RP bets pocket duathlon bronze

MANILA, Philippines - August Benedicto and Monica Torres came away with bronze medals as the Filipino bets made a good account of themselves in the Mekong River ITU Duathlon World Series in Nong Khai, Thailand over the weekend.

The race lured 136 duathletes from 15 countries with the RP bets figuring prominently in the elite race set at the standard distance of 10k run, 40k bike and 5k run.

The event marked the first race participated in by the country’s bets under the partnership agreement between the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) and the Philippine Sports Commission a part of the RP duathletes buildup for the 2013 World Games where duathlon will be included as a demonstration sport.

Benedicto negotiated the race in one hour 57 minutes and 37 seconds on splits at 33:53, 1:05:31 and 18:14.

Benedicto’s second run split was the second fastest among the men’s elite as he bucked the world’s 14th ranked duathlete Takashi Nakata of Japan to emerge the best among Asian competitors.

Nakata finished fourth (1:59:02), edging Filipino Carlo Pedregosa who fell short by just a second (1:59:03).

Robeno Javier, another RP bet, ended up sixth in 1:59:51.

World’s No. 2 Russian Sergey Yakolev lived up to his billing by beating compatriot Nikolai Sukhoruchenkov to claim the top honors.

The Russians worked hand in hand in the first run and bike leg as they submitted identical splits at 31:45 and 1:02:20 before Yakolev pulled away in the final run to claim first place at 1:51:14 or a minute and 25 seconds lead against Sukhoruchenkov (1:52:39).

Torres, the world’s fifth ranked lady duathlete, submitted a time of 2:12:39 to finish third behind Russian Yevgeniya Sukhoruchekova (2:08:57) and world’s number one Airi Sawada of Japan (2:12:39).