Vanessa Jay's Nest: Brent McMahon

By: Ma Cristina P. Lao

On August 2, 2015, about 2,600 triathletes from 52 countries joined Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines 2015, in Cebu, Philippines. The event consists of a 1.9-kilometer swim, a 90-kilometer bike ride, and a 21.1-kilometer run.

SRP Road

The race started at 6AM at the Shangri-La Mactan and expected to finish by noontime. As early as 6AM there were already people lining up and waiting at the San Isidro Road crossing, near the SRP road, which is just a walking distance to where I live.

Under the heat of the piercing sun, everyone was so eager to see who the first triathletes and a few Filipino celebrities to arrive, then at around 7:30 A.M. we can hear the sound of sirens, then come along 5 triathletes on their speeding bikes. The first that I saw has the number 04 on his arms, followed by the other triathletes. I later learned that No. 4 is Peter Jacobs, whose overall rank is the 8th.

Peter Jacobs, 8th Place.

Leading the Race

On the other side of the road, I saw another triathlete in orange, whose number is 08, later became the overall Champion. He is Tim Reed from Australia who finished this triathlon race at 3:46:03 hrs. He is followed by Tim Van Verkel (2nd placer) and Brent McMahon (3rd placer).

Tim Reed, Tim Van Verkel and Brent McMahon won 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Every participant is eyeing to beat Brent McMahon who was the Champion in 2014. This tough triathlete finished at 3rd place this time, at 3:50:23 hrs.

“Oh man, you’ll bleed from the ears,” said McMahon, who stayed right behind the two bestfriends Tim Reed (1st) and Tim Van Berkel (2nd) in the bike segment only to slow down late in the run leg. “It’s so hot here. Those Tim guys, they’re fast,” according to a report from the Inquirer.net.

Brent McMahon, 3rd Placer

Everyone was also very excited to see the Filipino hearthrob and actor, Piolo Pascua.

Piolo Pascual

Piercing Sun and Minor Accidents

The weather may look peaceful and sunny in these pictures but in reality it's really piercing hot! I cannot imagine how these triathletes withstood the heat of the sun that day. I saw that a few had some minor injuries, scrapes on the legs and arms. At some point during the race, there were rumors of minor accidents at the Cebu SRP tunnel and somewhere in San Roque, Talisay. I've heard that one participant was brought to Talisay District Hospital. Overall, local newspapers reported the next day that the race was still successful with no major injuries brought by major accidents.

Check out other bicyclists here:

Congratulations to the top 10 triathletes as follows:

OVERALL RANK: 1

Tim Reed, No. 8

Country: Australia

Swim: 22:57

Bike 2:03:21

Run 1:16:35

Overall 3:46:03

OVERALL RANK: 2

Tim Van Berkel, No. 6

Country: Australia

Tim Van Berkel

Swim: 22:58

Bike 2:03:15

Run 1:16:42

Overall 3:46:05

OVERALL RANK: 3

Country: Canada

Brent McMahon, No. 1

Swim: 22:51

Bike 2:03:17

Run 1:21:01

Overall 3:50:23

OVERALL RANK: 4

Mitch Robins, No. 16

Country: Australia

Swim: 22:58

Bike 2:08:05

Run 1:21:00

Overall 3:55:20

OVERALL RANK: 5

Craig Alexander, No. 3

Country: Australia

Swim: 23:01

Bike 2:07:53

Run 1:22:50

Overall 3:57:11

OVERALL RANK: 6

Luke McKenzie, No. 5

Country: Australia

Swim: 23:00

Bike 2:05:47

Run 1:25:26

Overall 3:57:45

OVERALL RANK: 7

Team, Rdak-C, No. 3117

Country: Philippines

Swim: 25:58

Bike 2:15:22

Run 1:12:40

Overall 3:58:20

OVERALL RANK: 8

Peter Jacobs, No. 4

Country: Australia

Swim: 22:56

Bike 2:08:04

Run 1:24:11

Overall 3:58:51

OVERALL RANK: 9

Sam Betten, No. 2

Swim: 21:51

Bike 2:08:58

Run 1:27:10

Overall 4:01:23

OVERALL RANK: 10

TEAM LA EUROPA: No. 3128

Swim: 25:50

Bike 2:16:00

Run 1:24:31

Overall 4:10:29

The yearly Cobra IronMan 70.3 races was held in Cebu in the past 3 years. An IronMan 70.3 race which is also known as a Half Ironman covers a distance of 113 km which consists of a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride, and 21.1 km run. The effort exerted by the athletes are overwhelming, they finish with sheer will and determination, some were pushed to their limits. I can say that these athletes do not have the word "give up" in their vocabulary as they would do whatever it takes, to their remaining strength in order to finish the race. These athletes trained hard for several years to become a triathlete. I happened to take a few shots of the recent Cobra IronMan race held in Cebu on August 3, 2014. These were taken near the Talisay junction/turnaround. Here are some of the pictures I took in that race.