How to Get to Bay to Breakers

BART trains will be running earlier and more often Sunday to help runners get to and from the 100th Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco.

The race begins at Howard and Spear streets at 7 a.m Sunday, an hour earlier than in previous years.

BART will begin running trains at 5 a.m. Sunday. All East Bay stations will be open 20 minutes before the first trains depart to allow patrons to buy tickets.

Before 8 a.m., trains are scheduled to arrive every 20 minutes. Those early trains will also have extra cars.

BART officials said the best stations for runners to exit at are the Embarcadero and Montgomery Street stops in downtown San Francisco. Both are a few blocks from the Bay to Breakers starting line.

BART officials warn runners that shoes and proper attire are required on trains. Translation: No naked people, please.

There is no street parking at the race starting line or near the finish line. AMPCO parking, which has several lots a few blocks away, is offering registered racers $10 rates, but with more than 55,000 runners, spaces are bound to be in short supply.

Runners who need a ride back to downtown San Francisco can buy a $10 special event sticker to use Muni's express service, which will run on Fulton Street from the Footstock festival after the race.

Another option is to take a Bauer's luxury bus, which is running shuttles from Footstock to downtown ($14) and round trip from locations outside San Francisco, including Emeryville, Millbrae and Mill Valley ($22). (One plus, there are restrooms onboard, always an important necessity for runners!)

For more details, visit the Zazzle Bay to Breakers transportation page.

Caltrain will also expand its weekend service to help Peninsula and South Bay runners reach the starting line.

For those taking public transit from the Peninsula and the South Bay, Caltrain will be making special early trips so that participants can arrive by the 7 a.m. start time. A train will leave from the Mountain View Caltrain Station at 5:10 a.m., and depart express to San Francisco Caltrain station, arriving at 6:08 a.m.

— David Mills and Rachel Stern compiled this report.