Subic Triathlon: Leach falls short
By Lito Cinco - Manila Standard Today
SUBIC BAY—When the inaugural Asian 02 Long Distance Triathlon Championship was held last year inside the beautiful Subic Bay Freeport, Czech entry Petr Vabrousek completely dominated the opposition en route to a course-setting record of 4:17.
Last Sunday, in Vabrousek’s absence, another world-class triathlete Australian Bevan Leach was the prohibitive favorite to win the event that attracted 64 male and five female entries in the 3-kilometer swim-80-km. bike-20-km. run race.
The 32-year-old Leach, in a pre-race talk, expressed confidence in winning the race, but wanted more than just to win, he wanted to break Vabrousek’s record, too, but then he underestimated the toughness of the famed hills of Subic in the bike leg.
“I knew the bike leg would be difficult because of the hills and I felt their effect on me in the final run leg, particularly in the last three laps when there were times, I really wanted to stop and just sit down. I also had to contend with the heat and humidity,” said Leach, who clocked 4:21.57, almost five minutes off the record of Vabrousek.
What also surprised the Sydney-based Australian Leach was the tough fight put up by Hong Kong bet Jason Chung Shing Hsie, 23, who shadowed him practically throughout the grueling race and finished second in 4:26.50.
“I thought nobody could keep pace with me, but he really made me work hard, I could not relax at all during the race. Definitely, I would love to come back, this was a very good race, well organized and the crowd was very supportive,” added Leach, who claimed he would jump into the top 3 of the International Triathlon Union rankings for long distance triathlon after winning this Asian continental championship.
Third place went to Filipino Mark Candelaria, coach of the national duathlon team and the reserve for the Southeast Asian Games triathlon team behind Arland Macasieb and George Vilog. Candelaria timed 4:32.31.
SUBIC BAY—When the inaugural Asian 02 Long Distance Triathlon Championship was held last year inside the beautiful Subic Bay Freeport, Czech entry Petr Vabrousek completely dominated the opposition en route to a course-setting record of 4:17.
Last Sunday, in Vabrousek’s absence, another world-class triathlete Australian Bevan Leach was the prohibitive favorite to win the event that attracted 64 male and five female entries in the 3-kilometer swim-80-km. bike-20-km. run race.
The 32-year-old Leach, in a pre-race talk, expressed confidence in winning the race, but wanted more than just to win, he wanted to break Vabrousek’s record, too, but then he underestimated the toughness of the famed hills of Subic in the bike leg.
“I knew the bike leg would be difficult because of the hills and I felt their effect on me in the final run leg, particularly in the last three laps when there were times, I really wanted to stop and just sit down. I also had to contend with the heat and humidity,” said Leach, who clocked 4:21.57, almost five minutes off the record of Vabrousek.
What also surprised the Sydney-based Australian Leach was the tough fight put up by Hong Kong bet Jason Chung Shing Hsie, 23, who shadowed him practically throughout the grueling race and finished second in 4:26.50.
“I thought nobody could keep pace with me, but he really made me work hard, I could not relax at all during the race. Definitely, I would love to come back, this was a very good race, well organized and the crowd was very supportive,” added Leach, who claimed he would jump into the top 3 of the International Triathlon Union rankings for long distance triathlon after winning this Asian continental championship.
Third place went to Filipino Mark Candelaria, coach of the national duathlon team and the reserve for the Southeast Asian Games triathlon team behind Arland Macasieb and George Vilog. Candelaria timed 4:32.31.
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
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