The Untold Story | The Ironman World Championships Filipino Qualifiers

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Remember the frenzy in 2010 when Ironman China got cancelled and most of its KONA slots got re-distributed to Ironman 70.3 Philippines Camsur? Here’s the untold story of our local athletes who qualified in the prestigious Ironman World Championships.

Why the untold story? Because we lost the CD our ground crew JC Pineda (Meyo’s S.O.) gave us which contains this race report. And now, 2 years later, it resurfaced! Read on below and relive the drama, and see what it’s like to live the ultimate dream of every triathlete… to race in Kona, Hawaii, for the Ironman World Championships.

JC also managed to interview Alaska’s CEO, and the man responsible for bringing the Ironman brand here in the Philippines, Fred Uytengsu.

The 2010 Ironman World Championships Kona Qualifiers. (in no particular order)

Benjamin Rana
Noy Jopson
Ferdinand Catabian
Peter Gonzales
Sandra Gonzales
Maiqui Dayrit
Larry Ocampo
Fred Uytengsu
Meyo Rodriguez
Amanda Carpo
Fiona Ottiger

There was a different energy as soon as we got out of the plane in Keahole airport in Kona. While Honolulu gave the typical relaxed Hawaiian vibe, Kona was sizzling with the anxiety of athletes (especially the first-timers) as they looked out to the vast, charred-black lava fields that will be their “frying pan” for the bike and run course during race day.

Here’s a peek at what went on inside the minds of some of our athletes:

SBR: What came to mind as soon as you landed in Kona and saw the lava fields?

Meyo: I can’t shake the feeling there we’re already HERE.

Fred: Since I have a home in Kona, I am used to the look so it wasn’t a surprise. But the buzz of the Ironman world championships always makes one more anxious.

While all the athletes arrived staggardly in Kona, most of our Pinoy athletes got in almost at the same time on Monday, October 3, giving everyone about a week’s time to check out the race course and prepare themselves for the big day. Most of the athletes, with the exception of Benjamin Raña, got to experience the dreaded Hawi Point. Despite the winds that buffet you from all sides, I had the greatest time here taking pictures of our athletes while soaking in the view.

To help me give you a better vantage of the week leading up to the race and on race day itself, I sent out an email blast to our pinoy athletes to help me relive 10-8-11. As most of them had a lot of catching up to do with work and couldn’t reply on time, I will let Meyo and Fred give you most of the insider scoop.

SBR: What were your thoughts on the race course as you were doing the ocular? Any interesting stories?

Meyo: The bike course was like riding on SCTEX but with really strong winds. Almost fell on the bike during training because of the crosswinds in Hawi point.

Fred: I’ve had the opportunity to race this once before (2009) and I ride the course a lot when I visit. So I’m familiar with the infamous wind as well as the daunting “energy lab”. However, even if you know what to expect, dealing with it is another matter. In 2009, the winds were very strong so I was hoping for it to be less windy this year and I really faltered in the energy lab so this year I was determined to do a better job there. I also attended the Lifesport camp the weekend before and that was helpful to discuss strategies, hydration and nutrition.

The rest of the week flew by so quickly. There was a dizzying choice of activities to do, booths and exhibits to visit, things to buy and events to attend. There was the Parade of Nations one afternoon along Ali’i Drive, with a little bit more people waving the Philippine flag this time.

There were the cool bikes on display, tons of tri-stuff and lots of freebies. Rudy Project topped one up when they announced over the radio that they were giving away 200 neon-colored wingspan helmets to Kona athletes! Some of our Pinoy athletes were lucky enough to grab some. The catch? Wear the helmet on race day and on every race a year after that. Nice and simple.

The biggest crowd was drawn by the Specialized booth, when they held a special event to launch their new Shiv, with the built-in bladder. Their booth was manned by no less than the fastest men on earth – Macca, Crowie, Gomez and Whitfield to name a few. With that came tons of requests for fan pics too! The unveiling of this new toy came with the full regalia of Polynesian dancing with sticks and fire and all that.

A week went by and it was race day before we knew it. Woke up at around 3am to get ready, cook up breakfast, get to the race venue before the parking lots get full, get body-marked, do last minute bike checks and say prayers and then some more. Every year during race day, all the restaurants and stores along the race course open shop a bit earlier than usual. Tante’s Restaurant along Ali’i Drive reserved the top deck of their restaurant to hold a small party for their special guests. Filipinos got a special table and were provided with overflowing drinks and food. This is all thanks to the generosity of Kuya Tante and Ate Tellie Urban. Their deck would also serve as a good vantage point to see the swim start for the race.

At 6:30 AM, the pros were released to the sound of cannons. Our pinoy athletes were still at the viewing deck of Tante’s restaurant having their pictures taken at this time and they were also able to witness the swim start for the pros. Shortly after that, they were called to the floating start in Kailua pier.

