The 111th Dipsea Race: A One-Hour Ultra

In 1905, 16 years prior to the first Comrades Marathon, the world’s oldest organized ultramarathon, the Dipsea Race officially began. While there are a number of prestigious road races with even more history— the Boston Marathon comes to mind—the legacies of trail and ultrarunning are intrinsically tied.

I’m certainly not proclaiming that Comrades and the 7.4-mile Dipsea are in any way connected, but I will say that chasing a Dipsea finish across the hallowed Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California, is very much akin to running an ultramarathon.