50 + 17 points
Journey to the End of the Night: Five Years Running in SF by Spif, Zack Wurtz
June 20th, 2011 8:49 PM
So my friend Zack, his brother Hen and I arrived to Justin Herman Plaza at 6:30 to sign up for Journey to the End of the Night and also meet up with my cousin Max. After we sign up, we got our “manifests.”
OKAY. So after they blew the horn around 8:00 pm to declare the start of the game, Zack, Hen, and I ran as fast as we could from the huge mass of people running in every direction. We ran to a pier and hid behind a car so we could plan how we were going to get to the first stop. So we took off running from North Beach to this random street over by South of Mission near the freeway to get on the Bay Bridge. We dodged red people and I made a bathroom break at some hotel. hehe.
After we went to checkpoint 1B, we stopped at a bonus checkpoint across from he Jewish Heritage museum and danced to get a “get out of jail free” card. We met some people and started running to point 2B.
Along the way to point 2B, some chasers were hanging around where Boca de Bepo is and I got tagged. BUT! I used my card and got to keep running. Point 2B it was under that crazy house near the freeway and we got to spray paint the walls.
So that was kinda in South of Market, and our next point was in the park of Lower Haight. To get there, we had to go under the freeways, which is kiiiiinda a sketch area. While going to the next checkpoint, we ran into these two guys, Adam and his friend (who I’m forgetting his name… it started with a D…) While trying to get to checkpoint 3, Adam’s friend got tagged. And because its one man for himself, we kept running and lost him. Then running across some intersection, this guy came out of nowhere and tagged me. :(
Zack, Hen, and our new friend Adam kept running and I was trying to keep up with them. We finally got back together, but because I was now a chaser, they wanted to keep going and find more blue people to travel with. So under the freeways, a huge group of “reds” came out of no where and was chasing everyone. Zack, Hen, and Adam went running and I was now all alone! Then I saw Adam’s friend who got tagged, and we walked together to the next checkpoint.
On our walk we talked about movies and going to cool theaters where they have couches and he told me how when he was young, his parents took him around the world on a boat, but went to school in LA and now he is here. He was very nice. :)
We got to the checkpoint at that park in Lower Haight. Along the way I tagged two guys so I now had two blue ribbons! I met up with Zack and Hen again, but this time they had a bigger group. We walked down to a bus stop to catch the F Line and I got to know some people. I met Chris and Chris, who one Chris was from Austria and this was his first Journey in San Francisco, but he has done the Journeys in Austria, Berlin, Venice, basically all over the world!! I also met two guys from Philadelphia who live out here for school and work.
On the F Line, we came across some chasers, and even though public transit are safe zones, the second we step off, you can get tagged. We ending up loosing some of our group, but we had to keep going. So following Zack and Hen, we got off and started running to the Powell station to get on the metro. When we got down to the station with our group, some chasers started following us, but because the other guys had Clipper cards, they were able to run down and catch the metro. But because Zack, Hen, and I had transfers, we had to wait for someone with a clipper card to go through.
Thankfully, some nice strangers who were not playing let us go through, but waiting for us were some people who were in Zack’s group, but now are chasers. Zack jumped on top of a storage container and Hen was idk where. Finally the metro came and we got on and another player saw us and joined our group. We were trying to take the K line, but it Powell was its last stop, so we waited for the next line to take us to Embarcadero / Mission Creek area.
Hanging around for about 10 minutes, I saw some guys that we met with at the bonus checkpoints. I met Jess, Cameron, and their friend (another forgotten name.) We all got on the metro, but their friend ended up getting tagged before we got on. The K will take you past the ballpark, and before I knew it, there goes Zack and Hen running off and I’m stuck on the metro with Jess and Cameron— two guys I just met.
We got off the metro two stops after Zack did, and got a little lost, but we finally found out way to where we were suppose to go. Checkpoint number 4 was another super sketch area. It was under the freeways again, but it was near those houseboats near the ballpark. We had to walk down this dark dirt path and jump over a chain-link fence. I wasn’t having a panic attack, but I was freaking out a little bit. I was walking around Mission Bay / Potrero Hill area, at 11 PM, with two guys I just met, I have no idea where my ride home is, or even how and when I would get home, and take note that I didn’t eat dinner, or hardly even lunch!
We finally came across the 4th checkpoint and sadly I guess we were a few minutes behind a huge group that was walking together. No matter what, I NEEDED to end up with Zack to get home, so Cameron, Jess, and I kept walking to the next checkpoint, which was conveniently only a few blocks away… as in 6 or so.
This time this checkpoint was near Bottom of the Hill, but near the freeway and houses. So while walking there, we took a wrong turn up some hill and there were some people who were obviously having sex in a car… woops. Anyways, Cameron, Jess and I kept walking and we ran into some other players walking around and we found checkpoint number 5. Thankfully, Zack and Hen were there, so we met up and we decided that it was late (around 12:30 AM) and we should head home because we were sooo tired and Zack and Hen had an hour ride home. We said our good byes to our new friends and we were about to walk down to 16th/Mission Bart when we noticed a player was talking to some people in a car. We walked over and asked if we could have a ride, and they were more than happy to drop us off.
Even though we didn’t finish the game, my cousin got to finish and got a pin for finishing. It ended in Bernal Heights and I guess my cousin had to hitch a ride back to the beginning, and then hitching a ride across the Bay Bridge to his car in Berkeley. Livin' on the edge, yo!
