MANILA, Philippines — Peter del Rosario and Celinda Raagas fueled their respective title drive in the bike stage then sustained their pace in the closing run event to dominate the IRONKIDS Philippines at the Vermosa Sports Hub in Cavite Sunday.
Del Rosario and Raagas both placed second in the opening swim leg but flashed superb riding skills and staying power to share top honors in the premier 13-14 age group category of the junior version of triathlon that drew hundreds of participants and at the same time served as a venue for families to bond.
Del Rosario clocked 34:32 over the 400m swim, 8km bike ride and 3km run setup. He came out second to Angelo de Vera (6:23) with a 6:25 clocking in the swim but took charge in the bike (14:30) before cruising to victory with a time of 11:59 in the run.
Darell Bada placed second in 36:22 with clockings of 6:47 (swim), 14:48 (bike) and 13:19 (run) while Red Reyes nipped de Vera (38:39) for the bronze with 36:56.
Raagas also settled for second in the opening leg with 12:37, next to a hot-starting Erin Pakingan (12:34) but while the former stepped up her charge in the bike (17:03) and run (15:12) to win in 42:35, the latter struggled in the second leg (21:37) and in the run (26:49) and tumbled down to fifth in 58:45.
Khiel Milla snatched runner-up honors in 48:24 with leg clocking of 12:45, 18:19 and 19:35, while Danielle Menchavez finished third in 49:14 and Keanne Pumaren ended up fourth in 55:46.
Other winners were Diego Dimayuga and Samantha Hodges (11-12) with the former clocking 26:27 and the latter posting a 29:36 time over the 300m swim, 6km bike and 2km run race; Pio Latonio and Aliya Adre (9-10) with the former turning in a 23:49 clocking and the latter submitting a time of 25:26 over the 200km swim, 6km bike and 1.5km run distance.
Andrew Dugaduga and Pia Gito topped the 6-8 category disputed over the 100m swim, 2km bike and 1km run stretch in 17:05 and 18:44, respectively, while Team Bagas Castillo (11-14) and Team Soyeung (6-10) claimed the relay trophies in 30:30 (300m swim, 6km bike and 2km run) and 17:30 (100m swim, 2km bike and 1km run), respectively.