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Headstarts

So that people of all ages can compete in this race on a more or less equitable basis some runners are allowed to begin the race before others. The following table indicates how many Headstart minutes each entrant will receive based on gender and age. Headstart minutes are based on years of historical data of actual times and records of male and female runners. Compiled and interpreted by "Birdman", the race's official handicapper, the information is presented to the committee for review annually. Typically at least eight of the ten top finishers have been from different handicap groups.

2018 Headstarts

Three Runners – two women and one man – established new single-age records in 2017

Women: Chris Lundy, who won her first Dipsea, set a single-age record of 1:01:08 at age 46. Her performance was outstanding, but her time was consistent with other record times for women in their early 40’s. Melody-Anne Schultz set a record of 1:30:08at age 75 (placing 228th), but her time was more than four minutes slower than her own record time for age 74.

Men: Hans Schmid ran 1:19:28 at age 77. His record id also impressive (placing35th), but his time was more than 3 minutes slower than his own record time for age 76.

None of these three record times justifies a change to the 2017 handicaps.

Head Start Table and Start Times for 2018
Age
 Group Minutes Head Start Section
MEN
WOMEN
 INV DR
6 & under, 74 & over
7 & under, 66 & over
AAA
25
8:30
8:57
73
65
AA
24
8:31
8:58
72
8, 64
A
23
8:32
8:59
71
63
B
22
8:33
9:00
7, 70
62
C
21
8:34
9:01
69
9, 60-61
D
20
8:35
9:02
68
59
E
19
8:36
9:03
67
58
F
18
8:37
9:04
66
56-57
G
17
8:38
9:05
8, 65
10, 55
H
16
8:39
9:06
63-64
53-54
J
15
8:40
9:07
62
11, 52
K
14
8:41
9:08
9, 61
49-51
L
13
8:42
9:09
60
12, 45-48
M
12
8:43
9:10
10, 58-59
13-14, 44
N
11
8:44
9:11
57
15, 41-43
P
10
8:45
9:12
11, 56
16-18, 40
Q
9
8:46
9:13
54-55
19-39
R
8
8:47
9:14
12,52-53
---
T
7
8:48
9:15
13,50-51
---
U
6
8:49
9:16
14,48-49
---
V
5
8:50
9:17
15,45-47
---
W
4
8:51
9:18
16,42-44
---
X
3
8:52
9:19
17,38-41
---
Y
2
8:53
9:20
18,31-37
---
Z
1
8:54
9:21
19-30
---
SCR
0
8:55
9:22