47-year-old Chris Lundy wins the Dipsea Race for the second time in a row

For the second year in a row, Chris Lundy, a 47-year-old San Francisco veterinarian from Sausalito, outlasted 32-year-old Alex Varner of San Rafael and his record-tieing performance to win the 108th Dipsea race in Stinson Beach, California June 10.  “But this one was more enjoyable,” said a smiling Lundy, who suffered a torn left knee ligament near the finish last year. “At least I saw her this time,” said Varner, who finished 15 seconds behind Lundy in Stinson Beach after starting 10 minutes behind her at the start in Mill Valley. “I ran 1:40 faster this year and I still couldn’t beat her.” Lundy, with an 11-minute head start, posted an actual time of 58:37 – the fastest time of the day by a female in the 7.4 mile trail race -- to become the fourth woman to win back-to-back Dipseas. She also claimed her seventh “Female Best Time Award,” extending her Dipsea record. “I ran exactly what I wanted to run. It was dead-on,” said Lundy, who is completely recovered from left ACL surgery last June 30. “I was slow last year (1:01:09). I trained harder this year. I thought he (Varner) was going to win, but you never know how everyone is going to race.” Varner, a Research Director for Main Management in San Francisco, had a one-minute head start in the time-handicapped race where the 1,500 entrants receive head starts based on age and gender. Varner’s actual clock time of 48:52 earned him the Best Time Trophy for the eighth time in the race, tieing Mike McManus’ 18-year-old Dipsea record. “That’s been in my sights for a while,” Varner said.  For Varner, arguably the best runner to never have won the Dipsea, it was his 15th attempt at winning the historic trail race, the second oldest footrace in the country behind the Boston Marathon. 

posted Monday June 11th