A stricter, drier Bay to Breakers Bay to Breakers 2009

Dave Clayman, as the President of the United States, is joined by friends who are providing security as they make their way up Hayes Street Hill, during the 97th Bay to Breakers 12k foot race through the streets of San Francisco, Calif. on May 18, 2008.Photo by Michael Macor/ San Francisco Chronicle less Dave Clayman, as the President of the United States, is joined by friends who are providing security as they make their way up Hayes Street Hill, during the 97th Bay to Breakers 12k foot race through the ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close A stricter, drier Bay to Breakers 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The crew that brought you "Disco to Breakers" last year - a float complete with svelte go-go dancers and "a mind-boggling 27 kegs of beer" - is at it again for this year's incarnation of the annual footrace and rollicking street party known as Bay to Breakers.

There's just one problem. This time, their plans are against the rules - rules that some say could help end the race as we know it.

The group, including three guys dubbed "The Godfathers," said their float Sunday is going for a "college spring break" theme and promises that "beer and mixes will be flowing," according to their posting on a social networking site.

They also said they plan to merge their float into the revelry more than a dozen blocks from the starting line.

Those plans run afoul of new regulations city leaders hammered out in February for this year's event that ban kegs and glass bottles and require floats to only enter the course at the starting line behind all racers. The changes came after a chorus of complaints last year about post-race debris, floats hampering runners and rampant public urination.

How revelers proceed under the new rules, and how race organizers and authorities handle the situation in the era of rapid organizing through wireless messaging, has city officials, pro-party groups and residents alike bracing to see what emerges from the 98th running of the legendary race.

"This is a pivotal year," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes much of the race route. "We're trying to perform the fine pirouette of addressing any negative consequences from previous years while making sure we don't thwart the fun and spirit of the Bay to Breakers."

Race organizers hope to maintain the event's signature whimsy but dial back the booze.

"We embrace the fun, the color, the atmosphere, but we need to have an event that's safe and respectful to the city," said Angela Fang, who manages the race for international sports and entertainment conglomerate AEG. "We had to make some adjustments to keep this event alive."

Tempering the fun

Critics say the restrictions are part of a "death-of-fun" trend in a city that has canceled Halloween in the Castro and banned alcohol at the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair.

"They are just going to continue to crack down on this thing ... until they've homogenized it into a footrace," said Ed Sharpless, one of the organizers behind the grassroots group Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers.

The event began in 1912 as a cross-city race to the ocean. It has morphed into a uniquely San Franciscan amalgam - serious fun and serious race - with everything from elite athletes to costumed families to naked seniors to partiers with kegs in shopping carts.

Fang and police officials maintain they don't want to stop the party, just temper it.

"It is on television because it's really fun," said police Lt. Nicole Greely, who oversees security for the event. "It's just in the last couple of years, it got unsafe. ... If we can just bring it back to the way it was four or five years ago, we'll be fine."

Registration is on pace to meet last year's total of 33,000 paid participants. The problem was, about twice that showed up, not counting spectators. So many unpaid participants strained resources like portable toilets.

AEG strives to break even on the race, but last year it lost money while paying $350,000 just for city services, Fang said.

Race organizers had initially proposed banning all alcohol and floats after complaints surfaced of drunken participants trashing neighborhoods around Alamo Square and the Panhandle, including people urinating on houses, cars and around a playground with children on it.

After an outcry from Sharpless' group, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Mirkarimi coaxed a compromise.

Testing new rules

Kegs and glass bottles are banned. Float owners have to register, and floats can only enter the course at the starting line behind racers and walkers. Floats can't be motorized or be used to transport or store alcohol.

Race organizers, with police help, will search and remove kegs and glass bottles from floats and participants. Officials said they don't intend to stop drinking on the 7.5-mile course, but a police statement Wednesday said, "There will be zero tolerance for public drunkenness and public urination."

Sharpless' group backs the glass-bottle ban and has urged participants to register, not urinate in public or litter. But it sees the keg and float crackdowns as misguided.

"They have all of these rules, but what are you going to do on race day, with people coming from every side, every angle, to get on this race course?" Sharpless said. "Is this going to be a police state on Sunday? I don't know."

Greely said there will be about 260 officers on hand, the same as in years past, including one at every side street along the course to control traffic and prevent floats from entering. "It will be very easy to stop them," Greely said. Race organizers say the keg ban is needed to cut the copious amount of readily available alcohol that they say fuels bad behavior. Pro-partiers said it will have the opposite effect, driving people to get drunk quicker on liquor.

"People are going to start wearing CamelBaks with hard alcohol," Sharpless said.

His group has set up text messaging and Twitter feeds to "stay connected and monitor injustice" during the race, and is urging participants to e-mail the group with photos if they see "long lines at Porta Pottis or floats being hassled by officials."

Toilets are going to be more strategically placed in residential areas, with at least 705 along the course and 183, plus two six-man urinals, at the after-party at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park. Last year, there were 453 along the course and 225 at the party, race organizers said.

How that stacks up for the likes of the "Disco to Breakers" crew, who declined to comment, remains to be seen.

"We guzzled down a mind-boggling 27 kegs of beer, two kegs of vodka cran, and a keg of JD and Coke last year!" the group said in a Facebook posting that was changed after The Chronicle contacted them. "This year, well, enough said ..."