Saying he knows the race course like the back of his hand, Canadian triathlete Mathieu O’Halloran made sure he would emerge champion in last Saturday morning’s International Ttriathlon Union (ITU)- Asian 03 Long Distance Triathlon held inside the Subic Freeport.
“I would not have any excuse if I don’t win this race, I train here everyday, being in front, I am at my best,” said the 22-year-old Ottawa native who has been training in Subic for the last six months under the TBB Group. He pocketed P30,000 for his effort plus prizes from Speedo.
And right from the start of the 4K swim leg, O’Halloran was all business as he finished it way ahead of the others and steadily pulled away in the gruelling 120K bike leg and maintained a regular pace in the final 30K run en route to a solo victory in 6:36.17, way ahead of runner-up Warren Squires from Zimbabwe who clocked 7;14.05
Frenchman Patrice Robustelli placed third in 7:31.32 while Filipino bet Peter Gonzales made it to the top five with a fourth place finish in 7:33.28 while Briton Chris Pollard rounded out the top five in the 61-man field with a time of 7:43.05.Just missing out in the money placing was national duathlete Augusto Benedicto who was celebrating his 24th birthday that day as he took sixth place in 7:45.41 in his very first long distance triathlon.