Competitors hit Grove beach for Rip to River

ABOUT 1,000 competitors took part in the 39th RT Edgar Rip to River Fun Run at the weekend.

With great race conditions, Nick Wightman took out first place male in the 10km run with 33 minutes and 26 seconds, while Sarah Waters took out first place female in 39 minutes and 24 seconds.

Ocean Grove Surf Lifesaving Club thanked all its volunteers who participated and assisted on Saturday with making their biggest fundraising event of the year a huge success.

Arguably the oldest Fun Run in Australia, the Rip to River, held early every summer, welcomes about 1,500 runners to the pristine hard sand track from the Pt Lonsdale lighthouse to the main beach at Ocean Grove.

The Rip to River was followed by a celebration of the club’s patrol tower during a community open day.

The patrol tower, which offers a 180-degree view of the beach and houses vital communications used in emergency management, is phase one of the club’s new multi-million-dollar Ocean Grove Surf Beach Complex (see page 25 for more).