Art, music and sports
How do you run down a whole mountain?
Mill Valley's Dipsea Race. A true story near Mill Valley, CA, told for kids 4–7.
The Dipsea Race story, read aloud
You live in Mill Valley, at the bottom of Mount Tam. Every year, people run a race from here, over the mountain, to the beach! How do you get over a whole mountain? First, you climb stairs. Lots and lots of stairs!
The hill is so steep that you can't walk up it like a sidewalk. So people built steps right into the hill. Each step is like a tiny flat floor, so your feet don't slip. Imagine climbing your stairs at home again and again, until your legs say, no more, please! Then the runners go down the other side, to Stinson Beach.
Long ago, two friends made a bet: who could get to the beach first? That bet became the oldest trail race in America! Can you see Mount Tam out the window?
Quiz the back seat
How did the big race over the mountain begin?
Show the answer
Two friends made a bet. A bet! The two friends raced to a little hotel by the beach to see who was faster.
Dipsea Race facts for kids
- The Dipsea Race starts in Mill Valley and ends at Stinson Beach.
- It is the oldest trail running race in the United States, first held in 1905.
- It began after two Olympic Club members raced on a bet to the Dipsea Inn by the beach.
Questions kids ask about Dipsea Race
Where does the Dipsea Race go?
It starts in Mill Valley, crosses the side of Mount Tam, and ends at Stinson Beach.
Why are there so many stairs on the Dipsea?
The hill is so steep that people built steps into it so runners can climb without slipping.
How did the Dipsea Race start?
Two friends made a bet about who could get to a hotel by the beach first.
For grown-ups
Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
- dipsea.org
- nps.gov/articles/the-dipsea-race.htm
- npca.org/articles/2169-the-country-s-oldest-trail-running-race-is-a-grueling-trip-through
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipsea_Race
- dipsea.org/history.php
- marinij.com/2019/09/30/marin-history-dipsea-inn-and-the-origin-of-the-dipsea-race
- gearjunkie.com/endurance/running/dipsea-trail-run
- alltrails.com/trail/us/california/dipsea-trail--2
More stories in Mill Valley
Trains, ships and planes A Train Climbed Mount Tam
We're in Mill Valley, near Mount Tam. Long ago, a steam train climbed that mountain.
Art, music and sports The Race to the Beach
We are in Mill Valley, where a very special race begins. It is called the Dipsea!
Animals The Bird City in the Mud
Here in Mill Valley is a little bay called Pickleweed Inlet. Its water flows out into Richardson Bay.
The first people here Who Lived Here First?
You live in Mill Valley, near the big mountain called Mount Tam. Before all these houses and shops, who lived here?How things work: roads, bridges, oceans →All stories →
Between stories: 25 road trip games for kids · Road trip bingo cards · Road trip trivia · Christmas light scavenger hunt · Christmas trivia
Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).