One of the toughest Triathlon events in the country, the eight edition of the Annual Whiterock Triathlon with its Half-Ironman distance (2km Swim – 90km Bike – 20km Run) was even more challenging than its previous races as this year is HARDCORE as participants must race under Signal no.2 waves, winds and rain brought by Typhoon Quiel. Finally finished my first Half-Iron distance triathlon and “redeemed myself” after missing out CamSur last August due to Dengue.
Four of us Greenhills Tri Team members are present and braved the Typhoon lashed course of Zambales. Leading the way is my teammate Kevin with a time of 6 hours and 4 minutes followed by me with a time of 6 hours and 52 mins. Our veteran Uncle Willy came in third with a time of 6 hours 40 mins and Alfredo Santos although getting declassified still finished the tough course with 7 hours and 5 mins.
Me and Kevs were quite surprised at first that the waves isn’t that strong considering the whole province is under Signal no.2, but as soon as the swim progressed the waves started to swell even dragging the marker buoys a few hundred meters from its original position. Got out of the water in about 1hr and 15 mins and there are still quite a lot of participants finishing their swim. The Bike leg wasn’t that bad, with a strong but manageable headwind during the first 45km of the course, though it helped us participants during the ride back to Whiterock. The run leg was a different thing, rains where gradually pouring in and getting worse as the race nears it final 2 hours before cut-off time. The minute I crossed the finish line, the finish line was almost thrown away by lashing winds.
All in all the race is a experience worth remembering for all the Whiterock participants, now we all know what HARDCORE really means!
Cobra Ironman 70.3
Swim Bike Run
Takbo.ph
TRAP