Banatao, Abad top National Duathlon in Iloilo City

As the Iloilo River teems with life while serving as the visual centerpiece of Sunday’s National Duathlon ChampionshipsJarwyn Banatao of Baguio city scored a huge upset over early favorite Emmanuel Comendador of Bohol with a superb bike performance leaving his pursuers going into Transition 2 with a four-minute gap and clear the finish line solo.

Earlier in the race Banatao was in a tight spot with Comendador and Requi Trupa in the first 8.5-km run leg but managed to break away from everyone in the 40-km bike segment and finished the final 6.5-km run leg strongly timing two hours and 17 seconds. Comendador, who suffered from stomach cramps as he tried to cut Banatao’s lead in the bike leg, finished 2nd with a time of 2:04:28 and third place went to Jolan Olmilla of Cebu with 2:04:59.