Huge field vies in Regent 5150 triathlon

MANILA, Philippines - More than 700 local and foreign tri warriors will answer the starting gun for the second Regent 5150 Triathlon – the local version of the world’s largest Olympic distance triathlon series – tomorrow in Subic Bay.

Aussie defending men’s champion Sam Betten and 2015 women’s runner-up Dimity-Lee Duke also of Australia will lead a crack field of professionals raring to showcase their first-rate skills in the 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run race.

Filipino elite bets, age-groupers, and relay competitors will also race for honors and personal bests in the event produced and organized by Sunrise Events, Inc. in partnership with Regent Foods, the country’s leading snack manufacturing company, for triathletes who love to do short-distance but challenging races in a world-class production setup.

Out to challenge Betten are compatriot Mitch Robins and Slovak Michal Bucek while Subic regular Duke and fellow Aussie Michelle Duffield will dispute the women’s tiara left by the now-retired Belinda Granger.

Sunrise president Wilfred Steven Uytengsu said Regent 5150 Triathlon aims to “encourage even more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and embrace multisport training and racing.”

“While we recognize that people may have an Ironman or Ironman 70.3 event as a ‘bucket list’ item, we also realize that you need to start somewhere and this event does exactly that. The distance is still challenging for the novice triathlete and we hope to encourage many individuals to start with this distance,” he said.

Spicing up this year’s action is the inaugural staging of the Sunrise Sprint, the newest short-distance race series featuring a 750-m open water swim, 20K bike ride, 5K run course.

Also known as S2, this race is fit for beginners wanting to immerse themselves into the triathlon, for enthusiasts who want to race without having to worry about long periods of training, or for the tri warrior who has been off the circuit and is raring to make a comeback.

Regent 5150 Triathlon is also backed by 2GO Express as the official courier and logistics partner and  venue host Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.