SUBIC – Fil-Am Peter del Rosario and Celinda Raagas sustained their form coming off resounding victories in Vermosa, Cavite two weeks ago, ruling the premier 13-14 division of the IronKids Philippines Subic Bay in ideal conditions here yesterday.
But while Raagas matched her emphatic win in the girls’ side, del Rosario had to go through some anxious moments before overcoming Darell Bada and a couple of rivals’ fierce challenge as the duo swept the season’s last two events of the junior version of the IRONMAN organized by Sunrise Events, Inc.
Del Rosario, who foiled Bada by almost two minutes at Vermosa, edged his rival this time by mere 22 seconds in the 400m-swim, 8km-bike, 3km-run event ushering in the big triathlon weekend culminating in today’s staging of Alveo 5150 Subic Bay.
The rising Laguna star, who turned 13 last month, came out of the opening swim leg in joint fourth with Red Reyes in 05:35 but, like in his Vermosa romp, he used his superb riding skills to top the bike stage in 17:03 before ruling the closing run part in 13:33 for a total clocking of 36:11.0.
Bada, the Cebu IronKids winner, clocked 05:31 in swim but failed to match del Rosario’s kicks and strides in the last two stages, settling for another runner-up finish in 36:33 with leg times of 17:09 in swim and 13:53 in run.
Carron Cañas topped the swim leg in 5:06 but slowed down in the bike with a 17:23 clocking before finishing in 14:32 in the run for third in 37:01.
Del Rosario, who seeks to become a member of the national youth triathlon team and dreams of joining the IRONMAN someday, started competing in tri-sports at age 8, winning his first IronKids in Cebu in the 11-12 group last August. Home-schooled under a US curriculum who trains under coach Doray Ellis of Get Coach’D Academy, he transitioned to 13-14 category at Vermosa and is expected to dominate his age group next year.
Prince Clark also struggled after an impressive 05:30 time in swim, submitting a 19:37 clocking in bike and 15:35 in run to drop to eighth in 40:42. Wincy Pagnanawon placed fourth in 38:04 (5:40 swim, 17:44 bike, 14:40 run) while Rojan Perez timed 38:48 for fifth while Reyes and Miguel Angeles ended up sixth and seventh in 39:02 and 39:55, respectively.
