The 97th running of the Dipsea

Sunday was the 97th Dipsea (see previous post for more about the history of the race). As always the race was exciting and awe inspiring. Every year as I watch the runners sprint, stumble, plod, jog and run towards the finish line I get goose bumps. And I'm not the only one to be touched, I saw a number of people wiping away tears as they cheered on their family and friends.

This year there was a first time winner. Something that hadn't happened in a long while. The race was won by a 56 year old woman named Jamie Berns. She ran a great race and looked fantastic coming down the shoot to the finish line. She finished almost 2 full minutes ahead of Russ Kiernan a 69 year old male. Russ looked pretty good, too, but the next finisher Roy Rivers was a mess. He was barely stumbling forward as he approached the finish. It

was actually very scary to see. He was in bad shape. The day was hot and muggy which is not a good combination for running the race. The years that see the best times are when the mountain is completely socked in with fog and the runners are actually "rained" on coming through the rain forest before cardiac hill. On hot and sunny days there are often many medical emergencies. In fact we saw a number of runners who clearly were on the brink of collapsing.

The Dipsea is like a large family picnic. After the running everyone eats and

drinks on the grass while waiting for the ceremony. The awards ceremony is concluded by the awarding of the black t-shirts. The top 35 runners receive a black race shirt that has the number that they placed in sliver on the back. To be a recipient of a black shirt is a great honor and there are always some amazing runners in the pack like the first high school finisher, 15 year old Jacque Taylor.

The Marin IJ put together a little video slideshow of this year's race. It is a very moving tribute to an event that affects a number of people. You can find it here*. It may explain better than I can the allure and mystique that is the Dipsea.

UPDATED TO ADD: I didn't notice it the first few times I watched the slide show that I link to above, but in the first slide you can see my Uncle Rick getting ready to start. He is in all black near the center wearing #513.

*The video also highlights a very special competitor, Sam Hirabayashi, who at 80 years old finished the race in 194th place after leading for quite sometime (he had the largest headstart). His actual running time was 1:28:30 which beats my fastest time by 20 minutes (I'm very slow, but he's not too bad especially when you remember that he is 80!)