A BRITISH banker captured the men’s crown while a former runner-up ruled the women’s side in the 5th Anvaya Cove Invitational Triathlon held recently at Anvaya Cove Beach and Nature Club in Bataan.
Lee McMeekin, the vice president of Deutsche Bank, surged ahead in the final two legs to top the 1.2K swim-32K bike-6K run men’s sprint race with a time of two hours, five minutes and 45 seconds.
A year after settling for second place, Vanessa Aguirre bagged the women’s title this time with a 2:38:42 clocking.
“I trained really hard for this event especially the climb,” Aguirre said of the uphill 3K stretch in the final leg.
The 40-year-old McMeekin submitted the fastest time in the bike (1:17:39) and run (24:08) to pull away from swim leader Edward Vince Jared Macalalad, who wound up second with a time of 2:09:27.
“This is my second race this year and I’m basically a runner,” said McMeekin, a London native who has been based in the Philippines for a year.
Macalalad, a promising 15-year-old bet, came out of the waters first in 18:54 before McMeekin pulled away for good in the bike leg.
Katherine Marie Hernandez finished second in the women’s side (2:43:38). Jasmine W. Payo