ABOUT 4,000 triathletes are expected to compete in the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 hosted by Davao City on Aug. 11.
In a press conference on June 25, Princess Galura, Sunrise Events Inc. president and part of the IRONMAN Group said the general entries for the triathlon will close sooner than they expected as more than 3,000 participants across the 29 countries had already registered for the total weekend.
“There are 2,000 participants already for Gwapa Dabawenya, 159 for Ironman Kids, and 1,000 for the IRONMAN 70.3,” Galura said.
Along with this, Galura emphasized how the Ironman group had extensively prepared for the race, sharing that some triathletes conducted simulations for the swim route, featuring a brand-new course, the Davao City Coastal Road.
“In the swim, we have to check if the tides and current conditions are all good. First and foremost, we tested if the seawater of the coastal road could pass the test. After that, we have to do all the things around the race, where the expo, where will the transition be, and the possible nearest hospitals,” Galura said.
She added that as part of their simulation, they’ve listed and chosen specific dates that would be similar in terms of its tides and current to August 11th.
“Natapos kami last June 15 and meron din noong May. On July 12 also, and on August. Basically, nilalangoy yan ng mga triathletes from Davao para maramdaman nila anong temperature, gaano kalalim, ano yung current, tapos sila na rin ‘yung nagbibigay ng feedback sa mga communities ng mga triathletes from all over the Philippines,” she said.
The IRONKIDS Run will be a duathlon event, a Run-Bike-Run for young athletes aged 6-15 years old. A special IRONKIDS Run is also made available for kids from 6-10 years old (1-kilometer run course) and 11 to 15-year-olds (3km run course), to be held on Saturday (August 10) of the event week.
The 2GO Gwapa Dabawenya Run, which the 2000 slots filled in three days, is a 5km fun run to be held on Friday of the event week.
Photo by Bing Gonzales
