Posts Tagged ‘Dipsea Race’

Her sneakers show the miles, but they held up long enough to carry Audrey MacLean to her first Dipsea victory on Sunday morning. With bloody knees and aching feet, MacLean removed her shoes and socks at the aid station after crossing the finish line, but made sure not to lose track of them. “They’re the same shoes I wore in my junior year in high school,” the Redwood High grad said, recalling the 2021 season when she placed 16th at the CIF State Cross Country Division II Championship. On Sunday, Tiburon’s MacLean, 19, crossed the finish line at Stinson Beach to win the 114th Dipsea and made history in the process. She became the first female runner between the ages of 10 and 33 to win the Dipsea — famous for its handicapping system, which has produced a mix of younger and older winners.

At age 53, Chris Lundy, who boasts the best actual time for the past two years, and who had already won the race twice and owns a record nine Women’s Best Time trophies, won the 2024 Dipsea Race with a time of 48:10. Her actual time was 1:03:09.35. Clara Peterson finished second, followed by Julia Maxwell Bailey. Darrin Banks, 58, placed third. Dominic Vogl was fifth. Eddie Owens was 6th. Diana Fitzpatrick was 7th. Mark Tatum was 8th, Buzz Burrell, 72 was 10th. In 2018, for the 108th Dipsea Race, Lundy outlasted Alex Varner of San Rafael and his then-record-tying performance. “But this one was more enjoyable,” said a smiling Lundy at the time, having suffered a torn left knee ligament near the finish the prior year.

As usual, prognostication from Dipsea Race guru Barry Spitz, via the Marin Independent Journal, brings plenty of speculation about who will win. Here’s how Spitz calls it: 1. Chris Lundy. 2. Julia Maxwell Bailey, 28. 3. Diana Fitzpatrick, 66. 4. Clara Peterson, 40. Paddy O’Leary, 36. 6. Eddie Owens, 30. 7. Audrey MacLean, 18. 8. Mark Tatum, 64. 9. Fiona Lyon, 37. 10. Fred Huxham, 28 Huxham is one of fewer than 10 Marin athletes ever to win a California State track title, in the 3,200 meters while at Redwood High. 11. Don Stewart, 63 Stewart was eighth place in 2011. 12. Buzz Burrell, 72.

The event will also feature the 2024 Hall of Fame Induction of Norman Pease – 40 Consecutive Dipsea Races, and a celebration of Edda Stickle, Dipsea Race CFO and Co-Founder Dipsea Kidz Program. The Dipsea Foundation awards scholarship of $5,000 to college bound high school seniors who have participated in or volunteered for the Dipsea race. Awards are based on financial need, an essay, community service, leadership, athletic performance, and academics.

Each year, the Dipsea Foundation awards $5,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors who have participated in or volunteered with the Dipsea race.

O’Leary topped former Branson School standout and Ross resident Julia Maxwell Bailey, 27, while Mill Valley’s Chris Lundy, 52, and Larkspur’s Diana Fitzpatrick, 65, finished third and fourth, respectively.

Dipsea Race guru Barry Spitz calls this year a puzzle given that Owens has been hobbled with an Achilles injury. He taps two-time Dipsea champion Chris Lundy as the only runner among last year’s top eight (sixth) to gain a pair of head starts, “one for turning 52 and one for dropping her Winners Penalty from 2018.”

“When I reached the top, I knew I had the pace and the momentum,” Owens told the IJ. “I just kept ticking people off the list as I passed them on the downhill. I made the last pass on Insult (Hill) and I knew I had it.”