World champions are set to compete in the Philippines when the 2013 Vaseline Men Xterra Off-road Triathlon Series fires off in Liloan Cebu on March 2 and 3.
Lesley Paterson of Scotland, the 2011-2012 Xterra world champion, will lead the field of foreign participants. Others in the cast are Ben Allen and Renata Bucher, last year’s Xterra Philippines champions.
The Xterra series is expected to challenge even the most seasoned athletes.
“Xterra is definitely not for the faint-hearted,” said chief organizer Fred Uytengsu during Tuesday’s event launch at Dusit Hotel in Makati.
The Xterra Lite (500m swim-20K bike-5K run) and Xterra PH Championship (1.5K swim-35K bike-10K run) will be held on March 2 while the March 3 race will have trail runs in 21K, 10K and 5K distances.
The top age group finishers will vie for 40 slots to the October World Championships in Maui, Hawaii. Romina S. Austria