What was supposed to be a tribute run for a fallen triathlete ended in tragedy after a Canadian participant collapsed midway through his 12-kilometer run and was later pronounced dead at the hospital yesterday.
Canadian expat Anthony Dean Borg, 52, collapsed near the turning point of the 12k route at the Cebu Business Park. His wife, Mary Jane, said she was told that paramedics arrived around eight minutes after and brought her husband to the Perpetual Succour Hospital. She was later informed that her husband died due to cardiac arrest.
Borg was one of the participants of the R399: Live Your Dream tribute run, a yearly event that is held in memory of Ramon Igaña, who passed away while competing in the 2012 edition of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines here in Cebu. The running event started and ended at the Sumilon Road of the Cebu Business Park.
A very emotional Mary Jane said she still couldn’t believe this happened to her husband who, she said, was in good condition prior to the race.
“Before the run he was not complaining about anything. So we were very confused what really happened,” she said.
Mary Jane said Borg was a health-conscious person and a fitness buff, although she did admit that her husband was taking maintenance drugs for his heart, as he had a history of heart problems.
But she said Borg has been running since 2012 to stay fit. Borg got in good shape since then and had even managed to finish longer races such as the recent Cebu City 360° 75-kilometer Ultramarathon last July. He had also competed in a 106-kilometer ultra marathon before that.
IRONIC
“He really loved running because it helped him get fit,” said Mary Jane, who had been married to Borg for more than a year but had lived together for nine years.
They recently transferred to Cebu from Manila. The couple didn’t have children together but Borg had two children of his own from a previous relationship while Mary Jane had one.
Ironically, Ramon Igaña was also a fit triathlete when he fell off his bike while competing in the relay division of the Ironman. It was later found out that he died from a pulmonary embolism. R399 was the race bib number of Igaña in the Ironman event.
Mary Jane also joined the tribute run for Igaña yesterday but said she wasn’t near her husband when he collapsed because her husband runs faster than her. “He was far from me when it happened because he runs fast,” Mary Jane recalled.
Borg will be laid in repose at the Saint Peter Chapel along Imus Road, Cebu City.
IGAÑA STATEMENT
The organizer and wife of the late Ramon Igaña, Dr. Humility Igaña, has released a statement about the incident:
“I am saddened at what happened to Dean Borg. It was his first time to join the R399 race. A medical team immediately attended to him, applying CPR and rushing him to Perpetual Succour Hospital, but he didn’t make it alive. I feel for his family who lost Dean. I was in a similar situation when my husband Ramie died during the Cobra Ironman 70.3 in 2012. After today’s race, I have not thought beyond condoling with Borg’s family. That death occurred during the third year of the race pains me,” Igaña said.
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