Cebuano triathlete Joseph Miller held his own against some of the world’s best as he came up with a respectable finish in the pro division of yesterday’s XTerra Malaysia-Asia Pacific Tour in Berjaya Resort in Langkawi, Malaysia.
Miller, a native of Lapu-Lapu City who competes under Ford Forza Triathlon Team, ranked seventh among the 17 professional triathletes, who competed in the off-road triathlon event which featured a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 30k bike and a 11k run.
Miller also finished seventh in the same race last year.
The finishers’ official time was not immediately released.
“Happy ko sa result kay nag train jud ko ug hard ani nga race and it paid off. Mas strong ang field of competition karon kaysa last year (I was happy with the result because I trained hard for this and it paid off. The field was stronger this year compared to last year),” Miller told Cebu Daily News.
Miller, who ranked ninth in last year’s Xterra Albay, said there were 14 participants in the male division this year. The competition had seven triathletes last year.
Miller was the lone Filipino pro triathlete to compete in the race.
Ben Allen of Australia went home with the male division crown, while Jacqui Slack of Great Britain topped the distaff side.
Bradley Weiss of South Africa finished second, while Italian Fabrizio Bartoli completed the top three in the male pro division.
Slack’s closest pursuer was Lizzie Orchard of Australia while Swiss Carina Wasle settled for third.
Miller finished ahead of Italy’s Simone Calamai (8th), Olly Shaw of New Zealand (9th) ninth. Tenth to 13th placers in the male pro division were Jason Hsieh, Shahrom Abdullah, Cho Kaon and Barry Lee, respectively.