Barry Spitz

John Medinger

2011-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

(This article by Barry Spitz first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal of November 25, 2011.)

JOHN MEDINGER

Some things never change at the Quadruple Dipsea race. It will be cold and dark when the last finishers arrive. The fourth and final crossing, from Stinson Beach back to Mill Valley, will feel harder than the previous three combined. There will be blood, sweat and tears aplenty. And John Medinger will be sitting in his lounge chair in Old Mill Park, somehow masterfully orchestrating it all. He’s directed every Quad, and tomorrow’s race will be his 29th.

Medinger was raised in Salem, Oregon. He earned degrees from Oregon State, then MIT. In 1974, he began running to get in shape for AAU basketball; he stands six feet, four inches. His first race, Bay to Breakers, came a year later. Medinger did his first marathon in 1978 and owns a personal best time at the distance of two hours, 48 minutes, 41 seconds, at New York City in 1983.

But his real strength proved to be ultramarathoning, races longer than 26.2 miles. (The Quadruple Dipsea, at 28.4 miles, qualifies.) Medinger ran his first in 1980 and has now completed 138 ultras. Thirteen have been 100-milers. In 1999, he won outright the Hunter S. Thompson Fear & Loathing 50K in San Francisco.

The Quadruple arose almost by chance. The seed was planted in 1978 when, on a lark, Mike McKenzie and Hans Roenau became the first runners known to have completed four consecutive crossing of the Dipsea Trail. McKenzie arrived first, after Roenau stopped to pick blackberries. Medinger picks up the story.

“The Quad Dipsea started as a fun run in 1983. There weren't a lot of races back then. I was pretty much a neophyte at ultra running and went to a social gathering where one of the ultra veterans--Bill Casteel, long since deceased--suggested that everyone host a fun run on trails in their neighborhood. I lived in Mill Valley at the time, so the Quad was born. In 1985 we made it more of an official event. The rest is history. This year the race filled to capacity in 13 days. It is the 17th straight year it has sold out.”

Despite the brutal nature of the Quad—9,200 feet each of steep uphill and downhill--the 250 entrant-limit set by park managers is always oversubscribed because of the meticulous preparation and hard work by Medinger and his team of volunteers. They put in long hours surmounting the many hurdles to gain permits, securing sponsors, marking the course, providing well-stocked aid stations no matter what the winter weather, setting up a tent in Old Mill Park and filling it with hot soups and other treats, keeping everyone safe and more.

Medinger describes the highlights of his long Quad tenure:

“The incredible friendships I've made through running over the years, the finish line camaraderie, where everyone is happy, tired, sore and excited for everyone else.”

And there are the self-described “lowlights”:

“Seeing Mt Tam State Park – one of the best parks anywhere in the world – with insufficient funding, and dealing with the increasingly bureaucratic permitting process that has resulted from this. Also, in a completely different vein, having to say ‘no.’ The race fills quickly these days and I get inundated with sob-stories from folks wanting in. And on race day, there's always a handful who miss the intermediate cut-off time (four hours at halfway) and I have to tell them their race is over when they want to continue. But the volunteers, including me!, want to go home and it gets dark by 5 p.m.”

The Quad isn’t the only race Medinger founded. Another was the Epiphany Ultra, named because it was held around his January 6 birthday, the Day of Epiphany in religious calendars. The race began 33 years ago in San Francisco, and a mile was added to the distance to match each of his birthdays. In 2002, it mercifully dropped from 50 miles to 51 kilometers (32 miles). Medinger turned 60 in 2011, and the race, now in the Oakland hills, is going to remain at 60 kilometers. He is also the founder and race director of the Lake Sonoma 50-miler, has been on the Board of Trustees for the prestigious Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run since 1992, and was one of the original directors of the San Francisco Marathon.

Medinger recently retired from a long career at Chevron, where he did investment banking, and moved to Ukiah with wife Lisa. Together, they publish “UltraRunning Magazine” and run a small vineyard under the label Twin Palms.

“It makes me sound like one of those 1% folks that everyone is complaining about, when, politically, I'm on the other end of the spectrum,” Medinger laughs. “I don't really race anymore due to bad knees and incipient old age. But I still do about 30-40 miles per week; I like to eat!”

Tony Rossman, past president of the Western States Board and long-time friend, says of Medinger:

“In the more than quarter century since John and I first ran the Quadruple Dipsea together, he has become a leading legend in the ultramarathon community….His two greatest legacies have been to take the reins of “UltraRunning Magazine” and transform it from a vernacular newsletter into a spectacular journal of record, and to grow the Quad Dipsea from a collection of a few running buddies on the trail into one of the nation's most popular and competitive ultras.”

As to the future, Medinger says, “My only remaining running goal is to get to 100,000 miles lifetime. I'm at about 97,000 miles at the moment, and will get there in the summer of 2013 at my current pace.” That’s only 100 Quads short.

2011 Quadruple Dipsea

2011-12-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

You can rewrite the all-time Quadruple Dipsea race record on page 259 of "Dipsea, The Greatest Race." In the Quad's 29th running, on November 26, 2011, Leor Pantilat, 27, of San Carlos, destroyed the course record, and all potential rivals, with a sensational 3:48:58. That took more than three minutes off the old standard set by Erik Skaggs in 2008. Pantilat covered the first Mill Valley-Stinson Beach crossing in 52 minutes, the Double in 1:48, the Triple in 2:46. The mark may stand a while as future Quad racers will likely again be barred from the Muir Woods Road between Hauke Hollow and the Mailboxes and directed onto the significantly slower adjacent trail, which has been washed out for years but is now finally repaired and reopened.

Gary Gellin, 43, was runner-up, a distant 21+ minutes back in 4:10:05. Alaskan Mattias Saari arrived third in 4:12:45.

Cedar Bourgeois, 35, also from Alaska, paced the women with her 4:59:18, good for 18th place overall. Her halfway split was 2:23. Kimberly Holak (5:06:29) and 51-year-old Luanne Park (5:10:04) followed.

Greg Nacco was first over-50 in 5:09:37, and Charles Savage the first over-60 in 6:09:31.

Larry Castano, nursing an injury, did not start, ending a streak of 25 consecutive finishes. Doug Arnold completed his 25th.

Weather conditions were perfect; cool, clear and dry. Full results at www.run100s.com.

Jack Kirk Remembrance

2011-10-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Drow Millar, who made such a beautiful DVD about Jack Kirk, just forwarded this wonderful recollection from someone who knew Kirk well. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://dipseademon.com/The_Dipsea_Demon/Home.html

My name is Karen Haley. My grandparents, Ernie & Edna Haley, owned the property that abutted Jack's in Mariposa.

We knew Jack well. As a child, I grew up spending every summer with Jack Kirk. He let me on his property -- not a luxury he afforded many people! He let me swim in his creek. He walked with me and talked with me. He taught about birds, trees, flowers and stars. He ate every Thanksgiving dinner with our family.

He was always running. He told me that he didn't run with his legs, but rather he ran with his arms. He was a huge part of my childhood. The people of Mariposa had some kind of beef with him -- I never knew the story and I never really cared, because he was such an important person in my life.

I used to take him to church with me when I was about 6 or 7 years old in the early 1960's. We were Seventh-day Adventists. He would hold my hand, look straight ahead, and not speak to anyone. But he loved going to church with me.

It was never difficult to find Jack -- I would walk down Ben Hur Road in Mariposa, stand on the bridge spanning the creek on his property, and yell, "Jack?!" He always emerged from the bushes.

Jack Kirk WAS my childhood. My life wouldn't have been the same without him. Now, as I Google his name, I see he was a famous racer. Well, I didn't know much about that as a child. All I knew was, he was a kind, strange man who taught me about nature. -- Karen Haley

First Flight of Dipsea Steps

2011-08-25T14:16:00.001-07:00

The renovation of the first flight of Dipsea steps was completed a week ago, and the steps are fully open to use. The opening steps are now concrete, followed by a long section of wooden steps as in the past, then another set of concrete steps before the unchanged topmost 33 rock steps. The handrails are improved. Step plaques--which are sold out--have not yet been installed. Also coming is a boulder on which a plaque will announce that the Dipsea Trail is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

There should be essentially no impact on running times, or on passing. At the very top, the steps are angled right, which might help one second.

So how many steps are there now? I counted 316 in the first flight, an addition of three. With 222 steps on the second flight, and 150 in the top flight, the total is now 688 steps. When Jack Kirk coined his immortal line, "Old Dipsea Runners Never Die, They Just Go to the 672nd Step," there were 671 steps.

2011 Dipsea

2011-07-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

2011 Supplement to the Centennial Edition of “Dipsea, The Greatest Race”

101st Dipsea

June 12, 2011

In some ways, the 101st Dipsea seemed a throwback to earlier years. For one, at least 15 runners toed the start line with a reasonable chance of winning. This is how it was before 1965, when handicaps were still assigned individually. But the shift that year to handicapping by age changed things, and only top age-graded runners then had any chance of winning. In many recent years, just a handful of entrants really were contenders to win. And there was also, as in the distant past, high drama over who would the Team Trophy. In the end, Jamie Berns Rivers, 60, emerged as the 13th runner ever to win more than once, and the 34-year win streak of the Tamalpa Runners team was finally broken.

After winning in 2007, Jamie had been punished with a Winner’s Penalty of four lost head start minutes in 2008 and three in ’09. Last year, when the Winner’s Penalty was softened to just one minute lost for a win during the previous three years, she limped in, injured, near last among the Invitationals. Jamie then stayed below the proverbial radar scene; neither she nor husband Roy Rivers, the 2008 champ, raced at all during 2011. So although many identified her as a possible winner, her fitness level was unknown.

Three-time winner Melody-Anne Schultz led the maximum, 25-minute head start group through early checkpoints. Hans Schmid, 71, starting three minutes later, overhauled her on Dynamite and was first to Cardiac. (Computer-generated splits at Cardiac, a bonus since chip timing was introduced in 2006, were missed this year when no recording mat was placed there.)

Jamie, in the 20-minute handicap group, crested the course’s high point 59 seconds after Schmid. No one else was near; third place Schultz reached Cardiac a distant 2:11 later. Rivers caught Schmid as she descended Steep Ravine two steps at a time, to his one. At the tape, she stretched her victory margin over runner-up Schmid to 23 seconds.

