For Immediate Release Contact: Janice Barlow
Aug 19, 2011 Executive Director
Zero Breast Cancer
9th Annual Dipsea Hike/Run Lite on Saturday, September 17th, 2011 415-507-1949
Sponsored by Zero Breast Cancer 415-507-1645
(fax)
Trail
Race, to support Dipsea Hike/Run Lite as honored lead runner
(San
Rafael, Calif.) – Zero Breast Cancer, a San Rafael-based nonprofit organization
focused on research, prevention and education has announced that Mill Valley
student Reilly Johnson – who at 8 years old was the youngest person to ever win
the grueling Dipsea Trail Race last year, will be the honored lead runner for
the 9th annual Dipsea Hike/Run Lite on the Dipsea Trail, Mt.
Tamalpais, Mill Valley, California on Saturday, September 17, 2011.
Johnson’s
participation is intended to highlight the importance of physical activity for
young girls and women in improving their health throughout their lives,
including reducing their later risk of developing breast cancer.
About Reilly Johnson
Reilly
was born on July 7, 2001, and lives in Tamalpais Valley. She will be
attending Mill Valley Middle School this fall. Reilly
first ran the Dipsea in 2008 at age 6 in the open Runner
section. Her father, Hal, forfeited his Invitational status that
year to run with her and shepherd her through the shortcuts. Her first
year, Reilly managed to qualify for the Invitational
section. The following year, reinstated as an Invitational runner,
Hal informed Reilly that she was going to be on her own. Learning
the trail and all the shortcuts so that she could demonstrate to her father on
a practice run that she could run the whole thing on her own was the extent of
her training. She managed to take 10 minutes off of her time from
the year before, finishing 199th overall and preserving her Invitational
status in 2009. Beyond hiking and running the course a couple of time with
her parents, up to this point Reilly had never formally trained for the
Dipsea. In early January 2010,
Reilly informed her parents that she actually wanted to train for the Dipsea
this time. Having done a report on the Dipsea in third grade, she
knew that this would be the last year that she would have a 25 minute head
start. Her parents thought she might improve her time by another 10
minutes just by virtue of being a year older. Reilly did not want to
take any chances. More importantly, she really wanted to see if she could beat her dad and – maybe,
just maybe – secure a Black Shirt. With the support of her parents,
starting in mid-January, Reilly started running weekly. She
gradually ramped up the intensity and duration of her informal training.
It paid off. She won, narrowly edging out Dipsea legend Melody-Ann
Schulz, and thus became the youngest runner ever to win the Dipsea, on the
100th running of the race no less. In addition to hiking and trail running
on and around Mt Tam with her parents, Reilly plays competitive soccer, enjoys
skiing and hiking in the mountains of Colorado, where her family spends winter
and summer breaks, is an avid reader, and relishes just being a kid and playing
with friends.
What is the Dipsea
Hike/Run Lite?
The
Dipsea Hike/Run Lite is a community event that raises funds to benefit Zero
Breast Cancer – while also raising awareness about the benefits of physical
activity in reducing the risk of breast cancer. It is a noncompetitive, all-ages
event that takes place on a 6-mile course, including the famous Dipsea steps.
Check-in is at 8:00 AM, with a 9:00 AM start. There will be 2 aid stations
along the way staffed by trained first responders; members of the Tamalpa
Running Club will be the trail monitors. After completing the course, Hike/Run
participants will enjoy a free lunch, mini-massages and jazz at Old Mill Park.
Prizes will be awarded recognizing first runners & hikers in, top
fundraisers and other categories.
Trail Details:
Hikers
and runners begin at Old Mill Park in Mill Valley, climb the Dipsea steps up to
the celebrated views of Mount Tamalpais, cross the Panoramic Highway and follow
the Sun Trail to the Tourist Club (aid station #1). Then
they take the Redwood Trail to the Panoramic Trail, where it meets with Alice
Eastwood. There is a small set of steps
at Alice Eastwood that takes hikers and runners up to Panoramic Highway and the
Mountain Home Inn (aid station #2). From
there, participants take Edgewood to the Tenderfoot Trail, to the Cypress Trail
and return to the Dipsea steps, where the loop ends at Old Mill Park. With State parks on the
chopping block, this event is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate this
outstanding natural resource.
Registration –
Individuals and teams:
Individual
and group participants can register online at www.zerobreastcancer.org
or by calling 415-507-1949. For
individuals, registration is $35. Student registration is $20. Children 10 and
under are free. Team fundraising goals are based on the number of people
participating; there is no fee for team members if the group meets their goal.
Why we do this event:
ZBC’s
version of the Dipsea Hike/Run was established in 2002 by Annie Fox, a former ZBC
Board member, Marin County employee, avid trail runner and breast cancer
awareness advocate who died of breast cancer at the age of 35. In
her last days, she focused her energy on bringing the first Dipsea Hike/Run
Lite to fruition. Zero Breast Cancer’s
Dipsea Hike/Run Lite continues to be held annually in her honor. Fox
believed - and extensive research has demonstrated - that physical activity is
one of the most important ways we can reduce breast cancer risk.
This year ZBC will also honor Jerry Leith, who
died recently of cancer. After Annie’s
death, Jerry Leith, also an avid runner, carried on her inspiration and
assumed a leadership role in coordinating the Dipsea Hike/Run Lite for the past
eight years. The event has raised over
$200,000 in support of ZBC’s research and educational programs focused on
breast cancer prevention.
Proceeds
from the 9th annual Dipsea Hike/Run Lite benefit the research,
education and community outreach programs of Zero Breast Cancer. The
Dipsea Hike/Run Lite gives folks an opportunity to raise funds to help Zero
Breast Cancer’s work to eliminate breast cancer while doing something tangible
and effective to reduce their personal (or their loved ones’) risk at the same
time.
Zero Breast Cancer is a Marin County nonprofit
organization dedicated to finding the causes of breast cancer through community
participation in the research process. It focuses on identifying environmental
factors and the role they play in the development of breast cancer at all
stages of life and across generations. Zero Breast Cancer is the only
community-based organization dedicated to finding out why women in Marin and
the Bay Area are at higher risk for breast cancer. In partnership with academic
and research institutions ZBC has brought several
million in research dollars to fund Bay Area breast cancer researchers. Zero
Breast Cancer is also the only community-based organization with a main focus
on prevention of Breast Cancer through research and education. Their goal is
the elimination of the disease. Visit www.zerobreastcancer.org.
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