The Dipsea Race Foundation

The Dipsea Race Foundation is a charitable non-profit (501(c) 3) corporation whose mission is to "foster national amateur sports competition by sponsoring, maintaining and perpetuating, through charitable contributions and endowments, the Dipsea Race, the Dipsea Trail, the Dipsea Hall of Fame, and educational scholarships."

It was established in 1997 to protect and promote the race and the values it represents. After a century of existence, the race has become an essential part of the community and cross-country running; the Foundation was created to preserve the race for future generations.

The Dipsea Race Foundation has three main goals:

To preserve the race and the trail for current and future generations,
To support the entities and organizations that control the property over which the trail winds, and
To encourage boys and girls from all backgrounds to appreciate and protect the Dipsea and other trails on MT. Tam.

To meet those goals, the Dipsea Race Foundation currently:

Helps to pay for trail maintenance and improvement,
Contributes to organizations that facilitate running of the race, such as the Mill Valley Parks and Recreation Department, the Stinson Beach Community Center, and the MT. Tamalpais State Park, and
Confers college scholarships to graduating young men and women who have been active in the race as runners or volunteers.

You may contact the Dipsea Race Foundation at: dipseafoundation@gmail.com

The Dipsea Race Foundation 2010 tax return can be seen here.

A mile by mile overview of the consensus course is here.

Dipsea Steps Reconstruction - First Flight Complete!

Reconstruction of the first flight of the historic Dipsea Steps is complete. The steps have been restored to match the third flight project completed in 2007. The steps are concrete with bronze plaques embedded in the risers. The landings are cobbled and a wooden railing runs along one side. The renowned upper stone steps have been left intact with curved metal railings added on both sides.

Have you had a chance to see them? Did you sponsor a step? (Thank you very much if you did.) How do the new plaques look? What do they say? Are there Dipsea secrets hidden between the lines? Do go have a look if you get the chance - it really is beautiful out there - and please come celebrate with us on November 12th, (see below). But in the meantime here are the new steps and all the plaques - every one - bottom to top.

Click To See the Plaques

2011 Scholarship Winners

The Dipsea Foundation is honored to award college scholarships to five young men and women who have demonstrated outstanding qualities as students, athletes, and community members. For more on how scholarship winners are chosen, to view a list past winners, or to review the 2011 application, see our scholarship page.

This year's winners are:

Hannah Berman
William Cooney
Daniel Milechman
Rachel Skokowski
Benjamin Vogensen

Congratulations!

Dipsea Race Foundation - Bill Patterson Scholarship Fund

A new Dipsea Race Foundation scholarship fund has been established in the name of Bill Patterson. The fund is perpetual. The first scholarship in the amount of $5000 will be awarded at this year's Dipsea Race Foundation dinner.

William J. Patterson was a prominent San Francisco investor and philanthropist who led the effort to revitalize the California Academy of Sciences. He was a great lover of the Dipsea.

100th Dipsea Winner's Plaque

Photos by Gary Ferber

Click here for more photos of the 100th Dipsea winner's plaque unveiling ceremony.

Reilly Johnson, an elementary school student from Mill Valley won the historic 100th running of the Dipsea race last year as an 8-year-old. Her championship plaque was unveiled at a ceremony held on the famed Dipsea Steps on April 23.

The bronze plaque, made by Bronze Plus in Sebastopol, was installed on the third and final flight of Dipsea stairs off Edgewood Avenue in Mill Valley. There are now 688 steps from bottom to top.

Merv Regan, longtime chairman of the Dipsea Race Board of Directors, and President of the Dipsea Race Foundation, attended the ceremony. The Dipsea Race Foundation is in the process of an ongoing project to remodel more steps on the Dipsea course.

Hal and Wendy Johnson, Reilly's parents, were also present. Their daughter, now nine, will defend her Dipsea title on Sunday, June 12, of this year.

With a 25-minute head start in the time-handicapped race based on age and gender, Reilly led from the start in downtown Mill Valley to the finish line at Stinson Beach last year to outlast 68-year-old grandmother and three-time Dipsea champion Melody-Ann Schultz of Ross to become the youngest winner ever in the 7.5-mile trail race. The 52-inch, 62-pound, pigtailed fourth grader won the race in an actual race time of 1:12.31, just seven seconds faster than Schultz.

Johnson, who finished 199th in the 2009 Dipsea, ran 15 minutes faster last year. In her first Dipsea in 2008 at the age of six, Johnson became the youngest Dipsea runner to qualify for the Invitational Section as her father, Hal, sacrificed his own Invitational status to run with her and help shepherd her over the course.

Reilly will get a 19-minute head start in this year's Dipsea. Nine-year-old girls receive a 20-minute head start, she is deducted one additional minute for being a recent champion. If she wins the 101st running of the Dipsea, Reilly would become the youngest repeat Dipsea champion since 10-year-old Megan McGowan in 1992.

Click here for directions to the third flight of Dipsea Steps

Charles McGlashan

The backbone of the Dipsea is caring, giving people like Charles McGlashan.

The Dipsea will mourn his loss.

Charles, a Marin County Supervisor and longtime advocate of the Dipsea Race, died on March 27 at the age of 49 of an apparent heart attack during a ski outing in Lake Tahoe.

�Charles was a fellow who would always make an appearance in support of a worthwhile cause, the Dipsea Race, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito Lighted Boat Parade & Fireworks and much, much more,� said Merv Regan, president of the Dipsea Race Board of Directors. �We will miss him, but he will long be remembered. We will place a plaque in his honor on the first flight of the Dipsea Stairs.�

When the refurbished top flight of the famed Dipsea Stairs was dedicated, Charles was there, smiling, while holding a ribbon with Leon Hunting of the Dipsea Race Foundation as past Dipsea champions Jamie Berns, Roy Rivers and Russ Kiernan did a ceremonial crossing of the top step.

Charles really stepped up last year. He and Supervisor Steve Kinsey requested a resolution to celebrate the 100th running of the Dipsea Race. They commended the Dipsea Race Foundation for their ongoing efforts to sustain the Dipsea Race, the Dipsea Trail and the race community and that�s not all.

Charles and Steve requested at a board meeting and unanimously received a $25,000 contribution from the County of Marin to support �Dipsea Kidz,� an athletic mentorship program aimed at inspiring and educating disadvantaged youth through running.

And, when Regan was inducted last year into the Dipsea Hall of Fame after serving 30 years on the race committee, Charles was there to join in the celebration.

Whether he was holding a ribbon or handing out a Dipsea Race Foundation scholarship, Charles, with a quick and contagious smile, was always a big supporter of the race, its traditions and what it stands for. He helped push it to the next level. He is part of the Dipsea�s history � and backbone.

The Dipsea Race Committee and Dipsea Race Foundation wishes to extend its heartfelt condolences to Charles� wife, Carol, and their family.