The 2024 Application Process!
The 2024 Dipsea Application period has ended! Good luck to all those who entered! The 2025 Dipsea application period will begin around mid-March 2025. Please check back closer to that time for information on the 2025 Dipsea Race. |
PLEASE NOTE:
The 113th Annual Dipsea Race will be Sunday, June 9, 2024 starting at 8:00am, in downtown Mill Valley.
There is a new Dipsea Application website for obtaining the Dipsea Race Application. For all applicants, please visit https://signup.dipsea.org/ to log in or create a new account. If you previously logged in to print out your completed application, you will need to reset your password. It can be the same password you used previously but you must first reset it in order to logon. If you have never logged on before to print your application, please create a new account.
Regarding the NEW application website:
We tried to load over all the information from the last three years. If you previously logged in and printed out a prefilled application you should be able to log on to the new site. The passwords did not transfer over so existing users will first need to reset their password before they can log on. If you still cannot log on then select the option to create a new account.
For those that never logged on to print out their pre-filled application you will need to go to https://signup.dipsea.org/ and create a new account.
Once signed in to the new application site choose Register from the menu to pre-register. Then, on March 15th log back on to the site and select Application from the menu to view and print your application.
Once you have downloaded and printed your application, sign it, attach an entry fee check, and mail it to: Dipsea Race, P.O. Box 30, Mill Valley, CA 94942. Any donation amount may be added to the fee check.
The Dipsea Race is one of the more challenging athletic events in the Bay Area. Because of the potential environmental impact that would result from uncontrolled use and the risk of injury from crowding on the steep and narrow trails, the number of runners has for several years been restricted to no more than 1,500. Double this amount apply for the race making it very hard to get in. So, an elaborate system has been developed to fairly apportion the scarce racing slots.
The surest way to get a racing number is to do well in the previous Dipsea. The first four hundred and fifty Invitational runners who finished in the 2023 race are automatically eligible for the Invitational section of the 2024 race. All they need do is get their application completed and mailed in by the deadline of April 1, 2024. Please note: The application must be in our PO Box by April 1st. Mail early! Applications received after April 1st will be declined. Also eligible for the 2024 Invitational are those from the Runner section who were among the first 750 overall finishers to cross the finish line in 2023. Note: if there is a * next to your name on the 2023 results, it means you automatically qualified for Invitational. For everyone else, it's a little trickier, because of the fact that the Race receives far more applications as we are allowed by permitting agencies to allow in the race.
Once the pre-qualified runners are assigned their numbers, the remaining 900 slots are apportioned according to the following system:
- Five hundred racing numbers are allocated on a basis of first come, first accepted. Official applications are available for download from https://signup.dipsea.org/ or the Dipsea.org website. The faster one gets their application in the mail, the better their chance of getting accepted in the first come-first accepted allotment.
- All mail, including Dipsea applications are sent to regional mail sorting facilities for sorting. This also applies to the Mill Valley post office. Dipsea applications, as well as any letters, will go to a regional facility for sorting and then will be delivered to the Mill Valley Post Office. It might be more expedient to mail your application from a regional center near you. Sometimes sending your application as overnight USPS mail can help.
Please note: You may send the application by USPS Overnight Mail. However, sending applications via FedEx or UPS will not be delivered to our post office box. Please DO NOT send your application via FedEx or UPS as your application will be sent back to you undelivered.
- For those who are really desperate to run in The Dipsea Race, there's always money. After the first 500 applicants have been assigned, another one hundred entries are accepted based on a silent auction. One hundred race numbers are awarded to applicants who send checks in excess of the $115 entry fee, $60 for children 7 to 16 years, (the "bribe" money, anything over the $115 for adults and $60 for children goes to the Dipsea Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that awards scholarships, sponsors the Dipsea Kidz program, and maintains the trail). The auction bidding goes higher every year.
- The final 300 places in the 2024 Dipsea race will be filled by lottery. After the three above scenarios are completed, all remaining applications received in our office by April 1, 2024 are eligible. No special application is required. The drawing will be conducted randomly. We cannot predict the chances of success. The odds will be based on the total number of applications received.
There are actually two more ways to get into the race. One is to send a convincing sob story that will persuade the race committee to make room for the applicant. They're reasonable, but they've heard just about everything, although serving previously as a volunteer in the race may help, but not necessarily. Finally, on the Friday before the race, there's the Annual Dipsea Race Foundation banquet where one Invitational race number is auctioned to the highest bidder, starting at a bid of $500. Again, the auction money goes to the Dipsea Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that awards scholarships, sponsors the Dipsea Kidz program, and maintains the trail.
In our endeavor to contain race operating costs and entry fees applications for entering the Dipsea Race are accessible on line. Simply go to: https://signup.dipsea.org/ and log on. Click on “Registration” and complete the required information. Next you simply need to print your application. You will not be able to print out your application until March 15, 2024 at 12:01am. To print your application click on “Application” from the menu. This will open a copy of your application. Print this completed application. Once you have printed your application, sign it, attach an entry fee check, and mail it to: Dipsea Race, P.O. Box 30, Mill Valley, CA 94942. Any donation amount may be added to the fee check.
Please note: Acceptance into the race is based on criteria as set forth on page 1 of “The 2024 Application Process”.
Applicants who are not successful in getting into the 2024 race will be mailed a refund check less a $10.00 processing fee on April 14, 2024. The fee is intended to cover some of the costs of processing the application and postage and does not subsidize the race. We impose the fee by cashing your entry check and returning the refunds by separate check with your notice. REMEMBER: Cancellation of your check DOES NOT mean you have been accepted in the 2024 Dipsea Race.
FAMILY and CLUB Teams Registration:
- Family Teams:
- Everyone on the family team must be related by family.
- The team name must be the same for everyone on the Family team.
- A Family team requires at least two members.
- The fastest two combined times win. In a tie, the team with the individual fastest time breaks the tie.
- Everyone on the family team must be related by family.
- Club Teams:
- A Club team must have at least 5 members
- The fastest 5 combined times win. In a tie, the time of the 6th member will break the tie.
- If a Club team has only 5 members, if there is a tie, the fastest individual time will break the tie.
- A Club team must have at least 5 members
Any questions or comments not related to Invitational applications can be asked via our Contact page.