At this year's running of the Bay to Breakers -- presented by Craigslist, officially -- there will be a few more people in uniform amongst the costumed revelers and serious runners.
They're San Francisco police officers, who will be out in force along the race route and watching the start, finish and Hayes Street hill area via video cameras, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
The department's bomb technicians, canine units and other resources -- such as the police on horses and on Honda motorbikes -- will be watching to make sure the 100,000 people or more expected are all safe, according to SFPD Chief Greg Suhr.
"At this event, people want to see police officers in uniform," Suhr said. "And they will — lots of them."
Security is at the center of everyone's mind as San Francisco prepares to host Bay to Breakers just a little more than a month after the Boston Marathon bombings.
Large backpacks are banned from the race route, and rules that have been in place for years but perhaps loosely enforced -- such as bans on nudity and alcohol consumption -- will be enforced by SFPD, Suhr told reporters at a Thursday afternoon press conference.
Video cameras will record the crowd at the start and finish lines as well as at the Hayes Street Hill, where the salmon run upstream and where the crowd is at its thickest.
Meanwhile, police are still asking for the public's help in solving a year-old homicide at the 2012 Bay to Breakers.
Stephen Martin of Santa Clara, 30, died last year after he was suckerpunched in the head at Sharon Meadow, according to police.
He and a group of friends wearing troll wigs were partying with a group of people -- now suspects -- in 49ers jerseys.
Martin lost consciousness after one of the men in 49ers jerseys struck him. He hit his head on the ground and died in June 2012.
