Triathletes gearing up for bigger endurance races or those who simply want to adopt a healthy lifestyle and get into multi-sport training now have one venue to test their skills – at least in the next three years through the Black Arrow Express 5150.
It kicks off this Sunday, November 4 in Subic and features some of the world’s elite triathletes clashing in the pro division (men’s and women’s) while a slew of competitors will slug it out for top honors in the Asian elite and various age categories.
The event, set over the Olympic distance of 1.5k swim, 40K bike, 10K run, will be held in Subic. For details, visit [email protected].
The organizing Sunrise Events, Inc. and the AAI Group of Companies, through AAI Worldwide Logistics and Black Arrow Express, have recently inked an agreement making Black Arrow Express, the “last-mile” and consumer company of the AAI Group, the title sponsor of the 5150 series for the next three years.
As the official licensee of the Ironman triathlon in the country, SEI has gained the rights to stage the 5150 series from the World Triathlon Corp.
Triathletes from 21 countries are competing in the event, backed by venue hosts Subic Bay and ACEA Subic Bay and major sponsors David’s Salon, Pioneer Insurance and Wicked Active Gear. They include seven bets from Australia, six from Great Britain, five from the US and four from Japan along with those from France, Hong Kong, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Guam, Guatemala, India, Italy, New Zealand, Malaysia, Norway, Russia, Portugal and Vietnam.
Aussie Sam Betten, a three-time 5150 champion in Subic, looms as the man to beat in the men’s Elite category that also drew the likes of Czech Jakub Langhammer, ninth placer in this year’s Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific, brand new pro Tim Linn of the US, recent winner of the Hongseong Double Olympic Race, and Dan Brown and Mitch Robins, both from Down Under.
Disputing the women’s tiara are Dimity Lee Duke, also from Australia, Hong Kong’s Leanne Szeto and Guam’s Manami Iijima.
Other supporters of the event are TYR (official swim cap), GU (official energy gel), Active Network (official registration partner), marketing partners Alaska, AlcoPlus, Cetaphil, DeVant, Nuun, PLDT Subictel, Smart, Sanicare, Regent, Storck and Timex and media partners Hyper HD, Cignal, The Philippine Star, AsiaTri.com and Finisher Pix.”‹