Brian Pilcher, the 2009 champion who sat out a year due to injury, waged a Race-long duel with Roy Rivers and ended up third, 44 ticks back of Jamie. That was less than his one-minute Winner’s Penalty. The other two runners with a Winner’s Penalty in 2011, Roy Rivers and Reilly Johnson, were both strong candidates to win, and both experienced problems. Rivers faltered in the last mile and came down the final straightaway slowly, on very wobbly legs, in ninth place. (It was still more than enough for the Rivers’ to win the Alan Beardall Family Trophy.) Johnson, now age nine, had stomach woes early and gamely struggled in 90th overall.

Scratch runner Alex Varner arrived 50 seconds after Pilcher, clinching the Best Time Trophy. His actual time was 49:09. Varner became the fourth man to win three successive Time awards, joining Mason Hartwell, Mike McManus (who did it twice) and Mark McManus. Debbie Rudolf is the lone female to “three-peat.” No one has been able to win this prestigious award four years in a row.

Andy Ames, a Colorado runner admitted directly into Invitational, was fifth. Another Colorado star also placed into Invitational in his debut, Chuck Smead, fared less well. Smead, a four-time winner of the Pikes Peak Marathon and a PanAm Games marathon silver medalist, had winner’s credentials, and was sixth to crest Cardiac. But he then tired, fell in the Swoop, and ended up 20th.

Sissel Bernsten-Heber, also thrice a Best Time winner, returned after several years away to claim sixth place.

There was a splendid battle for Women’s Time honors. Julie Nacouzi, the teen who won the Runner Section in 2010, appeared to have taken the trophy when she hit the line seven seconds ahead of fellow nine-minute handicap starter Chris Lundy. But Liz Gottlieb, with eight head start minutes, crossed 39 seconds later, in 17th place, to grab the title. It was Liz’s third Time award, tying her with Lundy and Bernsten-Heber, behind the four of Debbie Rudolf and Peggy Smyth. Nacouzi did win the female High School Trophy; Johnny Lawson repeated on the male side.

But there was no more dramatic contest than that for the Team Trophy. The newly formed Tamalpa Runners had entered their first team in 1977 and won every year since. Indeed, they had rarely been even remotely challenged. In 2010, a group enjoying Tuesday evening runs out of Muir Beach’s Pelican Inn for more than 20 years decided to enter as the Pelican Inn Track Club. Several had current or recent Tamalpa affiliations. Their challenge came up just short. But in 2011, the Pelicans placed five runners among the top 12, including new recruit Don Stewart (8th), winner of the DSE Practice Dipsea, and Tamalpa’s legendary streak was snapped.

Julian LePelch, 10, arrived 30th, five seconds behind his father Patrick, to become the youngest boy to win a black shirt. Peter Carter, 12, had held the honor. Other 10-year old boys had finished higher—for example, Vance Eberly winning in 1969, Michael Boitano winning in 1972 and Tommy Owen placing fourth in 1973—but all in the pre-shirt era.

--There were several changes in the head starts. Women ages 52 and 53, and seven-year-old boys, gained one minute. Girls of eight lost two minutes.

--Oddly, of the 27 runners who had won ten or more black shirts, only three—Steve Stephens (now with 23), Jamie Rivers (now with 14, most of any woman) and Schultz (12)--added to their collection. Christie Patterson Pastalka and Roy Rivers joined the 10-shirt club. It was Christie’s first black shirt in 18 years, the longest gap between shirts by a woman. The overall record is 24 years, by Roy Kissin.

--Tanya Fredricks of San Anselmo won the Runner Section. Her actual time was 1:03:38 (12hc). Runner-up Sarah Bamberger, who bicycled to the start from San Francisco, was next overall across the finish line, 27 seconds back.

--Lori Cohen, running despite battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), received a prolonged and moving standing ovation when presented with the Norman Bright Trophy. Her husband and three daughters stood beside her on the podium.

--Leon Sivertson, long the Race’s data manager, received the Jerry Hauke Perpetual “Red-Tailed Hawk” Award. Roy Harvey, 85, finished 1,275th with a time of 2:13:42 and was presented the Jack Kirk “Dipsea Demon” Award.

--Phil Smith, who won the Dipsea in his debut in 1961 and then completed the next 49 in a row, decided to sit out this year. Smith’s ended streak of 50 straight finishes is topped only by Jack Kirk’s 67.

--Thirteen days later, Jamie Rivers came back to also win the DSE Walt Stack Double Dipsea. She ran 2:18:18, with 41 head start minutes, to finish 2:10 ahead of runner-up Alex Varner. Varner’s 1:39:29 (scratch) was the fastest actual time since 1987. Sarah Bamberger, 12th, had the fastest women’s time, 2:04:14.

--The first flight of Dipsea steps in Mill Valley was closed for renovation immediately after the Double Dipsea. All 280 wood steps were to be replaced with concrete steps, as on the third flight rebuild four years earlier, with the topmost 33 stone steps left intact. The Dipsea Foundation again sold step plaques to finance the project, and all were sold. The plaque for the very first step was auctioned at the Dipsea Dinner. Trevor Schultz paid $1,500 to honor wife Melody-Anne Schultz, inducted into the Dipsea Hall of Fame as its 25th member that same evening.

-- Hannah Berman, William Cooney, Daniel Milechman, Rachel Skokowski and Benjamin Vogensen were awarded college scholarships at the Dinner.

1. Jamie Rivers (60), Mill Valley, 1:07:34 (20hc) [:23 margin]

2. Hans Schmid (71), Greenbrae, 1:09:57 (22hc)

3. Brian Pilcher (54), Ross, 55:18 (7hc)

4. Alexander Varner (25), San Rafael, 49:09 (scratch) fastest time

5. Andy Ames (48), Boulder, CO, 54:28 (5hc)

6. Sissel Bernsten-Heber (47), Mill Valley, 1:01:32 (12hc)

7. Roy Kissin (54), Larkspur, 57:43 (8hc)

8. Don Stewart (50), Sebastopol, 56:00 (6hc)

9. Roy Rivers (54), Mill Valley, 57:06 (7hc)

10. Diana Fitzpatrick (53), Larkspur, 1:05:36 (15hc)

11. Iain Mickle (50), Sacramento, 56:38 (6hc)

12. Gus Gibbs (25), Mill Valley, 50:40 (scratch) 2nd fastest time

13. Julie Nacouzi (17), Santa Rosa, 59:48 (9hc) 2nd fastest woman, 1st HS

14. Brian Gilliss (31), San Francisco, 51:49 (1hc)

15. Chris Lundy (40), Sausalito, 59:55 (9hc)

16. Johnny Lawson (16), Forest Knolls, 54:18 (3hc) 1st male HS

17. Liz Gottlieb (35), San Rafael, 59:34 (8hc) fastest woman

18. Jared Barrilleaux (26), Petaluma, 51:43(scratch)

19. Steve Stephens (67), San Anselmo, 1:09:44 (18hc)

20. Chuck Smead (59), Masca, CO, 1:02:47 (11hc)

21. Karen Steele (53), Novato, 1:06:48 (15hc)

22. Wayne Best (43), San Rafael, 54:49 (3hc)

23. Mark Richtman (56), Novato, 1:01:02 (9hc)

24. Stephen Donahue (33), San Francisco, 53:04 (1hc)

25. Heather MacFalls Tanner (32), Menlo Park, 1:00:18 (8hc)

26. Melody-Anne Schultz (69), Ross, 1:17:23 (25hc)

27. Tomas Pastalka (64), Belvedere, 1:07:27 (15hc)

28. John Litzenberg III (41), Glen Ellen, 54:40 (2hc)

29. Patrick Lepelch (48), Mill Valley, 57:42 (5hc)

30. Julian Lepelch (10), Mill Valley, 1:03:47 (11hc)

31. Christie Pastalka (63), Belvedere, 1:14:53 (22hc)

32. Tim Wallen (47), San Francisco, 56:58 (4hc)

33. Mark Helmus (57), Davis, 1:03:00 (10hc)

34. Alison Zamanian (41), Orinda, 1:03:06 (10hc)

35. Thomas Iseler (48), Washington DC, 58:14 (5hc)

36. Jamey Gifford (33), San Francisco, 54:15 (1hc)

37. Danny Dimeo (24), Sacramento, 53:47 (scratch)

38. Mike Lopez (53), Mill Valley, 1:00:48 (7hc)

39. Ty Strange (50), Santa Rosa, 59:52 (6hc)

40. Brad O’Brien (49), Novato, 58:54 (5hc)

41. Alan Reynolds (47), Sausalito, 58:04 (4hc)

42. Mimi Willard (47), Kentfield, 1:11:18 (17hc)

43. Frederick Huxham (15), Ross, 58:26 (4hc)

44. Lauren Creath (18), Corte Madera, 1:03:28 (9hc)

45. Clayton Hutchins (15), San Anselmo, 58:31 (4hc)

46. Chris Knorzer (42), Rocklin, 57:32 (3hc)

47. Preston Sitterly (63), Sonoma, 1:09:33 (15hc)

48. Chris Hauth (41), Mill Valley, 56:41 (2hc)

49. Johnny Rutledge (40), Forest Knolls, 56:54 (2hc)

50. Paul Breimayer (52), Novato, 1:01:56 (7hc)

Team Pelican Inn Track Club: Jamie Rivers, Varner, Stewart, Roy Rivers, Gibbs

1,328 finishers; cool and overcast at start and finish, sunny and mild mid-course

Dipsea Race Single Age Records

2011-02-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

Before the 2010 Dipsea Race, Jim Weil, the Dipsea handicapper for the past 30-plus years, prepared this table of Single-Age records; i.e., the best times achieved in the Race at each age, male and female. Two new records set in 2010 (so not reflected in the table) are: Russ Kiernan's age 72 time of 1:14:32, and Melody-Anne Schultz's "off-the-chart" 1:12:38 for women age 68 (almost nine minutes below the previous mark!). Below the main list are some additional older marks, faster in time but not necessarily superior due to a shorter course. Weil uses these records to establish the head starts.

