Each year around 75,000 runners take to the streets for the Bay to Breakers Race. Following a 12km (7.5 mile) route, participants make their way along a course that begins at the San Francisco Bay piers, heads through the city and ends at the breakers of the Pacific Ocean. The origins of the event dates back to the devastating earthquake that hit the city on 18 April 1906. It destroyed much of the city so locals rallied round to rebuild both the city itself and the morale of the people by holding community events. One such event was a cross city race which was first held in 1912 which has evolved over the years and not goes under the name of the popular Bay to Breakers Race.