On Sunday, April 8 at 9am, the SF Dolphin South Running Club is hosting the Easter Roller Coaster 5k (3.1 miles), starting from Mt. Lake Park. The course starts in the park and runs alongside the Presidio, looping back at the halfway point. Some decent hills in this one!

Entrance fees are low – just $5 for 18 & over, $3 for ages 11-17 $3, and free for 10 & under. Plus, there is a free 1/2 mile kids run for all children ages 12 & under beginning at 9:45am.

Register online for the race in advance or on race day beginning at 8am. All participants receive a bib and a ribbon for finishing.

Sarah B.

This Sunday, the Balboa Theater is offering free viewing of Superbowl XLVI – in HD and Dobly Stereo – on their big screen. In addition to their usual tasty popcorn, you can also enjoy beer, wine, hot dogs and more while you watch the game (and the new commercials).

Kickoff is at 3:30pm Pacific. Who will you be cheering for?

Sarah B.

The surfers are coming! Next Tuesday, the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Search “Somewhere in San Francisco” event will kick off, featuring some of the sport’s top surfers as they battle the elements of cold, foggy and turbulent Ocean Beach.

The Rip Curl Pro Search is the only event on the ASP World Tour with a floating license, allowing it to move to a new location each year. While the Search events typically take place in warmer climates, organizers were looking for a tougher challenge this year.

“We chose San Francisco to reflect a completely different side of the Search,” said Rip Curl Marketing Manager Dylan Slater. “We also wanted to show the grittier side of the Search. It’s not all about tropical elements and Indonesia. This event is about the world’s best surfers versus the elements. The potential for Ocean Beach is big, perfect A-frames. And we wanted to see the Search interpreted in this completely new, different and lively environment.”

The contest will feature 36 of the world’s top surfers, vying for a piece of the $425,000 purse for the event. The event is comprised of a 12 day “contest window” during which organizers hope to have four full days of competition (27.5 hours total, based on 30 minute heats); ideally, days with the biggest waves and best conditions.

Among the field of competitors will be Kelly Slater, a household name thanks to his adventures out of the water with a bevy of celebrity romances. Slater is favored to win the San Francisco event, which would be his 11th World Title.

Despite its reputation for unruly winds, fog banks, and an arduous paddle out, two-time Search winner Mick Fanning is looking forward to the challenge, telling Surfer Magazine, “I haven’t spent any time in San Francisco so I’ll be scoping it for the first time. From what I hear they get plenty of swell and there’s some quality waves in the area. I can’t wait.”

To add to the grittiness of the event, personal water craft, aka jet skis, have been banned from the competition by the GGNRA. They’re typically used to tow competitors out to the big waves, and provide quick aid in the event of a mishap.

The event will also feature the nation’s top 16 junior surfers, competing in the Rip Curl Gromsearch National Final.

Every morning by 7:30am, organizers will decide to either run for an approximate 8am start or go on standby for a possible later start or call the event off for the day. As soon as the final call has been made, they will notify all parties, post message boards and update the event website. The latest contest call information can be found in the status bar of the live.ripcurl.com homepage.

The location of the competition will be Stairway 18-20 at Ocean Beach, across from the Beach Chalet restaurant. The site could shift further north up the beach to Kelly’s Cove at Stairway 1 if “conditions and or sand bars (which makes the wave take better shape) are much better than the main site.” More event info

If you can’t make it out to the beach or want to leave the chilly winds to the surfers, you can still catch all the action via the live stream from the Rip Curl website.

Surf’s up! Are you going to head out to Ocean Beach or tune in for the action?

Sarah B.

This Saturday, the recently re-discovered horseshoe pits in Golden Gate Park will host a professional tournament, 2011 Golden Gate Classic. The state’s best pitchers will compete by throwing 100 horseshoes and seeing who can get the most ringers. Among the field will be Kimmy Stockli, current and five-time California State Women’s champion.

The horseshoe courts were originally built in 1937 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. A couple of years ago, work began to restore the bas relief horse sculptures that are at the courts.

Catch the action on Saturday, play begins at 9:30am. The public is welcome to watch for free. To access the horseshoe courts, enter Golden Gate Park from the corner of Stanyan and Fulton, walk in a ways, then head to your left (south).

One of the horseshoe grotto sculptures (2009)

Just down the road in the park is the Amazing Thailand Festival, taking place at the SF County Fair Building from 10am until 5pm.

