World meet berths staked in off-road Xterra triathlon

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 30 pros and around 400 participants vie for cash prizes, honors and spots in the World Championships in Maui, Hawaii in the 2014 Vaseline Men XTERRA Off-road Triathlon Series which unwraps tomorrow in Liloan, Cebu.

Australian Ben Allen is back to retain the title he won in the first two editions of the annual race dubbed as the world’s premier off-road race that covers a gruelling 1.5 kilometer of swimming in the pristine waters of Liloan, 35 kms of mountain biking and 9.2 kms of trail running in the rough terrains of the quaint city.

“It will be our third year to host this event and we’re excited to be given a chance to host it again this year,” said Vaseline Men brand manager Jonathan Pua in yesterday’s press conference at the Milky Way in Makati City.

Aside from Pua, Princess Galura of the organizing Sunrise Events, Inc., race director Neville Manaois, Mark Zarraga of LBC Solutions and Paolo Dizon of Smart also attended the press launch hosted by Patricia Bermudez-Hizon.

Aside from XTERRA Full, there will be another category for those still not yet ready for the big time – the XTERRA Lite, a shorter course of 500-meter swim, 15.5-km mountain bike and 5-km run.

But focus will be on Allen, who have also won the XTERRA World Tour in Saipan, Guam and New Zealand last year aside from his back-to-back victories here.

But out to foil his bid for a third straight win are South African Dan Hugo, Aussie Dimitry Duke, Guam’s Charlie Epperson, Malaysian Sharom Abndullah, and Guam’s Bradley Weiss.

Swiss Renata Buchers, who finished second in the last edition, Great Britian’s Jacqui Slack and Daz Parker, last year’s third placer, are the fancied to dispute the crown along with Saipan’s Mieko Carey.

This event is sponsored by Vaseline Men, The Philippine STAR, LBC Solutions, ABS-CBN, Air Asia, Aqua Sphere, Coca-Cola FEMSA Phl, David’s Salon, Devant, Department of Tourism, Intercare, Prudential Gurantee, R.O.X., Salomon, Shotz, Smart, Timex, Titay’s and the municipality of Liloan.

For details, interested participants may log on www.XTerraphil.com, https://www.facebook.com/VaselineMenXTERRAPhil or you can also visit R.O. XBonifacio High Street or R.O.X. Cebu.