Javier, Timman rule first leg of Phl duathlon series

MANILA, Philippines - National athlete Robeno Javier and Jullia Timman dominated the field to rule the men’s and women’s elite divisions, respectively, in the first leg of Philippine Duathlon Series at Filinvest City grounds in Muntinlupa Sunday.

Javier, who finished third in the Asian Cup in Indonesia last March, made his move early in the first six-kilometer run and never looked back in topping the men’s division of the run-bike-run event in one hour, 19 minutes and 54 seconds.

Former Asian duathlon champion Ryan Mendoza finished second, three seconds behind (1:19.57) while national junior duathlete Robinson Esteves placed third (1:21.31) in the event sponsored by Filinvest City, Camelbak and Ineng’s BBQ.

With only two female runners in her division of the event backed by 8A Multisport Wear and Glass Solutions, Timman wasted no time to stamp her class in the first wave of participants en route to topping her race in 1:54.17 while former Milo Marathon runner Rowena Valdez finished a distant second in 2:01.21.

“I will finally be able to buy myself a helmet,” said the 22-year-old Unilab employee, who had to borrow one from a friend for last weekend’s race, of what she would do with the P5,000 cash prize she received from race director-organizer Thumbie Remigio for her victory.

Awarding the prizes to the winners were top duathletes Carlo Pedregosa and Mirasdol Abad, who will represent the country in the World Games in Cali, Colombia later this month, in the competition also supported by Coco Natura, Spyder, Compressport, Chamois Butter and Zoot.