Mauricio Mendez, the 22-year old triathlete from Mexico, won the first Alveo Ironman 70.3 Davao Sunday (March 25) after finishing the race in 3:50:32, besting 1,800 entries from 39 countries. The race kicked off at 6:10 a.m. with the 1.9-kilometer swim course followed by a 90-kilometer bike and 21-kilometer run.
Mauricio Mendez (photo courtesy of Asia Ironman)
Mendez, who finished 2nd in the 2017 Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 held in Cebu, also have other Ironman titles including the 2017 Ironman 70.3 Texas, 2017 Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos and 2016 Ironman 70.3 Cozumel. He also has several Xterra titles including a World Championship in the 2016 Xterra, 2016 Xterra Sweden, 2016 Xterra Denmark, 2016 Xterra Italy and 2013 Xterra World Championships.
Herbalife GM Rosalio Valenzuela, Sunrise Events
GM Princess Galura and Mauricio Mendez
GM Princess Galura and Mauricio Mendez
“I am very strong in running, with only around an hour for a 21-kilometer run,” Mendez said when interviewed by datelinedavao two-days before the race. The triathlete admits he is a coffee lover.
The other top winners are Australians Tim van Berkel (third) and Tim Reed (second) who is a three-time champion of the Ironman 70.3 in Cebu.
The other top winners are Australians Tim van Berkel (third) and Tim Reed (second) who is a three-time champion of the Ironman 70.3 in Cebu.
“It’s my first time here in Davao and I tried biking, if you really get away from the city it is very good for biking especially the weather,” Australian Eric Watson said. He said his strength is in swimming but is a bit slow in biking.
Sunrise Events GM Princess Galura said they only targetted 1,000 for Ironman Davao but it was sold out in just five days so they opened it to more participants. Out of the total number of participants, 30% are foreigners.
Galura said they have 56 countries participating in Ironman Cebu but it took them 17 years to do this for Cebu so she is very excited about the future of Ironman in Davao.
Finishers of the Alveo Ironman 70.3 Davao received very special medals called “Duyan ng Magiting” or Cradle of the Brave. The medal, which was designed by artist Kublai Milan who is also from Davao, features an Agung, a percussion instrument surrounded by the symbols of the swim, bike and run events. The T’boli community helped Mr. Milan craft all the medals.
