Crack field gears up for Penong's 5150

MANILA, Philippines – Pros raring to go hard and fast in Olympic-distance racing in preparation for bigger, tougher battles and triathletes building up for longer races mix it up for the first Penong’s 5150 Triathlon on July 7 at the Waterfront Hotel in Davao City.

Aussies Mitch Robbins and Alex Polizzi, New Zealand’s Kieran McPherson and Czech Jakub Langhammer head the early roster of bidders in the men’s side of the centerpiece pro division of the event, all aiming for top honors and personal bests over the Olympic distance of 1.5k swim-40k bike-10k run.

Multi-titled Dimity Lee Duke and Lisa Tyack, also from Down Under, Guam’s Manami Iijima, and Kiwi Laura Wood are tipped to dispute the women’s crown in the event organized and produced by Sunrise Events Inc.

Spicing up the event is the Sunrise Sprint, featuring a 750m swim-20km bike-5km run, with other titles also to be disputed in various age categories and relay competition.

Penong’s Barbecue Seafoods and Grill, Davao’s favorite barbecue house, is making its first foray in endurance racing with co-owners Ma. Teresa Regis and Vanessa Mae Uy Santos, both avid triathletes, guaranteeing a successful staging of the event also aimed at promoting a healthy and active lifestyle among the Filipinos and foreigners alike.

“This is an opportunity to show everyone that the company is also focused on promoting a healthy lifestyle. This is doing something for the good of everybody,” said Regis.

For details, visit www.ironman.com/philippines, http://penongs.5150philippines.com and www.goforgold.sunrisesprint.com with official hashtags #Penongs5150, #5150Davao.

SEI founder Wilfred Uytengsu also said that the shorter distance event is designed to encourage people, particularly the youth, to embrace multisport training and racing.

“The distance is still challenging for the novice triathlete and we hope to encourage many individuals to start with this distance. As more and more people seek a healthier lifestyle, triathlon is well positioned to attract many new participants,” said Uytengsu.

The two short distance races are ideal for newbies to the sport as well as those who have graduated from the IronKids, the youth version of the Ironman 70.3, and who want to continue in the sport.

Backing the event, which comes on the heels of SEI successful staging of the second Alveo Ironman, also in Davao, are Lungsodng Davao, Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, 2GO, Nature’s Spring, David’s Salon, F2P Sportswear, Pioneer Insurance, Vitargo, Alaska, AlcoPlus, Australia Harvest, Cetaphil, Devant, Regent Foods, Sanicare, Sun Life Financial, Timex, TYK and Active with One Sports, Cignal, Manila Bulletin, Crosstrain.ph, MBody.ph, Tempo, Trilife, AsiaTri.com and Finiser Pix as media partners.