Ironman 70.3 Philippines | Race Results and Review

Congratulations to everyone who finished the rainy 2011 Ironman 70.3 Philippines!

Third Time’s a Charm

The third installment of the most prestigious triathlon race in the country was participated by over 815 individual competitors and 101 (yup! 101!) relay teams.

Pete Jacobs, last years defending champion, who also had the fastest run split at last years Ford Ironman World Championship, didn’t need to push that much on the run as he was barely challenged by second placer Jesse Thomas. Jacobs successfully defended his title and coasted to a 3:51:43 time.

The women’s race was much closer. Belinda Granger, who trained here in the Philippines a couple of years ago when she was still with TeamTBB, showed her poise and experience by overtaking Amanda Stevens late in the run. Granger finished with a 4:26:23 time, Stevens crossed the finish line two minutes after. Hawaii local Bree Wee wrapped up the women’s podium with a 4:35:16.

In the Filipino Elite division, Arland Macasieb finally snatched the Ironman 70.3 Philippines victory which has eluded him for 2 years. Finishing with a superb 4:26:31 time, which was also good for top 8th overall in the men’s field. Monica Torres proved to everyone that she is still the undisputed queen of Camsur as she 3-peated and once again ruled the women’s division with a 4:55:15 time.

The 2011 Ironman 70.3 Philippines was kick started by the Alaska IronKids race. Beset by unexpected weather changes and slippery roads, the Alaska IronKids showed why they were called IronKids as they still went for it even with the tough weather conditions. Pacing was definitely not in their vocabulary as they went all out from gun start to the finish line!

Sisters Tara and Samantha Borlain, dominated the event with Tara claiming the top spot in the 6-8 years old Girls Division while Samantha placed second in the 9-10 years old Girls Division.

Nathan Nalo, relied purely on his heart as he topped the 9-10 years old Boys Division. He has been gunning for that spot since he placed second in an IronKids triathlon race last year. According to his mom, he has never placed first and really trained hard for it.

Pre Race

One of the things that I really loved about this race was the electrifying vibe of the race venue! Shops and sponsors booth we’re scattered all over the place.  Need a drink? Just go to the Gatorade booth and they’ll give you free Gatorade! Hungry? Get all the corned tuna filled pandesal that you can eat! No questions asked! Need a watch? Just visit the huge TIMEX booth! They also had a contest wherein you can guess the finishing time of their two elites, Noy Jopson and Neil Catiil. Win it and you get yourself a limited edition Ironman 70.3 Philippines commemorative watch!

The expo was also top notch. It was a triathlete’s heaven. Lots of commemorative M-Dot souvenirs too! It was also nice to see Alex Bok himself, big cheese of teamTBB, roaming around the expo and chatting with the rest of the local triathlon community.

As for my shopping, I got myself an LG transition backpack! How about you what did you buy?

The race briefing was short and nice. Just the way every race brief should be. No promotional plugs, no sponsor speeches, just give the athletes the important info so that they can leave as early as possible and get their much needed rest.

80% of the briefing focused mainly on drafting and penalties. They set up two bikes so that everyone can gauge how far 7 meters is.

Race Day!

The Swim – like the previous Ironman 70.3 Phil races, the swim takes you around the two man made lakes of Camsur Water sports Complex (CWC). I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think first lake (aka big lake) is relative cleaner compared to last years. I can actually see the person in front of me! Good luck doing that last year! The small lake is another story though. You can’t even see your hand the moment it enters the water! Plus the water in the small lake smells a little bit funky.

The Transition – last year, some of the athletes had to run almost 500m just to get to their bikes! The transition this year was short and very easy to navigate.

The Bike – all those who noticed the huge Cristine Reyes poster at the 20k mark raise your hands! Seriously, this year’s bike ride is one for the books! Rain poured really hard on the riders. This made things a little more interesting and dangerous. A lot of times I had to rub my shades because I couldn’t see a thing!

The crowd on bike course is super. In every section of the course there was people cheering for you. They we’re drenched in rain too but that didn’t stop them as they still continued to scream their lungs out. It was a fiesta like atmosphere the whole 90k.

