Cobra Ironman Week opens today

CEBU, Philippines - The ‘Cobra Ironman Week’ formally kicks off with a series of activities and exciting sidelights leading to the big event this Sunday at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.

Today, the swim course will open from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is an opportunity for the participants to take a closer look at the 1.9-kilometer route where the organizers will use the ‘rolling start’ for the swim portion of the three-in-one race.

The Ironman store and the world-class triathlon expo will also open at The Marquee of Shangri-La as well as the IronKids athlete registration and the Sunlife Wellness Studio, both at the Mactan Ballroom Foyer.

A final briefing for all members of the media who will be covering the action-packed spectacle will be held at 11:30 a.m. at Laguna Garden Café in Ayala Center Cebu.

A pyrotechnic competition at 7 p.m. will cap the day at the Discovery Bay.

On Friday, the 2.5-kilometer Alaska Run Out and Breakfast Campaign will take place at 6 a.m. at the Punta Engano Elementary School. Being triathletes, IronKids participants together with Ironman champions like Pete Jacobs, Caroline Steffen, and Alaska Tri-Aspire Team coach Matt O’Halloran, and Filipino elites Banjo Norte, and Jenny Guerrero will all run out to the Punta Engaño ES where over 1,600 children will join the Alaska for Breakfast campaign.

At 9 a.m,  there will be a Bike Ride Out sponsored by the city government of Cebu.

Scheduled at 2 p.m. is the ‘Ride with Ironman world champion Pete Jacobs.' It will be followed by 'Meet the PROs' press conference at 4 p.m. at The Marquee of the partner hotel. A carbo-loading dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Shangri-La golf course.

The fun-filled action continues with the Alaska Ironkids, the junior version of ronman Philippines, and the Sunlife Zumba by the Beach early morning on Saturday.

The race briefing for the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines contenders will be done at 4:30 p.m for Batch 1 and at 5 p.m. for Batch 2 at the Mactan Ballroom. Late check-in arrangements for athletes will be accommodated only from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The main event will promptly start at 6:27 a.m on Sunday featuring a record-number 2,616 entries from 52 countries across six continents. It has also attracted the deepest field of PROs to ever compete in the history Philippine triathlon.

World champions Craig “Crowie” Alexander and Pete “PJ” Jacobs, both from Australia, and defending Cobra Ironman champions Brent McMahon of Canada and Caroline Steffen of Switzerland banner the formidable list of PRO lineup.

The other Ironman big shots include Luke McKenzie, Clayton Fettell, Michael Murphy, Justin Granger, Stef Puszka, Michelle Wu, Sam Betten, Tim Van Berkel, Dimity Lee-Duke, Tim Reed, Derek Cross and Belinda Granger of Australia, Bree Wee and Beth Gerdes of the US,  Cameron Brown of New Zealand, Nick Baldwin of Seychelles, Carole Fuchs of France, and Kathryn Haesner of Germany.

The most sought-after race in the Asia Pacific region also serves as qualifier for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Sunshine Coast, Australia where 40 age-group qualifying slots will be at stake. For more details, one may visit www.ironman703phil.com. (FREEMAN)