MANILA, Philippines - Australian Mitch Robins put on a blazing show even as Claire Adorna, only on her second year in the sport, imposed her class to share the podium in yesterday’s ULAH Tri United 1 at the Dungaree Beach, Subic Bay.
Robins, 26, and Adorna, 21, drowned the opposition with their impressive performances in the swim leg to anchor their wire-to-wire victories.
A regular competitor in triathlon races in the country since 2012, Robins negotiated the 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run race organized by BikeKing headed by Raul Cuevas, in one hour, 55 minutes, 42 seconds.
A distant second and third were Unilab Active Health (ULAH) triathletes John Chicano (2:02:44) and Benjamin Rama (2:05:01).
“It was a fast course and very well organized race,” said Robins.
The event was sponsored by Unilab Active Health in cooperation with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) tourism department and supported by Aboitiz, Enervon Activ, Active Health Sports Gel, Enervon HP and AboitizPower.
“I was not sure of winning because the Filipino triathetes are very fast. I will be spending more time in the Philippines and absolutely you can expect me to compete in the next Tri United races,” added Robins.
Two other foreign pros – Saranon Chantaraj from Thailand and Eneko Elosegui from Spain – failed in their bid for a podium finish in the race backed by Orbea, Shimano, Maxxis, TIMEX, Gardenia, Gerry’s Grill, Pocari Sweat, Lighthouse Marina Resort Subic, Camayan Beach Resort and Court Meridian Hotel.
Adorna, also from ULAH, primed up for a possible gold medal in the SEA Games in Singapore this June as she dominated teammates Anna Stroh and Ani Karina Brown.
A member of the national team and owner of the Philippine record in the female division, Adorna, the UAAP most outstanding swimmer on her last year with champion team UP, timed 2:15:55. She highlighted her showing with a surprising second place finish in the swim behind Robins.
“Our training for the SEA Games is intensive and that’s what I put into the race,” said Adorna, who like Robins, pocketed P10,000 in the race covered by Men’s Health, SBR.ph, Raceday, Multisport and SPIN.ph.
Series defending women’s champion Stroh finished second (2:23:40) while Ani Karina de Leon-Brown took third (2:33:05).
The first of four Tri United races for 2015 drew 780 participants in the race which also featured the sprint distance and titles also disputed in the different age groups and team competition. Sante Barley dominated Fitness First and Herbalife for the team championship.
Completing the winners in the standard distance were Mervin Santiago and Irish Ivy Domingo (18-24), Robinson Esteves and Karen Kate Pascual (25-29), John Mark Yamoyam and Chloe Ong (30-34), Jefferson Valdez and Alisa Dicaprio (35-39), Raymond Galdonez and Lezette Albarote (40-44), Mariela Powell (female 45-above), Jojo Macalintal (male 45-49), Frank Lacson (50-54) and Tatsuya Kanai (55-above).
Sprint champions were Samuel Ranque (16-17), Jimuel Patilan (18-29), Jeric Saclauso (30-39), Reuben Lista (40-49) and Albert Bartilad (50-above) in the male and Maria Antonniette Balagtas (18-29), Kareena Maclang (30-39) and Jennifer Soto (40-49) in the female class.