Baldwin sees great race with Reed, Van Berkel

MANILA, Philippines — Nick Baldwin said winning the ultimate test in endurance racing is far more different than vying in 70.3 but the ace triathlete from Seychelles remains confident of scoring another victory in Subic when the Century Tuna IRONMAN 70.3 Subic Bay presented by Big Boss Cement is fired off tomorrow.

Baldwin crowned himself the first full IRONMAN king when he bested an elite field in Subic last year, clocking eight hours, 50 minutes and 13 seconds over the punishing 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42k run race.

Ranged against the best bets in 70.3 (1.9km swim-90km bike-21km run), Baldwin hopes to put up a stronger performance coming off a rigid training in the run-up to the keenly awaited race organized by Sunrise Events, Inc. that drew participants in 41 countries vying in various categories.

 “I consider myself stronger over the longer IRONMAN distance compared to 70.3. But I’ve recently been working extremely hard on my running and have improved my speed over the shorter distances considerably,” said Baldwin, who braces for a spirited duel for top honors and the top $3,000 purse against the likes of Aussies Tim Reed, Sam Betten, Tim Van Berkel and Conor McKay and Colombia’s Rodrigo Acevedo and Oli Stenning of Great Britain.

“Competing against some of the race favorites like (Tim) Reed and (Tim) Van Berkel will be a great test and I’m sure it will be a great race for the spectators,” said Baldwin. “The memories of last year’s IRONMAN win in Subic will definitely spur me on and I’ll be coming into the race with confidence and nothing to lose.”

For details, visit www.ironman703subicbay.com or the Facebook page Century Tuna IRONMAN 70.3 Subic Bay and @im703subicbay on Instagram and Twitter. Official event hashtags are #CenturyTunaIM703 #im703subicbay.

An equally thrilling duel is expected in the women’s pro division among Swiss Caroline Steffen, Aussie Dimity Lee Duke, New Zealand’s Laura Wood, Manami Iijima of Guam and Lisa Tyack, also from Australia.

Meanwhile, close to 300 kids dispute the crowns in various age categories in the Alaska Fortified IronKids starting at 6 a.m. today at the WOW Recreation and Activity Center in Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Also lined up today is the Sun Life Bike Out and the IRONMAN 70.3 Subic Bay Expo at 9 a.m., the media conference at 3 p.m. and the Belinda Granger race tips at 4 p.m., among others.