XTERRA organizers looking for bigger venue in liloan

ORGANIZERS of the upcoming XTERRA Philippines 2014 championships will be looking for another venue in the coastal town of Liloan, Cebu since they are expecting to draw in more participants come March 15, 2014.

Sunrise Events’ Princess Galura said that because of the success of the event this year at the Sea Front resort of Liloan, they are expecting the number of participants to increase next year. This is the reason why they are looking for a bigger venue to host the off-road triathlon event.

“It will definitely still be held in Liloan because we have a good partnership with mayor Duke Frasco,” Galura said. “But we will be looking on other venues because we are expecting more participants to join the competition.” This year’s event gathered 460 participants. They are expecting at least 500 next year.

Galura also announced that the registration of the 2014 XTERRA Philippine Off-Road triathlon championships and XTerra Trail Run will start Dec. 1.

She also mentioned that two-time defending champion Ben Allen of Australia and women’s pro division champion Lesley Patterson of Scotland and other noted pros such as Sam Gardner, Matthew O’Halloran of Canada, Rory Downie of Scotland, Bradley Sean Weiss of South Africa, Renata Bucher of Switzerland, Jacqui Slack from Great Britain, and Carina Wasle of South Africa promised to compete again in the grueling race that features a 1.5-kilometer swim, 35k mountain bike route and a 10k trail run. The XTerra Lite category will offer a 500-meter swim, 18k mountain bike and 5.2k trail run./CORRESPONDENT DALE G. ROSAL