“City of Naga hosts Sun Life 5150, Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint”

Triathletes, especially the newbies, will get a chance to test their capabilities as the City of Naga, Cebu hosts for the first time two triathlon races simultaneously—the Sun Life 5150 Triathlon Cebu and the Go For Gold (GFG) Sunrise Sprint on April 28, 2019, a Sunday, at its famed Boardwalk.

These events will be organized by the Sunrise Events, Inc. (SEI) to be hosted by the Cebu Province headed by Gov. Hilario Davide III and the City of Naga headed by Mayor Kristine Chiong.

The 5150 Triathlon is one of the races organized by the SEI all over the Philippines which brings in a lot of tourists—local, national and international, either as participants or spectators, flocking to the host venues.

“The Province of Cebu wanted an event outside the areas where IRONMAN is held,” said Princess Galura, the SEI General Manager.

SEI is also the only event organizer licensed to hold IRONMAN races in the Philippines and has been organizing the 70.3 IRONMAN Philippines in Cebu for the past seven years since 2012.

The previous 5150 Triathlon races in the Visayas region were hosted by the Municipality of Panglao and Bohol Province.

5150 Triathlon Race Course

The 5150 Triathlon race will have participants kicking off with a 1.5-kilometer swim at the waters fronting the Boardwalk, then transition into 40 kilometers of biking which will take racers from the Naga City Hall all the way towards the turnaround at Starmall in the City of Talisay, passing by the town of Minglanilla, then back for the 10-kilometer run that will have them going the opposite side from the bike route for the turnaround a little past Apo Cement Corporation then back to Naga. The finish line will be at the St. Francis Assisi Ocean Park.

The race will have two categories, the individual—Pro, Asian Elite and Age Group, and the relay. It is open for 15 years old and above. Because it has a shorter distance, it is ideal for beginners and triathletes who have graduated from the IRONKIDS races, a side event in Ironman races.

Pros and Celebrity Participants

Making the event more exciting is the presence of the Pros from Australia and Guam and Filipino celebrities.

The male pros seeing action are Sam Betten, Mitch Robins and Dan Brown, all Australian and all champion professional triathletes. The women participants will also have to contend with Guam’s Manami Iijima.

The Asian Elite will also have Alaska’s August Benedicto.

Celebrities to see action are father and son Piolo and Iñigo Pascual, Matteo Guidicelli, Gerald Anderson, Jake Cuenca and Enchong Dee.

Iñigo Pascual and Dee will be teammates under Sun Life.

The 5150 Triathlon will kick off with an Expo at the Basketball Covered Court of the Boardwalk on April 27, 2019.

Merchandisers to display their wares are Australia Harvest, Klean Athlete, 5150 Store, Cetaphil, F2P, Intercare, 2GO Express, Vitargo and Unison.

Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint

Aside from the 5150 Triathlon, also happening simultaneously is the Go for Gold (GFG) Sunrise Sprint, a much shorter distance of 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5-kilometer run.

After debuting the Sunrise Sprint in 2016, SEI has partnered with Go For Gold as the title sponsor for the sprint race from 2019 to 2021.

The shorter distance triathlon race is ideal for newbies to the sport of triathlon. It is open for 15 years old and above. It is only open for individual participants and will have the Open and the Age Group categories.

The Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint will always be held in simultaneous with the 5150 Triathlon races.

Aside from the April 28, other schedules for the GFG Sunrise Sprint are July 7, 2019 in Davao and October 27, 2019 in Subic Bay.

Registration

For the Sun Life 5150 Triathlon, registration fee is pegged at US$175 while the team entry fee for the relay is pegged at US$225.

SEI also offers a Cebu package of US$450 for those who wants to join both the Sun Life 5150 Triathlon Cebu in April and the IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines in August.

Those interested can go to http://sunlife.5150philippines.com/registration/.

As for the Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint, early bird registration fee is pegged at P4,500 (US$85). If a participant opts to register for all three GFG Sunrise Sprint races, he/she can get a discounted fee of only P12,500 (US $230).

Participants can also get a discount if they opt to register as a group of six with the Five Plus One package of P22,500 (US$425). The group can also register for all three GFG Sunrise Sprint races and pay only P62,500 (US$1,150).

Those interested can go to www.goforgold.sunrisesprint.com.

Registration fee inclusions are race kit, carboloading dinner, post-race meal, finisher’s shirt, finisher’s medal and timing chip.