Torch Fizzle Blow-by-blow

This ends this post. I'll provide my thoughts with coverage of the closing ceremony on the next post.

4:00 p.m. The convoy just left the city and entered Daly City.

3:55 p.m. What a traffic mess. They are heading everyone to SFO to hold the closing ceremony on the tarmac to see the Olympic Flame take off for Buenos Aires. That means the entire Peninsula rush hour traffic, which is underway, will be really jammed badly. Thank you China, may we have another?

3:53 p.m. What is interesting is that the torch runners have run or been bused through every part of town. All they need to do now is go back to South Beach to complete the circuit. I guess they didn't make it to the Embarcadero/North Beach area, but you know, most of the city.

3:51 p.m. The convoy is past Golden Gate Park, on 19th Avenue, in the Sunset District. The speculation is that the runners are on their way to meet with Mayor Newsom for an informal thank-you meeting.

3:46 p.m. The Chinese government took over the entire security operation last night with the FBI, State Department and other national level security services. The Chinese chose the route and other security measures. The reporter who ran with the torch is reporting this. The other reporters asked him about it because the level of diversionary tactics used seemed more national in scope than the local police use. The reporter thinks that they have entirely scrapped the closing ceremony.

3:45 p.m. The tour bus that was stopped earlier this morning by the protesters held the Chinese delegation, so the protesters had better intel than anyone thought. That heightened security considerably. That is what drove the dramatic changes that seemed to change by the minute.

3:44 p.m. It looks like they headed onto 101 Southbound heading toward Golden Gate Park and 19th Avenue.

3:43 p.m. Both directions of the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge have been closed to traffic. Now the convoy is coming off Doyle Drive down into the Presidio onto Marine Drive heading back into town, away from the Bridge.

3:33 p.m. Still no movement from the convoy.

3:30 p.m. The Highway Patrol went up to the Bridge. The sidewalks on the Bridge are being closed just in case, but the Bridge Authority doesn't know what is going on either.

3:28 p.m. Are they out of runners? The entire convoy has stopped.

3: 25 p.m. Torch is stopped on Doyle Drive.

3:23 p.m. Lots of California Hiway Patrolmen in the GG Bridge area now. Lots of excitement.

3:20 p.m. People at Justin Herman Plaza are starting to leave, so the word is getting out. Still lots of protesters left.

3:18 p.m. Former Mayor Willie Brown is now getting to run with the torch. The GGB webcam has moved away from the bridge to the visitor area.

3:16 p.m. The closing ceremonies will not be held at Justin Herman Plaza - it is official. They are still partying peacefully, though.

3:15 p.m. The torch is entering the freeway (Doyle Drive) to go toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty smart - no sidewalks for the public.

3:14 p.m. Some sort of scuffle ahead of the runners? A bunch of bicycle cops have someone on the ground. They had to move the bicycles out of the way of the convoy.

3:10 p.m. The reporters are talking about the tourism boost from this route. It's funny because all you can see is the asphalt. You can't even see the houses around the torch.

3:06 p.m. They are almost to the Palace of Fine Arts. A few Chinese supporters with flags have joined the crowds now.

3:04 p.m. The runners are beside the Yacht Club, just before Chrissy Field.

3:00 p.m. A large highway patrolman contingent was at the Bridge, but then all but four left. It sounds like Chrissy Field will be the end point of the route.

2:57 p.m. I checked the GGB webcam - traffic seems very light on the bridge.

2:56 p.m. Increased police presence reported on the S.F. side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

2:55 p.m. Lots of speculation on local channels about whether the route will go over the Golden Gate Bridge.

2:49 p.m. This was part of the original 16 mile route, so it looks like they went back to Plan A. At one point, they planned to go across the Golden Gate Bridge. Some protesters just unfurled a banner along the route. Apparently the protesters had plans to cover the city, which seems to have worked for them.

2:47 p.m. They are passing Fort Mason and passing the Marina Safeway. That puts them on Marina toward the Bridge. Will they shut down the freeway going onto the Bridge or go through the Presidio the back way to the base of the Bridge?

2:45 p.m. The Golden Gate Bridge seems to be the more likely termination point. They are running that direction. That is the opposite direction from Justin Herman Plaza.

