Guimaras hosts national triathlon

Triathlon, one of the fastest-growing adventure and Olympic sports in the country, finds a new venue next year when the island province of Guimaras in the Visayas hosts the National Triathlon Championships Feb. 1.

"We welcome the opportunity to host for the first time this event in our province and it is a very good way to promote the natural attractions of Guimaras through a sports tourism event like the national triathlon championship, to be held simultaneously with the fifth national inter-club competition," said Guimaras Governor Rahman Nava, who is throwing his full support to the project.

"We are happy we have found another new venue and this is the first time that we are holding the national triathlon championship separate from the Subic International Triathlon as part of the changes we introduced in our schedule," said TRAP president Tom Carrasco.

The 2004 Guimaras National Triathlon Championship and Interclub Competition, supported by the Guimaras Provincial Planning and Development Office under Jimmy Baban, the Guimaras Provincial Tourism Office headed by Angie Gabinete, the Guimaras Mountain Bikers Association, and the provincial Health Office, Red Cross, will start at the Raymen beach resort in Nueva Valencia and will end at the provincial capitol in Jordan, Guimaras.

The event features the 1.5K-swim-40K bike-10K run. The sprint distance for junior triathletes is 750m. swim-20K bike-5K run. Both events are expected to attract triathletes and even fun triathletes from Davao, Cebu, Bacolod, and Cagayan de Oro. Local support sponsors include the Raymen Beach Resort and the Freelance Beach Resort, both located in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras.