The Dipsea Race Course

It begins in downtown Mill Valley with a sprint down Throckmorton to the Old Mill Park, then up three flights of stairs as tall as a fifty-story building, and up some more through an old horse ranch to Windy Gap. Then it plunges down into Muir Woods across Redwood Creek and begins a tough grind up through the trees over trails named "Dynamite" and "Cardiac." At the top of Cardiac, the course levels out before it plunges down through the "Swoop", over the rocks and roots of "Steep Ravine" and the discouragingly steep climb up "Insult Hill." Finally, as the course follows the relatively gentle slope of The Moors toward the ocean, Stinson Beach is in sight a mile ahead. This is where experienced racers resort to secret short cuts and where others racers will sprint the last quarter mile in an effort to move up a couple of places in the final results.

The bottom of the Dipsea Steps. Only a quarter mile from the starting line in downtown Mill Valley, and the end is not even faintly in sight.

Tired Open Section runners walk up trail connecting upper Flying Y ranch to Bayview Avenue just below the first trail Crest on the Panoramic Highway at Windy Gap. They've been on the trail less than 15 minutes.

You don't have to be thin, fit, strong, or good looking to walk or run the Dipsea. All it takes is desire.

Top of the trail. Just past the crest of Cardiac, the long downhill begins. The ocean and sky seem to merge into one vast distance on foggy days along the Dipsea.

Cruising on the relatively flat section before Steep Ravine.

The end is in sight. Stinson Beach, the finish line, is in sight with the moors and perhaps some hidden shortcuts all that's still in the way.