THE country’s lone Xterra pro, Cebuano Joseph Miller, will travel to Malaysia today for the championship round of the Asia Pacific Tour 2016 this weekend in Langkawi, Malaysia.
The Xterra Malaysia is the last leg of Xterra Pacific Tour and will be crucial for triathletes gunning for a spot in the overall ranking. The leg gives double points to the participants.
Miller, 36, who lives in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, currently has 135 points from Xterra Philippines and Saipan. The best three scores will count for every triathlete.
Miller told Sun.Star Cebu that he is at sixth place in the pro ranking and needs to work in Malaysia to clinch his target, which is to finish in the top five of the men’s pro overall.
“I am a lot more focused now and is faster compared before,” said the 2015 Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) awardee Miller.
Miller of Team Ford Forza wishes to finish in the Top 3 in Xterra Malaysia to boost his chances in the overall rank.
“I finished third in Xterra Saipan and I hope to duplicate that in Malaysia because it’s a double-point race,” said Miller. “Every year I get stronger and have been improving my time. I was focused on my preparation for Xterra Malaysia; the only thing I did was train, and every time I do that, my family was on my mind and is my inspiration.”
The Xterra Asia-Pacific Tour will award bonus cash prizes for the Top 5 pros in the men’s and women’s divisions. The champions will each receive $2,000, the second placers will get $1,500 and the third placers get $800. Those who finish at fourth and fifth places get $400 and $300, respectively.
Miller will be joined by teammate Elmo Clarabal, who will compete in the age group division, while Motor Ace Racing’s Jonel Borromeo, Tenggoy Colmenares and Tolitz Dagoy Albina will also join the event.
The race will feature a 1.5-kilometer open water swim, a 38K off-road bike and an 11K trail run.
Race director and Xterra course architect David Spence describes the route as seriously hard on his course overview.
“The only bit of this race course that’s wet and muddy at the moment is the start of the swim and the beach run finish. In other words conditions on this course are at present extremely dry, rather dusty and seriously hard,” Spence posted in the website yesterday.