Roy Harvey, 86, Returns for One More Dipsea

Roy Harvey still has 10 Dipsea Races to go to match the record of the man for whom the award he received last year is named. But he plans to get one race closer to “Dipsea Demon” Jack Kirk on Sunday.

Harvey, 86, is driving from Medford, Ore., Friday morning to participate in the 102nd Dipsea Race. It’ll be Harvey’s 31st Dipsea, as he’s run the grueling 7.5-mile course every year but one since 1980.

In 2011, as he got ready to move from Strawberry to a Medford retirement community, Harvey received the Dipsea Demon Award, named after Jack Kirk, the legendary runner who competed in the Dipsea until his 96th birthday. He thought he was done with the Dipsea - but now he's back.

“This year could well be my last – but I think I said that last year,” Harvey says.

Harvey will be doing the 360-mile drive with his wife of 10 years Jimmie, and the trip will allow the couple to see a swarm of friends and family, including Harvey’s son Jim and daughter Paula.

“It’s such a fun event and I have lots of friends who do the Dipsea and it will be great to see family,” says Harvey, who grew in England but came to Marin when he was hired by San Francisco's Standard Oil.

Harvey said he and Jimmie moved to Medford because they found a great retirement community that perfectly fit their needs.

“You can be active like I am now but then there’s all the facilities and resources you’ll need if you get sick and need attention,” he says. “It’s one of the best in the country. It’s the last port of call, so to speak.”

Harvey, a retired computer technician who once taught math and computer courses at College of Marin, doesn’t expect to burn up the course – he finished 1,275th with a time of 2:13:42 in 2011. Most of his training in the hills around his new home comes at a walking pace these days.

But while he might not be contending for the crown, he’s doing the Dipsea Demon proud.