Bay to Breakers tortillas are not tacos but Frisbees, then trash

Tortillas are scattered near the starting line during the Bay to Breakers annual race in San Francisco, Calif., Sunday, May 20, 2018. Tortillas are scattered near the starting line during the Bay to Breakers annual race in San Francisco, Calif., Sunday, May 20, 2018. Photo: Mason Trinca / Special To The Chronicle Photo: Mason Trinca / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 127 Caption Close Bay to Breakers tortillas are not tacos but Frisbees, then trash 1 / 127 Back to Gallery

What goes up must come down.

And at the starting line of Sunday morning’s Bay to Breakers race, the tortillas went up, then came down, landing first on heads before they were cast aside onto the street.

As the last of the runners left the starting line, they left behind the unfulfilled promise of ever becoming a burrito.

Hundreds of the formerly edible disks, some broken, littered the intersection of Howard and Main streets. A scene of culinary devastation amid the detritus of other debris: inflatable beach balls, discarded sweat pants and half-filled water bottles.

No one really knows how the tossing of tortillas became a starting-line tradition at the Bay to Breakers.

City officials have tried to discourage it, saying the flat food can get slippery in the early morning dew and drop runners on their bare or bear bottoms — depending on their costume of choice.

And yet, on Sunday, there they were. Tortillas everywhere, left for the city crews collecting debris off the sidewalk, while street sweepers sucked up the garbage littering the streets before washing them down.

Heath Clemmers, who worked the setup and breakdown process at the starting line, said it usually takes anywhere from half an hour to an hour to clear up the start after the runners leave.

While he’s helped put on other races before, this is his first time working at Bay to Breakers.

“This,” Clemmers said, “is definitely more chaotic than other races I’ve worked.”

Chaotic, but efficient.

Within 30 minutes, the starting arch was down, the roads were cleared and the tortillas, well, they were headed for the great compost in the sky.

Jill Tucker and Annie Ma are San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com ama@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker @anniema15