Almost 100 competitors took on this year’s Spring Beach Classic at Wanda Beach in near perfect spring weather on Saturday morning.
A new category was added to the annual fun run and walk with the introduction of a two-kilometre run event which attracted a bunch of elite athletes.
Wanda Surf Lifesaving Club’s Mel Campbell, Chloe Gentle and Emily Rohr finished first, second and third in the women’s division respectively. Campbell and Gentle had recently returned from the Rescue World Championships in Noordwyck, the Netherlands where Campbell won gold medals in the opens and masters 2km event, while Gentle won the under-18s 2km race.
In the men’s division, Ali Najem won the event having also returned from the world championships where he finished second in the open men’s 2km. Wanda members Lachlan Crawford and David Jones finished second and third respectively.
Luca Campbell marked his first 2km race with a victory in the under-14s division.
The King family of Russell, Sophie, Hugo and Sam all competed together, with Russell and Sophie winning the over-40s category and Hugo taking out the under-19s event.
While the 2km event was mostly a soft sand race, the 8km event was a mixture of soft and hard sand racing.
Rory Darkins won the male 8km event from Michael Hirher and David Wood, while Audrey Amiya-Hall took out the female race ahead of Nicole Wilding and Magda Karimali.
Another new event, the 2km relay, saw runners back up after their individual races to form a two-person team, with each competitor running 1km.
Najem and Crawford won the male event while Amiya-Hall and Wilding took out the women’s race in an exciting finish.
Joshua Cocks and Sky Gosby were the age winners of the 8km events, with Emily McGee the winner of the female 2km age event.
For online results click here.
2016 Snap/TJM Spring Beach Classic results:
Male 2km – 1st Ali Najem, 2nd Lachlan Crawford, David Jones
Female 2km – 1st Mel Campbell, 2nd Chloe Gentle, 3rd Emily Rohr
Male 8km – 1st Rory Darkins, 2nd Michael Hirher, 3rd David Wood
Female 8km – 1st Audrey Amiya-Hall, 2nd Nicole Wilding, 3rd Magda Karimali
Male 2km relay – Ali Najem, Lachlan Crawford
Female 2km relay – Audrey Amiya-Hall and Nicole Wilding
2km age categories:
Male under-14s – Luca Campbell
Male under-19s – Hugo King
Male over-40s – Russell King
Female under-14s – Emily McGee
Female over-40s – Sophie King
8km age categories:
Male under-19s – Joshua Cocks
Male over-40s – Ben Swinfield
Female under-14s – Sky Gosby
Female over-40s – Angie Mocken