Organizers and some members of the teams participating in the upcoming Hunat Sugbu Triathlon gather at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel after a press conference. In the photo are (back row, from left) Team Manager of Parklane Tri Team Robert Martinez, Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos, Parklane general manager Cen Manguilimutan, Johny Ferniz of Parklane Tri Team, John Inot of Repro Optima, Darwin Saromines of Tri Liloan and Alan Choachuy of Metafit. (CDN/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Organizers of the Hunat Sugbu Triathlon made an interesting move by adding a team competition in the fourth edition of the race slated Sept. 20 in Argao town, southern Cebu.
One of the organizers, Robert Martinez of Parklane Tri Team, made the announcement during the official launching of the race yesterday at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel.
He said there are seven teams that will be competing in the team event.
These are Ford Forza, Tri Liloan, Omega Pro Tri Team, Repro Optima Tri Team, WS Tri Team, Tri Lasang and Metafit Tri Team.
This will be the first time the event will be having a team competition.
But it isn’t the first time in Cebu as there have already been other triathlon races that featured competition for groups.
“The team event is not new to a lot of triathletes and teams but it’s one of the most exciting part of the race so everyone’s really looking forward to it,” Martinez said.
“And with the teams that will compete, I am sure that it’s going to be a tough competition.”
Each team can field in as many as 50 triathletes but only the team’s top five fastest times in the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40k bike and 5k run event will be tallied to determine the champions.
The top team will walk away with P10,000 and a trophy while the second placers will receive P7,000 and third placers P5,000.
The top three in the standard division will also win cash prizes.
With this development, organizers are expecting around 400 triathletes to join the race that will be having standard, sprint and relay divisions.
Martinez was joined by Cebu Parklane International Hotel general manager Cenelyn Manguilimotan and Argao town mayor Edsel Galeos during yesterday’s launching.
Galeos told the press yesterday that the Argao townsfolk are excited to have the race back in the their town.
The first edition was held in Oslob in 2013 before it shifted to Bantayan last year.
The event was held twice last year with the other hosted by Argao.
He said they have been asking after last year’s race if the race would return to their town.
According to Galeos, the race gives his people extra income because of the hordes of visitors who visit the town on race day.
“We always asked Parklane to come back to Argao because it creates a huge economic impact to our town,” Galeos said.
For Manguilimotan, bringing the race to the countryside of Cebu is part of Parklane’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) to promote tourism.
“We always wanted to go back to Argao because of the overwhelming support they’ve given to us organizers during the race,” Manguilimotan said.
Argao town is best known for its home made torta, tablea, batirol and tuba.
It is also known for its numerous historic sites and natural tourist destinations.
For more information about the race, one can visit www.hunatsugbu.com.
Registration can also be done in this site.