Eight international pro triathletes will be battling it out at the inaugural Black Arrow Express 5150 organized by Sunrise Events on Sunday in the country's triathlon capital — Subic Bay.
"For this year, this is the only 5150 that we staged all year long. When I go back 10 years ago when we had 450 athletes in our first 70.3 and now we have over 10,000 triathletes registered in the congregation, it's really because of great events and great sponsors," said Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, founder of Sunrise Events Inc.
The pro athletes include Australia's Sam Betten, Mitch Robins, Dimity Lee Duke and Dan Brown, while hailing from Guam is Manami Iijuma, joined by Tim Linn from the USA and Jakub Langhammer from the Czech Republic.
Betten is the reigning champion of 5150 Subic Bay from 2015-2017 and he faces strong competition from Robins, Langhammer and Linn.
With a total of 627 participants from 21 countries, the event is stretched over an Olympic distance of 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and then concluded by a 10k run, while a simultaneous short distance race series named Sunrise Sprint will be disputed over a 750-m open water swim, 20k bike ride, and a 5k run race.
This is Sunrise Events’ final triathlon event on its 10th year of staging the tri-sport in the country, spicing it up this time with the Sunrise Sprint that aims to encourage the participation of beginners in the triathlon world while giving the tri-warriors a test of their abilities before they make a comeback.
"We have a very intimate group of pros racing tomorrow and what really makes me very happy is to see a lot of returning faces coming back year in and year out. We have new faces as well," said Uytengsu. "To everyone, I wish you a good race, a fast race, and a safe race. I'll see you at the finish line."
Hosting the venue will be Subic Bay and ACEA Subic Bay. Major sponsors are David’s Salon, Pioneer Insurance and Wicked Active Gear.