NatGeo Features Dipsea Race in ‘Ten Great Races in Amazing Places’

The hasn’t been Mill Valley’s best-kept secret for ages, but the recognition keeps coming.

National Geographic Adventure, the web-only version of the now-defunct adventure magazine under the vaunted National Geographic umbrella, included the 7.4-mile race from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach in a list of the "Ten Great Races in Amazing Places.”

NatGeo picked the race for a variety of reasons, including the quirks of entry, the treacherous course and “fern-packed forests, stands of ancient redwoods, peaceful grasslands and sweeping views of the Pacific” that keep competitors coming back year after year.

The website also acknowledged the Dipsea’s “ingenious handicap system that makes champions out of eight-year-olds and septuagenarians, the Dipsea’s gesture of folly to a so-often-serious sport.”

Mill Valley resident , and as an 8-year-old.

The “great races” list also featured the Jungfrau Marathon in Switzerland and the Mont Tremblant Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Quebec, Canada.

"We have long realized and respected the history, traditions and uniqueness of the Dipsea Race and we are pleased that the race is being recognized on a national and international scale," said Merv Regan, the longtime president of the Dipsea Race Committee and current president of the Dipsea Race Foundation. "This is an amazing acknowledgement about an amazing event that has been a coveted destination for people in Marin and around the world."

Known as the oldest trail race in America, Dipsea began in 1905 and allows only 1,500 entrants. The 2012 Dipsea Race is June 10.