Interested participants will still have until late this afternoon to tonight to register, or at least before the race briefing starts, for the first Cebu City Triathlon (CCT) which will be held tomorrow (January 25, 2015) and will start and end at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
Prior to the event itself, the organizing Cornerstone Group will be holding several activities today from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the CCSC. To be facilitated are bike check-ins, registration, official race briefing, carbo loading and distribution of race kits.
Steffan Maniquis of the Cornerstone Group said that those who want to register might as well go directly to the CCSC with their bikes as bikes must be checked in tonight and not tomorrow before the assembly time at 5 a.m. for the race.
About 200 have already submitted their entries, so there are still plenty of slots available with the limit set at 500.
As per advised of the International Triathlon Union (ITU), the official world governing body for triathlon, participants must be aged 15 years old and above to be able to join this race which will have the sprint distance of 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and a 5-km run.
Participants aged 15 to 17 years old will need to bring a signed parents’ consent during registration and cannot sign up online.
The Cornerstone Group is coordinating with the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI), Cebu City Government and the Cebu City Sports Commission in holding this event which will serve as the closing activity of the Sinulog 2015 festivities.
Categories for this race are Elite and age-groups 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49 and 50 & Above. Participants must make sure of what category they want to sign up for because an elite participant cannot be declared winner in the age group category and vice versa.
A total of P100,000 worth of prizes will be given out to the top finishers with the Elite male and female champion bringing home P25,000 each, the second finishers P15,000 and the third finishers P10,000. Although no cash prizes will be handed to the age group winners, fabulous prizes still await them.
It is the first time that a triathlon race will be held in the heart of Cebu City with the swimming to be done at the swimming pool of the CCSC, which is also a first for a triathlon held in Cebu province. Most of the triathlon races held in nearby areas like Lapu-Lapu and in the towns had the swimming segments in the beaches.
Participants will be released in six waves to regulate traffic.
SFI executive director Ricky Ballesteros said that it is high time for a triathlon event to be held in the city because a lot of triathletes come from here.
Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Edward Hayco said the city’s location is an advantage because it is centrally located. But more importantly, this race is a start for the possible partnership for a grassroots development for the sport of triathlon in Cebu City.
Earlier, Maniquis said that they are allotting free slots for triathletes from each barangay of the city provided that they have the training for it. However, Maniquis said there are no takers of the offer so after the CCT, they will hold a clinic and an aquathlon and duathlon race as a starting phase for the barangays.
Partial road closures will be implemented along the bike and run routes. Four partial road closures will be implemented along the bike route which will have participants taking Osmena Boulevard from the CCSC going downtown towards to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino de Cebu, then turning right towards the South Road Properties, onwards to Gaisano SRP where the turning point is located and back the same route towards the CCSC.
The run route, on the other hand, will be from the CCSC, once again taking Osmena Boulevard but this time going uptown to the Fuente Osmena Circle onwards to the Provincial Capitol where the turning point is and back the same route to the finish line at the CCSC. Only one partial road closure will be implemented in the run route.
Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) will be putting up road signs to warn all commuters. With the race promptly kicking off at 6 a.m., it will most likely be done before lunch.