2:44 p.m. Reporter is saying that there are so many people at Justin Herman Plaza, that it seems impossible to bring the torch there. The crowd is peaceful, but packed. The new destination seems to be the Golden Gate Bridge.

2:40 p.m. One of the runners is a news reporter talking on his phone to his channel - they are taking the runners to the Marina District - the Marina Green. They may be scrapping the end ceremony at Justin Herman Plaza.

2:39 p.m. CNN is reporting that the torch is nearing its end destination. It is four miles away, at least.

2:34 p.m. Police brutality! One of the officers knocked down a protester, draped in the Tibetan flag.

2:33 p.m. Finally! Some Tibetan protesters finally caught up to the new route. Some sideline scuffles are occurring.

2:32 p.m. A ground cam finally joined the run.

2:30 p.m. The San Francisco Chronicle has great pics of the protesters and other people on its site. It is the source of the one, above.

2:27 p.m. Torch pass-offs getting shorter. Thankfully.

2:24 p.m. A disabled runner in a wheel chair with another female runner are wheeling down the street.

2:22 p.m. New pairs every block or so. Pretty boring. It really is more of a stroll than a run. Most of the protesters are confused. They think the torch is coming by boat. The television stations are practically begging for cell phone photos to help with coverage.

2:16 p.m. New pair running the torch.

2:14 p.m. The reason for the constant stops turns out to be the bus carrying the torch bearers. The bus stops and drops off the new runners just before the phalanx of police officers reach the area.

2:12 p.m. Fourth runner (single) takes the torch.

2:10 p.m. Torch continues down Van Ness. Van Ness is a major N/S route across the city, so this has snarled traffic and cut the city in half. We're on the third pair of runners. There is a problem with the vehicles in front of the runners - they keep stopping the progress of the runners.

2:05 p.m. The torch run has begun. There are lines of police running alongside the runners so you couldn't even see the runners if you were there.

2:03 p.m. Traffic is seriously backed up around Van Ness. You can hear the drivers cursing from here. It looks like they are waiting for the police to come from the Embarcadero to help with security before starting the run. The media was not prepared for this either. The cameras that normally run alongside the runners aren't here, so it is just helicopter shots.

1:57 p.m. The torch is off the bus on Van Ness. It is too far from the Embarcadero for the protesters to reach the route. They will be running two runners at a time. There will be new runners every block and a half.

1:54 p.m. It looks like the convoy is going to do the torch run backwards from Fisherman's Wharf to the Ferry Building (Justin Herman Plaza is in front of the Ferry Building). Right now the convoy is stopped at Van Ness and Sutter. That wasn't planned, so a lot of traffic is being stopped while they figure out what to do. The route was reportedly changed 10-15 times in the last half hour. I'd say the Tibetan protesters have officially won this round.

1:51 p.m. Two shoppers held up the torch convoy by crossing in front of the buses by the Essex Hotel, to the great annoyance of a police officer. They were nonplussed and continued their casual stroll. Gotta love it.

11:49 p.m. The two protest camps remain boringly placid. They have occasional shouting matches, but no violence.

1:45 p.m. Former Mayor Willie Brown, one of the runners, verified that the torch left in the van. He was invited to go along, but declined as he was warned that it could get hairy. He is taking a boat to the Ferry Building instead to join the torch closing ceremony. It sounds like the torch run has been canceled and will just go to the closing ceremony.

1:42 p.m. A motorcade of police and vans have left the warehouse. The news is reporting that the torch is in one of the shuttle vans.

1:40 p.m. With the excitement and riveting action of a slow car chase on an L.A. Freeway, San Francisco's Olympic torch run is off with a whimper. The torch was lit, run down a sidewalk into a warehouse and hasn't been seen for 20 minutes.

Interestingly, there are about 11,000 pro-Chinese protesters bussed in for the run. There are many more Tibetan protesters.

A bus was surrounded and stopped in its tracks earlier by Tibetan protesters. They thought they saw jogging suits on the people inside the bus. So they laid down in front of the bus for about an hour. It turned out to be a tour bus. The police eventually rescued them.