Carrasco upbeat on duathlon growth
TRIATHLON Association of the Philippines ( TRAP) Secretary- General Tom Carrasco Jr. is looking forward to the growth of duathlon in the next two years with the probable inclusion of the event in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games here and the World Beach Games.
“This augurs well for duathlon as we expect more athletes to go into the sports and it is an event where we have been doing well even as the Asian level and we can expect even better at the SEA Games level, “said Carrasco after the awarding ceremonies of the National Duathlon Championship 2017 over the weekend at the Subic Bay Freeport in cooperation with its long- time partner Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority ( SBMA), adding that by the second quarter of 2018, he sees the formation of the national duathlon team with the help of Standard Insurance , one of the major sponsors of the event.
As expected, national team members dominated their respective categories in both the standard and sprint distance races of the event also backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, the SBMA Tourism Department, Gatorade, and the Asian Center for Insulation with national champion Jarwin Banatao posting back to back victories as he defended his title won last year in Iloilo, clocking one hour, 57 minutes and 42 seconds in the 10K run- 40K bike- 5K run distance.
Finishing second and third, respectively were Joey de los Reyes in 1: 59.02 and John Topia in 2 : 00.19.
In the women’s side, defending champion Mirasol Abad dropped out of the first loop due to injury, paving the way for Miscelle Gilbuena, 29, from Bantayan Island, Cebu, to bag her first national title. Gilbuena has been with the national team since 2014 but it was her first time to beat Abad. She clocked 2: 20.15, almost ten minutes ahead of runner- up Jermyn Prado, a member of the national velodrome cycling team, Prado finished in 2: 30,00 while Rowena Valdez finished third in 2: 33,33.
In the 5K run- 20K bike- 2.25K run sprint distance race, the top three female elite were all members of the national team led by champion Jelsie Sabado, Karen, Manayon, and Una Sibayan. A three time sprint distance champion and on her last year in this age category, the 17 year old Sabado, who hails from Pangasinan, posted a winning time of 1: 06.13, way ahead of second placer Manayon\ s time of 1: 13.29 and third placer Sibayan who finished in 1: 17.33.
“I led all the way, and I expected to win, “said the 12th grader Sabado.
In the boys’ side of the sprint races, Paolo Tayag, in 0: 59: 13 emerged as Sprint 1 champion. Finishing second and third, respectively, were Austine Morfe in 1 : 00.54, and Renz Corbin in 1: 01.54.
Youth Olympic Games aspirant Joshua Ramos ruled the Sprint 2 category in 1: 03.29, followed by Cebuano Andrew Remolino ( 1 : 03.29) and Jacob Taylor ( 1 : 04.40).
For the complete results of the National Duathlon Championship 2017 visit Triathlon. org. ph or the TRAP’s official Facebook page.