Ironman Philippines returns to where it all started, CamSur

Triathletes dive into the water for the swim leg of the Ironman 70.3 triathlon event in Cebu in this August 2019 photo. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Ironman Philippines triathlon is making its way back to the place where it all started— Camarines Sur.

This is the Ironman 5150 is officially slated for August 6, 2023, in Camarines Sur. It’s the first time in 13 years that the race will return to Camarines Sur.

Camarines Sur is the birthplace of the Ironman triathlon in the Philippines when it hosted the country’s first international triathlon race in 2009 where 500 triathletes joined.

Since then, the Ironman triathlon became a craze in the Philippines, attracting as many as 3,000 triathletes when it moved to Cebu in 2012.

This August, Camarines Sur headed by its governor LRay Villafuerte and town mayor Luigi Villafuerte, is poised to stage a bigger and grander race.

“We’re happy that CamSur as a sports adventure capital, triathlon is back here, so we’re very excited. I’m sure it’s going to be bigger and better. Right now the challenge is even if it’s a shorter route, we’re very confident we can do better. I’m sure after the race people will have better memories this time,” said Villafuerte in a virtual presser on Thursday, May 4.

“CamSur this time is more ready. We have better roads and better infrastructure, and we have much better and bigger facilities now. The good thing is people are already attuned to this event,” added Villaguerte.

He was joined by Luigi Villafuerte, Sunrise Events president and general manager Princess Galura who is also part of the Ironman Group, and Jeremy Go of Go For Gold.

CamSur governor LRay Villafuerte during the virtual presser of the Ironman 5150 CamSur. He was joined by Luigi Villafuerte, Sunrise Events president and general manager Princess Galura who is also part of the Ironman Group, and Jeremy Go of Go For Gold. | Screen grab from the virtual presser

The CamSur 5150 is one of the three 5150 races or Olympic-standard triathlon Sunrise and Ironman will be organizing this year.

The other two are the Sun Life 5150 Triathlon in Bohol this July 9 and the inaugural 5150 Dapitan on September 10.

It’s one of the newest addition to the schedule of triathlon races as Ironman and Sunrise will be skipping hosting a race in Cebu this year.

“Right now, after Covid, a lot of people are steering up the longer distances, and we feel that there’s also a lot of new athletes, new breed that’s coming into the triathlon scene. So, we kind of want to offer them both the memories for the original race in a familiar place, familiar people, familiar course,” said Galura.

“Plus, to the new triathletes, we’re not swimming in the open water, we’re swimming in a lake, it’s safer, there’s strong government support. If anything happens, they are there to support us. I think it’s a good mix of old and young, if these two are combined together, we will be a better community for triathlon.”

The race will feature a 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run which will likely traverse the old route of the 2009 race.    /rcg

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