LOOK: Borja, Corpuz blow past field in 2018 IronKids

 

SUBIC, Philippines – The spirit of competition, indeed, sparks at a young age as shown by the promising athletes in the 2018 Alaska IronKids aquathlon on Saturday, June 2, at the Remy Fields in Subic Bay.

At the sound of the 6 am airhorn, the racers were off like torpedoes in the water. The young racers swam for 400 meters in the Wow Recreation Center pool, just adjacent to the Remy Fields track where they transitioned for the 3-kilometer run under the searing heat. 

 

Zedrick James “ZJ” Borja, a 13-year-old from from San Pedro, Laguna, crossed the finish line first and submitted a time of 16 minutes and 39.81 seconds to rule the 13-14 boys age group. 

 

Ronel Victor Cruz (16:52.81) trailed by just 13 seconds to check in at second place. Clifford Pusing (17:56.37) rounded out the top 3.

While Borja and Cruz have been fierce race rivals, they remain good friends and Borja warmly congratulated Cruz. 

 

Samantha Corpuz of San Fernando, La Union coasted to the finish line to top the 13-14 girls division with a time of 17 minutes and 23.39 seconds.

The 13-year-old even left some of the boys in the dust despite their two-minute head start. Finishing behind Corpuz were Honny Yanong (18:08.88) and Katrina Salazar (18:15.94). 

 

In the 11-12 age group, Rob Jarrel Balderas topped the boys side (14:09.35) followed by Juan Miguel Tayag  (14:31.21) and Jose Maria Tayag (15:22.53). Aubrey Tom won in the girls category (14:50.61) as Kira Ellis (15:18.24) and Princess Patilan (15:57.76) settled as runners-up.

The event also featured the 6-8 age group where Rafael Ubiadas, a 6-year-old IronKids first-timer,  pulled off a surprise win (8:38.09). 

 

Kaden Sy (8:57.75) and Charles Andallo (9:01.66) checked in after Ubiadas. In the 6-8 girls side, Mikayla Salada (8:33.38), Sinagtala Cuevas (8:44.75), and Sophia Relf (9:45.29) wound up as the top 3. 

Of course, Raf’s mom Catherine couldn’t be any more proud of her son knowing that he has a bright future ahead of him.

While most of the kids were shy during the interviews, all of them said they’d compete again if given the chance. At least they got that going for them. They can deal with media jitters much, much later. – Rappler.com