Peter Gilmore 2011


    Bounding down a 3 foot wide trail as steep as a ski slope, littered with rocks and roots, while squeezing between slower runners on the right and that thicket of poison oak on the left. Welcome to the Double Dipsea, my first post retirement racing experience. It was, in a word, brutal. A little background is in order for those who aren’t from the Bay Area. The Dipsea is (I believe) the 2nd oldest footrace in America. Only the Boston Marathon has been inflicting pain longer. It takes place each June in Marin County, California, just a few miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The one way race is about 7.5 miles, starting in Mill Vally, up and over a ridge and down to the beach, with a few nooks and crannies thrown in for more fun. Because I couldn’t get my act together, I missed the chance to run the Dipsea this year. Luckily, 42 years ago, some manic thought one trip over this mountain wasn’t enough, and they created the Double Dipsea. It takes place a couple weeks after the original Dipsea and goes out and back over the original Dipsea course . It was this twice over the mountain fiasco that is making me walk like a crippled cowboy this week.

    We started in Stinson Beach, proud location of a Great White Shark siting last week. The race has a time handicapped starting arrangement, where the women over 80 years old start first, and the guys under 40 get going about an hour later. In between, they start a different age/gender group each couple minutes. Its all calculated with scientific precision. Each year the subtlest tweaks are made to the starting times to make it a level playing field for all runners.

    Of the 500+ competitors, it seemed most were veterans of previous Dipsea races, or had at least run the trail a few times. I fell in neither group, having only managed to watch a short video of the course the day before the race. I didn’t know it at the time, but being a Dipsea virgin put me at a huge disadvantage.

    My friends, Gus Gibbs and Alex Varner, were racing in my division and had plenty of Dipsea experience. My plan was to hang near them as long as possible. That worked for about 5 minutes, until they sprang away up the trail and I was left gasping for air. I found Gus a few minutes later as he rejoined the course after a wrong turn. Which brigs us to the most interesting aspect of the Dipsea course, the allowed (and encouraged) shortcuts. Some are obvious, you just follow the crowd. Others are closely guarded local secrets, handed down from generation to generation.

    The uphill sections of the course were insanely steep. We’re talking reach out and touch the ground steep, in certain sections. Of course, being an out and back race, you also had to rocket down these sections. I learned that you don’t really run down these sections, its more like controlled falling. All the while, you’re passing my the runners who started earlier, trying not to knock them over. Most people were considerate and moved ever so slightly to the right to let me pass.

    Sometime around mile 5 it occurred to me that my quads were not going to put up with much more of this nonsense. The trouble was that I wasn’t even half way, and the fabled stairs still remained. For the Double Dipsea, you have to descend 672 steps, turn around and go right back up. They say it is the equivalent of climbing a 50 story building. It was on the climb back up this monster where I decided walking might be a good option. From that point on, the race became about survival rather than speed.

    I did survive, but only after a 5 minute break at the Cardiac Hill aid station. The Ultima sports drink tasted like nectar up there. After knocking back a few cups, I linked up with some local warriors for a shortcut laden descent to the finish line. I still managed to get lost about a half mile from the beach. After a 50 year detour, a friendly soccer Mom in her minivan pointed me toward the spot where the trail peeled off the road.

    There were plenty of post race war stories and insightful tips for poison oak relief. Alex ran the fastest time of the day (1:39:28), but was bested by the unstoppable Jamie Rivers. She is 60 years young, and ran an unbelievable 1:37:18 net time. Two weeks earlier she won the regular Dipsea race for the second time.

    Next year I want to run both the Dipsea and the Double Dipsea. Maybe I can learn a few shortcuts between now and then. At the very least, I’ll do a few practice runs on those damn stairs.