FER CASERES outdueled John Chicano in a thrilling clash of Southeast Asian Games gold medalists while Kim Mangrobang dominated Samantha Corpuz in the women’s race in the first 5150 Dapitan Philippines in Zamboanga del Norte Sunday.
Casares, the SEA Games reigning back-to-back gold medal winner, clocked one hour, 57 minutes and 19 seconds to beat by two minutes recent Bohol 5150 tillist Chicano (1:59:33) over the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-km bike and 10-km run race that passed by heritage houses and historical landmarks in Dapitan City.
Satar Salem, also a former Sun Life 5150 titlist, stalked the duo in swim and pulled ahead in bike but slowed down in the closing run and missed the silver medal by the slimmest of margins with a 01:59:35 clocking.
Mangrobang, on the other hand, flashed top form from start to finish and secured the women’s tiara in 02:11:40 in a victory that somewhat made up for her failed “four-peat” drive in the SEA Games in Cambodia.
Corpuz timed 02:18:30 for second while Erika Burgos fell short of her bid for a second 5150 diadem after topping the Bohol race last July, finishing with a 02:21:45 clocking in the event that marked the historic city’s hosting of the ever-popular tri-racing organized by The Ironman Group/Sunrise Events Inc.
Other winners in the event, which also featured a new category in Bagong Bayani, were Matthew Hermosa (1:01:43) and Raven Alcoseba (1:08:38), who shared top honors in the Go for Gold Sunrise Sprint (750-meter open water swim, 20-km bike and 5-km run).
Casares, a Spanish-Filipino, also went on to top his age-group (25-29) while Chicano ruled the 30-34 division of the event put up by the city government led by Mayor Seth Jalosjos and backed by Lungsod ng Dapitan, Go for Gold, Active, Rudy Project and Santé.
Casares, who carries the TRI SND Barracuda/The Next Step Tri colors, came out on top of the opening swim leg in 00:22:23 with Chicano, who also bagged the SEAG gold in 2019, and Satar right behind in 00:22:32 and 00:22:51, respectively.
Satar actually took charge in the bike stage with a fast 00:56:37 clocking with Casares and Chicano virtually matching times of 00:58:43 and 00:58:47, respectively.
But the Lanao del Norte ace failed to match Casares and Chicano’s big strides and staying power in the heat and struggled with a 00:38:14 clocking in the run.
In contrast, Casares saved the best for last, churning out a 00:34:36 time to beat Chicano by over two minutes after the latter closed out in 00:36:10.
Mangrobang, meanwhile, took command in swim (00:21:54) and never looked back, posting a 01:06:56 clocking in bike and a blistering 00:41:04 in run to match Casares’ winnings of P175,000.
Corpuz (00:22:34) and Burgos (00:22:59) kept Mangrobang, also a TRI SND Barracuda mainstay, within striking distance after the swim but fell farther back in bike with 01:10:03 and 01:12:39 clockings, respectively. Corpuz eventually bagged the silver with a 00:43:57 time in run with Burgos submitting a 00:44:21 clocking for third.
