BTS's Suga secretly runs Bay to Breakers in SF, finishes 12K before concert at Stanford

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not unusual to see wild costumes at Bay to Breakers. But this year, it's an image of someone wearing something pretty basic that's getting all the hype.

At San Francisco's Bay to Breakers, a celebrity competitor blended into the 30,000-person crowd. BTS member Suga competed in the 12K race Sunday before performing at Stanford Stadium.

"We were all excited. This is the event to attract that kind of attention. Everyone is welcome - community members, walkers, joggers, runners - and in this case Suga. He's quite the runner, you can tell by his finish time," said Phyllis Blanchard, vice president of partnerships for Bay to Breakers.

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Suga ran fast, finishing with an official time of 1:04:43, an 8:41 mile pace.

Right near him was another focused runner, Mateo Coulson, who - like most people - had no idea a global superstar was right there. Coulson says he runs without his phone.

"I wish I had filmed the starting line. Then I would have had a video of him at the starting line. I definitely missed out," Coulson said.

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Coulson said he learned about his celebrity running buddy after seeing pictures and video online. So did the event organizers, who didn't know ahead of time that Suga planned to participate.

"He was there to run, that's our takeaway. He wanted to participate like everyone else. He didn't want to let us know ahead of time. If he did, we would have given him VIP treatment. He just wanted to fit into the crowd and run his race," Blanchard said.

Organizers say Suga's appearance is a high-profile addition to a San Francisco staple - and they hope the race grows even bigger next year with this kind of exposure.