Race Report - Philippine International Duathlon Open

I arrived in Clark the day before the race (Saturday) as Hannah and I were lucky enough to crash in one of her friend’s places just outside the base. To kill time (yeah right), we drove the bike route. It was very picturesque, and with rolling hills, trees and lots of greenery. I took time to appreciate its beauty – since, when you’re crawling up a hill at 10kmh on your last gear, panting, legs cramping…its quite hard to appreciate the beauty around you. I was ‘bitin’ with the drive – I wanted to try out the bike route, just to get a feel of it…so off I went.

The bike route for the standard distance consisted of 5 loops of this 8km course. The route starts off with a slight incline and a few twists and turns around the parade ground, until the main road is reached. From there, it’s 2 small hills, then a short downhill – and that’s where all the fun ends. The next 1.5 kilometers is uphill all the way to a place they call the ‘ruins’. How apt! My legs (and ego) were ruined each time I reached its peak. However, just as you are about to curse the course, it quickly becomes your best friend.

Luckily, what goes up, must come down. Its pretty much downhill all the way back from there. Big-ring-small-cog kinda downhill. 60kmh-put-your-head-down-grab-your-drops-tight and pray-you-don’t-hit-a-pothole kinda downhill. After about 1.5km of that, a slight uphill, a few turns and you’re back in the parade grounds.

I didn’t bother running the run course as I was hoping to save all the energy I had left for race day. I had been nursing a cold, and have not been feeling well since the AAV Triathlon last sunday.

My targets for the 10km-40km-5km Run-Bike-Run course, were 55mins for the first 10k, 1:25 for the bike leg (adjusted it after I surveyed it) and 28mins for the last 5k, plus change for transitions. Those targets would have brought the total to about 2:50.

A loooooong day was ahead.

Race Day

I woke up very early, had my usual pre-race meal (peanut butter sandwich) and went off to the parade grounds. As usual, got inked very quickly, got my race number, and fixed my transition area. It felt weird having practically nothing in the transition area – just my bike and my helmet. I kept having that ‘what did I forget’ feeling – perhaps it was just another case of start line stress.
A quick warmup, race briefing and before I knew it, I was at the starting point of my very first Duathlon.

Right before the starting gun shot off – I found Levy. We talked for a bit, and in the process, he told me not to be surprised if the run times were very quick, as the course was uphill one way, but downhill the rest. Thank God he told me this – otherwise I might have paced myself too much!

A around 6:40, the starting gun went off…and so did we. After the crowd thinned, I found Levy and a few other participants. I decided to hang on for the first 10k (or the most I could) . We were going at a pretty good pace, and before I knew it, the first of 4 laps had gone. Lap after lap I hung unto his back (Levy, I hope you did not mind), and fortunately I made it to the end. We ended our first 10k in about 48:45 – which is tremendously fast for someone like me.

Me pacing with Levy aka 'Happy Hour'

A quick bike-to-run transition, and off to the bike leg. What followed were five laps of pure heartache and bliss. Heartache one way, bliss the other. Heaven and hell shared the road in this one. My planned race nutrition consisted of a bottle of water, Gatorade and 2 packs of GU. Tri-berry (w/caffeine) on my 2nd bike lap, and Espresso Love (w/ 2x caffeine) towards the end of my bike lap. By my 4th lap, I had already run out of all fluids. Its either I drank too much, or brought too little – at that point I was hoping it’was the former. My calves were already cramping during the last climb, so before the descent, I did some of my on-bike stretching. I ended my bike leg in about 1:24 – which was decent in my standards.


At this point I realized that my 2:50 target was well within reach. All I needed to do was fight through leg cramps and a sidestich and finish the last 5k. A run-shuffle made up most of the final kilometers. I was running on pure pride – hopefully it was enough. Apparently it was – my last 5k was just under 26 mins.

Bonked with 5km to go!

I crossed the finish line in 2:41:45. I made it…well within my target.



Shortly after, I found out that Philip aka ForeignRunner suffered a puncture during his first bike loop – causing a DNF. Sorry to hear that bro. Next time! You would have schooled us – we know it!

Me,Philip aka 'Foreign Runner' and Levy aka 'Happy Hour'

Thanks to Hannah (for all the support and race coverage) , Vince(for the pictures), and Levy(for all the advice).

Good job to Vince, Paolo, Marga, Harry, Hubert, Annie and all the other first timers ☺ Props to Coach Rick and the rest of TRAP for a very well organized and fun event. We should have more of these ☺

Next stop : New Balance 25k

P.S. – The top 5(consisting of the country’s top Triathletes and Duathletes) all finished under 2:00. Damn! Arland Macasaeb, a two-time Ironman finisher, and one of our premier triathletes, finished in 5th.