Matthew Hermosa and Raven Alcoseba enhanced their promising triathlon careers as they fashioned out a pair of wire-to-wire triumphs in the Go for Gold Sunrise Sprint in 5150 Dapitan Philippines in Zamboanga del Norte over the weekend.
Hermosa took command after the swim leg in nine minutes and 58 seconds and never looked back, cranking up the pace in the bike (30:56) and run (18:54) stages to win in 1:01:43 in the men’s side of the short-distance series dubbed as S2 disputed over the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5-km run.
It served as the sub-category to the centerpiece 5150 Dapitan (1.5-km swim, 40-km bike and 10-km run) race organized by The IRONMAN Group/Sunrise Events Inc.
The 18-year-old Talisay City native, who teamed up with fellow first-timers Erika Burgos, Kira Ellis and Iñaki Lorbes to secure the gold in aquathlon’s mixed relay in the last Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, beat Irienold Reig Jr., a surprise winner in 5150 Subic last year, who clocked 1:03:15 with leg times of 10:14 (swim), 32:04 (bike) and 19:02 (run).
Daniel Cadanos placed third in 1:03:51 (10:29-32:17-19:15).
Alcoseba, a former winner of the event held for those endurance racing campaigners seeking a new challenge and beginners wanting to immerse themselves into the popular tri-sport, posted a 1:08:38 time to reign in her side of the competition.
Like Hermosa, Alcoseba seized command in swim (10:05) then virtually matched Karen Manayon’s times in the next two legs to clinch the victory. She clocked 35:14 in bike and 21:34 while Manayon, after an 11:07 time in swim, posted 35:47 and 21:28 in the last two stages for a total clocking of 1:10:27.
Nicole del Rosario came in third in 1:14:07 with leg times of 11:48-36:59-23:23.
In the main event, former SEA Games champions Fer Casares and Kim Mangrobang shared top honors with the former clocking 1:57:19 to foil John Chicano (1:59:33) and Satar Salem (1:59:35).
The three-time SEA Games gold medalist Mangrobang, on the other hand, submitted a 2:11:40 clocking to beat Samantha Corpuz and Erika Burgos, who timed 2:18:30 and 2:21:45, respectively, in the inaugural staging of the event that passed by heritage houses and historical landmarks in Dapitan City.
