SafeGuard Active 5150 Bohol, Philippines – 1st

Earlier this year I took my first 5150 win at the ‘Regent 5150 Triathlon’ held at Subic Bay in the Philippines.  This race was a big catalyst in my decision to sign up for the ‘SafeGuard 5150 Triathlon’ as I really wanted to win both 5150 triathlon events in the Philippines. Normally at this time of year I would race Noosa 5150 (a race which I have done for over 10 years). With Noosa being held just one week before ‘SafeGuard 5150’ I chose to give Noosa a miss so that I could be in the best possible physical shape.

Race Day

The race location for ‘SafeGuard 5150’ in the Philippines was quite magic with the transition area literally on the beach. The swim was a deep water start over a 1 lap swim course in choppy water. As soon as the gun fired I was off and swimming hard headed to the first turn buoy towards the far end of the swim course. Unfortunately I couldn’t establish a solo break like I wanted and after I rounded the swim turn I saw that Michael Murphy and Mitch Robins were just behind me. I emerged from the 1.5km swim leg in the lead and quickly went about running up the beach and towards transition.

Hitting the 40km bike course Mitch took to the front early before I came through to the front to lift the tempo. After the first 10 minutes I put in a large surge to try and break away solo with no success. Just before the 20km turn around point I put in another big surge which this time, saw Murphy unable to keep up. I hit the gas once more after rounding the bike turnaround point to extend the gap and try and put Mitch under some pressure. I looked back after a few more minutes and saw that Mitch Robins was just behind me. According to the chief draft official Mitch was riding closer than the 12 meter draft rule allows and he was issued with the drafting infringement. I decided it was time to make another surge which helped me to finally get away up the road with a solo lead. For the final 15km I worked hard to build up this solo breakaway and managed to hold onto speeds of 48kph during the return trip. The slightly downhill section of the course back to transition was fast and I used this to my advantage.  

Having raced in the Philippines a lot this year I know too well just how much the heat and humidity play a part during the run leg. With this said I set out on the 10km run with the goal of holding onto a solid tempo which I felt like I could sustain. 

 I got a good view of the gap that I had built up on the bike leg during my run out of the transition. To me the gap looked around the 1min45 second mark which was a nice buffer to have when I started on the home stretch of the run leg. The run was as predicted crazy hot and crazy humid.

At every aid station I made sure to pour water over my head and pick up ice to shove down the front of my race suit. At 4kms into the run I got another time check to second place which I was told was a gap of around 2min30seconds. At this point I knew that if I just kept turning the legs over at a good tempo that I could hold on for the win. In the back of my mind was also a little voice reminding me of the Challenge Half race I had next weekend back home in Australia. I tried hard not to run too fast on the way back towards the finish line in my attempt to conserve some energy for next weekends race. During the final 3km of the run I really felt the heat and was over the moon to finally reach the finish line. Running down the finishing chute knowing that I had done enough for the victory was an awesome feeling and I really let some emotions run wild running over the finish line.

Having won both 5150 triathlon events in the Philippines in one year is a pretty amazing feeling. A huge thank you to all those who support me including family, friends and of course, sponsors. As I mentioned after the race on my social media accounts these performances are a result of so many people who support me. Another thank you must go to the amazing event organizers for another awesome race in the Philippines. The professionalism of the races in this part of the world is really second to none and if you are a triathlete races like ‘SafeGuard 5150’ should be on your triathlon bucket list! 

I will now be flying back to Brisbane, Australia where I will spend a few days at home before jumping on another plane for this coming Sunday where I will be racing Challenge Shepparton.