2009 Quadruple Dipsea

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.