Bozzone, Bentley score blazing finish

PILI, Camarines Sur, Philippines – Terenzo Bozzone of New Zealand and Lisa Bentley of Canada endured the blistering heat and poured it on in the final stretch to rule yesterday’s Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines marred by the death of a participant at the CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC) here.

The 24-year-old Bozzone, the reigning Ironman 70.3 champion, fought it out with the defending full Ironman titlist Chris McCormack of Australia most of the way before dominating the final two kilometers of the run leg to claim the thrilling victory.

Bozzone, who figured in a cycling accident in training with McCormack two weeks ago in Sydney, Australia, completed the Ironman meet in three hours, 51 minutes and 25 seconds, or 53 seconds ahead of the Aussie champ.

“Cameron (Brown) and Chris (McCormack) really ran well and I found myself struggling throughout,” said Bozzone, who will compete in the World Championship on Oct. 10 in Kona, Hawaii.

But tragedy spoiled the first staging of the 70.3 Ironman which drew the world’s elite triathletes when a relay team bet, Miguel Vasques, 53, died in the swim leg of the event.

The 36-year-old Bentley, the 11-time Ironman winner, outclassed American Gina Kehr to pull off the dramatic win in 4:24.29 in this event backed by Philippine Airlines, Air Philippines, Oakley, Timex, New Balance, SKI Construction and Gatorade with The Philippine STAR, ABS-CBN Publishing and Solar Sports as media partners.

“I was surprised I timed in faster because I thought I was really slow in this race. It was definitely one of my best performances,” said Bentley.

McCormack, who was one of the most popular foreign entries in the event, hopes to come back next year and improve on his performance.

“I’ve never seen him (Bozzone) race like that,” said McCormack, a 35-year-old pro. “The spectators are great, it was really fun hearing them cheering for us and showing their love and hospitality.

“I really suffered in the run because of the heat, I’m coming back next year to improve my time,” he added.

Kehr, whose last 70.3 victory came in the Stealhead tournament last year, led Bentley by 3.49 minutes in the 1.2-mile swim but barely held on to an 18-second edge after threading through the rolling hills of the 58.6-mile bike stage before fading under Bentley’s furious pace in the third leg to settle for second.

Brown, a New Zealand ace, finished third in 3:52:31 while Pete Jacobs, who was the fastest coming out of the man-made Lago del Rey, American Tim Marr and unheralded Japanese Daiki Masuda finished at fourth, fifth and sixth places in 3:56:51, 4:02:52 and 4:17:06, respectively.

Australian Charlotte Paul was ninth overall and third behind Bentley and Kehr in 4:31:26.

Filipino Noy Jopson made it to the top 10 amid the strong foreign challenge, timing in 4:38:32 to post the best performance by a Filipino in the Ironman 70.3, which will be held in the country in the next two years.

“I’m just happy I made it to the top 10 amid a strong field,” said the well-built Jopson.

Fil-Am Arlan Macasieb, a two-time national champion and former Southeast Asian Games medalist, came into the event as the favorites among the locals but wavered in the stifling heat and finished 16th overall, behind compatriots Peter Gonzales, Ferdinand Catabian and Noel Salvador.

Over a hundred thousand spectators lined up the streets to watch and cheer for the more than 500 participants who braved the hot weather in the meet which started and ended at the state-of-the-art complex that has established itself as one of the top tourist destinations in the country today.

Ironman notes: Race organizers had brought in popular race announcer Whit Raymund to make the event more lively and interesting. Raymund was impressive in making blow-by-blow updates of the race to the delight of the appreciative crowd who trooped to the CWC...A chopper that host Gov. Lray Villafuerte owns was all over the place. It was tasked to fly over the race track and follow the lead pack...Lopez siblings Gina and Ernie, who have organized numerous races for different causes like cancer prevention and Pasig River rehabilitation, were part of the more than 500 participants who competed in the event. Gina joined the relay team races while Ernie entered the Ironman.