Enjoy live Thai music, fruit and vegetable carving, Thai music and dance performances, Thai boxing, DJs plus tons of Thai food for purchase.

The outdoor portion of the festival is free; admission to indoor activities is $5, $3 for children under 12. Under 5 years can enter for free.

“Feel the Thai culture to understand why Thailand is the Land of smiles!!!”

Sarah B.

[via SF Funcheap]

I ran into Baseball Mary this weekend, who is arguably the biggest Giants fan in the neighborhood. After giving me her latest baseball card (she gets one made for herself every season) and showing off her World Series ring, she told me about her special appearance in a promo for The Franchise, a Showtime reality series about the San Francisco Giants’ 2010-2011 season.

Watch the promo above – I love the part where Mary says Brian Wilson of “Fear the Beard” fame asked for her autograph.

Sarah B.

Congrats to all the runners and walkers who completed the 12k Bay to Breakers today. Hugh at ob-kc.com captured this shot of a rainbow near the finish.

Giorgio’s Pizzeria at 2nd & Clement gets saucy with their t-shirt slogans

Here are some local links of interest for your hump day:

• Six locals will swim from Farallones to Golden Gate to raise money for veterans
• Richmond District Man Wakes Up To Robbery
• Find out where our chefs from Namu and The Richmond like to eat in the ‘hood
• New restaurant: Dongbei Mama: 4737 Geary (at 11th Ave.). Northern Chinese. via SFWeekly
• Birdwatchers hoot & holler over great horned owl chicks at Stow Lake
• An awesomely creative wedding proposal in the sands of Ocean Beach

Like this kind of stuff? Follow RichmondSFBlog on Twitter or Facebook – we share links like this often.

Sarah B.

Got someone in your household who’s into caspers, fakies, nosegrinds and ollies? Or at least aspires to be?

Then you might want to enroll him or her in the skateboarding camps being offered this summer at Rochambeau Playground (238 25th Avenue) by SF Recreations & Parks:

Skateboard Action Camp – Beginner (20868)
July 5 – 8, 9am to 3pm | Fee: $197
Ages: 7-12 years
Participants will develop basic skateboard skills including starting, stopping, and flat ground maneuvering. Learn how to drop-in, ride and grind our ramps and obstacles.
More info

Skateboard Action Camp – Intermediate (20869)
July 18 – 22, 9am to 3pm | Fee: $237
Ages: 9-14 years
Participants will learn new tricks and develop different skills on our ramps and obstacles. In addition, campers will take field trips to various skate parks throughout the Bay Area.
More info

Campers are required to bring their own equipment including a helmet and optional, additional protective gear like elbow and knee pads.

This looks WAY more fun than the computer camp my grandmother offered to send me to when I was a kid.

Sarah B.

I first encountered Parkour while watching “Casino Royale” starring Daniel Craig. There was a great opening chase scene where he pursued bad guys as they flew around a construction site.

Wikipedia describes Parkour as:

…a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, using only their bodies. Skills such as jumping, climbing, vaulting, rolling, swinging and wall scaling are employed. Parkour can be practiced anywhere, but areas dense with obstacles are preferable, and it is most commonly practiced in urban areas.

In other words, people jumping off things. High things, sometimes. It’s pretty amazing to watch.

Some Parkour pros were in the city recently and while they didn’t fling through the Richmond District, they were in our neighboring Presidio where they made full use of the old architecture (and the House of Air). They were all over the city as well. It’s a fun video to watch.

Sarah B.

[via Bay Citizen]

They’re inviting anyone to submit a possible Giants headline for the paper that day. If yours is chosen in the top 10, it will be voted on by Examiner readers.

The winning headline will be then published in every Examiner on March 31 (190k newspapers!) and you’ll win a Giants Prize Pack (not sure what’s in the pack, but let’s hope it’s tickets to the first opening series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals April 8-10).

Ok, so this sounds easy but this is the newspaper biz. You have to pack a punch in your headline! It’s not like this blog where I have the luxury of writing long headlines. You gotta come up with something that is a max of 15 characters. I know, tough stuff!

So head on over to examiner.com/writethewrap and submit your ideas. You’ve only got until March 24th to enter so as my teacher friend would say, get those creative juices flowing!

Good luck and GO GIANTS! If you do win, maybe Tim Lincecum will come party with you here in the neighborhood…

Sarah B.