The road conditions this year improved a lot! Not to mention there were no more zigzagging on the bike course! Everyone this time stayed on the right.

It was also nice to see drafting really being enforced out there. Kudos to Ricky and his crew. It was awesome to see the athletes riding on a legit pace line.

90k in 9 minutes

The Run – participants this year was very lucky to have been blessed with a cool and breezy run course. Otherwise, I’m sure everyone will melt at the rice cooker part! There were plenty of aid stations and I’m happy to say that they didn’t run out of water or ice.

The crowd support on the run this year was really something. It was just crazy. Seeing all the kids lined up on the side of road giving high fives made everyone feel like a rockstar!

Overall

For me, the 2011 edition of the Ironman 70.3 Philippines was a huge success. It’s not easy pulling off a race of this magnitude… but they still did it.  I have nothing but praises for this years organizing team. Props to race director Guy Conception for being one of the coolest race directors out there. To the entire Sunrise events team, Princess Galura, and Sir Fred Uytengsu, thanks for giving us one of the best Ironman 70.3 Philippines races ever.

I was honestly wishing  I had a camera with me as I was racing so that I can capture the images of the kids and the locals of Naga screaming their hearts out cheering for the athletes. Simply amazing.

Hits and Misses

No race is perfect right? Below is the list of what I loved about this year’s race. Along of course, with what I think the organizers can work on for next year’s race.

I LOVE…

• The spot on registration procedure.
• 30 Kona Ironman slots!
• Fantastic organization.
• Awesome expo!
• Free food and drinks for everyone! Heck, there’s even a Gatorade guy roaming around to refill your drink with ice cold Gatorade!
• Amazing support from the town locals.
• Aid Stations never ran out of water, ice,  and electrolytes.
• Much improved road conditions
• Huge Cristine Reyes billboard at the 20k part of the bike ride! (have to say this!)
• Drafting strictly being enforced.
• Bottomless drinks at the Happy Ending bar courtesy of the governor! How awesome is that?

I WISH…

• They get a better air lines provider. Air Philippines messed up big time on this one.  Click here to view what happened.
• A special needs station at the bike and the run. Weirdest part about it is that there was a special needs bag.. but no station no put it.
• More solid t1/t2 bag check in procedure. Some were allowed not to check in their helmets and other T1 stuff anymore. What’s the point of having a T1 bag if you can put your gear on your bike anyway?
• Run route is nice race-wise but not really that spectator friendly. The last kilometer is kinda anti climatic.

Special Thanks To

• Everyone who bought and wore SLS3 Compression Gear! Saw a lot of racers using SLS3 Compression Socks, Calf Sleeves, and SLS3 Compression Tights pre race, during the race, and post race! It keeps the site going!

• Guy Conception for the SWIMBIKERUN.ph Ironman 70.3 Philippines media pass. It feels good to know that all our efforts on this website is at least being recognized

• My team, TIMEX TMM and our sponsors. TIMEX Sports Philippines, Gatorade Philippines, Saffron Hill Added Value, SLS3 Compression, and Glass Solutions. To the TIMEX TMM Support crew and Media. Awesome job guys!

• My “other” team, Tri-Dynamite! Just newbies to the sport, you guys showed that if you put your heart and mind on something. You can do it! Bawi tayo next year!

To all the participants how was your race? That bike ride was crazy eh? Rate the race by using our ratings system above!

Again, congratulations to all the winners and finishers of the 2011 Ironman 70.3 Philippines! Most importantly, congratulations to all the Filipino’s who qualified for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii!

We’d love to hear your story! Drop us an email at [email protected] and tell us about your Ironman journey! If your story gets posted you will receive a free SWIMBIKERUN.ph T-Shirt and car sticker

2011 Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines Kona Qualifiers

Click here to view

Results source: www.ironman703phil.com

Photo credits: Mark Mostoles, Mara Guevara, Timex Sports Philippines, Jogger Joel, and TIMEX TMM Official Media.

Video credits: Jogger Joel

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