Franklin Ferdie Yee. | Photo from Asian Orthopedics – Spine & Joints Center Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuano rising athlete Franklin Ferdie Yee will test his mettle in the upcoming IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu-Lapu on April 21.
Yee, a rising triathlete who represents both the Asian Orthopedics multisports team and the University of San Carlos (USC) track and field team, recently clinched a record-setting win in the 2024 Clark Duathlon Classic.
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Yee ruled the standard distance in one hour, 54 minutes, and 14 seconds, which was the race’s only sub-two hours in its standard category.
He beat the more experienced athletes, such as Jarwyn Banatao (2:03.51) and Lowgene Aliligay (2:09.35), who settled for second and third places, respectively.
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For him, it was a surreal experience setting a record in a tough race.
“Surreal, never have I imagined breaking records, especially in Clark ’cause the course is quite tougher than another race course,” said Yee, who revealed that the race last Sunday was also his personal best.
Yee clocked in 32 minutes and 54 seconds in the 10-kilometer run. He was impressively pacing at 3 minutes and 18 seconds per kilometer.
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In the 40k bike, Yee finished the race in one hour and two minutes, averaging a speed of 38.45 kilometers per hour.
In the last 5k run, he clocked in 18 minutes and 56 seconds to pace at 3 minutes and 48 seconds per kilometer.
With this kind of performance, Yee is gearing up to compete in the more grueling IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu-Lapu, which features a 1.9k swim, 90k bike, and 21k run against more experienced and elite triathletes in his age group.
To recall, Yee was the overall champion in the elite category of last month’s Cebu Duathlon 2024 held at the South Road Properties.