Bay to Breakers Countdown: Mr. Involvement vs. Turmanator II.

05.11.2008 | 6:36 pm | East Bay Grease, Jump the Shark Week, Zee Blog Juice

San Francisco’s mobile Mardi Gras, the Bay to Breakers, is coming up soon. In addition to the shocking abundance of naked people and morning boozing, the B2B is also a rather prestigious road race. The centipede competition has also evolved into a hotly contested battle among elite local running clubs. Esteemed FTB commenter, known hitherto only as “Skinny Kahuna,” is a member of one of them and will be looking for a fourth centipede title in five years with the Autodesk Adidas TranSports ‘pede. He’s also my brother, so no clowning in the comments.

KRON 4s Vernon Glenn, aka Mr. Involvement, takes a little jog with some of the Autodeskers in this piece from our favorite local news. If there’s any question as to why Vern looks genuinely gassed, it’s because he is. And if you’re unfamiliar with the pace that these dudes are going to click off, it’ll be right around five minutes a mile. Across the width of San Francisco. While chained to 12 other dudes.

Put it this way, their pace is about the same speed at which you or I would chase the bus. If we were late for a job interview. For a job that we really wanted. Except that we’d be done after a block. Like Mr. Involvement.

Turman

PS. An informed source confirms that this year’s lead runner for the Autodesk crew is, in fact, bearded. Next year I want to see a fully bearded ‘pede. And a discount rate on some secondary sponsorship. Can a brother get a patch on a track-suit jacket or something?

PPS. My neighbor is building a colossal, Nintendo-in-the-1980s themed, beer-dispensing float. More on this in the days to come, but start getting your Mario Bros. costume in order today.