2013 Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines | Race Results and Review

Ok, where do we start? :) Last year, a lot of things went wrong for the Ironman 70.3 Philippines’ 4th and inaugural Cebu edition.  This year, like what we said on our facebook page, the 2013 edition of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines, just showed to everyone, why it’s the 2-time SBR.ph Annual Awards Race of the Year.

Honestly? This one is going to be hard to top.

For official SBR.ph pictures, visit our facebook page! : http://www.facebook.com/SWIMBIKERUNph

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Race Results :

In the men’s pro edition, Courtney Atkinson dominated and won his first ever Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines title with a blistering 3:58:07 time. 3 time Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines winner Pete Jacobs tried his best to catch him on the run, but Atkinson is just too far ahead and finished a minute below the champion, with a 3:59:09. David Dellow of teamTBB rounded up the podium with a 4:02:22 finish. Caroline Steffen stole the women’s pro crown from defending champion Belinda Granger with a 4:16:12 time, Granger, had a bad day and finished 4:33:50. The ever joyful and an ecstatic Bree Wee won her highest Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines finish to date, with a 4:27:49 time. The lone Filipino female professional triathlete, and 4 time Filipino elite champion, Monica Torres, finished fifth with a 4:52:02.

In the Filipino elite division, Banjo Norte, of Alaska teamTBB, set the pace with a 27:51 swim, which provided enough cushion to outlast defending champion August Benedicto. Norte,  finished comfortably with a 04:26:44, a full 6 minutes faster than second placer August Benedicto, who finished with 04:32:38. Philip John Duenas tried his best to catch Benedicto, but finished a minute behind the first runner up with a 04:33:18 time.

Here’s a round up of the results!

Results source : www.ironman703phil.com

Race Review

From start to finish, the 2013 edition of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines gets a 4 thumbs up from us. That is, if you consider the big toe also as a thumb. Like what we said in our review last year, if there’s a race organizer who can bounce back from a setback, it’s the organizing team of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

The moment you get to the airport, you can immediately feel the festive atmosphere of Cebu. It also seemed like the people of Cebu, who are no longer triathlon first timers, are embracing the sport a little bit more.. and it showed.

Registration and pre-race = 9/10

The registration process and pre-race activities was spotless.  It seemed like the organizers have mastered this one to the T. That’s what 5 years in the business can do.  We absolutely loved the “standing room only” setup of the carbo loading dinner. We’re really glad it’s now held inside the host venue as compared to last year. Though some complained about the lack of tables and chairs, we have no problem sitting down on the grass camping style and eating the delicious food served. The chicken was ABSOLUTELY delicious and there’s bottomless buko juice!

The only question in our mind was, what if it rained? :)

The host venue = 8/10

This year, it seemed like Shangri-la Cebu, finally loosened its belt and allowed the triathlete’s and Cebu first timers to experience the hotel a little bit more. Last year, it seemed like the hotel was run by a dictator. Guests were able to roam around freely during pre-race, race day, and post race. We didn’t hear a single complaint about the host hotel this time around. Now, that’s Cebu hospitality.

The swim = 9/10

The organizers reversed the direction of the  swim course this year. A good decision honestly. The counter clockwise direction of the swim course made the swim more fun and challenging. It’s sad though that there were still a lot of complaints about racers praying the rosary while swimming (pulling on the bouys to move ahead). The kayaks at the swim start also failed to “rotate” their kayaks, like what they do in Kona, which in turn, blocked the path of  most of the swimmers. Aside from that, it was all good.

The bike = 8/ 10

Based on the comments of all the triathletes we talked to, the road was a little less bumpy this year, which is good. For us, the road going in and out of Shangri-la is still a little too bumpy for our taste, but definitely rideable. The aid stations were spread out evenly and there were always enough aid station marshalls giving water and gatorade to the participants. The Cebuano’s who lined up along the bike course electrified the triathletes with their non-stop cheers and well wishes. A truly unique (and very Filipino!) experience. It’s our first time to ride this bike course and we had an absolutely blast. Once you get on the flat section, it’s aero heaven.

Unfortunately, drafting was still out of control this year. We saw at least 5-6 packs which contained most of the elites and top age groupers. What made it worse, is that some of them, were even escorted by draft marshals. We don’t know if the draft marshal clipped them eventually for drafting but that was kinda disheartening to see. Also, there was one draft marshal who power tripped and tagged almost everyone for all the wrong reasons. We dunno who he was but we’ll just call him boy bigote (mr. mustache) as that’s his only identifying mark. We hope the organizers don’t get him again as he clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing.

The run = 10/10

The best part of the race definitely. The run is almost pancake flat with a mix of slight uphills and tight turns. According to the participants, the course never ran out of water and gatorade and the drinks stayed ice cold. A big kudos to the organizers for that one. The sponges sponsored by Safeguard was also a huge plus. The sponges are of  high quality and really made us wish we had a bag with us so we can take some of those white babies home!

Crowd support during was also top notch. The big turnaround area featured dancers, singers, and smiling Cebuano’s who never stopped cheering the athletes on. Now, THAT, is what Filipino triathlon is all about!

One thing that got us scratching our heads is, why the hell did they pour liquid soap in the water?! That’s a big no no as that will leave you really sticky unless you intend on showering and rinsing during the race. That just didn’t make any sense.

Not to rant, but there were also a couple of marshalls on the final aid station 1k before entering shangri-la who kept on shouting “final 500 meters!”, that made a lot of participants (including yours truly) sprint all out knowing that the end is near.. only to find out, that there were still about 1.3-1.5 kilometers to go! A definite ouch!

Lesson learned.

Overall = 9/10

Let’s put it this way, if registration for the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines this year closed in 5 days, we won’t be surprised if registration for the 2014 Ironman 70.3 Philippines will close in 5 hours, or even less.

Sidenote :

The post-race party = XOXO

Though unofficial, the post race party at el tiki bar was, well, what happens in Cebu, stays in Cebu. :)

Thanks for reading :)

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