Colleen Schell – The Skipping Fairy
While most people run, walk, or party during San Franciso’s 7-mile Bay to Breaker race, Colleen Schell has been known to skip it! Here’s what San Francisco’s own Skipping Fairy and has to say about skipping…
Where do you skip? Marina, beach, randomly throughout the city, Bay to Breakers
Where is your favorite place to skip? The Bay to Breaker race
What do you like about skipping? My sister and I started skipping when we got to tired when running. We didn’t want to walk because it was so slow so I started to skip and she just followed no questions asked. It turned into a sort of tradition that always made us smile.
What kinds of reactions do you get from people when you skip?
Most people don’t know how to react. But I get alot of smiles and some people are actually inspired to put that extra jump in their step and join in.
Do you have any words of advice for someone who is hesitant to start skipping? Take a deep breath, put one foot in front of the other, add that extra jump, and feel your lips spread across your face to form a smile, only to part to let out a childish giggle.
Any favorite skipping stories to share? How I became the Skipping Fairy and won the Skipping Bay to Breakers: My sister and I dressed up as a fairy to run the Bay to Breakers for the first time two years ago. We have a friend that lives on the route around the three mile mark who invited us up for mimosas. We were so thirsty from running that we started downing the mimosas as we sat on the roof and watched as the other runners went by. 15 minutes and five drinks later we decided to hit the pavement again. As we approached the hill the champagne started to get us and we couldn’t run anymore so we decided we would skip for a little while. Well the skipping stuck and we skipped the rest of the four miles of the Bay to Breakers. People loved and cheered on the skipping fairies, asking”did you skip the whole way?” I took that as a challenge and decided to skip the whole race this year, hence giving me first place in the skipping Bay to Breakers race. Alright, I was the only participant but that’s not really my fault now is it.