While we waited with trepidation from a distance, I could only imagine how nerve-wrecking it must be for the athletes down at the water. From afar, I could see swim caps floating all stretched out in a line, some others by the floating Ford name and then some more glued to the huge rubber tires by the pier. I had to wonder where Meyo and the rest of the pinoy athletes were. I never heard the cannons fire, what I saw from my lens were the thrashing of arms and legs as the age-groupers started their 2.6 mile swim out towards the open Pacific ocean. The swim was wild, even from where we were standing we could hear the splashes.

Striking moments for our athletes on the swim:

Fred: When my watch got pulled off my wrist

I remember Sandra and Peter telling me they saw dolphins swimming underneath them, but they never saw each other on the swim J

Thirty minutes after the swim start, we went to position ourselves along the bike course. There were too many people in Kuakini so I went to the corner of Palani and Queen-K to try and capture the athletes on a turn. Got some shots that were okay but some were a bit far.

Got some decent shots of the women pros along Kuakini Highway as the men had already passed and that was only a little less than an hour since race start.

Caroline Steffen of Switzerland

Mirinda Carfrae of Australia

And, of course, crowd favorite…

Chrissie Wellington, Great Britain

Fred Uytengsu, Ferdie Catabian, Meyo Rodriguez, Larry Ocampo, Peter Gonzales, Sandra Gonzales

Amanda Carpo, Abe Tayag, Fiona Ottiger

I was hoping to get at least a complete set of shots for our Filipino athletes, but, alas, some of them went either too fast, or blended in too well with the thousands of athletes that day.

SBR: What were some striking moments for you on the bike?

Meyo: I can see the long chain of cyclists along the Queen K until the horizon

Fred: Descent from Hawi

As expected, the pros started to come in from the run at around 12 noon. Connie (Abe’s wife) and I headed straight to Kuakini Highway to see them arrive. Our corner spot in Hualalai and Kuakini gave us front row seats to the action.

Left to Right: Pete Jacobs and Chris Lieto

Marino Vanhoenacker and Luke Mckenzie

Chris Lieto, who was already limping as he passed by me, tries to catch Faris Al Sultan

Here’s some of my favorite framed shots from the run. I say framed because while waiting for our pinoy athletes to come in, Connie and I put up a Go Pinoy sign and made sure everyone will see it!

Rinny trying to catch up to Chrissie with a blistering pace!

Camsur boy Benjamin Rana

Abe Tayag… and I’m seeing double

After a while, we decided to move back to Palani, where we knew people would slow down on the run because of the uphill. Was happy to see Gianina (Maiqui’s wife) there along with several Hawaii-based pinoys. While waitng, Gianina, Connie and I decided to draw some moral support, literally, for our athletes.

Palani proved to be a good place to cheer our athletes on as at this point, the runners would have done half the distance already and are starting to give themselves a break and get that much needed boost from loved ones.

SBR: What were some of the best motivation you received/gave yourself out on the race course?

Fred: Just being patient. Ironman is a long race so you need to be patient and “live in the moment.” Because I was sick, I had thought about withdrawing a few times early in the bike. Then I remembered our mantra (Pain is temporary, quitting is forever

Meyo: My girlfriend was waiting for me at the finish line and I was afraid of making her wait too much. =) The crowd along the course and the support crew in the aid stations helped me a lot in making pain in the last few miles bearable.

SBR: What are some of the striking moments for you while you were running along Alii, Queen-K and Energy Lab?

Fred:, Staying focused in the Energy Lab and holding pace. Also when I saw my coach (Lance Watson) and getting a lot of positive feedback from him on the run.

When asked what the hardest leg for them was, both Meyo and Fred answered:

Meyo: The run was the hardest because I was under trained and almost afraid of getting side stitched but thankfully it didn’t happen, it was painful in the last few miles on the run.

Fred: The run was the hardest for me. It always is. But it was tough because I had a tear in my calf 8 weeks back and could not run basically since Ironman 70.3 Philippines. All my run training was water running and some elliptical trainer. I also contracted stomach flu early in the week so I was not 100% on race day and threw up several times on the bike which probably weakened me for the run.

While our beloved athletes conquered the rest of the race course, us supporters had a few hours to take a breather at Tante’s Restaurant. It was such a welcome break as running around the whole day and standing out in the sun was starting to take its toll on our energy sources. And what better to replenish this with than with ice cold Longboard beer ;)

Local Pinoy Jeanette Lee, me, Connie, Gianina

Twilight came and pretty soon it was time for us to head down to the finish line to cheer our athletes on in their red carpet moment. That final 100 meter stretch of pure joy. The culmination of what this article is all about really. We all already know the names of those who finished, what their times were and all that so I won’t go into those details. But I will tell you this, seeing so many Philippine flags being waved down the chute that night made me want to grab the mic from Mike Reilly and shout, “Mabuhay ang pinoy!” That’s how proud I was of our 13 Filipino and Filipino- American athletes who conquered Kona.