THE New Clark City (NCC) opened its doors to its first duathlon race last month as the world-class facility in Capas aims to become the premier sports epicenter for training and racing events in the country.
Jointly organized by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the GoClark Sports and Events, around 650 enthusiasts took part in the run-bike-run races in multiple age and skill set categories.
“Duathlon is actually encouraging people—regular athletes, couch potatoes—toward an active lifestyle,” said Jumbo Tayag, GoClark race director. “This sport is good for everyone’s health.”
The NCC Duathlon is the second major sports event held at the NCC this year after its reopening last May from a series of lockdowns, stricter border regulations and restrictions in mobility brought about by the two-year pandemic.
The event was also the first for GoClark at NCC this year, following the successful NCC Triathlon it co-hosted with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in October 2019.
BCDA Senior Vice President for Corporate Services Arrey Perez thanked GoClark for holding the duathlon at NCC.
“The good thing is we have the private sector that supports our advocacies particularly in promoting wellness and sports development of the country,” Perez said. “Just like Jumbo [Tayag] and Go Clark, they hold a lot of events here in Clark—the Clark Zone and the New Clark City.”
Capas Mayor Atty. Roseller Rodriguez also warmly welcomed the participants and expressed pride and gratitude to the organizers for choosing NCC as its sporting destination.
“We take pride in hosting another exciting athletic event for our race enthusiasts—New Clark City Duathlon,” said Maita Claire Bartolome, Rodriguez’s representative. “Hats off to the organizers for the hard work that goes into coordinating this meticulously detailed event.”
Races were conducted in three categories—long (12-km run, 50-km bike and 6-km run), short (6-km run, 25-km bike and 3-km run) and long 2-person relay (12-km run, 50-km bike and 6-km run)—in male, female and mixed divisions, as well as in age brackets.
The participants toured the whole National Government Administrative Center and took the River Park and NCC Athletics Stadium. The bike course covered the NCC to Clark International Airport and the NCC to Subic-Clark Expressway access roads.
Image credits: Bernard Testa