In this 2017 file photo, Moira Frances Erediano completes the swim portion en route to topping the 13-15 years old mini sprint division of the National Age Group Triathlon 2017-Cebu Leg in Santiago Bay, Camotes Island, Cebu. | CDN FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines―It’s an anticipated year for young athletes here as the first swim-bike-run race of the Alaska Ironkids 2019 will be held on August 10, 2019.
This will be one of the sidelight events to the Ironman 70.3 Philippines happening the next day, August 11, 2019.
This year’s Alaska Ironkids Cebu will start and end inside the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa located on Punta Engaño Road in Lapu-Lapu City.
The Ironkids is one of the activities under the Alaska Sports Development program and was designed as the children’s version for the Ironman.
The event will have three categories—the race, the play and the relay.
The race category will have four age groups—6-8 years old, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14, in boys and girls division.
The play category will have category 1 for short, 6 to 10 years old, and 2 for the long, 11-14 years old. It will basically serve as an introduction race for the beginners for them to get a feel of what the race is about.
The relay, on the other hand, will have the mixed team relay 11 to 14 years old and the mixed team relay for 6 to 10 years old.
One of the most successful products of the Ironkids in Cebu is Moira Frances Erediano.
Erediano used to watched in the sidelines and eventually joined the competition.
She is now gunning for her back-to-back title in the Girls 13-14 category in the Ironkids Cebu.
This year would be Erediano’s last Alaska Ironkids title as she will already be turning 15 years old next year.
Aside from letting the young participants experience their own version of an Ironman race, the Alaska Ironkids is also one way of letting the parents see the benefits of letting their children lead an active lifestyle and lure them away from getting addicted to gadgets. / celr
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