Sex	Age	Lname	Fname	Year	Act time	Adj time
(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)	(f)	(g)

F	5	Boitano	Mary Etta	1968	1:28.19	1:31.10
F	6	Boitano	Mary Etta	1969	1:21.04	1:23.41
F	7	Boitano	Mary Etta	1970	1:17.12	1:18.42
F	8	McGowan	Megan	1990	1:09.21	1:09.21
F	9	McGowan	Megan	1991	1:05.32	1:05.32
F	10	McGowan	Megan	1992	:58.09	:58.09
F	11	McGowan *	Megan	1993	:59.13	:59.13
F	12	Ottenheimer	Elizabeth	2000	1:01.14	1:01.14
F	13	Rudolf	Debbie	1974	:56.10	:58.30
F	14	Roger *	Alesandra	2004	:58.19	:58.19
F	15	McConnell *	Amy	1987	1:00.41	1:00.41
F	16	Roger	Alesandra	2006	:59.27	:59.27
F	17	McWalters	Teresa	2002	1:01.26	1:01.26
F	18	Fish	Nicci	2003	1:00.39	1:00.39
F	19	Flowers	C. M.	1981	1:03.15	1:03.53
F	20	Wollenberger	Carolyn	1986	1:02.22	1:02.22
F	21	Holmes	Kimberly	1991	1:00.41	1:00.41
F	22	Callinan	Christine	2003	1:03.25	1:03.25
F	23	Potts	Caron	1987	1:01.47	1:01.47
F	24	Eschen	Andrea	1981	1:00.21	1:00.57
F	25	Holbacher	Katy	2000	1:00.02	1:00.02
F	26	Fagan	Liz	2002	:59.56	:59.56
F	27	Duncan	Amber	1997	:57.03	:57.03
F	28	Lundy	Christine	1999	:56.05	:56.05
F	29	Fagan Gottlieb	Liz	2005	1:00.38	1:00.38
F	30	Hagans	Anna Marie	1991	:58.41	:58.41
F	31	English	Patricia	1984	:56.38	:56.38
F	32	Smythe	Peggy	1984	:58.11	:58.11
F	33	Berntsen-Heber	Sissel	1997	:57.00	:57.00
F	34	Smythe	Peggy	1986	:57.25	:57.25
F	35	English	Patricia	1988	:55.49	:55.49
F	36	Smythe	Peggy	1988	:55.47	:55.47
F	37	Smythe	Peggy	1989	:57.19	:57.19
F	38	Waldear	Debbie	1988	:57.04	:57.04
F	39	Lagunas	Rosemarie	2001	:56.52	:56.52
F	40	Scott	Gail	1986	:58.19	:58.19
F	41	Scott	Gail	1987	:58.24	:58.24
F	42	Lagunas	Rosemarie	2004	1:00.34	1:00.34
F	43	Fitzpatrick	Diana	2001	:58.56	:58.56
F	44	Waldear	Debbie	1994	:58.51	:58.51
F	45	Colman	Joan	1989	:59.33	:59.33
F	46	Fitzpatrick	Diana	2004	1:01.22	1:01.22
F	47	Rabinowitz	Judy	2005	1:01.36	1:01.36
F	48	Andersen	Gabriele	1993	:59.12	:59.12
F	49	Helvestine	Heidi	2003	1:01.19	1:01.19
F	50	Helvestine	Heidi	2004	1:02.51	1:02.51
F	51	Matson	Shirley	1992	:59.22	:59.22
F	52	Matson	Shirley	1993	1:00.34	1:00.34
F	53	Matson	Shirley	1994	1:03.25	1:03.25
F	54	Berns	Jamie	2005	1:05.41	1:05.41
F	55	Schultz	Melody-Anne	1997	1:02.39	1:02.39
F	56	Berns	Jamie	2007	1:04.05	1:04.05
F	57	Schultz	Melody-Anne	1999	1:01.51	1:01.51
F	58	Schultz	Melody-Anne	2000	1:04.33	1:04.33
F	59	Matson	Shirley	2000	1:05.59	1:05.59
F	60	Matson	Shirley	2001	1:08.25	1:08.25
F	61	Schultz	Melody-Anne	2003	1:03.36	1:03.36
F	62	Schultz	Melody-Anne	2004	1:06.03	1:06.03
F	63	Matson	Shirley	2004	1:08.23	1:08.23
F	64	Schultz	Melody-Anne	2006	1:09.00	1:09.00
F	65	Azevedo	Margaret	1980	1:26.08	1:27.00
F	66	Schultz	Melody-Anne	2008	1:11.59	1:11.59
F	67	Stickle	Edda	2009	1:29.22	1:29.22
F	68	Pell	Eve	2005	1:21.25	1:21.25
F	69	Pell	Eve	2006	1:24.13	1:24.13
F	70	Meyer	Heidi	2007	1:42.48	1:42.48
F	71	Garnett	Susan	2009	1:48.40	1:48.40
F	72	Tuinzing	Els	1994	1:52.59	1:52.59
F	73	Kambur	Joanne	2008	1:56.59	1:56.59
F	74	Kambur	Joanne	2009	1:58.46	1:58.46
F	75	Tuinzing	Els	1997	1:56.07	1:56.07
F	76	Tuinzing	Els	1998	2:10.39	2:10.39
F	77	Tuinzing	Els	1999	2:08.32	2:08.32

M	6	Venne	Stefan	2007	1:23.12	1:23.12
M	7	Pitts	Stephen	1993	1:18.46	1:18.46
M	8	Zalan	Daryl	1995	1:10.47	1:10.47
M	9	Boitano	Mike	1971	:58.53	1:00.47
M	10	Boitano	Mike	1972	:56.37	:58.27
M	11	Boitano	Mike	1973	:56.22	:58.11
M	12	Boitano	Mike	1974	:52.54	:55.06
M	13	Carter	Peter	1992	:57.30	:57.30
M	14	Bunnell	Reed	2006	:54.07	:54.07
M	15	Hansen *	Brad	1994	:53.01	:53.01
M	16	Elijah	Ron	1969	:48.00	:49.33
M	17	Bunnell	Bob	1967	:48.01	:49.34
M	18	Elijah	Ron	1971	:46.08	:47.37
M	19	Makela	Don	1970	:46.42	:48.13
M	20	McManus *	Mike	1986	:49.53	:49.53
M	21	Elijah	Ron	1974	:44.49	:46.41
M	22	Lowry	Byron	1969	:47.39	:49.11
M	23	Berry	Rod	1983	:47.33	:47.33
M	24	McManus *	Mike	1990	:47.59	:47.59
M	25	McManus	Mike	1991	:46.53	:46.53
M	26	McManus	Mike	1992	:47.18	:47.18
M	27	McManus *	Mike	1993	:48.32	:48.32
M	28	Elijah *	Ron	1981	:48.47	:49.16
M	29	McManus	Mike	1995	:48.06	:48.06
M	30	Dunham *	Dave	1994	:47.49	:47.49
M	31	Dunham	Dave	1995	:47.46	:47.46
M	32	McArdle	Peter	1962	:47.30	:48.53
M	33	Minor	Tim	1991	:49.26	:49.26
M	34	Ryan	Joe	1980	:48.37	:49.06
M	35	McManus	Mike	2001	:50.15	:50.15
M	36	Lentz *	Cliff	2001	:49.58	:49.58
M	37	Lentz *	Cliff	2002	:51.04	:51.04
M	38	Latimer	Homer	1977	:47.56	:48.25
M	39	Latimer	Homer	1978	:49.00	:49.30
M	40	Nelson	Dan	2004	:50.19	:50.19
M	41	Beardall	Darryl	1978	:50.03	:50.33
M	42	Vasquez	Sal	1982	:50.53	:51.24
M	43	Vasquez	Sal	1983	:50.42	:50.42
M	44	Vasquez	Sal	1984	:49.18	:49.18
M	45	Vasquez	Sal	1985	:49.56	:49.56
M	46	Vasquez	Sal	1986	:50.19	:50.19
M	47	Kiernan	Russ	1985	:52.58	:52.58
M	48	Vasquez	Sal	1988	:51.48	:51.48
M	49	Kiernan	Russ	1987	:53.13	:53.13
M	50	Vasquez	Sal	1990	:52.05	:52.05
M	51	Rivers	Roy	2008	:53.23	:53.23
M	52	Rivers	Roy	2009	:55.17	:55.17
M	53	Vasquez	Sal	1993	:52.52	:52.52
M	54	Vasquez	Sal	1994	:53.06	:53.06
M	55	Vasquez	Sal	1995	:53.51	:53.51
M	56	Lyons *	Steve	1997	:58.39	:58.39
M	57	Vasquez	Sal	1997	:54.27	:54.27
M	58	Patterson	Joe	1993	:59.31	:59.31
M	59	Kiernan	Russ	1997	:59.30	:59.30
M	60	Malain *	Bob	1987	1:00.42	1:00.42
M	61	Kiernan *	Russ	1999	1:00.33	1:00.33
M	62	Kiernan	Russ	2000	1:01.28	1:01.28
M	63	Kiernan	Russ	2001	1:01.53	1:01.53
M	64	Kiernan	Russ	2002	1:00.14	1:00.14
M	65	Kiernan	Russ	2003	1:02.34	1:02.34
M	66	Kiernan	Russ	2004	1:01.52	1:01.52
M	67	Kiernan	Russ	2005	1:03.44	1:03.44
M	68	Kiernan	Russ	2006	1:04.56	1:04.56
M	69	Kiernan	Russ	2007	1:05.45	1:05.45
M	70	Kiernan	Russ	2008	1:08.07	1:08.07
M	71	King	Joe	1997	1:09.28	1:09.28
M	72	Dodson	Bill	2007	1:18.24	1:18.24
M	73	Lindquist	Link	2001	1:13.58	1:13.58
M	74	Hirabashi	Sam	2001	1:19.27	1:19.27
M	75	Hirabashi	Sam	2002	1:19.29	1:19.29
M	76	King	Joe	2002	1:24.51	1:24.51
M	77	Hirabayashi	Sam	2004	1:23.38	1:23.38
M	78	Hirabayashi	Sam	2005	1:25.58	1:25.58
M	79	Hirabayashi	Sam	2006	1:30.22	1:30.22
M	80	Hirabayashi	Sam	2007	1:28.30	1:28.30
M	81	Hirabayashi	Sam	2008	1:33.27	1:33.27
M	82	Hirabayashi	Sam	2009	1:36.05	1:36.03
M	83	Harvey	Roy	2009	1:58.20	1:58.20
M	84	Kirk	Jack	1991	2:33.28	2:33.28
M	85	Clark	Al	1999	2:41.25	2:41.25
M	86	Kirk	Jack	1993	2:37.05	2:37.05
M	87	Kirk	Jack	1994	2:06.18	2:06.18
M	88	Kirk	Jack	1995	2:13.28	2:13.28
M	89	Kirk	Jack	1996	3:55.00	3:55.00
M	90	Kirk	Jack	1997	2:16.49	2:16.49
M	91	Kirk	Jack	1998	n/a	n/a
M	92	Kirk	Jack	1999	3:30.48	3:30.48
M	93	Kirk	Jack	2000	3:05.43	3:05.43
M	94	Kirk	Jack	2001	3:30.16	3:30.16
M	95	Kirk	Jack	2002	4:46.09	4:46.09

xF	11	Boitano	Mary Etta	1974	:56.55	:59.17
xF	14	Rudolf	Debbie	1975	:56.59	:58.34
xF	15	Rudolf	Debbie	1976	:59.57	1:01.21

xM	15	LaForge	William	1972	:52.21	:54.04
xM	20	Makela	Don	1971	:48.22	:49.56
xM	24	Hale	Tom	1972	:46.47	:48.18
xM	27	Delgado	Rich	1967	:48.06	:49.39
xM	28	Lowry	Byron	1975	:48.17	:49.37
xM	30	Delgado	Rich	1970	:47.02	:48.33
xM	36	Ryan	Joe	1982	:49.55	:50.25
xM	37	Latimer	Homer	1976	:50.03	:51.13
xM	56	McGrath	George	1975	:58.14	:59.51
xM	60	Bright	Norman	1970	:59.46	1:01.42
xM	61	??? Pre-1999

