OPPOSITE FIELD: Striding in the sand


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  • | 3:39 a.m. July 22, 2014
OPPOSITE FIELD: Ruck me, I'm scrum
OPPOSITE FIELD: Ruck me, I'm scrum
  • Ormond Beach Observer
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There’s a wide range of scenarios that any cross country coach must take into account pertaining to safety. Whether or not the high tide might sweep away one of your runners usually isn’t one of them.

But Debora Diaz isn’t just any coach, and her Seabreeze girls aren’t just any team. They train on the hardened sands of Ormond Beach, and even host a meet on the beach featuring Mainland High School, New Smyrna Beach and others.

“There’s not another high school that’s close enough for them to run to the beach and train,” Diaz said. “We could do it five days a week.”

Around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, two swatches of color — one white and one blue — broke through the heat mirage to the north, toward Grenada Boulevard. They belonged to Andrew Carpenter and Ken Piniero, who were the first two runners to cross the Seabreeze 5K Run’s finish line at Andy Romano Park. The fundraiser’s proceeds will help the team finance its new uniforms as well as its end-of-the-year banquet. 35 runners participated Saturday, up from 20 in last year’s inaugural event, Diaz said. The run wasn’t officially timed, although several runners kept stock on their personal watches.

Carpenter and Piniero are distance runners for Embry-Riddle University. They met many of Seabreeze’s runners at a high school camp they hosted two weeks ago.

“We knew these girls from camp, so we came out to support them,” Carpenter said. “We just wanted to support them for their upcoming season.”

When Seabreeze’s season officially begins on Aug. 11, they’ll be out on the sand, doing intervals and training for the sport’s standard 3.1–mile meets. They run close to the water, because the soft sand higher up can cause ankle rolls and knee injuries, Diaz said.

The benefit (of training on the beach) is definitely that cross country is off-road,” Diaz said. “It’s good training for our meets.”

One of the drawbacks, she added, is full exposure — there’s no shade on the beach. I noticed one change from a typical cross county environ right away — my lens fogged up completely due to humidity from the water. In a few minutes, the moisture levels balanced out, and photojournalism could resume.

And the Sandcrabs need not worry about tides; Diaz lives beachside and monitors them like a hawk before each workout.

 

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