SUBIC – Australians Sam Betten and Dimity Lee Duke set out for a repeat of their last year’s feats, upbeat of their chances but wary of the compact cast of rivals in the Black Arrow Express 5150, which fires off today.
Winner of the Regent 5150 races the last three years, Betten seeks to extend his reign to the first of three Black Arrow Express 5150s with the Aussie ace hinting at banking again on his experience and preference to race in the faster pace of an Olympic distance event.
“I have really enjoyed the hard and fast racing over the 5150 distance here and it has been great to have had so much success,” said the 6-foot-4 Betten, who also won a 5150 event in Bohol in 2015. “Since I’ve been racing this distance for so long, I have so much experience which really allows me to make the most of the opportunity to succeed.”
He beat compatriot Mitch Robins by five minutes in wet conditions to complete a three-peat in last year’s edition of the 1.5k swim-40K bike-10K run race in what has long been considered as the country’s triathlon capital last year. But he braces for a tougher outing this time with Robins also all geared up to snap back-to-back runner-up finishes in the event organized and produced by Sunrise Events, Inc.
Others vying in the centerpiece men’s pro event, backed by venue hosts Subic Bay and ACEA Subic Bay and major sponsors David’s Salon, Pioneer Insurance and Wicked Active Gear, are Jakub Langhammer of the Czech Republic, American Tim Linn and Dan Brown, also from Down Under.
Duke, meanwhile, goes all out for a second straight 5150 title here after scoring a breakthrough last year but, like Betten, she faces a fierce challenge from Manami Iijima of Guam and Hong Kong’s Leanne Szeto in the event which also serves as SEI’s final triathlon on its milestone 10th year of staging the premier endurance race in the country.
For one, IIjima, who actually finished ahead of Duke at eighth in the Ironman 70.3 in Cebu last August, brims with confidence of pulling off a big upset in one of her favorite race courses.
