Bruins, Gilbuena claim Powerman Asia crowns

CLARK, Pampanga  , Philippines  —  Australia-based Dutch Thomas Bruins delivered as promised, overcoming an early slip and ruling the Classic event of the 2017 Powerman Philippines Asian Championships presented by Summit Natural Drinking Water here yesterday.

Bruins, 27, dropped his rehydration bottle after hitting a speed bump in the first run-to-bike transition but went on to top the 10km run-60km bike-10 km run event in two hours, 57 minutes, 28 seconds.

“I got on the bike in the transition and I lost my drink bottle so I got to do the bike without as many carbs as I wanted to and I was a little bit of worried that I would run out of energy in the bike,” said Bruins, born in the Netherlands before his Dutch parents made Australia their base when he was seven.

“But luckily, I was okay,” added Bruins, who finished second to Gael Le Bellec of France here last year. He also placed 15th in the recent Powerman World Championship in Switzerland.

Aussie Matt Smith came in second in 3:07:46 while Emmanuel Commendador emerged the best Filipino finisher at third with a 3:09:20 clocking.

John Leerams Chicano, who pocketed a silver medal in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Raymund Torio ended up fourth and fifth in 3:10:46 and 3:13:27, respectively.

Filipina Michelle Gilbuena also held her ground and topped the women’s side of Powerman Classic, clocking 3:39:34. She beat Aussie Alexandra McDougall, who timed 3:40:44.

Japanese Aira Sawada turned in a 1:35:19 clocking to capture the women’s crown in the Powerman Short category of the event organized by P & F International Events Group. Filipina Bid Ferreira finished second in the 5km run-30km bike-5km run in 2:10:19.

For complete results, visit www.powerman.ph.

Commendador, 28, said his strong finish this year more than made up for his failure to finish the race the last time out.

“I passed out in the final run last year because I was ill-prepared. I made sure I trained well on this one,” said Commendador from Bohol, who hopes to make the national team in duathlon when the country hosts the SEA Games in 2019.

In the short elite section, 23-year-old Jarwyn Banatao of Standard Insurance beat Malaysian Jason Loh to capture the crown in 1:24:01. Loh timed 1:25:56.

Cipriane John Topia checked in third in 1:27:04.

SEAG gold medal winner Nikko Huelgas, competing here to sharpen his biking skills, survived the challenge and finished the race, which drew more than a thousand participants, including local celebrities Aubrey Miles, Troy Montero and coach Al Gonzales in the Classic distance (relay), Sitti Navarro and husband Joey Ramirez in the short distance (relay), Kim Chiu, Jake Cuenca and Gerald Anderson (individual).

LBC Ronda Pilipinas veteran Lloyd Lucien Reynante also participated and finished the race.

Other backers of the event were Clark Freeport Zone and NLEX-SCTEx as official road partners, Cobra Energy Drink as official energy drink, official sports nutrition partner Unilab ActiveHealth, official timing partner Garmin, official footwear partner Skechers Performance, and event partners Seafood Island Restaurant, Hammer Nutrition, 2XU, Dan’s Endurance, Cycles & Brew by Hubble, Starbucks Coffee, Pace Prehab and Recovery, WattUp Cycling, Hotel Stotsenberg, Lohas Hotel, and Fontana Leisure Park.