Ironman dreams

Arland Macasieb, the 2011 Filipino elite category winner of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 was right when he said Mendel Lopez was the man to watch in this year’s field of Filipino triathlon elites.

For years, Lopez lorded it over the local running scene until he laid low to pursue his Geodetic Engineering license in 2010 and to start a family with multi-awarded swimmer and triathlete Lorhiz Echavez and their one year 6-month old son Reece.

In early 2012 Mendel shifted to triathlons. Compared to the other more seasoned triathletes in the Filipino elite category, Mendel only has his running background, the coaching and support of his wife Lorhiz.

Last Sunday, Mendel stood shoulder to shoulder among the country’s best Ironmen including Noy Jopson, Neil Catiil and Arland Macasieb – the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Cobra Ironman 70.3 winners.

Mendel’s lack of experience in the triathlon was no cause for self doubt nor lack of confidence. “It’s really my target to make it to the podium,” he said unabashedly minutes after after crossing the Ironman finishline.

Although only his first Ironman 70.3, Mendel emerged as the third fastest male Filipino elite with a time of 4:39:24 beating Jopson, Catiil and Macasieb who placed fourth, eighth and twelfth respectively.

“I think the triathlon is my future now,” Mendel says, “I hope to compete in more competitions in the future.”

Meanwhile, racing and competing in the Cobra Ironman 70.3 on their own beloved Cebu alongside the world’s best triathletes is a dream come true for local triathletes Ralph Arche and Anton Regis.

Regis and Arche are two of the pillars of Sugbutriathlon, a pioneer group who promoted triathlon on this island province back in the days when triathlon was unheard of among the local athletes – almost like an underground sport.

Regis who has been racing since 1997 recalls, “when we used to organize races among ourselves back in the day, we used to have only thirty participants max, everybody knew everybody, it was a very small community.”

Arche who has been racing since age 15 says for years local triathletes and Sugbutriathlon have been promoting triathlon and encouraging newbies to give multisport a try. “We wanted to promote healthy living through sports and worked on generating interest and awareness by organizing triathlon races in the sprint distances,” says Arche.

Sugbutraithlon member Ralph Martin Sios-e Jr. placed third in the 25-29 age-group category.

Last Sunday 1,340 individual athletes and 115 relay teams from a total of 31 countries took part in the biggest swim-bike-run race Cebu has ever seen.

Competing under the relay category for Team Tyts Bogdo (TTB Cebu) 57-year old runner Sheila Colmenares did the 21-kilometer run, while her runner friends Arlene Yu did the 1.9-kilometer swim and Richard Ho the 90-kilometer bike.

For runners like Colmenares, Yu and Ho, the triathlon is their next big challenge.

“I’m taking baby steps this year by joining the relay just to get a feel of what it’s like to be racing alongside the best triathletes not only from the Philippines but from the whole planet,” says Colmenares who intends to join the individual age-group category in future stagings of the Ironman 70.3 in Cebu.

“I may be 57-years old, but I’ve never stopped dreaming about being part of a race like this. Age should never be a hindrance to your athletic dreams. It doesn’t matter if you’re the last one to cross the finishline as long as you finish the race with your head held high after giving it all your best from training to race day.”