Javier, Abad dominate Bike King duathlon

MANILA, Philippines - Standard Insurance duathlete Robeno Javier came in tip-top shape as he and Philippine duathlon team mainstay Mirasol Abad took home the elite titles in yesterday’s Bike King Duathlon at Alviera, Porac, Pampanga.

Javier,  30,  led the 6K run-60K bike-4K run  organized by Bike King headed by Raul Cuevas from the start but needed a big windup to spoil the determined challenge of Standard Insurance teammate Joey Delos Reyes and Sante Barley’s Robinson Esteves.

“They really wanted to win this race by keeping pace with me. They even tried to save energy in the bike leg by letting me do all the work. But I came really prepared for this event and went for broke in the second run for the win,” said Javier who won in two hours, 7 minutes, 58 seconds.

Delos Reyes finished second in 2:09:05 and Esteves third in 2:09:22. The win was some sort of payback for Javier who finished second in a national meet early this month.

“I just came back from a tournament in Switzerland and was not really in good shape for that race. That is why I really worked hard in training for this race,” added Javier.

Abad, meanwhile, did just enough to win the distaff title in this race supported by Alviera, Aboitiz, Timex, NLEX-SCTEX Cycling, AboitizPower, WeatherPhilippines, Sante Barley, Orbea and Fontana.

“I had a hard time competing because this is my fourth race this month. I’m just glad that I was able to build a slight lead after the bike and managed to protect it in the final run,” said the 30-year-old Abad, who won in 2:37:53., way ahead of teammate Mischelle Gilbuena (2:38:16) and Rowena Valdez from Santy Barley (2:46:48).

The top three finishers in the elite class in the event sponsored by SwimBikeRun.ph, Multisport, RaceDay, SPIN.ph and The Philippine STAR received glass trophies and cash prizes amounting to P10,000, P6,000 and P4,000. Renie Ticson, vice president of the Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) which operates the SCTEX, graced the awarding ceremony.

“Bike King’s effort to promote the run-bike-run sport is a huge success with the big number of participants for today’s race. We will continue supporting this event at SCTEX because we believe running and cycling events should be held at world class road conditions that SCTEX offers,” said Ticson.