Aussie Sam Betten gears up for another crack at an Olympic distance triathlon series crown on a course he’s very familiar with as he heads the elite field vying in the inaugural Black Arrow Express 5150 on Nov. 4 in Subic Bay.
Back to what has long been considered as the country’s triathlon capital, the 6-foot-4 Betten is actually gunning for a fourth straight 5150 championship after completing a three-peat in wet conditions last year, making him the man to beat in the upcoming 1.5k swim-40k bike-10k run event.
“Subic Bay is one of my favorite places in the world to race in. For me, this is a great triathlon location,” said Betten, who, however, expects a tougher challenge from his fellow pros and race condition with forecast of sunny weather on Black Arrow 5150 weekend.
Fellow Aussie Mitch Robins heads the early roster of challengers that includes Jakub Langhammer of the Czech Republic and American Tim Linn with a host of others tipped to join the title hunt in the event organized and produced by Sunrise Events, Inc. and sponsored by Black Arrow Express.
The event, backed by venue hosts Subic Bay and ACEA Subic Bay and major sponsors David’s Salon, Pioneer Insurance and Wicked Active Gear, also serves as SEI’s final triathlon on its milestone 10th year of staging the premier endurance race in the country.
For details, visit www.blackarrowexpress.5150philippines.com.
Triathletes from 21 countries are competing in the event, including seven from Australia, six from Great Britain, five from the US and four from Japanese. Three bets each from France and Hong Kong are also vying in the event which also drew participants from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Guam, Guatemala, India, Italy, New Zealand, Malaysia, Norway, Russia, Portugal and Vietnam.
Other titles to be disputed are the Asian Elite and various age categories along with relay events for male, female and mixed.
Backing the event are TYR (official swim cap), GU (official energy gel), Active Network (official registration partner), marketing partners Alaska, AlcoPlus, Cetaphil, DeVant, Nuun, PLDT Subictel, Smart, Sanicare, Regent, Storck and Timex and media partners Hyper HD, Cignal, The Philippine Star, AsiaTri.com and Finisher Pix.