NAGT eyes 300

WITH the boom of triathlon in Cebu, the National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) Cebu expects to draw some 300 participants on April 6-7 to the Alegre Beach Resort and Spa in Sogod.

This year’s race, dubbed the 2013 Alegre Beach Resort and Spa NAGT, will also serve as a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) qualifier for the junior triathletes hoping to be the first Filipino to compete in the 2014 YOG in Nanjing, China.

“We will be expecting several top caliber triathletes to join this race,” said Triathlon Association of the Philippines (Trap) executive director Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez.

They will expect the top five contenders for the PHL YOG slots --Jimuel Pantillan, Sixto Louie Lalanto, OJ Nobles and Cebu’s very own Justin Liam Chiongbian and Samuel Ranque.

Prior to the race, a Level 1 ITU technical course and YOG qualifiers’ training will be conducted and supervised by Trap officials. Melvin Fausto will lead the YOG training and Chito Reyes will take care of the technical course.

The Supertrikids will be on April 6 and will have boys and girls divisions for the 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, and 13-15. It will start at 9:45 a.m.

On April 7 will be the NAGT individual and relay division and it will have a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and a 10K run. There will also be the NAGT Sprint, which will have a 750-meter swim, 20K bike and 5K run.

Rodriguez said they will be providing free accommodation for the first 30 registrants for the April 6-7 events at a private resort in Sogod.

Registration fee is P1,000 for early birds, which will end until April 3, while late registrants will be charged P1,200.

“We will still accept on-site registrants like an hour before the race,” said Rodriguez.

The over-all winner in the men’s division will receive P5,000, while the women’s champion will get P3,000. The winners in the sprint divisions will get a Rudy Project watch.