CEBU's athletes will have something to look forward to as one of the longest-running duathlon events in the country, the 2015 National Duathlon Championships, come to Cebu City on Sept. 12 to 13 at the South Road Properties (SRP).
The race, handled by Triathlon Association of the Philippines (Trap), which started in 2002 in Subic Bay, has found a new home in Cebu City through the cooperation of the local organizing committee and the local government units of Cebu.
“Cebu City is one of the sporting hubs of the country having numerous events here. We wanted duathlon to be part of its long list of events,” said Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez Jr., the chairman of the local organizing committee during yesterday's event launching at the Casino Español de Cebu.
Rodriguez said this duathlon event involves a long-term goal since they are also planning to bring the Asian Duathon Championships to Cebu.
During the launching, he was joined by Millette Chiongbian, part of the local organizing committee; Rick Reyes, the Trap national coach; Sarita Zafra, Trap marketing manager; Aneth Galoy, Diamond Hotel representative, and Trap national triathletes Kim Kilgroe and Cebu's Justin and Yuan Chiongbian.
“We will be on the seaside lane of the SRP. Mayor Michael Rama has given his support to the event by approving the road closure,” said Reyes.
Reyes added that they want to find athletes who have potential in this event since the elite division will be one of the steps for those who want to be part of the national pool.
Reyes added that the national team athletes for duathlon and triathlon will be coming over to Cebu for this race.
The duathlon championships will have the super tri kids (STK) on Day 1, while the standard distance, sprint and mini sprint are happening on the second day.
The standard distance has the elite and age group divisions with tracks set in 10-kilometer run 1, 40K bike and 5K run 2. The sprint distance will have the juniors and age group class in 5K run 1, 20K bike and 2.5K run 2, while the youth mini sprint is set in 2.5K run 1, 10K bike and 2.5K run 2 course.
The STK race, on the other hand, has divisions in eight years old & Under with 200-meter run 1, 1K bike and 200m run 2, the nine years old & Above in 400m run 1, 2K bike and 400m run 2, and the 11 to 12 years old in 1K run 1, 4K bike and 1K run 2.
Cash prizes will be given to the men's and women's elite winners with the champion getting P10,000; the second placer P6,000; and P4,000 to the third placer. The top three in the men's and women's junior elites will win P5,000, P3,000 and P2,000.
Registration fee from May to July is pegged at P2,000 for the standard distance, the sprint/mini sprint is at P1,500 and P1,000 for the STK. The registration on Aug.1 to Sept.7 will be P2,500 for the standard and P2,000 for the sprint/mini sprint.
There will be a 10 percent discount for the Trap-registered athletes and 20 percent discount for the students and senior citizens.
Entry forms in Cebu are available at Rudy Project stores at SM Cebu and Ayala Center Cebu, Lantaw Restaurant at SRP, Bikeology at Banilad Town Center and Runnr Store at Ayala. Forms can also be downloaded at www.triathlon.org.ph.