CEBU, Philippines - Tragedy marred the staging of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines as one of the participants died after a fall during the bike stage of the competition in Talisay City.
The fatality was identified as Ramon Igaña, Jr., who worked as load controller of Cebu Pacific at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
It was his first time to join the Ironman 70.3 and unfortunately also his last.
Igaña was part of the Team Tyts Bogdo-Extreme and took charge of the bike leg of the three-discipline competition.
He took over from Benjamin Balaoro Jr., who swam the 1.9-kilometer distance and was to pedal for 90.1 kilometers and if they made the cut-off time, Dr. Humility Igaña, Ramon’s wife, was supposed to run the 21-kilometer half marathon.
The Ironman 70.3 covers half the distance of the regular Ironman event. The figure 70.3 is the total distance covered in miles.
Mishap
Witnesses said that the mishap that cost the life of Igaña must have been due to the uneven roads. When he lost his balance, he hit his head on the gutter at the Cebu South Coastal Road in Talisay City.
The official cause of Igaña’s death was still to be determined in an autopsy that was to be conducted.
Marshals said that Igaña struggled to regain his balance before he crashed.
Rescuers from the Talisay Rescue Emergency Assistance Team (TREAT) immediately rushed to Igaña’s aid.
The athlete was reportedly unconscious when rushed to the Chong Hua Hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival. He arrived at the hospital around 9:40 a.m.
Tony Galon, president of the Cebu Ultra Runners Club confirmed the sad news to members of the media.
Did not make it
Galon, a close family friend of the Igaña family, said he was with Humility at the transition area at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa waiting for Ramon to complete the bike stage.
After the 11:55 a.m. cut-off time of the bike leg, they continued to wait for Ramon to return even if it meant that the team cannot anymore continue with the race, but he never made it back.
It was only Ramon’s bike bearing the race bib number R-399 that was brought back by marshals to the transition area.
It was only then that Humility was informed that her husband was rushed to the hospital after an accident.
A fellow running doctor, Peter Mancao, who was helping the medical team, secured an ambulance to rush the wife to the hospital as the roads were still closed due to the race.
The FREEMAN tried to get in touch with the family at the hospital, but nobody wanted to comment.
A source told The FREEMAN that aside from Igaña, two other racers were also brought there before Igaña and two more were also rushed to the hospital later in the day.
The four were, however discharged after getting treatment, said the source.
Rough roads
“The uneven repairs on the asphalt road in many portions of the SRP and the North Reclamation Area made the bike course dangerous especially if you’re on a road bike running 40-45 kph,” said Lorhiz Echavez.
Echavez did the bike segment for the relay Team Matteo.
Most of the participants, however, did not want to comment about the road conditions at the SRP and other areas part of the race route.
In 2009, a participant of the race, Juan Miguel Vazquez, died during the swim leg.
The race was held in Camarines Sur that year.
Vazquez reportedly suffered a stroke during the race.
Event organizer, Sunrise Events Incorporated, was still to issue an official statement regarding the incident.
Traffic and security
Police officials in Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City said that apart from some problems controlling the crowd along the race route, it was generally peaceful.
Sr. Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, officer-in-charge of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, told The FREEMAN that there was no problem during the start of the event.
They only started having problems when there were people who would cross the street while the race was ongoing.
There were also reports of three racers, who sustained some bruises when they tried to avoid the crowd that gathered at the foot of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Lapu-Lapu City.
Employees of firms at the Mactan Export Zone as well as some establishments in the area where the roads were closed were forced to report as early as 4 a.m.
Those, who left late, were forced to walk the stretch that was closed to vehicular traffic.
Sr. Supt. Noel Gillamac, Mandaue City Police Office director, said that they had problems with motorists, who wanted to pass through the closed roads.
“Naay uban nga nakalitan sa event and don’t know what’s happening and don’t know where to go,” Gillamac said.
Like the situation in Lapu-Lapu, the Mandaue police also found it hard to control the crowd on the roadside.
There were also commuters and drivers, who complained of the heavy traffic on M.C. Briones St. to U.N. Avenue heading towards Lapu-Lapu City.
They said that it took them three hours to reach Lapu-Lapu City.
In Cebu City, there were no reports of congested roads said Erwin Restauro, base communication operator of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM).
The entire stretch of the S. Osmeña St. heading towards the South Road Properties and to Talisay City was the only road closed at that time.
In Talisay City, an estimated 7,000 people lined up on the Cebu South Costal Road, said Gerard Lariego, chief of the City of Talisay Traffic Operation Development Authority (CT-TODA).
Lariego described the traffic as light to moderate on the national roads of N. Bacalso and Barangay Tabunok.—with Ria Booc and Niña Sumacot/NLQ (FREEMAN)