GDC 2011 Golden Gate Run!

One of my bucket list items is to run the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I was able to cross this one off last week on a pre-day event during GDC 2011.

We had decided to go early in the morning and follow up with a visit to the Charles M Schulz museum in Santa Rosa. Last year, ahead of E3, I had registered for a ZipCar pass. Let me briefly say how amazing and awesome this service is. Past trips to rental car companies and the refuel/return policies and locations are the worst. I strongly encourage readers to check it out. I walked two blocks from the W Hotel, picked up “Burrito” a late model BMW and proceed to get lost on the road to collecting my partners in crime.

The Golden Gate bridge is an impressive site from close up, let alone to see it from a distance. The morning frost settled on the grass in Crissy Field as we parked and approached the edge of the bridge. I was growing anxious because I had not been walking 2-3 miles every day for exercise, but had been on hiatus from running for about six weeks.

The plan was simple, run across the bridge, avoid hurting ourselves. Each of us had a very full, very busy week ahead of us at GDC. Additionally, I’m a completionist when it comes to running. I don’t care what my time is as long as I make it.

As I approached the bridge the excitement kicked in. We were off! Both Bryan and Keyvan were more experienced runners who were used to longer distances. My furthest distance to date had been a 6K jaunt. The bridge was just about that long over and back. I jogged most of the way, but the elevation soon gave me some difficulty causing me to walk a bit. I was also stopping to take pictures. We crossed the bridge, dodging cyclists who can make a pretty good pace both up and down.

We ended up running over and back. We all felt great and it set the stage for a wonderful rest of the day.

I’m hoping to make this a regular annual event before GDC. Are you interested in joining up?

FYI:There are more pictures of this event in the Photo Gallery!