On June 13th, America's oldest trail race, The Dipsea, turned 100 years old. While not as well known as some of the more famous footraces, the 7.5-mile picturesque trek from Mill Valley, CA to Stinson Beach, is a revered Bay Area tradition.

And, it's not easy! The race starts at the foot of the Dipsea stairs - 676 of them to be exact. Once at the top, competitors continue their quest to Stinson Beach ascending to a peak of 2,200 feet, on small windy trails that boast some of the world's most stunning views.

While all that is great, what makes The Dipsea special to Bay Area residents is its family spirit, that encourages athletes of all ages to participate and, gives them a fair shot of getting to the finish line first. That's because the rules of the race allow for tiered start times, which let the youngest and oldest competitors begin earlier than the real hard-core runners.

The success of this strategy was evident this year when eight-year old Reilly Johnson, became the youngest person to cross the finish line first in the race's 100-year history. It took the youngster, 1 hour 12 minutes and 30 seconds to complete the grueling 7.5 mile stretch. Right behind her was 68-year old Melody Schultz, from Novato, CA. They both had a lead time of 25 minutes, meaning that they started earlier than the fastest runner, San Rafael's Alex Varner who completed the race in 48.54 minutes.

The Dipsea race was first 'run' by a few San Franciscans, who challenged each other to get from downtown Mill Valley to the then newly opened Dipsea Inn, in the early 1900's. They had so much fun that they decided to do it again the following year, starting this fun annual tradition.

As the race grew in popularity, organizers had to curb the number of contestants to 1,500, not only to protect the narrow trails, but also, prevent injuries. While there have been a few tweaks in the route and other small changes, like moving it from the second weekend in November to the second weekend in June, The Dipsea essentially remains the same race it had been, 100 years ago - challenging, beautiful and most of all fun! To read more about this great event go to http://www.dipsea.org.

source: www.dipsea.org