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Race | Distance | Location | Date | Paid |
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Past Races (1)
Race | Distance | Location | Date | Result | My Raves | My Performance |
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Walt Stack DSE Double Dipsea | 13.7 Miler | Stinson Beach, CA | Jun 17, 2017 |
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Walt Stack DSE Double Dipsea
Up and down (and maybe never again)
Walt Stack DSE Double Dipsea
The Double Dipsea is a bucket list race well worth taking the time to do. Not a race to achieve a PR but rather to survive, the 4,000 foot elevation … MORE
The Double Dipsea is a bucket list race well worth taking the time to do. Not a race to achieve a PR but rather to survive, the 4,000 foot elevation change is an amazing challenge. Oh, did I mention that fast racers are handicapped, so that they have to squeeze past all the slower racers ahead of them? And that the often single-track course is covered in poison oak? Or that there are stairs–hundreds of rough-hewn, uneven height, uneven length stairs!–which must be both climbed down and then up again?
If that doesn’t make this mountains to sea race unique enough, the nature of the handicap and the tight trails meant that this was the chattiest race I’ve ever experienced. Racers were friendly (as Brazen racers always are!), but it took a whole lot more communication than usual to make everyone’s race successful. It’s not what I want out of a race every time, but it reminded me of the camaraderie and kindness of the racing community.
There was a moment on the race when I was squeezed onto a wooden retaining wall over a ravine as a large crew of racers squeezed past and I thought, “Maybe I didn’t really need to be here.” At other moments, though, when I could see the sea and the sky, trees and woods, and so much variety of Northern California’s beauty in one place that I almost forgot about the searing pain in my knee and the hours I had spent getting to one place just to turn around and come back again.
Brazen will always be my favorite racing group. They put on great races in beautiful places, and I always feel like I am running with people who enjoy being there (and don’t notice how so I’m going!). Double Dipsea had been on my list for a long time, and it did not disappoint!