SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—A wet Sunday morning somewhat diminished the difficulty of the Ironman 70.3 on Sunday, catapulting Indonesian Andy Wibowo and Australian Brittany Campbell to the top of the men’s and women’s overall top age-group races, respectively.
Wibowo, who finished the Half Ironman in four hours, 39 minutes and 39 seconds, grinned from ear to ear at the finish line at Subic’s Remy Field as rain fell on both the runners and the audience.
Campbell, meanwhile ruled the overall women’s category with a record 5:10:48 five hours, and like the other early finishers thanked the rains for cooling them down.
Indian triathlete Pankaj Ravalu topped the men’s 18-24 age group with a time of 05:15:20, while Italian Giovanni Bella led in the 25-29 bracket with 04:48:42.
NE Mejares dominated the 30-34 group with 05:00:09, while Guido Klingbell checked in at 05:16:06 for the win in the 40-44 category.
The other men’s winners were VLC Bernia (45-49 age group, 05:20:24), Lance Watson (50-54, 05:24:46), Koji Muroya (55-59, 05:21:21), T. Kobayashi (60-64, 06:32:33) and Kevin Brewer (70-74, 07:20:42).
The women’s champions were British Claire Walton (30-34, 5: 15:22), Inge Prasetyo (35-39, 05:22:00), Carly Relf (40-44, 06:01:46), Anna Willett (45-49, 05:31:18), Janine Campbell (50-54, 06:07:41) and Laura Sophiea (60-64, 06:03:01).
The event challenged the athletes with a course that began with a two-loop, 1.9-kilometer ocean swim on Triboa Bay, starting and finishing at ACEA Resort, which also served as the first of the split transition areas.
From there, the full Ironman course brought the athletes and their bikes onto the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway for a 180-km ride up to the second transition at Remy Field, followed by a 42.2-km, two-loop marathon run at the Subic Bay Freeport.