My Marin Independent Journal Article of 12/16/10

2010-12-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

There are some things in Marin that remain mysteries no matter how extensive the research. Just where did Francis Drake land in 1579? What is the origin of the name “Tamalpais”? Why does Highway 101 back up exactly the same no matter how many lanes are added? Add to the list: What is the length of the Dipsea Race? For while we can compute the value of pi to 50 billion decimal places, unravel the genetic code, and split atoms, somehow the distance between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach remains unknowable. (So apparently too is the number of Dipsea steps in Mill Valley, but that’s another story.) Every measuring crew—and there have been plenty over the decades—returns with a different answer.

It is a tricky business. Countless curves bedevil the steel tape approach, as Mark Reese used in his meticulous 1979 effort. Roots and rocks and steps challenge a measuring wheel. The Dipsea Committee employed the latest GPS technology in their measurement last year prior to the new stone mile marker project, but deep forest cover plays havoc with satellite transmission. And, with all the potential shortcuts, just what is the Dipsea course?

With these challenges in mind, the self-proclaimed Great Dipsea Survey of 2010 set off with TWO surveyor’s wheels to get the latest answer. The team consisted of Russ Kiernan, Don Makela, Brad Rippe, Roy Rivers, Darren Walton, and this writer, with four winner’s trophies, a course record, and thousands of Dipsea crossings between them.

The attempt was certainly painstaking. A wheel was ever so slowly rolled atop the narrow banister of the Mill Valley steps. The crew delicately balanced on a log while crossing Redwood Creek. The locked fence before the final left turn to the finish had to be scaled. Makela meticulously recorded the feet between every landmark.

And the results? The “consensus” course, the one marked with ribbons on Race day, measured 7.44 miles. This was quite close to the 7.51 miles reached by the Dipsea Committee, with both results substantially longer than the 7.1 miles previously accepted. The “competitive” course, using the three major and commonly used shortcuts of Suicide, the Swoop, and Panoramic Highway, measured out at 7.12 miles. In comparison, Reese ascertained the 1979 course was 6.87 miles. For the record, the distance from the first of the Mill Valley steps to the topmost is 1,411 feet, making it surely the slowest quarter-mile in all racing.

One upshot of the new longer distance results is a rekindling of the debate over just which is the truly fastest Dipsea crossing ever; Ron Elijah’s forty-four minutes, forty-nine seconds from 1974 in the no-course-restrictions era, or Rod Berry’s 46:48 from 1981 when the route was clearly longer, or Mike McManus’s 47:18 in 1991 when it was longer still. Such debates sustain Dipsea runners through the cold, rainy days of December.

WILLIAM PATTERSON’S LAST DIPSEA

A heartwarming story emerged regarding the Dipsea and the late William Patterson. The Ross resident had lost his Invitational status and the Dipsea Committee was ready to relegate him to the Runner section in 2010, if they were to let him at all. Patterson, too modest, did not mention why he had slowed: He was battling cancer of the brain. But when someone else called the matter to the Committee’s attention, they unhesitatingly granted him a place in Invitational. And Patterson fulfilled a dream by crossing the line 99th, wearing the happiest of smiles. Less than two months later, the cancer took his life, at age 48. Patterson was a father of three and driving force behind the recent renovation of the California Academy of Science, of which he was Chairman of the Board of Trustees. San Anselmo’s Linda Gill, a friend of Patterson, said, “Running the Dipsea again meant a lot to Bill. He had a copy of the Dipsea history book on his nightstand when he died.”

MUDDY QUAD

Heavy rain before the race, and showers on race day, left the course muddy and slippery at the 28th annual Quadruple Dipsea on November 26. Only 201 runners finished the brutal course, with its 9,200 feet each of steep ups and downs, fewest in six years.

Winner Leor Pantilat went out in record pace, astonishingly completing the opening two legs in under one hour, 48 minutes. He picks ups the story: “Sliding in the mud was beginning to take its toll and I became tired climbing the stairs out of Steep Ravine. I still had a chance at the record at the top of Cardiac, but alas, the trail conditions were not in my favor for a sudden acceleration… Approaching the steep section along Dynamite heading into Muir Woods I took one of several falls, but this wipeout caused some painful cramping that hindered my ability to run up the final climb up to Windy Gap. An extremely generous participant kindly handed me a couple salt tablets that definitely helped keep the cramping at bay.”

Pantilat’s final time of 3:54:29 was 2:13 short of Erik Skaggs’s Quad record. But he was still eight minutes clear of runner-up Gary Gellin. Mark McManus of Mill Valley, fourth, was top Marin finisher.

Women’s winner Caren Spore also went out at record pace, and held it. Her 4:38:33—good for fifth place overall--eclipsed Beth Vitalis’s modern record by 36 seconds. The fastest Quad ever by a woman was 4:32:16 by Kathy D’Onofrio in 1987, when shortcuts—all now strictly banned—were still permitted.

Novato’s Larry Castano finished his 25th consecutive Quad. Three years ago, doctors informed Castano he was breathing through only one lung, the other having permanently collapsed.

100^TH BAY TO BREAKERS

Another venerable Bay Area race, Bay to Breakers, celebrates its 100th running, all consecutive, this May 15. Only three men—Oliver Millard, Norman Bright and Jim Shettler—and one woman—Mary Etta Boitano—have ever won both races, none in the same year and none now for decades. Given the divergent approaches of the two races, with Bay to Breakers luring international class Kenyans and others with a $40,000 prize purse, and the Dipsea offering only a trophy, black shirt and a high probability of injury, there will not likely be more joint winners any time soon.

Bay to Breakers and the Dipsea will be tied at 100 runnings for exactly four weeks, until Dipsea #101 on June 12, 2011.

2010 Quadruple Dipsea

2010-12-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

Leor Pantilat became the third man ever to run under four hours in the Quadruple Dipsea, and Caren Spore broke the current course record, in the race's 28th running on November 26, 2010.

Pantilat, 26, ran the first two legs in under 1:48, perhaps the fastest first half of a Quad ever. He closed with laps of 61 and 65 minutes to finish in 3:54:29. Only Carl Andersen (three times) and Erik Skaggs (twice) had broken four hours before, with Skaggs' 3:52:16 the all-time fastest. Gary Gellin was runner-up, eight minutes behind.

Spore, 42, put up splits of 64, 68, 71, and 75 minutes to finish in 4:38:33. This broke Beth Vitalis' modern course record by 36 seconds. Kathy D'Onofrio's 4:32:16 from 1987, when shortcuts were permitted, remains the fast Quad by a woman. Kara Henry was a distant second place, arriving 37 minutes after Spore.

Larry Castano finished for a 25th consecutive time. Castano runs with only one lung, the other having collapsed.

Some rain fell during the race, after rain earlier in the week, leading to extremely muddy and slippery trail conditions. Even Pantilat fell three times. Only 201 runners finished, lowest since 2004.

Go to www.run100s.com for full results.

BORN TO RUN

2010-11-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

Just finished the new book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. Wonderful, no surprise it's been on the NY Times Best Seller List for so long. This is a book that not only will likely change your running life, but perhaps even your entire outlook on life. It's well written, in a breezy style fast and easy to read. You'll recognize a lot of the names--I've personally talked with at least a dozen of them--including Jack Kirk, Ann Trason, and Marin's own Sunny Blende. Highly recommended.

New Dipsea Book Has Arrived!

2010-08-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that the Centennial edition of "Dipsea, The Greatest Race" arrived from the printer on Wednesday, August 11, and I'm thrilled with it. (Hope you will be too.) I've been busy mailing and personally delivering copies to all those who pre-ordered--thank you so much, for your orders and patience--and will complete the process by August 18. Everyone should have their copy shortly.

There are still two "black shirt"-numbered copies available (34 and 35), some other numbered copies, and unnumbered ones. I'll sign all copies, and there is a place on the web order page to request a personal inscription.

Your comments on the book are most welcome. -- Barry Spitz

Dipsea Book Update

2010-07-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Centennial Edition of "Dipsea, The Greatest Race," was sent to the printer on Friday, July 9. After a meeting in Point Reyes Station with my designer and compositor, Dewey Livingston, I Express Mailed the package from the historic (old train station) post office there. Incredibly, all the book--280 pages, some 100 photos (including two dozen in color), the endpapers, cover, etc.--fit (albeit barely) onto one CD.

The package arrived in Michigan on Monday. A first pass turned up no problems. The printer has estimated a turnaround of 18 business days, meaning the book might ship out as early as August 9. It then takes another week or so to by truck to arrive. (IF all goes well.) I'll then start mailing books to all who pre-ordered copies.

Before the book is printed, I'll do a final update of the Sponsors page. At the moment, there is still one "Top-10 Sponsor" spot available (#9), three "Black Shirt Sponsor" openings (#33, 34, 35), and several "Top 100 Sponsor" openings. So, if you want to get your name in the book without having finished in the top-100 this year (or top 50 in earlier years), here's your chance! This option closes July 23.

Busy Weekend for the 100th Dipsea

2010-07-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

(This piece first appeared in the "Marin Independent Journal" on June 17, 2010)

What an epic weekend! From before dawn last Friday, into Sunday night, I was utterly immersed in perhaps the most important sporting event ever held in Marin, the 100th running of the Dipsea Race. Here’s how it went.

