From afar, the 5K in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park would look just like any other. Runners wearing bibs hooked to singlets milled around the start line, shaking out muscles. With timing chips, and race volunteers, and a water stop, it was, in fact, just a typical weekend race—with two main exceptions.

Everyone wore the same bib number—420—a nod to slang associated with consuming cannabis. And many of those runners in singlets warming up near the finish line had elected to add marijuana to their prerace breakfast.

The second annual 420 Games road race was held on August 15 with more than 500 runners. The event’s organizer, Jim McAlpine, estimates 50 percent competed while high. The runners were all there to accomplish one main goal according to McAlpine—change the stoner culture stereotype.

“When someone uses cannabis, the outside world looks at them as stupid, lazy stoners,” McAlpine told Runner’s World Newswire. “We are using our athleticism to change the way people think.”

To prove his point, McAlpine brings up the male winner of the race, Chris Barnicle, who won while under the influence of marijuana in 15:57. Barnicle is an Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon and outspoken about his marijuana use while training. The race was competitive, bringing in a few talented runners from the area.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of, when you look at the crowd it was very athletic,” McAlpine said.

Marijuana consumption was not required to run, McAlpine said. Marissa Diaz, the female winner of the race in 24 minutes, does not use marijuana. Diaz competed to show support for her friends who do. “I’m a nurse and I think there are a lot of misconceptions about medical marijuana,” she told Newswire. “I wasn’t there to fixate on time, but to have fun and run as fast and as hard as I could.”

In planning the event, McApline said the San Francisco police were very cooperative, but he did have some trouble receiving the required permits from the park. The race was originally supposed to be 4.2 miles, but had to be cut to a 5K because of permitting issues. In addition, cannabis was not allowed to be used during the race.

McAlpine is very open about his own use of cannabis. Based in California, he has a medical marijuana license, which makes it legal for him to consume the drug. With the 420 Games, he has plans to expand the running races to places like Colorado and Washington, and he already has a bike race and golf tournament scheduled in California, and a stand up paddleboard race planned in Utah.

As he continues with his mission, McAlpine hopes to draw professional and elite athletes to events to prove his point. At the recent race, retired MMA fighter Kyle Kingsbury ran while high, saying he’s used cannabis throughout his athletic career. “I feel like it opens up my body a little better,” Kingsbury told Newswire. “I feel like it quiets the noise of the body.”

Keeping with the race’s theme, along with the usual postrace party, doctors were on hand to help people sign up for medical marijuana licenses. At the awards ceremony, representatives from the company Eaze—which provides marijuana delivery to people with licenses in California—presented $500 gift cards to the winners.

“I was very popular with my friends,” said Diaz, who said she won’t use the prize for herself. “I’m all about the runner’s high. I need that hit. For me, running does that.”

Kit Fox Special Projects Editor Kit has been a health, fitness, and running journalist for the past five years.

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