Dipsea 101: Who Can Win the 101st?

Dipsea 101: Who Can Win the 101st?
By Sam Spinrad

Can the second century of Dipseas match the first in drama, surprise, and epic victories? This Dipsea is likely to set a competitive precedent for the rest. For the second straight year, there is no clear favorite. There are several past champions, a swift newcomer, and a bunch of dark horse candidates to triumph on June twelfth.

Last year’s champion Reilly Johnson will be hard-pressed to repeat her first place finish. She loses six handicap minutes. Even a great improvement is unlikely to yield a victory in a slightly improved field.

More likely to triumph is Roy Rivers, who is the only runner of last year’s top six to receive another handicap minute in 2011. He is in excellent condition and says that he likes his chances. His wife Jamie was injured last year, but she is a top contender too.

Alex Varner, winner of the last two best time awards, has improved each year since 2006, climbing from 19th place to 12th, to 3rd, and then 4th in 2010 (his time last year was the first sub-49:00 in years). He has a better chance to win than Scratch runners have had in decades. His main competition for the best time trophy will be Johnny Lawson, 16, who got 9th place last year. Unlike Varner, Lawson has three handicap minutes, giving him a likely win if he can run under 50:00.

Hans Schmid and Russ Kiernan, two excellent runners in their 70s, both gain minutes. But of the two, Schmid appears to be the lone contender. While Kiernan has slowed considerably in the last two years, Schmid has continued to excel.

Brian Pilcher, the 2009 winner, insists that this will be the year of the men in their 50s. He believes that the top contenders to win are Chuck Smead, a newcomer who has won several marathons, Roy Rivers, Don Stewart (who won the Practice Dipsea, came 11th in 2010, and gains a minute), Mark Richtman, who got a black shirt five years ago, himself (who was injured in 2010), Iain Mickle (34th last year, but improved), and Roy Kissin, who is also running well.

Another possibility is for this to be the year of the J’s. Besides Jamie Rivers, there are several “J” contenders. Julia Maxwell finished 4th in 2009 but did not finish last year. Julie Nacouzi won the Open Section by a considerable margin in 2010. Judy Rabinowitz did not run last year, but gains two minutes from 2009. While none of the “J’s” even got black shirts in 2010, any of these women could score a surprise victory on June 12th.

Melody Anne-Schultz, last year’s runner-up, is rumored to be injured, along with perennial top-ten finisher Mark McManus. Greg Wilson and YiOU Wang are not running this year.

Finally, there are a few dark horses who could surprise spectators. Stefan Venne is a ten-year old who is improving fast and finished in the top hundred last year. Chris Lundy finally gains a minute for turning 40 and could surprise. Diana Fitzpatrick and Karen Steele both gain an unexpected two minutes and could move up in the finishing order. Dan Milechman and Sissel Bernsten-Heber have finished high up before; both of them return after time off. Finally Christine Kennedy has never gotten a black shirt, but Dipsea prognosticators insist that she could win someday.

One thing is for sure: it is going to be a spectacular race on June 12th. The winner could be is young as nine or as old as seventy-three.