothing, cell phone, passport later Sunday evening. 
The family is asking for your help with any information of seeing Beau or if you might have any photos or videos with Beau in the background. 

If you have any information, please call the Emeryville Police:  510-596-3700
 A community search will take place on Saturday, May 25 at 9am. 
Information below:
Please arrive between 7:30-8:30 for registration & assignments

Bedford Hall at St. Gabriel School2550 41st Ave  (Corner of Ulloa St and 41st ave)
Questions about the search: 415-926-1304Find.BeauR@gmail.comhttps://www.facebook.com/FindBeauRasmussen

More Random Thoughts from Bay to Breakers

When I was making my way down Hayes Street Hill, I noticed a house that had a large screen TV on display. It was broadcasting the feed from that house party's Facebook page. I guess the runners wouldn't be able to read it but the people who were walking could catch the messages. I wonder what the people in that house wanted, for participants to check in at the party and post to their wall? What exactly was the point? To show how socially savvy they were? At the pace I was going, I knew I couldn't post anything to FB, too many buttons involved! I had a hard enough time taking photos. I tried to get one of the ladies doing Taiko on the course in the park but all I could get was a blurry mess.

Because it was so hard to take photos, I found myself thinking, I wish I had something like Google Glass. I bet that's not why billions went into designing that device. But the fact that I honestly had that thought and the FB feed I saw made me think about how much technology has become integrated with our consciousness. I bet no one thought twice about the FB TV on the street. Which made me think, with all this technology, it's amazing that people are still willing to use their feet to run for miles. Running 7 1/2 miles isn't about exercise, it's about being part of an amazing experience with other people. People still crave social interaction, it's not enough just to be engaged in social media! Thank God for that, otherwise, I think we would become like the people in pods in the Matrix, not because AI puts us in there, but doing it to ourselves.

There was a man there that had been a tree in Bay to Breakers for 40 years. He's become an institution now, a landmark for other runners to judge where they are in the race. There were a bunch of runners with "Run Forest Run" on the back of their shirts, and I imagined them to be his disciples (Yes, I know the reference to Forest Gump). It was great seeing him at the finish. I was worried he might have a heart attack. I could tell he was struggling up the hill. But something pushed him to go forward. The tree couldn't fall in the middle of the forest because everyone was watching!

The only thing disappointing was the afterparty. I guess race organizers thought it was pretty much unnecessary since most of the participants party along the way. But for people who actually ran the entire way, it was disappointing that there wasn't more support. Every race I've run (and I've run probably close to a hundred), they always give you something at the end to help you recover. A banana, a bagel, something other than a bottle of water. I guess they've heard the complaints before because I overheard someone say that the handful of food trucks at the end of the street was something new this year. Why did they think anyone would want to eat curry bread at 8:30 in the morning? I love curry bread, but it's not my go-to food at the end of running a race. It was a good thing I had a pack of Honey Stinger chews in my Gu pouch to mollify the growling in my stomach. I'm a huge fan, by the way. I think they taste a lot better than the Cliff Bar Shot Bloks, and no hidden caffeine!

I did get hit in the head with a tortilla at the start of the race. I just don't get what that's about. It is such a waste of food. Some traditions shouldn't continue just for the sake of being tradition. What race should I run next? I've offered free media admission into a Spartan race, but the photos of the contestants on the website are really scary. They make me think of concentration camp victims. I guess I'll have to think about that another day--time to get R ready for T-ball! That ends the non sequitur thoughts for the day.

Bay to Breakers 2013

Salmon swimming downstream

 It's a very strange phenomenon when your husband places you in a herd of naked men running for their lives. Let me back up. Stewart grew up in the Bay Area. He left to go to West Point, was stationed all over the world, and went to Harvard Business School after being honorably discharged as a Captain. After having been everywhere, he decided the Bay Area was the best place to raise a family. So his goal from the very beginning of our marriage was to get back to CA and then to the San Francisco Bay. This might make one believe that he knew all about the Bay Area--the history, the traditions, etc etc.

A Nun, a Priest and a Rabbi walk into a bar-OUCH

When we moved here from LA a couple of years ago, Stewart told me about this great race where you get to run over the Golden Gate Bridge. He said people wear costumes like they do in the NYC Marathon and it is a really great time. So early this year, I signed up for this race that Stewart claimed began in SF and ended up in Marin County. What was the name of this race? The Bay to Breakers. I didn't really think about it much but as the race date got closer and I told people I would be running this race, it became apparent from people's reactions that there was something that just wasn't quite right. Some people would say, "really, that's very brave of you." And after the Boston Marathon, when I told people I was worried about the race because the bridge was such an obvious target, they just looked at me like they thought I was missing a few marbles. So I went to the internets and the veil was lifted from my eyes. Instead of a race with incredible views from the Golden Gate Bridge, I had signed up for drunken debauchery, complete with a view of naked men running through the streets!

