UPSTART Irienold Reig Jr. pulled off a stunner in the talent-laden men’s side of the Alveo 5150 Subic Bay while Bea Quiambao turned in another superb all-around performance to nail a second crown at the Subic Bay Boardwalk Sunday.
Making his first crack at 1.5-km-swim, 40-km-bike and 10-km run racing, the 19-year-old Reig didn’t disappoint. He dominated the opening leg in an impressive 18 minutes and 32 seconds, slowed down a bit in the bike leg with 1:08:58 and hung tough in the run with 41:27 to edge Raymund Velasco for the men’s overall crown in 2:12:48.
Velasco trailed in the swim (22:44) but rallied in the bike (1:04:22), only to fall short despite a 40:47 in the run to settle for runner-up honors (2:13:05) in a tightly-fought duel of power, speed and endurance that started in shady skies and ended in scorching heat.
Julian Teves posted a solid 1:03:27 time in bike after a 20:57 swim to wrest control but failed to match Reig and Velasco’s searing finish to wind up third in 2:13:53 with a 45:14 showing in run. The wiry Reig, a prized find from Quezon City, is currently training under the developmental team of the national triathlon squad.
He also ran away with the 15-19 age group title while Teves topped the 25-29 group and Velasco bagged the 35-39 title in the event sponsored by Alveo, SBMA, Finis, Rudy Project, Sante Barley, Lalamove and Active.
Quiambao, meanwhile, timed 2:23:24 to nail her second 5150 diadem this year after winning in Bohol last July which marked the return of the event organized by the Ironman Group/Sunrise Events Inc. after a two-year hiatus due to pandemic.
Like Reig, the Next Tri Step stalwart used her swimming prowess to seize control and momentum, checking in with a best 19:12 clocking, then logging 1:12:10 in swim before capping her romp with a 47:45 time in run. She beat Kath Lagunsad, who timed 2:41:50 with leg times of 27:34, 1:14:32 and 53:52, while celebrity Bubbles Paraiso came in third in 2:50:48 (26:42, 1:18:23 and 1:00:12).
Quiambao also kept the 20-24 title while Lagunsad took the 30-34 group honors and Paraiso lorded it over the field in 35-39 division of the last short-distance endurance event for the season.
The other age-group winners were Rae Musni (F15-19/3:01:19), Gaea Maranon (F25-29/3:00:43), Ma. Lourdes Cabero (F40-44/2:51:05), Rizza Bautista (F45-49/2:58:48) and Janet Ching (F50-54/3:13:00), Adrien Arqueza (M20-24/2:27:27), Gabb Rosario (M30-34/2:17:38) and Haythem El-Ansary of Australia (M40-44/2:17:28).
The Sante Barley Tri Team, headed by Raymund Velasco and Jualyn Baugbog, topped the 5150 Sprint in 12:54:26, beating The Usuals (13:12:04) and Subic Bay Multisport (13:55:17) while TLTG-Go for Gold, led by Kim Remolino, posted a 05:23:30 clocking to top their side of the Sprint race with Get Coach’d Academy placing second in 06:01:22 and Team Zeru finishing third in 07:38:42.