DAVAO CITY—Mauricio Mendez lagged behind for most of the race and had to rally to win while Radka Kahlefeldt led from the beginning and coasted to victory as the two posted contrasting victories to rule the Alveo IRONMAN 70.3 held here yesterday at the Azuela Cove.
Mendez of Mexico finished with a time of 3:50:32 ahead of Tim Reed (3:52:26), Australia; Tim Van Berkel (3:53:45), Australia; Craig Alexander (3:56:24), Australia; Bradley Weis (3:58:37) of South Africa and Kyle Buckingham (4:01:43) of South Africa.
Kahlefedt of South Africa won pulling away with a time of 4:25:38 ahead of Naomi Washizu (4:36:53), Japan; Dimity Lee Duke (4:39:12), Australia; Lisa Tyack (4:41:01), Australia; Kirralee Seidel (4:43:36), Australia; and Sarah Lester (4:53:04), Australia.
Mendez was fifth out of the swim part of the race behind Buckingham, Van Berkel, Reed and Alexander. Mendez still trailed after the completion of the bike ride.
Mendez trailed Reed in the early part of the run but eventually took the top spot in the last seven kilometers.
“When I passed him, I never looked back. But that was a hard battle. I was in second place until the final 13 kilometers. The effort was just too hard,” said Mendez, who had to overtake Reed winner of three consecutive IRONMAN 70.3 Cebu competitions.
Reed, who led after the bike part of the race and the early part of the run, was hounded by bad luck as he lost his power drink in the bike part of the race and gradually faded, while Mendez surged ahead.
Kahlefedt, on the other hand, was ahead of Washizu by three minutes out of the water. Kahlefedt gradually built on that lead and eventually finished more than 11 minutes ahead of the second placer.
Jorry Yong (4:24:15) was the best local finisher. Trailing him closely are August Benedicto (4:25:02), Banjo Norte (4:25:07), Paul Jumamil (4:36:24) and Benjamin Rana (4:40:42).
Other division winners were Moya Johansson from Australia, who topped the 25-29 category with a time of 4:52:00 and Great Britain’s David Watson, who topped the 35-39 group in 4:31:21.
Azuela Cove and Davao City hosted the event.
Other sponsors include 2Go Express, Powerade, Wilkins Pure Purified Water, Sportswear, TYR, GU, Aboitiz Power, Davao Light, David’s Salon, Intercare, Davao Metro Shuttle, Prudential Guarantee, HyperHD on Cignal, AsiaTri.com, FinisherPix, TriLife and The Philippine STAR, Alaska, AlcoPlus, ApoAgua, Cetaphil, Daylong, Devant, Fern-C, Penong’s Barbecue Seafood and Grill, Sanicare, Storck, Timex, Seda, Park Inn, Waterfront, Marco Polo and Active Network.
It was the first time the race was held in Davao City.
Hundreds lined the shore while the participants started the race with the open water swim. Thousands more lined the entire route of the bicycle ride through three municipalities and the run through the commercial district of Davao to cheer on the participants.