‘Brutal’ Xterra

When the dust settled, 42 participants did not finish the punishing Xterra Danao, 25 of them from the full distance, nine from the Lite category and eight from the duathlon. Also, two pros were not spared from the “killer race. That’s 18 percent out of the total of 237 individual participants. That leads us to the question, what happened?  Was there a miscommunication in the designing of the racetrack?  Was safety even considered in its design?

I have finished 3 Xterra races held in Liloan four years ago, but by far this was the toughest of them all. Brutal was just an understatement. Some pro athletes shared some valuable inputs after the race. "The route was similar to other Xterra world championship races held in other countries but the only difference was the weather condition we have." One pro also mentioned "one should not let the course adjust to you but you should adjust to the course".

The race course designer should have considered that we have a tropical weather. During last Sunday’s race, the temperature reached as high as 34 degrees with a heat factor of 42 degrees.  I also had a chance to chat with Sunrise Event general manager Princess Galura in which  she explained some very valid points. "When you finish a brutal race like this, it becomes your bragging rights to others who did not." Princess also mentioned that they will consider adjusting the race design next year knowing already what happened this year. Incidentally, Tyrone Tan and yours truly offered to help in designing the race course. Our main criteria of the race course design is to have Princess Galura walk through the bike and run course for approval. She laughed it off and said if ever that will happen, no Xterra race design will be approved.

The swim leg was perfect as you can’t do much about it, as our sea water. It will be forever be salty. But in the bike leg, the  designer must take in to consideration that it is rideable. I do know the difference between skills and guts that is why I did not dare ride my bike in the downhill section, but when you see a pro and elite athletes push their bikes in the uphill section then something is wrong.

It would have be okay if carrying is just to traverse a small ‘unrideable’ section but carrying the traverse around 50 to 100 meters with an ascent of more than 50 meter is already a different story. But again, this is not an excuse not to finish the race. That is why it is called ‘the race that separates men from the boys.”

The water stations were strategically located though, with ample supply of hydration. But the road markings and directions were poorly marked. Marshals were also confused regarding race route. On some sections, there were bike route that would meet on  single track going in opposite directions. It was a bit confusing and dangerous. Good thing the lunch buffet during the awarding was  awesome with unlimited lechon, drinks and food. Let us wait and see if Xterra Danao will be back 2018 if it does, I will be ready!

SIDELINE: Congratulations to all the winners and finishers. To the METAFIT Tri Team’s Lem Co, Jod-dl Dabon, Christian Marc Demoral and Danny Loquias, you guys are a certified  ‘Xterra warrior’. The same goes to our lone female entry, Zusette Co, who finished first in her age group and qualified for Xterra Maui in Hawaii. High five also to our Relay team, METAFIT teens, who finished first in a field of six. The team is composed of swimmer Kenji Co, biker Jhonnel Tibay (loaned from Team Kima Glass) and runner Carlisle Choachuy. Finishing second in the mized relay were Catherine Acuña (swim), JanJan Pimentel (bike) and Pimco Pimentel (runner).