Headstarts

So that people of all ages can compete in this race on a more or less equitable basis some runners are allowed to begin the race before others. The following table indicates how many Headstart minutes each entrant will receive based on gender and age. Headstart minutes are based on years of historical data of actual times and records of male and female runners. Compiled and interpreted by "Birdman", the race's official handicapper, the information is presented to the committee for review annually. Typically at least eight of the ten top finishers have been from different handicap groups.

2009 Headstarts

According to our Handicapper, "Six runners – four men and two women – established new single age records in the 2008 race, Roy Rivers ran 0:53.23, breaking Sal Vasquez's record for men age 51 and propelling him to victory. It is not often that Sal's records are broken, but Sal later ran faster than Roy's time at ages 53 and 54. Russ Kiernan set a new record of 1:08.07 for men age 70, while finishing in second place overall. Russ added to his string of single age records for men age 61 through 69. Sam Hiarabayashi and Roy Harvey set single age records for men 81 and 82 respectively. None of these four new records has any effect on the handicapping "line", which is the lower edge of a graph of single age record times vs. age.

On the women's side, Melody Anne Schultz ran 1:11.59 to set a new record for women age 66, consistent with her record of 1:09.00 set at age 64. Joanne Kambur set a single age record for women age 73, with no impact on the line".

None of these records convinces our Handicapper to adjust the head start minutes for men or women. The Dipsea Board of Directors concurs with the Handicapper's recommendation to leave the 2008 handicap table in place amended for 2009.

The 25 minute maximum head start, with a two minute gap between the Invitational and Dipsea Runner sections will continue in 2009.

The Winner's penalty of 4-3-2-1 will stay in place in 2009.

Head Start Table and Start Times for 2009
Age
 Group Minutes Head Start Section
MEN
WOMEN
 INV DR
6 & under, 74 & over
8 & under, 66 & over
AAA
25
8:30
8:57
73
65
AA
24
8:31
8:58
72
64
A
23
8:32
8:59
71
63
B
22
8:33
9:00
70
62
C
21
8:34
9:01
7, 69
9, 60-61
D
20
8:35
9:02
68
59
E
19
8:36
9:03
67
58
F
18
8:37
9:04
66
56-57
G
17
8:38
9:05
65
10, 55
H
16
8:39
9:06
8, 63-64
54
J
15
8:40
9:07
62
11, 53
K
14
8:41
9:08
61
49-52
L
13
8:42
9:09
9, 60
12, 45-48
M
12
8:43
9:10
58-59
13-14, 44
N
11
8:44
9:11
10, 57
15, 41-43
P
10
8:45
9:12
56
16-18, 40
Q
9
8:46
9:13
11, 54-55
19-39
R
8
8:47
9:14
12,52-53
---
T
7
8:48
9:15
13,50-51
---
U
6
8:49
9:16
14,48-49
---
V
5
8:50
9:17
15,45-47
---
W
4
8:51
9:18
16,42-44
---
X
3
8:52
9:19
17,38-41
---
Y
2
8:53
9:20
18,31-37
---
Z
1
8:54
9:21
19-30
---
SCR
0
8:55
9:22