SUBIC — Fil-Am Peter del Rosario and Celinda Raagas ruled the premier 13-14 divisions of the IronKids Philippines Subic Bay in ideal conditions here Saturday.
But while Raagas cruised to an emphatic win on the girls’ side, Del Rosario had to go through some anxious moments before overcoming Darell Bada and two others as the duo swept the season’s last two events of the junior version of the IRONMAN organized by Sunrise Events Inc.
Del Rosario edged Bada by mere 22 seconds in the 400m-swim, 8km-bike, 3km-run event ushering in the big triathlon weekend culminating in Sunday’s staging of Alveo 5150 Subic Bay.
The rising Laguna star, who turned 13 last month, came out of the opening swim leg in joint fourth with Red Reyes in 05:35 but, like in his Vermosa romp, he used his superb riding skills to top the bike stage in 17:03 before ruling the closing run part in 13:33 for a total clocking of 36:11.0.
Bada, the Cebu IronKids winner, clocked 05:31 in swim but failed to match Del Rosario’s kicks and strides in the last two stages, settling for another runner-up finish in 36:33 with leg times of 17:09 in the swim and 13:53 in the run.
Carron Cañas topped the swim leg in 5:06 but slowed down in the bike with a 17:23 clocking before finishing in 14:32 in the run for third in 37:01.
Prince Clark also struggled after an impressive 05:30 time in swim, submitting a 19:37 clocking in bike and 15:35 in the run to drop to eighth in 40:42. Wincy Pagnanawon placed fourth in 38:04 (5:40 swim, 17:44 bike, 14:40 run) while Rojan Perez timed 38:48 for fifth while Reyes and Miguel Angeles ended up sixth and seventh in 39:02 and 39:55, respectively.
Placing third in the swim (06:23), Raagas, a Grade 9 student at Columban College in Olongapo, took control in the bike (19:57) before unleashing another blistering run (16:19) to reign again in 42:39, beating Zebelle Eugenio, who topped the swim in 06:10 but timed 20:50 in the bike before finishing in 19:32 in the run for a total clocking of 46:32.
Other winners in the event, which also served as a venue for families to bond, were Nathan Arellano and Christy Ann Perez (11-12 age group), Pio Latonio and Alaina Bouffaut (9-10 category), and Chris Lacuna and Athena Masadao (6-8 class).