ONE of the highlights in the upcoming Consolacion Mountainbike Duathlon 3.0 is the contest between student Joland Olmilla and his mentor Joseph Miller in the men’s elite field on March 3 at the SM City Consolacion.
The lone Filipino Xterra pro Miller is back on his top form this year after fully recovering from a plantar injury and is set to compete in various international races. On the other hand, the national duathlon team member Olmilla is also eyeing big national races.
“(Joseph) Miller is my mentor. He was the one who taught me the techniques in mountainbiking four years ago. I’m just really thankful for his help in my career,” Olmilla said in Cebuano.
He was a runner before shifting to duathlon and triathlon.
Olmilla said that Miller even helped him in the National Duathlon competition in Cebu a few years ago by letting him borrow a light wheel set.
The Mandaue City-native Olmilla is excited for their upcoming battle and is happy to see his mentor healthy for this season.
“I’m just excited to race again with him because in his previous races he was not able to perform well because of an injury. Now, he’s recovered. It will be exciting to see him at his top shape,” said Olmilla, who admitted that he was doing hard training to prepare for Miller.
Miller, one of Cebu’s finest off road duathletes especially in technical routes, earlier said that he’s excited for the upcoming race, which kicks off a busy year for him that includes the Xterra Asia-Pacific Tour, Xterra Series and the World Championships in Maui, Hawaii.
For Olmilla, the MTB Consolacion will help him prepare for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games qualifier--the Tri Factor Asian Championship Series in Clark, Pampanga on March 31.
The third edition of MTB Consolacion is expected to gather about 300 duathletes who will tackle a challenging 5-kilometer Run 1, 20K bike and 3K Run 2 course. (RSC)