Friday, I treated myself with a sunrise edition of my favorite run, to the top of Bald Hill. It was then off to Brian Pilcher’s home in Ross, to prepare for the Tamalpa Dipsea Lunch of Champions, which I co-organized. Just before I left, Herb Stockman, the 1954 winner I only located and invited the day before, called to say the drive north would be too much. Still, 23 champions came, the most ever assembled.

The Lunch was magical, partly due to the lovely setting, but mostly from the attendees’ tales of glory days. The only glitch was the group photo. We took it early because 1960 winner Bob Hope had to leave for a tennis tournament. As Hope walked down the driveway, late-arriving Sal Vasquez walked up past him. So the photo only had 22 champions.

Without a break, wife Pam, daughter Lily and I drove to the Dipsea Foundation Dinner in Mill Valley. Again, a wonderful affair, which I could actually enjoy without worrying about everything. The highlight was Lily receiving a Foundation scholarship. Her polished speech made us even prouder. We sat with the family of another scholarship winner, Max Perrey, who I have known and admired for years. I also got to introduce the ten Dipsea Hall of Famers present.

I snuck in a short pre-dawn run on Saturday, then left for Mill Valley for the Dipsea Foundation Expo. The Foundation graciously provided me with a tent and I spent a pleasant, though long and hot, day chatting with prospective buyers of the upcoming Centennial edition of my book, “Dipsea, The Greatest Race.” At the end, I was instructed to take home the new winner’s trophy, for delivery to Stinson Beach the next morning. This is the only time that trophy will ever reside in my house!

Sunday, Dipsea morning, was so hectic I did not run at all, a first in my 29 years of announcing. I got through the early chores—such as sound system and computer setup and synching my watch—and took my place on the truck behind the finish line. What a thrill to report on the race-long battle between eight-year-old Reilly Johnson and my long-time friend Melody-Anne Schultz, 68, then to see them together on the finish straightaway. Pam kept track of the top-35, which turned out important, as timing chips worn by three black shirt winners failed to work. Lily once again keypunched the bib numbers for me to call names.

The awards ceremony is always special. I was particularly proud to have played a role in uniting the remarkably preserved 1905 Winner’s and Best Time trophies, presumably for the first time in more than a century. Reading the black shirt top-35 list is the happiest half-hour of the year. But even then work wasn’t done. I brought my measuring wheel to check a fine point for the book on course distances during the 1970s.

I usually go straight home but, needing “scoops” for the book, accepted the kind invitation of the Mace family to their traditional post-race party in Corte Madera. George Frazier kept me informed, and laughing. Finally, I went home, and watched “The Simpsons.”

**Alex Varner’s 48:54, from scratch, was the fastest anyone has run in 15 years. The splits for the ex-Branson School runner were: 1-Mile (8:15); Redwood Creek (14:55); Halfway Rock (24:30); Cardiac (33:10).

**The timing chip of 1987 champion Christie Patterson Pastalka (97th place) also failed to work, so she and husband Tomas Pastalka (38th) were not presented with the Alan Beardall Family Trophy, which they actually won.

**Defending champion Brian Pilcher, recovering from surgery, considered racing right up to Sunday morning. But Reilly’s victory gave him cause for cheer, as he was the only one picking her to win in the annual Tamalpa prediction contest.

**An issue needing to be addressed is the discrepancy in handicaps for young boys and girls. Stefan Venne, age 9, ran three minutes, 14 seconds faster than Reilly Johnson but finished only 81st because he had 13(!) fewer head start minutes.

**Seeing so many top runners in distress at the finish—a pallid Tomas Pastalka collapsing on the line, Mike Lopez crimson with blood, Patrick LePelch ghostwalking in, Robert Dickinson, owner of 19 black shirts, staggering with a medic alongside—reaffirmed my decision to continue working the Dipsea, rather than racing it.

Greatest Dipsea Runner #1: Sal Vasquez

2010-05-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

ALL-TIME GREATEST DIPSEA RUNNER No. 1, SAL VASQUEZ

By Barry Spitz

(This article first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal of May 18, 2010)

Old Dipsea hands love arguing about just every aspect of their favorite race. But one big question—“Who is the greatest Dipsea runner ever?”—is never argued, for there is just a single answer: Sal Vasquez. Through the Dipsea’s first three-quarters of a century, no one had won more than twice. Then along came Vasquez, winning seven times. He seemed so certain to win even more that race organizers cooked up a handicapping penalty aimed specifically at him. It was immediately dubbed “The Sal Vasquez Rule.”

In his 14 Dipseas, Vasquez was a top-three finisher 11 times, and never worse than eighth (in his debut). In those 14 races, only four runners starting behind him ever passed him and stayed ahead. Beyond the great numbers is Vasquez’s sheer presence. Any year he entered, he was the favorite. Everyone starting ahead knew they would be stalked, and inevitably overhauled. Sal Vasquez is No. 1 on our all-time Dipsea list.

Vasquez was an ex-soccer player recovering from alcohol addiction when he took up running just shy of his 40th birthday. Within months, he was competing on a national level. At a United States championship race in Seattle, he was introduced to Dipsea legend Norman Bright. Vasquez was intrigued, and he entered the 1980 Dipsea.

Sal’s Dipsea career started poorly, as he fell in Suicide, then again while passing in Steep Ravine, the latter tumble leaving him with a tree limb protruding from his cheek. But he was undaunted. In 1981, Vasquez climbed to second, behind Florianne Harp. There was then no stopping him.

In 1982, Vasquez parlayed five head start minutes to finish 62 seconds ahead of Joe Ryan for his first win. In ’83, he ran down Russ Kiernan--No. 2 on our list of greatest Dipsea runners--late in the race to win by 16 seconds. Even better was coming.

In 1984, Patricia English started seven minutes ahead of Vasquez and proceeded to run a modern course record time of 56 minutes, 38 seconds. But Vasquez dug deep, doing what he needed to win. He somehow cut 84 seconds off his previous best time, running 49:18 and winning by 20 seconds.

Vasquez’s 1985 effort was no less spectacular. He not only finished first, he also won the Best Time trophy, at age 45. That was five years older than any other Best Time winner, before or since.

Sal’s four wins in a row prompted the Dipsea Committee to adopt a Winners Penalty, cutting the head start of winners over the previous five years. The strategy worked. Running with fewer minutes in 1986 than he had six years earlier, Vasquez only managed third place. He sat out 1987 in what some saw as a protest against the new rule.

Vasquez returned in 1988, finishing fifth, behind four women. He said after, “I never saw the women.” He skipped 1989 as well.

In 1990, with a half-mile to go, Vasquez finally caught the unlikely race-long leader, eight-year-old Megan McGowan. It was victory No. 5. McGowan would win the next year, with Vasquez fifth. He didn’t run in 1992.

In 1993, Vasquez became, at 53, the youngest runner, by seven years, ever to run a time in minutes below his age in years. Still, he finished third.

Victory No. 6 came in 1994. Less than a mile from the finish, Vasquez passed both Joe King and Bob Malain, who each started 13 minutes ahead of him.

Vasquez was third in 1995, when Dave Dunham joined Joe Ryan (1980) and Mike McManus and Tim Minor (both 1991) as the only runners ever to overtake him.

After another missed year, Vasquez returned in ’97. He ran 54:27, at age 57, passing front-runner Melody-Anne Schultz late and winning by more than a minute. Vasquez said he would take a few years off, until his penalty minutes expired. He has not returned. He doesn’t have to.

Astute Dipsea observer George Frazier says, “Sal Vasquez is the only truly great male age-group runner to have devoted himself to the Dipsea Race on a continuing basis. He single-handedly rewrote the men’s handicaps, causing 40-year-old men to start two minutes in front of the scratch runners instead of the previous five-minute head start. Sal’s record stands unparalleled.”

In 1993, Vasquez was accorded the race’s ultimate honor when he was chosen as one of five charter members of the Dipsea Hall of Fame. At 53, he was 30 years younger than any of the other inductees.

100 Years of the Dipsea

2010-05-13T14:13:00.001-07:00

(This article by Barry Spitz first appeared in the Spring 2010 Mill Valley Historical Society "Review")

The 100th Dipsea: What Has Changed, What Hasn’t

The 100th running of Mill Valley’s iconic Dipsea Race takes place this June 13. Fifteen hundred runners, from among thousands of applicants, will gather in Lytton Square. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., they’ll begin departing, in 52 different handicapped start groups that are each one minute apart. The first runner to the finish line in Stinson Beach, seven extremely testing miles away, will be the Centennial champion and earn a special place in the Race’s storied history.

Looking back at what has changed, and what hasn’t, over those 100 runnings, reveals elements of both. (Note that the first Dipsea was actually in 1905. Because races were missed in 1932-33, than again in 1942-45, when much of Mt. Tamalpais was closed by the military, 2010 marks the Centennial.)

Perhaps the biggest change is in the entrants’ age and gender. In 1905, all 75 runners were men, and young. The handful over 40 were singled out as “oldsters” and “marvels” in contemporary accounts. Today, men over 40 outnumber those younger. The last 16 male winners have all been older than 40, the last ten over 50, an over-70 won twice. A runner in his 20s hasn’t won since 1966. The very young have also come to the fore: five Dipsea Races have been won by pre-teens. And there are far more runners now (although fewer than in 1976, the last year before a ceiling was placed on entries), and much harder to gain a place.

In just as dramatic a shift, women, long barred from the Dipsea due to a national rule against their participation in long distances race, now make up nearly a quarter of the field. They have won the Race outright 17 times in the 39 years since the ban was finally lifted, in 1971. But the Dipsea has actually long had a special place for women. From 1918 through 1922, five pioneering separate “Women’s Dipsea Hikes,” called “Hikes” only to evade the ban, were staged and vastly outdrew the “men’s” race each year.

In 1905, save for the short stretch within Mill Valley, all the Race was over private property. Even Muir Woods National Monument, the first public land on Mt. Tamalpais, was three years from dedication. Much of the route was across pasture land, and runners had to pass through at least 15 fence stiles. Today, all of the course has passed into public hands.

Other elements of the route have remained remarkably the same. The landmark features--the Mill Valley steps, the crossing of Redwood Creek, the high point of Cardiac, the Lone Tree (although no longer alone)—are all still there. The 2,300 feet each of total uphill and downhill is unchanged. A runner from 1905 would likely still be able to make his way.