TREE! In case you don't see the sign, he's run in the Boston Marathon

After I told Stewart what the race was really about, he said I couldn't put the blame squarely on him since I didn't do the research. This wasn't the first time he was wrong about something in the Bay Area, so I shouldn't have blindly believed what he told me. As a lawyer, I should have done my diligence. Yes, it was my fault for trusting the man to whom I had pledged eternal love and devotion. Nice one. To be fair, he did offer to run it for me.

This was a week ago. I started to panic. I didn't want to run by myself in a sea of drunken, potentially naked people. I asked a few friends but then it came to me like a bullet between the eyes. I needed Carol there. Carol was my roommate during my investment banking years. Any female banker, past or present, knows how to hold her own with a crowd of drunken men. Carol is also active enough that I knew I could ask her to run a 12K with no training and she would be able to handle it. And she lives in SF! I emailed her early in the week and, the awesome friend that she is, she changed her weekend camping plans to sign up for the race with me! Thank you Carol!!!!

Had to get Darth Vader

Carol had run B2B before so she knew about the costume aspect of it and wanted to participate. Since she was nice enough to run with me, I thought it would be great if I got into the spirit of things to wear a costume as well. I sent out an SOS to my MOPS group and they came through for me. I picked up the costume on Thursday. It was labeled adult, but I should have known that didn't really mean one size fits all. Sunday morning, I stuffed myself into the purple witch's costume over two other layers and went to the start line. Carol was dressed like a blue character from X-Men, I thought. A witch and a supervillian--we were ready for drama.

Thanks to having a friend there, I was able to run the race with more confidence. We did walk up the upper half of the hill, but the rest of the way we ran. Considering the longest I had run in the past couple of years was 3.5 miles, this was great. The run went really quickly and if I needed a boost I would play Eye of the Tiger again from my playlist. If you've been looking for a running app, by the way, Runkeeper is a great one! I clocked in at the finish three minutes under my goal of 1:30 (I just checked and my actual time was 1:24:53). We saw the Breakers! And Stewart, they are not in Marin County.

Breakers behind us at the end

I was going to take the muni back but I couldn't find it so made the call to the second number written in sharpie on my arm. I walked back to the south side of the park so it would be easier for my friend EY to pick me up. We had a fabulous Manhattan-type brunch at Mission Beach Cafe (I was so hungry I forgot to take a photo of my food!) and then picked up some pastries for Stewart and the kids at Thorough Bread and Bakery (restaurant links included because they are so good and I want you to go there!). Did I mention that Stewart and the kids were waiting for me back at the hotel? There was no way that I was going to get up at 4 AM to take the Bart to SF, so we had spent the night close to the start of the course. I made it back, cleaned up the disaster of a hotel room, and walked to the minivan to drive back to our life in suburbia. Originally we had planned to take the kids to Fisherman's Wharf this afternoon, but I just couldn't muster up the energy. The kids were happy with a banana split from the Ghirardelli on Market Street instead of in Ghirardelli Square, and we were on our way. I told Stewart he should run the race next year--the view from the Golden Gate Bridge is magnificent!

May Fourth Free Comic Book Day

 H and R love comic books. In any given room of our house you'll find classics like Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, and Sonic and more recent ones like G-Man. This morning I gave H the copy of Superman: Last Son of Krypton #1 that will be given out free tomorrow in comic book shops across the nation as part of Free Comic Book Day 2013. This book is part of the June 14th launch of Superman Unchained, the new monthly series created by comic legends Scott Snyder and Jim Lee.

H was really excited to get the Superman comic. Of course, he was Superman for Halloween two years ago so that is definitely one of his favorite super heroes. The other is Batman, which is what he was for Halloween when he was 4 years old and then again at 6. So he was over the moon when I gave him the other comic book I received from DC Comics-DC Nation Super Sampler #1, which contains a sneak peak at two sensational series from the DC Kids line--Beware the Batman and Teen Titans Go! This second one was more appropriate for his reading level and includes two all-new stories for readers of all ages, based on new animated series coming to Cartoon Network's Saturday morning programming.

I will spare you the details of R and H fighting over the comics, but I will tell you that H immediately went downstairs and put on his Batman cape. I was worried he was going to school with it since he left that way with Stewart who was dropping him off at school. Luckily, I found it on the driveway when I went outside later today. I know there are a lot of books out there other than comic books, but if it gets kids reading, then I think it's a good thing. R wanted to read the comics so he sounded out the words starting at age 4.  They run to the Sunday paper to grab the comic section. I like the fact that they are registering that things like print newspapers still exist. 

I received these comics for free from DC Comics and so can you! For more on Free Comic Book Day, including a list of other titles and participating locations, please visit www.freecomicbookday.com. There is a video of Wolverine explaining what the day is all about, need I say more? Have fun!