2019 Dipsea Race. Photo by Photo by Steve Disenhof.
For legions of Dipsea Race runners that have patiently waited through a coronavirus-induced cancellation of the 2020 edition and a postponement of the 2021 race from its planned June 13th launch to Nov. 7, the time has come.
As Dipsea Race historian Barry Spitz noted in the Marin IJ this week, prognisticating the 7.5-mile trek that starts outside the Depot Cafe & Bookstore in downtown Mill Valley and ends at Stinson Beach will be more difficult than usual this year, both because of the COVID-19 pandemic has vastly reduced the number of races for many runners, and because, due to the move from June to November, older runners with recent birthdays get an extra head-start minute.
It’ll be the first time the Dipsea will be held in November in 82 years. First contested in 1905, the Dipsea is the oldest trail race in the United States. The Dipsea Race was last cancelled from 1942-1945 because of World War II and military operations on Mt. Tamalpais. As Spitz wrote in the IJ, as 116 years and counting have proved, “the Dipsea Race is most certainly resilient.”
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