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By Josef T. Ramos, Correspondent
Defending champion Terenzo Bozzone and Lisa Bentley showed the exact
meaning of stamina and durability to dominate the Cobra Energy Drink
Ironman 70.3 on Sunday at the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CSWC)
in Bicol.
The 24-year-old Bozzone of New Zealand, the
defending Ironman 70.3 champ, overcame the blistering heat and
fatigue to deny the challenge of Ironman world champion Chris
McCormack of Australia in the last two kilometers to claim the
thrilling win.
“Cameron [Brown] and Chris [McCormack]
really ran well and I found myself struggling and weary,” said
Bozzone, who clocked 3:51:25 to remain 53 seconds ahead of
McCormack.
Bozzone will also compete in the World
Championship on October 10 in Kona, Hawaii where he will face
defending champion McCormack again.
Bozzone nearly did not make it in the
competition after he figured in a bicycle accident while training
with McCormack a week ago in Sydney, Australia. But he was cleared
by doctors to compete here in the country.
The Canadian Bentley, 36, an 11-time Ironman
winner, overtook American Gina Kehr to pull off the dramatic win in
4:24.29 in this event.
McCormack, for his part, said he is hoping to
improve his running when he comes back next year.
“I’ve never seen him [Bozzone] race like
that,” said McCormack. “The spectators are great, it was
really fun hearing them cheering for us and showing their love and
hospitality.”
Kher led Bentley by 3.49 minutes in the 1.2-mile
swim and saw it trimmed to just 18 seconds after threading through
the rolling hills of the 58.6-mile bike stage before it finally
disappeared to settle for second.
Kiwi Cameron Brown finished third in 3:52:31,
while Pete Jacobs, American Tim Marr and unheralded Japanese Daiki
Masuda finished at fourth, fifth and sixth places in 3:56:51,
4:02:52 and 4:17:06, respectively.
Australian Charlotte Paul was ninth overall and
third behind Bentley and Kehr in 4:31:26.
Filipino Noy Jopson made it to the top 10 amid
the strong foreign challenge, timing in 4:38:32 to post the best
performance by a Filipino in the first offering of the first ever
staging of Ironman 70.3, which would return next year and two years
from now.
Fil-Am Arlan Macasieb, a two-time national
champion and former Southeast Asian Games medalist, finished 16th
overall, or notches behind countrymen Peter Gonzales, Ferdinand
Catabian and Noel Salvador.
Tragedy mars race
A tragic death hit the first Ironman 70.3
competition in the Philippines after the 52-year-old Miguel Vasquez
died during the swim leg of the race.
Vasquez, the designated swimmer for the Team
Alamat relay team, died while on the second loop of the 1.2-mile
swim phase, according to a report from www.gmanews.tv.
His teammate Johann Espiritu was waiting for him
to appear and hand him the timing chip to signify his own start in
the bike leg, but Vasquez did not show up after more than an hour.
Vasquez, husband of GMA network board member
Judith Duavit, was later found unconscious near the shore of the
CWC’s man-made Cable Park lake, and was brought to a nearby
hospital to be revived.
Initial reports cited heart attack as the cause
of death and investigations were still ongoing.
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