MANILA, Philippines - Showing better form this time around, 12-year-old Everly Janarie Macalalad topped her age group to lead winners in the eighth Anvaya Cove Beach and Nature Club (ACBNC) SuperTriKids at Morong, Bataan.
The youngest among five siblings who dream to follow in the footsteps of elder brother and national junior team member Edward Jared, Everly Janarie timed at 19 minutes, 44 seconds in the 11-12 age category disputed at 300-m swim, 4K bike and 2K run triathlon distance last Saturday. Her time was remarkable since it was faster than the 20:31 of boys champion Clifford Pusing.
“This is the second time I’ve competed here and last year I only came third. But this time, I’m more focused and prepared for this race and I’m happy I won,” said Macalalad, a Grade 6 student at Colegio San Agustin in Biñan, Laguna.
Finishing second to Macalalad in this two-day race supported by Ayala Premier, Globe Business, Standard Insurance, Gatorade and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) was Alison Ann Noble (20:58) while the bronze medal went to Erica Maive Bulatao (22:53).
Mark Grist (11:11), and brothers Jose Maria (12:18) and Juan Miguel Tayag (12:20) along with Ariel Feuermann (13:29), Justicia Mariearl Tan (13:59) and Calista Felise Silamor (20:51) took top three places in the boys and girls 9-10 age group (200m swim-2K bike-1-K run) while Sebastian Thomas Tunaya (1:48), Yuan Aldridge Dela Rosa (1:49), Sky Xander Guevarra (1:55) and Ma. Sabino Magsanoc (1:36), Dylan Ealizah Canlas (2:05) and Jazmine Fay Borja (3:01) won medals in the Under 8 aquathlon event (25m swim, 200m run).
The elite race yesterday pushed through but the participants were able to display only their running prowess as the organizers decided to shelve the swim and bike disciplines due to the huge waves and slippery routes brought by Typhoon Lando.
Despite of the chance of race course, competitors were all satisfied because the event was conducted in a well-organized manner with employees from the first class Anvaya Cove Beach and Nature Club and selected Aetas from Morong cheering wildly at every athlete that crossed the finish line.
“This is the first time that we invited the Aetas to join this event because we want to share with them this experience in the hope of finding a triathlete from their ranks in the future,” said Jovie Reyes, general manager of the ACBNC.
“We’re happy with how the races went because we were thinking that the event will be cancelled because of the typhoon. But God’s will, we had a good weather last Saturday and although we were not able to hold the elite triathlon, we still managed to do the run event because of the good coordination with our partner Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) and the triathletes,” added Reyes.
The age group winners were Marvin Mauricio (25-29), Emmanuelo Abalos (30-34), Budz Yu (35-39), Junrox Roue (40-44), Neil Dan (45-49), Frank Lacson (50-54) and Brigilio Balaba (60-over) in the male section.
Jet Ramos and Jennifer Soto emerged as male and female Open champions while John Caleb Barlin and Una Janue Sibayan (13-15) and Elizabeth Bravo (16-over) lorded the 2.5K race distance. The Pangilinan family and T12 Camelbak 3 topped the team and family relay events.