DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio welcomed the 1,800 participants of the Alveo Ironman 70.3 which fires off here on Sunday.
The presidential daughter said in her brief speech at event venue Azuela Cove that she was pleased to see a lot of people here “in spite of the martial law in Davao and in Mindanao.”
“We wanted to host the Ironman here since 2012,” said Carpio. “Now I hope you all experience Davao City the best way possible.”
Competitors from 39 countries, led by four world champions, will see action in the meet.
“Now we truly say that Ironman is in the Philippines,” said Wilfred Uytengsu head of the organizing Sunrise Events. “We staged it in CamSur, Subic and Cebu. Now this time we are in Mindanao.”
Uytengsu said for the first time they will enforce a new rule, particularly in swim stage, where triathletes will be flagged off based on their seed times to ensure order and safety in the 1.9-kilometer kick off stage.
On Saturday, young triathletes take center stage ahead of the pros as they clash in their own version of the swim-bike-run race in the Alaska IronKids.
Over 200 youngsters vie for top honors in four age categories starting at 5:40 a.m.