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The Dipsea Race is a trail running event in California, United States. It is the oldest cross-country trail running event and one of the oldest Running of any kind in the United States. The 7.5 mile (12 km) long Dipsea Race has been held annually almost every year since November 19, 1905, starting in Mill Valley, and finishing at Stinson Beach, in Marin County. Since 1983, the race has been held on the second Sunday in June. The Dipsea celebrated its 114th running on Sunday, June 8, 2025.
/ref> opened on a sandspit north of Willow Camp (later Stinson Beach), built in anticipation of tourists arriving on proposed rail extensions. After opening, it was visited by a group of Olympic Club members, including, Charles Boas, and Alfons Coney, who had a cabin near Muir Woods. Someone proposed racing from Mill Valley to the Inn. Coney and Boas, took up the challenge, setting off on a day in 1904, with bets placed by Club members (Fastest from the train depot at Lyton Square in Mill Valley, to the newly opened Dipsea Inn). Boas won.
On a rainy November 19, 1905, the first Dipsea Race was held, on a 7.4-mile course, with 110 runners, by members of the San Francisco Olympic Club, from the Mill Valley train depot to the then-new Dipsea Inn, on a sand spit now called Seadrift, in the Bolinas Lagoon between Stinson Beach and Bolinas, taking place annually, only being cancelled a few times in its history: 1932-1933 due to the race not being able to earn enough funds to be financially viable due to the Great Depression, 1942-1945 due to World War II, and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1977, the race was almost cancelled as the previous year saw an overwhelming number of participants due to the running boom of the 1970s - the local government was worried about overcrowding and also did not want to close down nearby streets. The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted 3–2 to cancel the race until changes could be made. The race ended up being delayed and held in October instead. A “Women’s Dipsea Hike” (called a "hike" to avoid an AAU ban on women's long-distance races.) took place 1918–1922. In 1907, the final run on the sand was eliminated. In 1983, the race date was changed to the second Sunday in June.
The course of the trail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, as Dipsea Trail.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Race committee announced that the 2020 Dipsea Race would be cancelled for the first time since 1945. The committee later announced that the 110th race would be postponed from June to November 2021.
Among the challenges facing participants are the Dipsea Trail's uneven footing, single-track Trail, and almost invariably steep terrain, featuring about 2,200-foot (671 m) elevation gain and loss over the course. The uniqueness of the Dipsea Race course owes largely to the opportunity for competitors to choose from any of several alternate routes on diverging and converging trails, adding a competitive premium for strategy, experience, and familiarity with the course.
| Old Mill Park | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Bay View Drive @ Panoramic Highway | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Muir Woods Parking Lot | 1.0 | 2.1 |
| Cardiac Hill | 2.3 | 4.4 |
| Bridge at Steep Ravine | 1.6 | 6 |
| Stinson Beach | 1.5 | 7.5 |
of the nature of the course, the field of competitors is limited to 1,500. It is a popular race, and thousands of people apply for entry every year. This makes it difficult for people, particularly those who have never run it before, to get accepted into the race.
As of June 2025, the defending champion is 19-year-old Audrey MacLean. Previous champions include Chris Lundy (2024, 2018, 2017), Paddy O'Leary (2023), Eddie Owens (2022), Mark Tatum (2021), Brian Pilcher (2019, 2016, 2015, 2009), Diana Fitzpatrick (2013, 2014), Hans Schmid (2012), Jamie Rivers (2007, 2011), Reilly Johnson (age 8, 2010), Roy Rivers (2008), Melody-Anne Schultz (1999, 2003, 2006) Russ Kiernan (1998, 2002, 2005), Shirley Matson (2004, 2001, 2000, 1993) and Sal Vasquez (1982–1985, 1990, 1994, 1997).
Jack Kirk, known as the 'Dipsea Demon', holds the record of most consecutive competitions in the Dipsea, having finished 67 consecutive Dipseas from 1930 until 2002. (There was no official Dipsea Race in 1932 or 1933, due to economic reasons, nor in 1942–1945 due to World War II.) Kirk finished his last complete race in 2002. He started but did not finish in 2003, but did reach the highest elevation, at the top of "Cardiac Hill," at the age of 96. He is the oldest person to have competed in the race. Kirk died on January 29, 2007, at age 100. Kirk's story was documented in the 2004 film "The Dipsea Demon".
It is often described as the race where you are "either the hunter or the hunted" where mental toughness is required to overcome not only the 700 steps, the drop into Muir Woods, the Suicide shortcut, and Dynamite and Cardiac hills, but also the handicapped times.
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