Podium finishes for Baguio, Benguet triathletes, sweep in men half Ironman

March 13, 2022 Metro BLISTT

Baguio and Benguet triathletes showed the stuff they were made of as they bucked the challenge of athletes down south as well as their counterparts from 23 other countries for podium finishes in the Ironman Subic Philippines in Subic Bay last Sunday.
Youthful Maynard Pecson showed his mastery in the bike as he out pedaled teammate Josh Ramos in the last few kilometers to rule the half Ironman event and lead a 1-3 finish for Baguio-Benguet Triathlon.
Pecson, 23 and a second-year B.S. Tourism of Saint Louis University students, clocked four hours, 45 minutes, and 28 seconds to rule the event which had a 1.9-kilometer swim, a 21.1 km run or half marathon, and the 90-km bike at the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
Beneco lineman Reagan Nabua had the third-best total to complete the domination of the local team in the male category of the half Ironman. Lou Ann Ramos said that the Baguio tri-athletes were behind after the swim portion which was ruled by a La Union participant and her son, Josh, trailing.
But the Ramos boy, who donated a month allowance from the Philippine team to help the city’s Covid-19 efforts in 2020, took over in the run portion.
Running second after the run, Pecson struck in the bike portion as the biker who joined the BBT team in 2018 where he learned to swim and better his running, dominated in the last stage to claim the top podium.
“Swimming is our weakness since we have no place to train in the city with the Olympic-sized pool still under rehabilitation,” said the participant of the Alcatraz 2018 in San Francisco, California.
The team usually train in Asin where they swim in a smaller pool, or at times at the SLU campus in Bakakeng which has a 25-meter pool, added the fourth generation Hamada whose father, Steve, is a former editor of the Baguio Midland Courier and her grandfather, Sinai, founded the city’s oldest newspaper which he edited too.
Meanwhile, MJ Argosino, 22 ruled the women’s division with an official time of 5:57:59. In the team relay, Team Tnst Sensi finished first in the male category with an official time of 4:38:36. T.t.N.S. Pasaway, meanwhile, emerged victorious in the female category with a time of 5:09:54.
Raul Gaerlan clocked 11 hours 49 minutes and 10 seconds to place third in the 50 – 54 years old category and 14th overall. Veteran JT Gonzales finished second in the 55-59-year-old division, while Marrisa Malowet was third overall in the women’s side of the full Ironman.
The three older athletes are members of the 2600 Tri-Team. The players qualify for the World Ironman on October 8 in Kona, Hawaii.
Pigeon Lobien/RNG Luzon