MITCHELL Robins of Australia and Hungary’s Ezster Dudas, both seeing action in their first Philippine race, stole the thunder from their experienced rivals yesterday in the inaugural Safeguard Active 5150 Triathlon at Subic Bay’s Kamana Resort.
After struggling in the 1.5-km swim leg, Robbins finished with a flourish in the bike (40km) and run (10km) stages to bag the men’s crown in two hours, five minutes and 22 seconds.
Not to be outdone, Dudas fashioned out a wire-to-wire victory in the women’s race, checking in at 2:21:32 to beat veteran Belinda Granger of Australia, who timed 2:28:12.
Filipino Monica Torres finished third in 2:38:25.
Csaba Kuttor and Peter Bajai of Hungary checked in second and third in the men’s race with 2:06:17 and 2:08:18 clockings, respectively, while Swede Frederik Croneborg was fourth in 2:09:26 followed by Michael Murphy (2:11:19) of Australia.
“I knew that if I was going to do the race I’m capable of I was going to be close to the front,” said Robins, a 24-year-old physical education teacher from Sydney.
John Leerams Chicano emerged as the top Filipino in 2:14:35, good for sixth overall, while Banjo Norte ended up ninth overall in 2:21:23.
Wary of the threat posed by Granger, Dudas built an early lead, which she never relinquished.
“I was leading the race but I heard she was very fast on the bike, so I was afraid of her,” Dudas said of Granger, a veteran of the Ironman Philippines races.
Organized by Sunrise Events, Inc., the event lured 300 participants, with support from 2XU, Air Asia, Aqua Sphere, Coca-Cola, Century Tuna, David’s Salon, Devant, Garmin, Health Food, Intercare, LBC, Planet Sports, Prudential Guarantee, Smart, Rudy Project and Vellum. Cedelf P. Tupas