But there are changes. The Mill Valley steps are rebuilt, and there are more of them, plus hundreds of additional steps cut into Steep Ravine. Coyote bush and Douglas-fir trees now cover much of the formerly grazed grasslands. The finish line has been moved from Highway 1 to the Stinson Beach parking lot.

But the biggest course change involves route restrictions, first placed in 1977 and mounting ever since. For its first 72 years, the Dipsea had an “open” course, runners free to take whatever shortcut they could find. But as the Race got larger, public land managers began demanding protection for environmentally sensitive stretches. Today, the Dipsea course is technically still “open,” but essentially in name only.

The Race’s unique handicap, or head start, system had been continuously tweaked since 1905, and monumentally overhauled in 1965. Before 1965, runners were individually assigned head starts based on a handicapper’s knowledge of their talent. After 1965, as the field mushroomed with new runners, head starts were based strictly on age (and, after women were admitted, on gender). The change was enormous. Prior, every single entrant thought that, if they ran exceptionally well, they had a chance of winning. After 1965, only a handful of entrants, the very best in their age/gender category, had any shot of breaking the tape.

One thing that has remained constant, and, to many, refreshing, is the Race’s amateurism. No prize money has ever been awarded, just trophies. All the workers were, and still are, volunteers. There have never been corporate sponsor logos prominently, or barely even subtly, displayed. But money has become a factor. For decades, the annual Race budget was under $1,000 (often well under), with no entry fee. Now runners pay $50 or more each, and yearly expenditures are near the six-figure range.

There are other changes, and constants. In the 1970s, to alleviate fire season fears, the Race date was moved from late summer to early June. Scoring of the Race has gone high tech, with runners now wearing computer chips on their shoes for instant results. Radio, in its infancy in the Race’s early years, is still used for emergency communications. Poison-oak remains, as always, a menace. And every racer still arrives at Stinson Beach utterly exhausted, and, except for those in the medical tent, proud and happy.

All-Time Dipsea Runner #2

2010-04-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

(This account first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal of April 16, 2010)

GREATEST DIPSEA RUNNERS No. 2, Russ Kiernan

By Barry Spitz

The Dipsea Race is celebrating its 100th running, and it just may take another 100 years for Russ Kiernan’s Dipsea records to be broken. He’s finished among the top three 15 times, captured 26 Team trophies and 29 black shirts, holds 13 Dipsea single age records, and won the Double Dipsea an absurdly high 11 times. And he’s far from through. At age 72, Kiernan is still gaining head start minutes, and is even an early favorite to get his fourth victory on June 13. Kiernan is No. 2 on our countdown of the greatest Dipsea racers of all-time, and a potential list-topper by the time he retires.

Kiernan, a native San Franciscan, followed his brother Don into the Dipsea in 1967. He finished an undistinguished 317th of 350. That was soon to change. Kiernan discovered he possessed a fearless ability to plunge down the Dipsea’s hair-raising descents, and the race favors downhill daredevils. Living in Mill Valley gave him time to train on the course, and to hunt down shortcuts, or “alternate routes” as he calls them, for which he has become legendary.

In 1977, he worked his way up to seventh, then to fourth the next year. From then on, any finish outside the top three was considered an off year. In 1979, he waged an epic battle with Don Chaffee, taking the lead in the downhill last mile. But then coming off the second Panoramic Highway shortcut, he made a horrid mistake, going right instead of crossing the creek. He had to scramble back and ended up three seconds behind Chaffee in what remains the closest Dipsea finish of the past 61 years. The site of the blunder is forever known as “Kiernan’s Crossing.”

In 1980, Kiernan ran his fastest Dipsea, fifty-one minutes, 23 seconds, at age 42, but was beaten by the race’s first adult woman winner, Donna Andrews. Russ and Don at least came away with the Family Trophy. In 1983, it was another second, this time to Sal Vasquez. People began calling Kiernan, “Avis,” the perennial also-ran to Hertz. Another 15 years of high finishes, and no victories, made Russ everyone’s sentimental favorite.

The drought ended in 1998. Melody-Anne Schultz had built a seemingly insurmountable lead but collapsed of dehydration a mile from the finish. Kiernan seized the moment. He held off a fast-closing Mike McManus to win, by 18 seconds.

In 1999, Kiernan ran “under his age,” a time in minutes below his years, a feat previously achieved by only a handful of the Dipsea’s greatest legends. Kiernan then made this rarity routine, doing it a mindboggling ten years in a row.

Victory No. 2 came in 2002, and it was eerily similar to his first win. Again Melody-Anne Schultz was seemingly cruising in front until she went down with a mile to go. And there came Kiernan, although his sensational 1:00:14 at age 64 may well have won in any case.

Kiernan also won the Dipsea’s first Centennial, the 2005 race that marked a century since the inaugural run. (Six years were missed, so 2010 is the actual 100th edition.) He blistered a 1:03:44 at age 67 to finish 49 seconds in front of Roy Rivers. There would likely have been even more victories except for the race’s draconian Winners Penalty, which knocked three minutes of head start (raised to four in 2007) from defending champions. Still, Kiernan managed second places in 2007 and ’08.

Kiernan’s combination of excellence, longevity, and consistency, in a race so dangerous and demanding, is without precedent. In the 33 Dipseas since 1977, Kiernan has finished among the top ten 27 times, with the next highest runner well back at 14. And this includes a three-year gap, 1989-91, when he battled prostate cancer. In 1994, he suffered a grizzly biking accident six days before the race. Anyone else would have stayed in bed; Kiernan raced anyhow, coming in 67th.

As another Dipsea Race Hall of Famer, Eve Pell, says, “When it comes to the Dipsea, Russ Kiernan is in a league of his own. No one else embodies his decades-long love affair with the race, knows so intimately every step, rock and root of the trail. He generously encourages and instructs both old hands and newcomers who want to do well on the second Sunday in June. He is respected and beloved--as the plaque on his [third flight] step says, ‘A Dipsea Legend.’”

Greates Dipsea Runner #3: Mason Hartwell

2010-03-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

(This story first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal of March 16, 2010.)

In its first decades, the Dipsea Race regularly drew just about every top distance runner in northern California. So newspaper accounts always gave the winner of the Best Time Trophy, for the fastest actual time, as much ink as the runner, aided by a head start, who broke the finish tape. Mason Hartwell managed to win seven Best Time awards—a record that stood for 74 years--in just eight tries. He was the first runner to break both 49 and 48 minutes, and set a Dipsea course record that lasted 25 years. For setting records that lasted not years, but decades, Hartwell is No. 3 of the greatest Dipsea racers.

John Mason Hartwell was born in 1889 and grew up in Mill Valley. His younger brother Ben was Mill Valley’s first motorcycle patrolman, and older brother George finished third in the 1908 Dipsea.

Mason made his Dipsea debut in 1910, running for the Olympic Club, founders of the race five years earlier. He passed George and ran the day’s fastest time, 52 minutes, 43 seconds. But he finished a tantalizing 13 seconds behind winner Oliver Millard, who started two-and-a-half minutes ahead of him.

In 1911, one of the hottest Dipsea days ever slowed all, except Mason Hartwell. Now running scratch (no head start), or “the place of honor,” Hartwell shaved 42 seconds off his 1910 mark to win Best Time trophy No. 2.

The 1912 Dipsea was epic. Mason was the lone scratch runner in a field of 81. Even Millard, runner-up at Cross-City (now called Bay to Breakers) earlier in the year, got a minute. The San Francisco Chronicle described Mason charging up from Redwood Creek, “As if he cared not for the laws of gravity….(Runners) were astonished to see the scratch man overtake them so early in the race, and most of them willingly gave way so that the Olympic Club member might have the opportunity to break the record for the course.” Mason got that record, by an amazing two minutes. Indeed, his 47:56 was faster than anyone imagined the hilly seven miles between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach could be covered. Still, it only got Hartwell third place, with Donald Dunn (six-minute handicap) winning. Over the next 48 years, there would be only one faster crossing, Norman Bright’s 47:22 in 1937.

Hartwell missed the next two Dipseas, returning in 1915. He and Millard were the lone scratch men. Mason outran Millard by 45 seconds, his 50:40 earning him Best Time No. 4. But again it wasn’t enough to catch the winner, Lee Blackwell (7:30 handicap).

In 1917, after a year off, Mason Hartwell finally won the Dipsea. Again he was in the “place of honor,” with only Millard and Walter Jones. Hartwell’s 51:39 brought him home 2:48 ahead of runner-up Millard, the largest victory margin in the Dipsea’s first 47 years. Hartwell also became the first scratch man to win, a feat not duplicated for 35 years.

Hartwell did not return to the Dipsea until 1920. He was the lone scratch man—among 121 finishers—and once again he won Best Time honors. But his 49:57 was only good for eighth place.

Hartwell retired from racing, then got the bug again in 1925. Awarded just one head start minute, although he was near the oldest (age 36) in the field, Hartwell finished 31st.

But there was a last hurrah. In 1926, Hartwell, dubbed “the grand old man of the race,” ran 52:53, arriving in 6^th place and winning Best Time award No. 7. It was 16 years since his first Time trophy, still the record. And it would be 51 years until anyone older (Homer Latimer, 38) won Best Time honors.

Here is the Chronicle’s account of Hartwell’s 1926 finish: “Their faces tell the story of the hard Dipsea Trail as the runners come down the road between the double bank of spectators at the Willow Camp (Stinson Beach) finish….Their tied-up leg muscles show the effects of unaccustomed strain….But there comes one….coasting along like a miler on a good track. There’s a half smile on his face as he comes down the stretch. His legs work with an easy loose-muscled action. It’s Mason Hartwell, an Olympian and greatest of Dipsea runners….No trainer reaches to catch Hartwell as he crosses the finish line. Leave the cots and the rubbing for the youngsters. The veteran….fresh as a daisy, and, without resting, goes to join his family for he has another race on his day’s schedule. He has promised to swim out beyond the breakers with his 11-year-old daughter.”

Hartwell died in 1971. In 2000, Mike McManus finally surpassed his Best Time total by winning an eighth trophy. Fittingly, Mason’s 80-year-old son Thomas, a family friend of the McManus’s, was on hand to watch.

