Hundreds of cyclists take part in a fun ride in the Sun Bike Out today (Sunday), kicking off the busy Regent Aguila Ironman 70.3 Philippines Asia Pacific Championship week at the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu Lapu City.
The 75km Sun Life event firing off a 6 am at Mactan Newtown is staged to further drum up interest for the blue-ribbon event firing off next Sunday (Aug. 5) which drew a record international cast in the centerpiece pro division and thousands more in other categories that further underscored the growing popularity of the top endurance race in the country.
Thirty-eight of the world’s top and rising triathletes, including 21 in the premier male pro side, led by four-peat seeking Tim Reed of Australia, banner the record cast of 2,700 triathletes from over 51 countries vying in the 1.9km swim-90km bike-21.2km run event presented by Aguila Energy Drink and Regent Food Corp. and organized and produced by Sunrise Events Inc.
It also boasts of the one biggest and most complete triathlon expos to date with all finishers to receive podium trophies and medals designed and hand made by world class Cebuano designer Kenneth Cobonpue.
The TYR Swim Out, on the other hand, will be held Thursday (Aug. 2) at the Shangri-La Mactan beach where the Ironman 70.3 Phl Expo Open will be held at The Marquee. Also on tap in the day are the triathletes’ check-in and the IronKids and Herbalife Iron Girl listup.
The Alaska Run Out, meanwhile, is set at 6 am Friday (Aug. 3) at Shangri-La Mactan Lobby to Mactan Shrine with the meet-the-pros press conference to be held in the afternoon, including a Q&A with triathlon Canada hall-of-famer and Lifesport coach Lance Watson. The Herbalife Iron Girl is set at 5 p.m.
Action heats up on Saturday (Aug. 4) with the future of triathlon taking center stage in the Alaska Iron Kids swim-bike-run race starting at 6 a.m. Also on tap in the afternoon is a race day tips with legends Belinda Granger and Watson and race briefings.
Sunday’s featured Ironman 70.3 fires off at 5:55 am for the male pros/male Asian Elite/CEO race to be followed by the female pros/female Asian Elite division and the rolling gun start for age-groupers and relay participants. Each participant is given 70 minutes to finish the 1.9k swim while the bike cut off is five hours and 30 minutes. The run time limit, on the other hand, is eight hours and 30 minutes.
Local celebrities will also spice up the event, backed by venue hosts Province of Cebu, City of Lapu Lapu and Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa and bike course partners City of Cebu, Mandaue and Talisay, official logistics and courier partner 2GO Express, official hydration partners Gatorade, official energy gel Gu, official swim cap TYR, official footwear and apparel Asics and official registration partner Active Network and official hotels BE Resorts Mactan, Crimson, Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Mactan and Mont and Michel and Metropolitan Cebu Water District.
Other backers are David’s Salon, Intercare, Prudential Guarantee, The Mactan Newtown and SunLife Financial, Air Asia, AlcoPlus, Cetaphil, CrampFix, DeVant, Fern-C, Mactan Cebu, Mont St. Michel Purified Drinking Water, Omega Pain Killer, Prozza, Sanicare, Smart, Ssangyong and Timex with Hyper HD on Cignal, The Philippine Star, Trilife, AsiaTri.com and Finisher Pix as media partners.
