Ironman 70.3 draws record high participants, full hotels; Athletes told to expect crowds, wind, heat
There will be thousands of spectators out there. Keep that in mind.”
With these words, race director Guy Concepcion sent off athletes in a final briefing of the Ironman 70.3 triathlon, which will see high-speed bikes racing today through four cities in the biggest international sports event hosted in Cebu.
The longest segment of the triathlon, a 90-kilometer bicycle run, exposes the participants, to public roads in cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay on a Sunday morning.
Cordons, marshals, policemen and traffic enforcers will be scattered along the route to ensure that that spectators are kept out of the path, where roads will be sealed from 5 a.m. to 12 noon.
A record high number of 1,700 Filipino and foreign athletes are joining the triathlon, the largest group since the event, also called the Half-Man Ironman, was first hosted in Camarines Sur in 2009 with about 700 participants.
The unique challenges in Cebu were summed up as the ocean swim, gusty winds, some “bumpy” road patches, heat and crowds.
“There will be thousands and thousands of spectators out there tomorrow. I’m really quite excited. I’m feeling goose bumps right now,” Concepcion told a ballroom full of Ironman challengers.
“We worked real hard to make sure that you have there best race course but what makes the Philippines different is the crowd.”
He didn’t elaborate but his cautionary tone apparently referred to well-populated neighborhoods in Lapu-Lapu City where the bike race starts in narrow roads, right after a 6 a.m. swim in the Hilutungan Channel, and similar scenes of congestion repeated in urban highways of Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay.
Organizers expect to see enthusiastic spectators along the entire route.
Concepcion said every effort was taken to keep athletes “safe” and pedestrians and vehicles in “positioned properly” “but always be aware there will be thousands out there.”
The Cebu experience also offers Ironman 70.3 participants the new challenge of swimming in the ocean, instead of a man-made lake that served as the race course in Camarines Sur.
“You’re all pumped up. That’s because we finally have an ocean swim,” said the briefing officer to a full ballroom at the Shangri-la Mactan Resort.
Today’s Pagasa weather forecast of “strong gale force winds” in the Visayas seaboard comes with cloudy skies and scattered showers.
The wind factor was mentioned in the briefing after gusts sent some bikers wobbling in practice runs yesterday.
Rafael Yap of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) earlier said he already called the attention of Triathlon organizers about gusty winds blowing at the South Coastal Road facing the Mactan channel.
“But they said that is nothing to worry about because that is part of the challenge,” said Yap.
A pep talk was given by the man to beat, Ironman 70.3 two-time champion Pete Jacobs of Australia.
He said it was the enthusiasm of the crowds lining the street that gave him the momentum to finish the last six stations of last year’s Full Ironman competition in Kona, Hawaii.
He gave mind-over-matter advice to deal with 30 degree heat expected today.
“Just tell yourself ‘it’s not that hot’ . And you’ll find yourself believing it.”
Triathlon organizers also gave bikers a heads up that while the roads are “in good condition” along the 90-kilometer route which runs across the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and passes through the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City, there are “bumpy patches” of asphalt in the “busiest part of Cebu City where containers trucks pass”.
The section was identified as located on Osmeña Road after Radisson Blu hotel before the SRP tunnel./E. Mangubat
