IronKids champ Baniqued takes tougher field as a challenge

IronKids champion Juan Francisco Baniqued. Photo by Randolph B. Leongson

SUBIC – Juan Francisco “Wacky” Baniqued may have won the boys’ 13 to 14 category in the 2017 Alaska IronKids anew, but he acknowledged that the competition has slowly caught up to him.

“Last year, the other competitors were older than me and I still had a half-loop distance from them. But today, when I competed with the younger ones, they were fast too and I can’t run away from them,” the 14-year-old said.

To wit, Baniqued needed a huge burst in the run course just to clinch the crown, beating Clifford Pusing by a mere millisecond as they both logged 42:31 to finish the swim-bike-run course.

READ: Baniqued rules IronKids anew in photo finish

“When I was on the second lap (of the run course), I was thinking I will pick up the pace in the final three laps. But he didn’t bulge, so in the last lap, you saw that it was really neck-and-neck,” he said.

The triathlete from Colegio de San Agustin in Binan, Laguna banked on his favored skills of swimming and running to propel him to the win, that even though he had was three seconds behind in the bike course, he was still able to claim the victory at Remy Field here.

But seeing how his younger foes are improving, Baniqued is challenging himself to train harder for the upcoming triathlon races to keep his position as one of the best up-and-comers.

“I think I need to train more because the younger ones are really getting stronger,” he said.

Baniqued gets another chance to put himself to the test in with another race in two weeks time, this time in Camotes Island.

Ultimately, he wants build his name to inspire other athletes like what Spanish triathlete Francisco Javier Gomez Noya and Filipina Claire Adorna have done.

“I’m still going to continue training,” he said.