Ironman organizers putting more personnel on new bike route for safety reasons
Safety will once again be the primary concern of the organizers of the Regent Aguila Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships, which will be held today in the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.
Among the safety concerns in this swim-bike-run race is the new bike route, which will use narrower roads than the old route used in the past six editions.
Because of this, organizers decided to deploy more personnel along the route to make sure that the participants will be safe.
“Basically, there are first responders, in terms of medical teams. We have ambulances from ERUF, the Cebu province, and from both LGUs of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue,” said Sunrise Events Inc. general manager Princess Galura.
Galura added that they also kept on reminding participants about the hazards of the new route.
SEI’s CEO Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, during the race briefing yesterday, again brought up the concern and gave his advice to the participants.
“The new bike course will be a little more narrow so be alert and keep your eyes out. Be alert all throughout the race,” he said.
A total of 2,571 triathletes from 52 countries will be competing in the triathlon that starts and finishes at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.
This is the seventh year Cebu is hosting the prestigious race, but this will be the first time that the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) won’t be used as part of the bike route.
Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña didn’t allow the use of the CSCR because of traffic congestion concerns, forcing organizers to keep the route within Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City only.
To secure the race course and ensure the safety of both the participants and the spectators, Lapu-Lapu City will field in 800 Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel and 600 marshals along the race course.
All in all, Galura estimated that there will be 3,000 personnel coming from PNP, the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Coast Guard, various medical teams and groups, marshals and force multipliers, bulk of which will be deployed in the bike route.
“What you notice right now is that there’s a strong presence of the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Coast Guard which are both here for the race, while the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) Regional Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas already said that there will be 800 PNP personnel that will be deployed for the race so everything’s ready and what we are just waiting right now is the race to happen,” said Galura.
Choppy seas Weather today, according to Kim Atienza, will be hot and windy.
“At 6 a.m. during the start of the race, the temperature will be 30 degrees Celsius. And at 9 a.m. during the bike leg, it will rise to 34 degrees Celsius.
At 10 a.m. during the run all the way to noon, [temperature] will go up to 36 degrees Celsius. The index humidity is at around 80 percent, so it’s going to be hot and windy because of the southwest monsoon or habagat that brings strong winds,” Atienza said in the race briefing.
Because of this, Uytengsu gave a warning to participants during the swim leg.
“It’s gonna be a great race, but I want to point out that it’s going to be a choppy swim. If you’re not a great swimmer, do not panic,” he said. “Safety first.”
There will be 38 professional triathletes competing in today’s race, all gunning for slots to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships that will be held in Nice, France, later this year.
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