The Dipsea Race

Well, it usually takes me a good week to get something posted to our blog so last weekend my Dad and I finished yet another Dipsea race. This was my Dad's third time running the grueling and treacherous race and my second. For those of you that have never heard of the Dipsea it is a very unique 7 1/2 mile trail run that pretty much goes up and over a small mountain. It starts in Mill Valley, California (otherwise known as the home of the Toyota Prius and Obama love bumper stickers) near San Francisco and ends at Stinson Beach. It's unique for a couple reasons. First of all they have a handicap start where depending on your age and gender you have a few or several minute head start on the scratch (male 19-34) runners. My dad has a 13 minute head start on me (but I passed him after about 27 minutes of running :)). It makes it fun because you can usually pass lots of people along the course that started before you. The first person to cross the finish line wins which means a 70 year old male or 11 year old girl could end up winning the race because they had a 20 minute head start. They also run two separate races. First they start all the "Invitational" runners. These are people that qualified in the previous year's race and then they start the rest of the runners (this was where me and my dad were). There's about 1500 runners in all. It's torture just watching all these groups start and having to wait until it's time for you to finally start. My group is one of the last one's to leave the start line.

The course starts off with about 672 steps within the first half mile. Before you even get to mile 1 you are usually pretty wiped out! The first 4 miles are pretty much all up hill and much of it rather steep. The last 3 1/2 miles are down hill with hundreds of more steps and some more crazy steep stuff. Below are a few pics from the course including the beginning of the 672 steps.

Another unique thing about this race is that there are several places along the course where you have to make a decision on which way to go. Either choice will get you to the finish line. One way may be steeper, scarier and faster (indicated by the name suicide below)where the other might be safer but a little slower. You're also allowed to take shortcuts if you know them in certain areas. My dad and I aren't familiar enough with the trails to try that but I'm sure there are some veterans that take advantage. In the end I was happy with how I did...4min. 35 seconds better than last year and I qualified for the invitational race next year. You have to finish in the top 750 spots to qualify and with all the head starts and invitational runners I probably started about 1,400 back so I had to pass a lot of people along the way to earn that spot! That was my goal so I was a happy camper :).

(Just a little inside joke). My dad did great too. He improved his time by 3 1/2 minutes which was awesome. He worked very hard for that improvement training in Utah running up and down the 'Y' too many times to count, wearing his weight vest for added resistance, and practicing going down stairs at record speed. Can you believe he's 70 years old!!! My dad is the coolest! :) A little wiped out and very dirty after the race.

You get pretty dirty in this race so I thought you'd appreciate a few pictures to illustrate. The top 35 finishers get a coveted black shirt to indicate their finishing place. It's the only race I know of where the goal of most is to wear a t-shirt around town with a big # 5 or #22 on it and feel proud.

Our view as we laid on the beach and took a well deserved nap after the race

The Dipsea race is the second oldest running race in the world, 2nd only to the Boston Marathon. I love that I have been able to do both. Dad is already planning his workouts to prepare for next year's race :). As for me, It's on to training for the New York Marathon in November. For those of you that have a peaked interest in this race should check out the movie On The Edge starring Bruce Dern. It's based on the Dipsea race and it's a classic!