All-Time Greatest Dipsea Runner #4

2010-02-17T15:59:00.000-08:00

GREATEST DIPSEA RUNNERS: No. 4, JACK KIRK

(first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal, February 16, 2010

Today’s Dipsea runners remember Jack Kirk as the old man wearing pants, and a sign warning not to touch him, who they passed early in the race. The newest arrivals may only recall him in a wheelchair at the finish line. But Jack Kirk did not earn the sobriquet “Dipsea Demon” without reason. He won the race twice, captured two Best Time trophies, finished 32 times among the top-35 (a total surpassed only by Darryl Beardall), and completely rewrote records on longevity and durability. Jack Kirk stands No. 4 on our list of all-time greatest Dipsea runners.

Kirk, who raced John Muir’s grandson in high school, ran his first Dipsea in 1930 at age 23. His time of 51 minutes, 38 seconds missed Best Time honors by just three seconds and, with his head start of 4-1/2 minutes, he finished second overall to William Magner. Ironically, it was Magner’s longevity record—63 years from first Dipsea to last—that Kirk would one day shatter. Ninth-place finisher Neal Decker dubbed Kirk “a demon” for passing so quickly on the steepest downhills, and the name stuck.

In 1931, Kirk actually refused his 30-second handicap so he could go head-to-head with scratch (no handicap) runner William Fraser, who nipped him for Time honors the year before. Kirk prevailed, his 50:54 swiftest of the day, 30 seconds up on Fraser.

Due to the Depression, no Dipseas were held in 1932-33 though Kirk offered the few dollars needed to keep it going. Kirk’s next great Dipsea was 1936, when he ran the second fastest actual time and finished second overall. In 1940, he again won Best Time honors, and was again second finisher.

With the military closing roads on Mt. Tamalpais, the Dipsea was not contested from 1942-45. This saved Kirk’s consecutive Dipsea streak while he served in the Army. Kirk came back with top-10 finishes in 1946, ’47, and ’49, but the feeling was that his chances of ever winning had now passed.

So it was particularly sweet when, in 1951, Kirk did become, at age 44, the oldest winner yet. Kirk was awarded the same four-minute head start as Lee Gentili, runner-up at Cross City (Bay to Breakers) earlier in the year. The two waged a race-long duel, Kirk prevailing by ten seconds. His 57:10 was second fastest of anyone.

Winning meant punishment in head start and in 1952, Kirk raced, at age 45, with just a single handicap minute. He was still at only six minutes in 1961, when all other of the still rare over-50 entrants invariably got the maximum possible handicap.

Kirk finally caught a break in 1961, when he was suddenly awarded 15 head start minutes and finished fourth. But 15 minutes was then the maximum, so, once more, victory prospects appeared gone.

Kirk proved naysayers wrong in 1967. Taking advantage of bizarre handicapping—nine of the first 10, and 83 of the first 100, finishers started scratch—Kirk parlayed his 15 minutes into win No. 2. It was tight, just five seconds ahead of fast-closing Bob Bunnell.

A year later, Kirk became the first in 50 years to “run his age,” a time in minutes (61) matching his age. He finished third, Don Pickett winning. Kirk pulled out magic again in 1970, when he ran under his age (62 minutes at age 63), but so too did the winner, Norman Bright. Kirk came in sixth, his last top-10 finish. Still, he long remained competitive, for example 57^th in 1974 when, at 67, he again ran his age.

Kirk now entered the second phase of his Dipsea career, during which he extended boundaries of what aging athletes could achieve. In 1977, he became the rugged race’s second 70-year-old finisher, then its first over-80, and still the only over-90. In 1993, Kirk was selected as a charter member of the Dipsea Race Hall of Fame. In 1997, his 62^nd consecutive Dipsea surpassed the American, and perhaps world, record for consecutive race finishes, Johnny Kelley’s 61 at the Boston Marathon. Kirk broke the record in style, running 98 minutes faster than the year before. In 2002, Kirk, at 95, finished his 67^th straight Dipsea, and was awarded the Norman Bright Trophy. He inspired countless others. Amby Burfoot, who, this June, intends to become the first Boston Marathon winner (1968) ever to race the Dipsea, says, “I consider Jack Kirk my hero for life.”

Kirk’s unparalleled Dipsea career ended a year later. He started, fell a couple of times, and reached Cardiac well after the official cutoff. Not wanting to break any rules, or hold up Highway Patrol motorcyclists waiting to escort him on Highway 1, Kirk abandoned. He died January 29, 2007, three months after celebrating his 100^th birthday. A huge crowd climbed the Dipsea steps at dusk for a candlelight ceremony. The topmost step bears the name of Jack Kirk, the man who said, “Old Dipsea Runners Never Die, They Just Reach the 672^nd Step.”

Entering 2010 Centennial Dipsea

2010-01-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

The Dipsea Race website, www.dipsea.org, has just posted instructions on how to enter the 100th running on June 13. The key dates are:

March 1--The deadline for previous year's runners to notify the Race of any mailing address changes. This is also the deadline for runners to request a mailed paper application.

March 15--Paper applications mailed.

March 16--At 4 p.m., applications will become available for printing on the Dipsea Race website. Completed applications, received by mail or printed online, should be returned that day as well.

April 1--Deadline for runners who earned 2010 Invitational status--by finishing among the first 450, or first 750 if from Open section, in 2009--to return their applications.

These procedures are unchanged from recent previous years. The entry fee, however, has risen, to $60 ($40 runners under age 16).

The Greatest Dipsea Runners

2010-01-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

#5, MELODY-ANNE SCHULTZ

Originally in the "Marin Independent Journal" of January 15, 2010

The question has been debated for decades during countless runs and over thousands of cups of coffee and mugs of beer: “Who are the greatest Dipsea runners of all time?” It’s a tough call. At least 15,000 different runners have competed in the 99 races. Seventy-seven of them own winner’s trophies, 82 earned a men’s or women’s Best Time award and 23 have been inducted into the Dipsea Hall of Fame.

Here’s my best shot at the answer, beginning with #5, and counting down, one a month, to the Centennial Dipsea this June 13.

My pick for #5 is Melody-Anne Schultz. Schultz not only won the Dipsea three times, all by staggering margins, and been among the top-three eight times in 10 career finishes, she has completely changed perceptions of what older women can achieve.

Schultz is a native of South Africa who excelled in sports but only took up running as a 46-year-old mother of three. She entered her first Dipsea in 1996, age 54. She never saw two runners starting well ahead of her, winner Joe King and runner-up Eve Pell, but neither did anyone pass her and she finished third. Melody’s actual time of one hour, five minutes, 57 seconds was the first of her Dipsea age records, with more set every other year she finished.

A year later, Melody started together with Shirley Matson, America’s #1 age-graded distance runner and now a four-time Dipsea champion. Schultz won the duel by more than two minutes, but was still overhauled by Sal Vasquez, finishing second with a sensational 1:02:39. (Schultz got revenge 13 days later, winning the 1997 DSE Double Dipsea, over Vasquez. She also won the Double in 2003 and 2004.)

In 1998, Schultz built a more than two-minute lead by the race high point of Cardiac. Even her nearest pursuer, Russ Kiernan, professed futility catching her, as she is a brilliant downhiller. But Schultz had not properly hydrated and collapsed on Insult, the last uphill, where medics carted her to Marin General.

She came back with a vengeance in 1999. Schultz took the lead in the second mile and ran utterly solo the rest of the way. Her winning margin of 5:24 was by far the largest since handicapping by age began in 1965, and third most in history. Her actual running time was an astonishing 1:01:51.

In 2000, Schultz ran 86 seconds swifter than Matson, but Matson had a three-minute head start advantage. So, at the tape, it was Matson first, Schultz second. An injury knocked Schultz back to 14^th in 2001.

The year 2002 was Schultz’s nightmare relived. Again she built a huge lead, again she collapsed at Insult, again she was first passed by Kiernan, again she was transported to Marin General. And again Schultz came back the following year with a stunner.

Running with, in her words, “wings on my feet,” Schultz, now 61, won by a mindboggling margin of 5:33. Just as sensational was her time, 1:03:36. It is rare for a man to “run his age,” a time in minutes equal or below his years. Dipsea Hall of Famers Norman Bright, Joe King, Russ Kiernan and Jack Kirk are among the few to have done it. Yet Schultz came close, something no other woman has ever even remotely approached. The time broke Matson’s over-60 women’s Dipsea record by more than four minutes.

In 2004, Schultz once more found herself outrunning Matson, this time by 2:20, and again unable to close all of Matson’s three-minute head start advantage. She finished third, passed late by Kiernan. Schultz was also third in 2005, trailing the winning Kiernan and Roy Rivers.

Motivated in 2006 to win “for my beloved mother, who had but a short time to live,” Schultz broke the tape a third time. Only Matson and Sal Vasquez have won more Dipseas. Shultz’s margin, 1:28 over Rivers, and her actual time, 1:09:03, are outstanding, modest only in comparison to her own previous efforts. Rivers, who would win in 2008, recently said, “Melody gives the Dipsea credibility. How would a world class runner fare in the Dipsea? She’s your answer. Every year, if she shows up in top form, she could win by three or four minutes.”

After sitting out 2007, Schultz returned in ’08 and finished fifth. She skipped last year as well. But this June 13, she gets her most head start minutes ever, and several pundits have installed her as early favorite to win.

1939 Dipsea Champion Allan Nelson Dies

2009-12-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Allan Nelson, winner of the 1939 Dipsea, died on July 16, his family at his side. He was 92. Nelson was the last of the 1930’s Dipsea champions. His death leaves Don Pickett, who won in 1968, as the oldest (age 81) living Dipsea winner. Charlie Richesin (1946 winner) is the only remaining champion from the 1940s.

Nelson was just out of Cal when he won in ’39, by 20 seconds over Neil Decker (the man who first called Jack Kirk “The Dipsea Demon”). Nelson continued running for decades, but claims the Dipsea was his only win. He worked many years as a U.S. diplomat in Finland, the country of his ancestry, then more recently for Korbel Champagne.

I met Nelson several times. He was a true gentleman.

“Old Dipsea Runners Never Die, They Just Reach the 672^nd Step.”

2009 Quadruple Dipsea

2009-12-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Mill Valley’s Chris Hauth and Karalee Morris were overall winners of the 27^th annual Quadruple Dipsea on November 28, both by sizable margins. Hauth ran 4:01:59, the eighth fastest winning time ever, and finished nearly 14 minutes ahead of runner-up Victor Ballesteros of San Rafael. Morris’s 4:47:00 was almost 21 minutes quicker than second-placer Caren Spore. The Quad is a devastatingly punishing four crossings of the Dipsea Trail, over 28.4 miles, with 9,276 feet each of steep uphill and downhill, more steps than the Empire State Building, and countless protruding roots ready to trip tired runners.

