Tuesday, May 8, 2007
An account of last weekend's race by Ricky Ledesma
Congratulations to TRAP & all their personnel for another well run event.
The weekend was packed with activities for everyone. Started off with the seminar for race officiating that had the graduates (mostly foreigners) man the stations on day 1 as their practicum of sorts. Some small accidents in the dismount area and some wrong directions for the superkids runners but nothing major.Maybe the language barrier? Cold water & sponges were available till the last finisher crossed the line. Massage & great drinks from Herbalife awaited all the finishers.
I joined the adult sprint which unfortunately coincided with the superkids. Just like in the Fit & tri days, I failed to see my children racing again. I hope some form of scheduling can be made that most participants (sprint or age group) can watch their kids race the Superkids since this will be a fixture in all NAGT events.
For the Sprint & age group, I noticed alot of triathletes were already on one piece tri kits, more than the last years. Polo tri making the most visible splash with their eye catching kits (and they seemed like they were everywhere). I felt the waters of Subic were extra black this year...whats wrong? Anybody else notice this? Also noticed more people on aero helmets and full aero frames & wheels, much much more than the road frame turned tri of the passed years. The present Subic course really makes one have to decided on what set-up to ride on, full aero w cowhorn or drop bar w clip ons. There are long flats & a monster climb 3X.
It was a nice mix-up in the ladies race as early swim leaders were overtaken by winner Monica Torres with Rizzo Tangan & Nona Torres (no relation to Monica) trading places in the run with Rizzo edging Nona for second place. Same withe the men, early swim leadres were caught by Rune Stroem & Ige Lopez on the bike with National Duathlete Jeff Valdez motoring passed everyone on the bike and cruised to his win. Ige passed Rune who finished third with Abe Tayag close behind.
The elite women winner Sarah Wellington was on a vintage Klein road bike, 105 group and very standard wheels. Yet she bridged the gap on the bike, at one point I rode beside them ( maybe a few seconds) and overheard her screaming at the Japanese woman to help bridge the gap on the bike. What a run form she exhibited. She had muscles on every single part of her running legs. Her pace didn't let up the entire 10K.
In the mens side, Russian Polyansky rode with the pack and stormed out of T2 with the widest foot stride I have seen. He is about 6-2" and he was flying the first lap with eventual winner Kiwi Ben Pulhan & Japanese Sato chasing for two laps.
On the third lap, Pulham passed him and we noticed Polyansky running much slower and in a zigzag line, only to collapse on the bamboo rails on the finish. It was great to see race winner Ben Pulham himself help Polyansky all the way to the ambulance. George Carag noted that Polyansky was made to run by his coach a full 10k high noon the day before the race, which might have contributed to his loss of energy.
Some notable pics I had of the weekend:
At the first loop of the age group swim, the flag which mark ed the turn around in the shore fell and was being swept in by the tide. I had my shoes on with camera on hand so I didn't want to get wet. Same went for the others around me near the swim finish who pretended not to see it but knew that the flag was slowly going deeper into the water. Out of the crowd, a foreigner removed his shoes and went knee deep to retreive the flag & hold it up till the last swimmer exited the water. He was supporting one of the foreigners racing. Thank you sir. Next time, an official should be on shore for this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3514.Jpg
In the relay category, I thought I saw Lenny Kravitz running...this guy had excellent run form with a great do. Even Mon Marchan dropped the mike to ask me who this rocker was:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3648.Jpg
Was out photographing all the participants in their aero tuck to see how good & bad the positions on their bikes were....here' s what you can emulate (if you do yoga it would be easier):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3601.jpg
Didn't have a chance to really check out all the bikes, but with the little time I had and a quick eye for the exotic, this would be my "best bike" for the event:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3637.jpg
Belongs to participant 349, was walking it back because his seat bolt loosened.
Its an 07 Orbea Orca (899 grms frame), full Campy record carbon, Lightweight wheels (oolala) and either a Tune or Schmolke setpost (the culprit). This bike must weigh 15pds as pictured, full raced. Unfortunatley, didn't bring the rider to the finish.
Had a great time seeing all the triathletes for the weekend. Its the race pinoy triathletes should not miss each year, wether racing or supporting. It's beginning to be star studded, Raymart Santiago raced the Olympic and came out of the water upper mid pack and raced a full aero Kuota Kalibur and finished his run strong!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3626.jpg
I even overheard on the loudspeakers that Fritz Infante was racing? Who knows whos the next celebrity to get bitten by the tri bug! See you all in the next one..Alabang Independence Triathlon this June!
How could I forget, making the event bigger was the presence of two more prominent figures....
Sen.Pia Cayetano taking time out from the election beat:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3698.jpg
And Fernando Zobel de Ayala completing his first Olympic triathlon in 3:10!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3695-1.jpg
Also some great kits from team Trihard:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/campled/IMG_3479.jpg