One of the most important and influential members of our great club, Don Pickett has reached the 672nd step of the Dipsea, joining fellow Dipsea legends, Russ Kiernan and Hans Schmid. Tamalpa Runners extends our deepest gratitude and appreciation to one of our founders, Don Pickett, for the legacy he created with our club. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Patti, as we share her grief. A brief history of Tamalpa tells the story of Don Pickett and his passion for the Dipsea, running and creating our community….Below, read the excerpt from the story found on our website, edited and updated, from the Tamalpa Archives:
Our club dates back to the mid 1970’s as the running and fitness boom was just taking off in America. For those of you old enough, remember Jane Fonda in her leg-warmers and Jim Fixx’s book, The Complete Book of Running. From the Tamalpa archives, our story begins in 1977 as the club (with the basis being track workouts at Tam High School and Saturday morning Mountain Home runs in preparation for the Dipsea race was just getting started. Tamalpa had established itself as “THE” Running club of Marin County. Monthly meetings were first held in the houses of early board members and presidents. Don Pickett, Jim McGowen, Gordon Stewart, Lisa Spielman, Alan Kreuzberger, Harry and Connine Hlavac were all heavily involved in the organization and founding of our club. Don Pickett hosted many fun runs and dinners from his Tiburon home.
History will also point out that it was Don who suggested the first racing uniforms be green and yellow (since changed to white and Navy blue). Why? Look no further than the colors of Don’s alma mater, the University of Oregon. The three loudest voices at that first meeting of the club were Kees Tuinzing (our first president), Don Pickett (the ’68 Dipsea winner, now know as Mr. Dipsea) and Tommy Tamalpa (alias for an unknown, anonymous source, who many of you old timers know).
Kees, Don and Tommy spent the entire evening arguing about the name. Tommy wanted to name the club after our new president, calling us “The Keeshonds.” Kees wanted to name the club after our most famous runner, “The Pickett’s Chargers.” Don, who is the personal hero to so many, said, “Let’s name the damn club after my buddy, Tommy Tamalpa. That way no one will think they have to be a great, or even good, runner to join the club. And they’ll know that it’s okay to party a little after a run.”
Don kept a low profile, but was a huge presence whenever he showed up at club events and the Dipsea finish. Those of us who knew him, loved him, We remember fondly a surprise birthday party when we shocked him, maybe it was his 70th (25 years ago), when we intercepted him running on the back side of Paradise Drive in Tiburon, all wearing his signature flat/newsboy white cap. We enjoyed a party at Sams following the run. We will cherish our memories of Don, and touch his Dipsea step (along with Russ’ and Hans’) when we pass.
From Barry Spitz’s article in the Marin Independent Journal, read below:
Don Pickett, long known locally as “Mr. Dipsea,” died Sunday in his home in Tiburon, his wife Patti at his bedside. He was 95.
“Don Pickett loved the Dipsea and the Dipsea loved Don Pickett,” The Dipsea Race Committee said in a statement. “Dubbed Mr. Dipsea for his dedication to America’s oldest trail race, Don epitomized the spirit and sportsmanship of the annual Dipsea. Inducted into the Dipsea Hall of Fame in 1997, Mr. Dipsea won the 1968 Dipsea, 13 Black Shirts, and four Family Trophies but also won the hearts of so many Dipsea runners and volunteers with charisma and caring nature. We were so delighted to see his smiling face at the finish line for the 112th Dipsea on June 11, and so heartbroken to hear the news of his passing. Our thoughts go out to Don’s family and all the people he touched and impacted over the years.”
Pickett had run in high school and at the University of Oregon. He returned to the sport in 1965, at age 37. 
“I had been drinking too many martinis (and smoking) and wanted to change,” he recounted. “I was better known at the (Olympic) Club bar than in the athletic facilities.”
Under the tutelage of the club’s trainer Eddie Haddad, Pickett rounded back into form.
He entered the Dipsea Race for the first time in 1965, with son Tom, and finished 71st. The next year Don improved to 42nd, then to 25th. (Black shirts for the top 35 finishers only began in 1978, and Pickett ultimately earned 13 of them.)
In 1968, Pickett gained a hefty three extra minutes of head start for turning 40. He made the most of it, passing Jack Kirk, the “Dipsea Demon” and defending champion, in the final mile, then 11-year-old Mike Wolford only on the closing straightaway. His actual time was 54 minutes, 14 seconds. (Wolford just raced the 2023 Dipsea.)
Pickett’s Tiburon home became the training hub of Marin distance runners and Dipsea aficionados. Indeed, it was Pickett who coined the term “Insult Hill” for the last climb in the Dipsea Race.
In 1975, Pickett achieved further Dipsea immortality even though he only finished second. A talented group of Australian over-40 runners had a one-day layover in San Francisco on their flight back from the first World Masters Track championships in Toronto.
It happened to be Dipsea Day, and five of them entered (same-day entry is no longer an option). They obviously did not know the course. Aussie Joe Patterson, leading the Race, took a wrong turn. But the runner behind, Pickett, yelled out to him. Patterson ended up winning, eleven seconds ahead of runner-up Pickett. (The Australians missed the awards ceremony, having to catch their plane.)
Don remained a regular high Dipsea finisher for decades, earning the sobriquet “Mr. Dipsea” for his performances and love of the Race, which he freely shared. In 1981, then again 1984 through 1986, he won the Race’s coveted Family Trophy with another son, Toby. Don continued to come to the finish line every year, including this June.
Don Pickett (left) won the Dipsea race in 1968. He stands with James McInnis at the finish line of The 111th running of the race on Sunday, June 12, 2022 in Stinson Beach, Calif. Pickett, known locally as “Mr. Dipsea” died on Sunday, July 30, 2023 at the age of 95. (Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)