Aquathlon culminates in Mabini
Compostela Valley province—The province’s last leg for the Visit Davao Fun Sale (VDSF) event culminates with the successful holding of the 1st Comval Aquathlon held in Mabini on June 17, 2018.
“The Comval Aquathlon is the last VDSF event hosted by Comval from mountain climbing for women last April, to Mars Attack National Climb last May and successfully ended in the fine waters of Mabini Protected Landscape Seascape, our way of celebrating Father’s Day!”, Provincial Tourism Officer Christine Dompor said.
With 96 participants, the aquathlon covers a 600-meter swim challenge from Kopiat Island to the mainland, particularly at Manaklay Beach Resort, and a 1,000-meter run for the adult category and kids aging 11-14 years old. While the kids’ category ages 7-10 years old covers a 200m swim.
For the over-all adult category aging 20-49 years old, Jomar Turno of Tagum City bested other swimmers-runners clocking 16:01 (16 min, 1 sec) followed by Edison Cayano at 16:24 and Dos Gumela at 16:33. For the boys/girls category (7-10 y.o.), Xander Barraca topped at 3:20 followed by Matthew Dugaduga at 3:21 and Keanne Albert Alpiz at 3:22.
The 1st place for all categories received cash prizes of P7,000 and plaques each. While the 2nd and 3rd placers received cash prizes of P5,000 and P3,000 each plus plaques, respectively. All finishers also received medals and gift items from the event sponsors.
Jojo Bernadas who topped the female adult category aging 35-49 y.o, finds it challenging saying the experience was great. “I am a runner and joined ultra marathon. But this is my first time to swim in open water and join this kind of competition,” the 49 year-old power-lady said.
“We would like to position Comval as a prime tourism destination, also hosting triathlon and other sports events. We have this beautiful island for a great cross-channel experience,” Gov. Tyron Uy, who is also a sports enthusiast, said.
Also present and giving their support are Mabini Mayor Reynaldo Dayanghirang, President and CEO Tomas Lorenzo of Lorenzo Group of Companies and owner of the Lubi Plantation in Kopiat Island, the jump off point for the swim-run event, Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Director Butch Blanco, CVPPO Provincial Director PSSupt Roderico Roy, AFP, local officials and different partner-organizers of the event such as the Provincial and Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and Health Offices, Mabini tourism officer Elizabeth Dayanghirang Red Cross-Comval, and the Phil. Coast Guard, and the different support offices of the provincial government. The race technical director of the event is Dax Ang of Davao Adventure Xtreme.
Summing up the event, Dompor ended, “it’s a splash, it’s an epic run! We happily thank everyone for joining us this year and we are cooking for more sports adventure in Compostela Valley from highlands to the islands!” (fe fuentes-maestre/ID Comval)
