DAVAO CITY— John Philip Dueñas, the long time coach of Cebuano Olympic female marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, will be leading a pack of Cebuanos in today’s Alveo IronMan 70.3 Davao which will start at the Azuela Cove in Davao City.
Dueñas will be vying in the Asian Elite category and will be up against a strong field which includes defending champion Banjo Norte, who is a native of Cagayan de Oro but is now based in Cebu as a member of the Omega Triathlon Team.
Other strong contenders in the Asian Elite are Jorry Ycong, also Cebu-based, August Benedicto, Paul Jumamil of Bohol, Benjamin Rana and Alexandra Ganzon.
The race, which kicks off Sunrise Events Inc.’s 10th anniversary celebration, has attracted about 2,000 participants coming from 39 countries.
There will be 24 pros competing, 12 of them vying in the Women’s category.
Leading the male pro cast are four world champions Tim Reed of Australia, the 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion, Xterra world champions Mauricio Mendez of Mexico, Bradley Weiss of South Africa and three-time Ironman world champion Craig Alexander.
This will be the first time that Davao City will be hosting this international event. The city, led by its mayor, Sara Duterte-Carpio, has pulled all the stops for the success of the event.
Winners and finishers will received medals designed by Kublai Milan, who worked with an entire community of T’boli brass casters in the hopes of presenting Mindanao’s culture to the world.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