Hauth, 38, swam the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley for Germany in the 1992 Olympics (he holds dual-U.S. citizenship). He then evolved into a top triathlete and is now making his mark as ultramarathoner. He coaches endurance athletes.

Hauth ran 4:18 and was fourth in last year’s Quad, but finished strong, leaving him eager to go harder this year. “My running buddies Jed Tukman, Greg Nacco, and Bruce Mace (a two-time Quad winner) and I thought I might be able to cut six, maybe eight, minutes off my time,” Hauth says. “I did some hard training on the course, developing strategies for each section.” That included brisk walking on the steepest uphills, and robust efforts on every runnable up and down section.

Hauth hit Stinson Beach (lap one) in 59 minutes, trailing Jean Pommier. He reached the halfway mark, back in Mill Valley’s Old Park, in 1:59, having just passed Jonathan Kimura. “I pushed really hard on the third lap,” Hauth says, “hoping to get enough ahead so no one could see me.” The effort hurt—“that was the toughest lap for me”—but paid off handsomely. No one except returning slower runners, saw him the rest of the way. Incredibly, just eight days later, Hauth then raced the very hilly North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Miler in Marin, the national championship of the series, and finished 15^th in 7:44:02.

Following Ballesteros were Van McCarty, Kimura, Cameron Berg, Pommier, and Greg Nacco. A link to the Quad and full results may be found at www.run100s.com.

Morris, 31, had placed seventh, fourth, then second in her last three Quads. Her four time splits were 1:09, 1:10, 1:14, 1:14. Florencia Gasco-Amyx of Mill Valley and Kim Kortz tied for third behind Spore.

Novato’s Larry Castano finished for a record 24^th time. Dave Shears, on leave from a tour of duty in Iraq, ran the whole way with has father Michael, even though his previous longest run was just seven miles! Race day weather was mercifully mild, although high winds may have contributed to the lowest finish rate (91%) in five years.

On a personal note, I had a very rough patch going up Steep Ravine on leg four. Unable to climb another step, and my heart racing, I just plopped down halfway up. I thought I would need to be rescued. Then the very next runner offered me salt and potassium; this is the friendliest of races, everyone says a kind word when passing in either direction. I recovered within minutes and, though hardly frisky, made it to the finish line without further incident.

GREATEST DIPSEA PERFORMANCES

2009-09-16T14:49:00.001-07:00

This story by Barry Spitz first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal of June 10, 2001.

Today is Dipsea Day, a good time to look back at the greatest individual efforts our fabled race has ever produced. (Actually, I'll limit myself to the last 50 years.) So here are my picks, in reverse order. All but one, Elijah's, produced wins.

10. Mary Etta Boitano, 1973. Ten-year-old Mary Etta Boitano, all of 60 pounds, ran what was then the fastest time ever by a woman, 58:43, to win the 1973 race. She became the first female to win the Dipsea.

9. Bob Hope, 1960. Hope's 47:41 at age 18 remains the fastest by a high schooler (Tamalpais High). It was then the second fastest Dipsea ever, behind only Norman Bright's 47:22 from 1937. And Hope won by a remarkable 5:27, the second biggest margin ever.

8. Homer Latimer, 1976. More than 2,000 runners started the wild '76 Dipsea, then still run in just one section. Latimer fell several times, shoved many and was often pushed himself, and arrived bloody at Stinson. Yet he recorded a 50:03, second best of the day, to win. The severe overcrowding on the trail prompted Dipsea officials to limit entries, and split them into separate starting sections, in all years since.

7. Ralph Perry, 1953. For the first 60 years of the Dipsea, handicaps were individually assigned, based on a runner's ability and, until Perry, only one runner had ever won by more than three minutes (3:27). So Mill Valley's 17-year-old Perry clearly had an extraordinary effort when he ran 55:03 to win the 1953 race by nearly seven minutes (6:56). It remains the biggest victory margin.

6. Joe King, 1995. The record for oldest Dipsea winner was long shared by the race's two most legendary competitors, Jack Kirk and Norman Bright, at 60. In 1995, King, who first raced the Dipsea in 1947, won at age 69. Further, his time of 66:03 was an unprecedented three minutes under his age.

5. MelodyAnne Schultz, 1999. High among breakthroughs by women since they were first officially admitted in 1971 was Schultz' stunning 1:01:51 at age 57. She won by 5:24, by far the most in the modern era of assigning head starts by age and sex. And Schultz came closest to what had been considered impossible, a woman running a time in minutes equal to her age in years.

4. Sal Vasquez, 1984. Until 1984, no one had won the Dipsea more than twice. That year, Patricia English had an 11-minute head start--open women now only get eight--and blazed a brilliant 56:38, five minutes under the existing women's course record. By all measures, she should have won easily. Spectators told Vasquez, who started seven minutes behind English, that there is no way he can catch Pat. Yet somehow he did, winning the third of what are now seven titles. Vasquez' 49:18, at age 44, was just two seconds off the day's best (by Rod Berry), and remains his personal best.

3. Ron Elijah, 1974. Had it produced victory (he finished third), Elijah's otherworldly 44:49 in '74 would have rated my #1 pick. Other than Elijah's own 46:08 (1971), the next fastest Dipsea crossing ever is 46:42. Most runners today would be thrilled just to reach Cardiac in 44:49! Further, Elijah started scratch (no head start), having to pass more than 1,000 runners in a race still not divided into sections.

2. Megan McGowan, 1992. McGowan astonished all by winning the 1991 Dipsea at age nine. But a repeat appeared impossible. For one, she lost a whopping four head start minutes, a fate no one else has suffered in decades. Worse, McGowan was pitted against some of the world's finest age group runners in Shirley Matson, Jim Bowers, Joan Ottaway, and Eve Pell, plus open champ Mike McManus in his prime. McGowan responded by cutting seven minutes from her 1991 time to triumph by more than a minute. Indeed, her 58:09 was the day's fastest for women of any age, by a 10-year-old.

1. Norman Bright, 1970. In 1937, Bright, one of the nation's top runners, broke the Dipsea's 25-year-old course record, but finished second. Thirty-three years later, his '37 course record still standing, Bright returned. But he was now 60 and his eyesight was failing; he would soon be totally blind. Bright prepared meticulously, even befriending a guard dog blocking the old Windy Gap shortcut. He ran 59:46. still the fastest ever by anyone over age 60, and won by 16 seconds. Today, the trophy for "Extraordinary Effort in the Dipsea" is named the "Norman Bright Trophy."

MARIN ATHLETIC CLUB

2009-09-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

This piece by Barry Spitz first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal in 2008

Are there secret tunnels under the Dipsea Trail? The Marin Athletic Club, from its founding in 1958 until its demise in 1976, was so dominant in the Dipsea Race that competitors accused members of possessing maps showing hidden shortcut tunnels.

More than three dozen Marin AC members, most now in their 60's, swapped many such stories during a magical, nostalgia-filled reunion at Fairfax' Deer Park Villa last Saturday. And there was no need to exaggerate. Of the 40 fastest times ever run in the 100-year history of the Dipsea Race, at least half were achieved by Marin AC members, 15 by attendees.

The Marin AC was founded by Mill Valley policeman and coach Jim Imperiale in 1958. The following year, Imperiale won the Dipsea. With teammates Tim Kelly, Bob Hope, Jesse Ochoa, and Wes Hildreth all in the top ten, Marin AC claimed its first of 12 consecutive team titles. More high schoolers and open runners joined. All were males: women were not yet allowed in distance races. And all were young, running not then a sport for old men. Success was widespread. For example, Tom Dooley, at the reunion, made the 1968 Olympic team in race walking.

Marin AC spanned the era between when racing was the province of only a few, at a handful of races, to the running boom when tens of millions took up the sport. And just at the dawn of that boom, the club simply faded, many of its members off at college, Humboldt State in particular. Now there is talk of a Marin AC team entry at the 100th Dipsea in 2010. And the memories remain vivid.

Carl Jensen, 1966 Dipsea winner, spoke of when the Dipsea was held in late August, permitting a whole summer of practice, and of grazing cows cutting paths and softening the hard terrain.

Don Makela, who owns the #3 and #4 fastest Dipsea crossings ever, told of how Marin AC members explored and tested every possible course variation. He rejected the Panoramic Highway route later made famous by Ron Rahmer because he could achieve a time of "only" 49 minutes in practice.

Stuart Sparling, second in the 1961 Dipsea, related how Bill Scobey, one of the nation's top distance runners, vowed to break the Dipsea course record in 1970. Scobey ran brilliantly, 48:21, but two Marin AC runners ran faster.

Byron Lowry, a triple Best Time winner, said he didn't even know he was a Marin AC member when first listed on their winning Team Trophy. Lowry famously leaped completely over the ladder on the Steep Ravine Trail on his first training run there.

Jim McGowan, who coached the College of Marin cross-country program that seven attendees passed through, told of staging a dual meet over a course that included the full climb of brutal Shaver Grade. When one of the opposing Laney College runners finally staggered in, he vowed, "I'm never coming back here."

Mark Byers talked of how legendary Dipsea course record holder Norman Bright, then 60, asked to join club members on a run. A Marin AC trio of self-described "young studs" agreed, figuring Bright could tag along for an opening five-mile loop, after which they would hammer out another five miles on their own. But Bright kept running, and no matter how much the trio picked up the pace, never let go. Finally, Byers turned around, exasperated, and shouted, "He's still there!"

Bob Bunnell recalled how Kees Tuinzing approached him as the first recruit into the new Tamalpa Runners after winning the Best Time trophy at the 1976 Dipsea. Bob's son Reed wore his old Marin AC singlet while finishing 25th at this year's Dipsea.

Steve Stephens, who displayed his huge Dipsea black shirt (top-35) collection and wore an old Marin AC shirt, recalled his first Dipsea in 1960. He is one of the few club members still competing. In fact, most no longer run, victims of overuse injuries from an era when shoes with cardboard inserts offered scant protection.

Wes Hildreth, inspiration for the lead character Wes Holman in Rob Nilsson's movie "On the Edge," spoke emotionally about life lessons learned while running for the club.

Ron Elijah, whose astounding 44:49 in the 1974 Dipsea stands as the Marin AC's signature effort and a teammate of Makela's at Novato High, offered an explanation for the club's success. "We were tougher. Without today's distractions, such as video games, we worked harder," he said. "The tunnels are still there. You just have to know where to find them."