John Philip Dueñas
CEBUANO elite triathlete John Philip Dueñas did not just fulfil his dream of completing a full-distance Ironman race but he also made it to the top 3 in the Asian Elite division of yesterday’s Century Tuna Ironman Philippines held in Subic Bay, Zambales.
The 31-year-old Dueñas, a native of Danao City, north or Cebu, finished the most grueling triathlon race in his career in 10 hours, 27 minutes and 33 seconds.
Dueñas, the ace triathlete of Motorace Kawasaki Racing Team, finished eighth overall among the male pro triathlete participants after completing the 3.8-kilometer swim in 1:17.24, the 180-K biking in 5:46.48 and the 42-K run in 3:16.37.
Ahead of Dueñas were August Benedicto, who ruled the Asian Elite division with his time of 09:48.46 and Benjamin Rana, who placed second after clocking 10:13.01. Benedicto finished 5th overall while Rana was seventh overall among the male pro triathletes.
Ruling the first-ever full distance Ironman in the Philippines was Nicholas Baldwin of Seychelles. He clocked 08:50.13. Finishing second is a familiar face to Filipinos as he regularly races in the Philippines, Cameron Brown of New Zealand. He finished the whole race in 08.56.49. And, finishing third was Simon Cochrane of New Zealand who clocked 08:58.58.
Aside from being a top-notch triathlete and runner, Dueñas also played a huge role in being the head coach of Olympian marathoner Mary Joy Tabal.
He along with Tabal founded JPD coaching. Their new project is the Grassroots Running Advocacy of the Philippines.
The race is still ongoing as of press time, thus the complete results have yet to be released.