Triathlete vies for glory in NZ marathon

A mountaineer who has climbed the country’s most dangerous peak and hurdled the ultimate test of human endurance–a 15-hour non-stop swim-bike-run in triathlon–is testing his speed and stamina Sunday on an up-and-down 21km route against foreign competition in near-freezing temperature.

Roy Adeva is one of two Filipino runners who earned an all-expense-paid trip to New Zealand to compete in the New Balance Queenstown International Marathon as the second best New Balance finisher in the White Rock triathlon last December in Subic.

The other Filipino is Alvin Alindogan, who finished ahead of Adeva in the race where the two highest-placed finishers wearing New Balance shoes were given the round trip ticket.

"I’m very excited about this trip to New Zealand because this is my first international competition," said Adeva, 31. "I never had the slightest idea that I would be going to New Zealand until after New Balance informed me after that race that I won the trip."

New Balance sponsored the Queenstown International Marathon last year, using it as a grand final for all winners of New Balance qualifying events in countries in the Asia-Pacific and other parts of the world.

"Following the success of last year’s event, New Balance is holding it as an annual competition," said Anton Gonzalez, president of Planet Sports Inc., exclusive Philippine distributor of New Balance which is available in New Balance Glorietta, New Balance Festival Supermall, All Planet Sports and The Athletes Foot stores nationwide.

Adeva, a mountaineer who went into triathlon two years ago, made a courtesy call Monday on PSI officials at their Rockwell office in Makati.

Present during the meeting were Gonzalez, general manager Ronnie Colmenar, brand manager Bing Buenaventura and marketing services supervisor Maan Oriondo. Adeva has a best personal time of one hour, 40 minutes in the half marathon, over 10 minutes slower than the Milo record of 1:12, and may have to run better than that on the hilly point-to-point route outside Queenstown to make the grade at least in the age-group category for 30-34 year olds.

The mountain climber from Mindoro has certainly been through more difficult tests to be intimidated by the terrain and chilly weather (about 5 degrees Celsius at this time of the year) in Queenstown.

"If the route is hilly, that’s good for me because I’m a mountaineer," he said.

Adeva had toughened his legs in Mindoro’s Mt. Halcon, at 2,600 meters above sea level the country’s third highest mountain but considered the most difficult to climb as one has to hike through thick jungle on mud and rocks in bad weather to reach the top in two days and hike back in the same number of days.

"I’ve climbed that mountain every year since 1999," said Adeva, an industrial education graduate at the Technological University of the Philippines.

Using his mountaineering skills, Adeva took the cue from friends who suggested he went into triathlon, a three-in-one endurance race that includes swimming, cycling and running.

"In 2002, I decided that I should try this event. So I enrolled in swimming, at the Bert Lozada Swimming School and learned the freestyle soon enough to compete in long distance swimming," he recalls.

Right on his first attempt, he competed in the Iron Man Triathlon, dubbed the Enduraman, which covered a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42km marathon. He finished the race in 15 hours, five minutes, over three hours behind the first placer.

To any finisher of the race, the certificate of completion was like a Ph. D. in Sports, making one a member of an exclusive club of ultra-marathoners.

He had competed in the Adventure Race of Haribon which his team won last December, the Extreme Triathlon also last December in San Juan, Batangas, and much earlier in the White Rock Triathlon in Subic - a 2k swim, 90 k bike and 21k run–where he won the lucky trip to New Zealand.

Adeva’s regimen for a triathlon or mountaineering is a two-hour swim on Mondays-Wednesdays-Fridays, one-hour bike, one-hour run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, four-hour bike on Saturdays and two-hour run on Sundays.

On the fourth week of the month, he takes a "rest"–meaning he reduces the load by 20 percent to allow his body to recover.

Will the chilly weather of New Zealand affect his performance?

"I trained in Baguio last January and have also tried running at 3 a.m. with no shirts on. If it’s too cold out there, I think my body will adjust after the first few steps," he said.

How does he weigh his winning chances?

"To tell you frankly, the time is too short, and I sometimes ask myself "Am I ready for this?"

"But there is always this peer pressure and I feel I’m always fit for the challenge," he said. "I’ve trained in sprints for this particular race."

For a mountaineer who has subdued the monster of Mindoro and the diverse challenges of extreme triathlon, no doubt he is ready for the New Balance Queenstown experience–but winning the event is another story.