MANILA, Philippines - Mervin Rencel Santiago added another feather to his cap as he ruled Saturday’s Aboitiz TRI2015 which drew 295 athletes at the Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club, Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas.
Representing Sante Barley, Santiago timed two hours, 21 minutes, 18 seconds in the standard distance 1.5K swim-40K bike- 10K run event for the gold medal in the men’s 18-24 age category in this race organized by BikeKing headed by Raul Cuevas and presented by Aboitiz.
Santiago made up for his fifth place showing in the swim with solid performances in the bike and run phase.
Behind Santiago were former national triathlon coach Peter Gonzalez (2:31:28) and John Omar Paredes (2:35:14).
Gonzalez from PLDT-Bike King and Paredes representing Herbalife also emerged champions in the men’s 45-49 and 35-39 age groups, respectively.
Veteran Amale Jopson of AboitizLand reigned in the female 40-44 category in 2:56:00.
Aside from the individual category, the event also featured the Relay competition with Edward James Roque, Kristian Reyes and Jose De Jeses from Aboitiz Cycling Team winning in 2:44:15.
Second and third were the Carlos Aboitiz and Emmanuel Rubio-led Open Access (2:47:20) and Triple Threat of Jana Charisse Pedro, Obet Javier and Felino Bernardo (2:50:32).
Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.’s chief human resource officer and senior vice president Txabi Aboitiz expressed elation over the turnout of the event which saw participants challenge themselves with the very unique race course that featured the steep hill climb to Pico de Loro Cove’s highest point, the Marina, the Nasugbu-Ternate Highway and the beach and lagoon close to the finish line.
During the post-race activity, Aboitiz said to the participants: “Today, our focus is on celebrating people. All of you who have participated in this triathlon are champions because of your personal commitment to live a healthy and active lifestyle. You clearly demonstrate an important principle of sustainable living.”
Aboitiz added that the conglomerate remains dedicated to supporting athletic events such as the AboitizPower Philippine Hobie Challenge, the AboitizPower Tour of Subic, and the Aboitiz Football Cup. The race is also supported by Union Bank and WeatherPhilippines, Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club, Orbea, Nuun, Sante Barley, Timex, Philippine STAR, SPIN.ph, Multisport and RaceDay.