Side events kick off Ironman weekend

The country’s future star athletes show their prowess Saturday when the Alaska IronKids Triathlon unfolds in Subic Bay as a prelude to the Century Tuna Ironman 70.3.

Children as young as six and teenagers up to 14 will be competing in the swim-bike-run event split into four age groups (6-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14) to level up competition in the event serving as a kickoff to a three-stage circuit.

The Alaska Ironkids-Subic will be followed by two aquathlons on April 9 at Manila Polo Club and June 3, also in Subic, and culminates with the Alaska IronKids Triathlon in Mactan, Cebu, in August.

As incentive, category winners will be given free entry to the Cebu IronKids with free flights and accommodations, all courtesy of Alaska Milk Corp.

Produced and organized by Sunrise Events Inc., the Alaska IronKids is the junior version of the Ironman, which will be staged Sunday.

Also to be staged Saturday is the Century Tuna Superbods: The Underpants Run, featuring the country’s Superbods finalists.

Starting at 9:30 a.m., the finalists will be running alongside fancied triathletes in the annual event’s third staging. They will take off at the Subic Yacht Club and pass through a scenic route along the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. —ROY LUARCA