Close to 500 have signed up to answer the starting gun on Sunday in the Penong’s 5150 Davao in Tagum City where Bea Quiambao shoots to win for the second time this year after ruling a leg in Bohol a couple of months back.
Jonathan Pagaura is the athlete to beat in the men’s race as Satar Salem, the Bohol winner, will be absent in the Olympic distance 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-km bike and 10-km run race at The Wrec, Hijo Resort Davao.
Quiambao won in a time of two hours, 27 minutes and 13 seconds to loom as the favorite in the women’s open category and her age group, while Pagaura clocked 2:07:40 in finishing second to Salem.
The opening swim leg will be a counter-clockwise route starting at Banana Beach in Hijo Resorts, featuring a 270-meter stretch with participants turning left to the 630-meter part of the course before heading to the final turn for the last 600 meters. The swim cut-off is one hour.
The 40-km bike race will start upon exiting Hijo Resorts toward the main highway and heading to Daang Maharlika to Tagum City. It is a two-loop course ending at Lanikai Hiro Estate Resort with a cut-off time of three hours and 30 minutes. The closing 10-km run part, also made up of two loops, will start as they exit the transition area and head south inside the Hijo Resorts property across the bridge with the finish line set at the baseball field.
The cutoff time for the entire racecourse is five hours and 30 minutes.