I am so excited for next year's journey, but one thing I need to do beforehand is prep myself for running and walking all over the place! /lazybum
OKAY. So after they blew the horn around 8:00 pm to declare the start of the game, Zack, Hen, and I ran as fast as we could from the huge mass of people running in every direction. We ran to a pier and hid behind a car so we could plan how we were going to get to the first stop. So we took off running from North Beach to this random street over by South of Mission near the freeway to get on the Bay Bridge. We dodged red people and I made a bathroom break at some hotel. hehe.
After we went to checkpoint 1B, we stopped at a bonus checkpoint across from he Jewish Heritage museum and danced to get a “get out of jail free” card. We met some people and started running to point 2B.
Along the way to point 2B, some chasers were hanging around where Boca de Bepo is and I got tagged. BUT! I used my card and got to keep running. Point 2B it was under that crazy house near the freeway and we got to spray paint the walls.
So that was kinda in South of Market, and our next point was in the park of Lower Haight. To get there, we had to go under the freeways, which is kiiiiinda a sketch area. While going to the next checkpoint, we ran into these two guys, Adam and his friend (who I’m forgetting his name… it started with a D…) While trying to get to checkpoint 3, Adam’s friend got tagged. And because its one man for himself, we kept running and lost him. Then running across some intersection, this guy came out of nowhere and tagged me. :(
Zack, Hen, and our new friend Adam kept running and I was trying to keep up with them. We finally got back together, but because I was now a chaser, they wanted to keep going and find more blue people to travel with. So under the freeways, a huge group of “reds” came out of no where and was chasing everyone. Zack, Hen, and Adam went running and I was now all alone! Then I saw Adam’s friend who got tagged, and we walked together to the next checkpoint.
On our walk we talked about movies and going to cool theaters where they have couches and he told me how when he was young, his parents took him around the world on a boat, but went to school in LA and now he is here. He was very nice. :)
We got to the checkpoint at that park in Lower Haight. Along the way I tagged two guys so I now had two blue ribbons! I met up with Zack and Hen again, but this time they had a bigger group. We walked down to a bus stop to catch the F Line and I got to know some people. I met Chris and Chris, who one Chris was from Austria and this was his first Journey in San Francisco, but he has done the Journeys in Austria, Berlin, Venice, basically all over the world!! I also met two guys from Philadelphia who live out here for school and work.
On the F Line, we came across some chasers, and even though public transit are safe zones, the second we step off, you can get tagged. We ending up loosing some of our group, but we had to keep going. So following Zack and Hen, we got off and started running to the Powell station to get on the metro. When we got down to the station with our group, some chasers started following us, but because the other guys had Clipper cards, they were able to run down and catch the metro. But because Zack, Hen, and I had transfers, we had to wait for someone with a clipper card to go through.
Thankfully, some nice strangers who were not playing let us go through, but waiting for us were some people who were in Zack’s group, but now are chasers. Zack jumped on top of a storage container and Hen was idk where. Finally the metro came and we got on and another player saw us and joined our group. We were trying to take the K line, but it Powell was its last stop, so we waited for the next line to take us to Embarcadero / Mission Creek area.
Hanging around for about 10 minutes, I saw some guys that we met with at the bonus checkpoints. I met Jess, Cameron, and their friend (another forgotten name.) We all got on the metro, but their friend ended up getting tagged before we got on. The K will take you past the ballpark, and before I knew it, there goes Zack and Hen running off and I’m stuck on the metro with Jess and Cameron— two guys I just met.
We got off the metro two stops after Zack did, and got a little lost, but we finally found out way to where we were suppose to go. Checkpoint number 4 was another super sketch area. It was under the freeways again, but it was near those houseboats near the ballpark. We had to walk down this dark dirt path and jump over a chain-link fence. I wasn’t having a panic attack, but I was freaking out a little bit. I was walking around Mission Bay / Potrero Hill area, at 11 PM, with two guys I just met, I have no idea where my ride home is, or even how and when I would get home, and take note that I didn’t eat dinner, or hardly even lunch!
We finally came across the 4th checkpoint and sadly I guess we were a few minutes behind a huge group that was walking together. No matter what, I NEEDED to end up with Zack to get home, so Cameron, Jess, and I kept walking to the next checkpoint, which was conveniently only a few blocks away… as in 6 or so.
This time this checkpoint was near Bottom of the Hill, but near the freeway and houses. So while walking there, we took a wrong turn up some hill and there were some people who were obviously having sex in a car… woops. Anyways, Cameron, Jess and I kept walking and we ran into some other players walking around and we found checkpoint number 5. Thankfully, Zack and Hen were there, so we met up and we decided that it was late (around 12:30 AM) and we should head home because we were sooo tired and Zack and Hen had an hour ride home. We said our good byes to our new friends and we were about to walk down to 16th/Mission Bart when we noticed a player was talking to some people in a car. We walked over and asked if we could have a ride, and they were more than happy to drop us off.
Even though we didn’t finish the game, my cousin got to finish and got a pin for finishing. It ended in Bernal Heights and I guess my cousin had to hitch a ride back to the beginning, and then hitching a ride across the Bay Bridge to his car in Berkeley. Livin' on the edge, yo!
I am so excited for next year's journey, but one thing I need to do beforehand is prep myself for running and walking all over the place! /lazybum
Automatic 5 points for including a picture of me.