VETERAN triathlete Laarni Anenias stamped her class against some of the world’s best and ruled the women’s 30 to 34 age group of the Ironman Malaysia Triathlon held on Langkawi Island recently.

Anenias, a member of Team Herbalife, finished in 13 hours, 32 minutes and 24 seconds in the lung-busting 3.8-km swim, 180-km bike, 42-km run event participated by more than 1,000 triathletes from different parts of the world.

“It was a good run in this tournament dubbed as the ‘toughest show on earth’ because of its tough and hilly bike course, and hot and dry weather. Locally, temperature reached 42º Celsius on race day,” said Anenias, who is also a member of the University of the Philippines-Los Banos triathlon squad.

Pan Seng Kha Khrang of Malaysia wound up second with a time of 13 hours, 59 minutes and five seconds while June Tan of Singapore ended in third with 14 hours, 25 minutes and four seconds.

The victory earned Anenias an automatic slot in the prestigious World Ironman Championships scheduled in October in Kona, Hawaii.

Anenias is the second Filipina to qualify in the world meet after Ani de Leon secured a spot two years ago.

John Omar Paredes, who currently handles the training of Anenias, landed in 11th place in the men’s 30-34 class following his 12 hours, one minute and 38 seconds.

Other top finishers of the Philippine squad include Andrew Chinalpan Jr. and Ramon Rodriguez.

Chinalpan ranked eighth in the men’s 35 to 39 category with 11:20:13 while Rodriguez placed 12th in the men’s 25 to 29 division (11:40:15).
Emil C. Noguera