Mangrobang rules Subic Bay triathlon

KIM MANGROBANG led the Philippines’ strong finish in the women’s Open Elite division of the NTT-ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon yesterday at Subic Bay Freeport.

A late entry, Mangrobang made the most out of her break from overseas training by ruling the 1.5K swim-40K bike-10K run event with a time of two hours, 10 minutes and 40 seconds.

“I had no plans of joining, but my coach told me just to race since I was already here,” said Mangrobang, the 24-year-old national team standout who has been training in Portugal.

“I just wanted to finish, but when we got out in the run leg, I felt I could go all the way.”

Kim Kilgroe, the California-based triathlete who traces her roots in Zambales, finished behind Mangrobang in 2:12:29.

Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Claire Adorna tried to shake off a foot injury but still fell short of a top-3 finish. She settled for fourth in 2:19:59, behind Hong Kong’s Kate Rutherford (2:13:15).

Australian Joel Tobin White topped the men’s Open Elite in 1:56.09.

James Chronis of Greece finished second (1:56.45), followed by another Australian, James Thorp (1:56:58).

John Chicano emerged as the best Filipino finisher in the men’s race as No. 8 in 2:01:42.

Singaporean Sumedha Um Kian Tat won the men’s under-23 title in 2:20:54, followed home by Macau’s Chak Long Un (2:21:37) and Chi Meng Leong (2:26:53).

“It was a good opportunity for our triathletes to show what they are capable of doing,” said Tom Carrasco, president of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines. Jasmine W. Payo