THE Alveo Ironman 70.3 Philippines goes diverse as it marks its return to Davao on March 26 at Azuela Cove by unveiling an 11-man Team Maisugon competition in honor of the 11 tribes of the host city with a winner-take-all prize of P550,000 at stake.
“Every Ironman race has its own uniqueness per location. This is our way of showing how this can be diverse,” Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte. “We are showcasing the 11 tribes of Davao City and it’s going to be a prestigious award only in Davao City.” The grand prize was initially pegged at P500,000, put up by the city government, but Davao Light Power Company Inc. added P50,000 to the purse.
The special category is open to teams made up of 11 age-groupers regardless of age, gender, race, nationality or color.
The team with the fastest total time will win the coveted Tribu Maisugon award, including a perpetual trophy handcrafted by noted homegrown artist Kublai Millan.
The Tribu Maisugon team competition will thus be included in the third Ironman 70.3 which Davao City is hosting after 2018 and 2019. It will also mark the pros’ return to one of the highlight events of each triathlon season and the only pro-laced race offered this year, according to the organizing The Ironman GroupSunrise Events Inc.
“It’s a continuity of first two [Ironman 70.3 Davao] races—from race for peace, culture, then now, it’s a race for oneness,” Millan said. Registration is ongoing. For details, log on to ironman.com/im703-davao-philippines-athletes.
Tribu Maisugon emanates from the 11 tribes where Davao City is focused on, including Ata, Maguindanaon, Matigsalug, Bagobo Klata, Maranao, Obo Manuvu, Bagobo-Tagabawa, Tasug, Sama, Iranun and Kagan.
Other titles to be disputed in the punishing 1.9-km swim/90-km bike/21-km run race set over a championship course are the relay all male, relay all female and relay mixed.
The event has drawn more than a thousand participants from all over, including a slew of top pros, headed by Aussies Dimity-Lee Duke and Sarah Crowley and Lottie Lucas of United Arab Emirates, with The IRONMAN Group/SEI looking to surpass its target of 1,500 entries with still five weeks left before the blue-ribbon event is fired off.