8th January, 2006
Sunday saw the running of this season's Groyne to Groyne Beach Sprint, one of the toughest events on the club calendar.
For the second year in a row the event was scheduled for early January for the fine weather and light early-morning easterly breezes. But for the second year in a row the weather was very un-summery, though the southerly wind this year wasn't as strong as last year when the course had to be reversed.
With only a small field lining up for the event this year, all categories went off together. As is usual in this race, a few of the first-timers took off at a blistering pace only to realise at about halfway that 480 metres on soft sand is not something you can sprint.
Veteran soft-sand specialist Ken Tomczak took the lead at the halfway mark, with Dean Scarff hot on his heels. Nearing the finish Dean tried to kick up a gear for a sprint, but just to make this race even crueller the approach to the finish line at City groyne is slightly uphill and Dean was unable to prevent Ken from winning the event for the fifth time.
* All placings are subject to members completing patrol and other membership requirements
