Salem rules IRONMAN 70.3 Puerto Princesa in nail-biting fashion

PUERTO PRINCESA – Satar Salem delivered a performance for the ages to capture the men’s overall individual crown, edging Chinese Junyu Cao via the slimmest of margins – 04:22:25-04:23:13 – even as Leyann Ramo completed Tri SND Barracuda’s domination of individual honors by ruling the women’s side in the IRONMAN 70.3 Puerto Princesa here Sunday.

Coming in second to Dutch Eric van der Linden after the swim but almost a minute ahead of Cao, Salem remained in that spot after the bike as Linden stayed in control. But the 2022 Sun Life 5150 champ in Bohol poured it all out in the run, wearing down Linden while holding off Cao’s stretch-run charge in one of closest results in IRONMAN Philippines staging.

Salem, who toiled for the whole season to prime up and get a crack at this crown, clocked 29:08 in swim., 02:22:31 in bike before winding up with 01:26:40 in run for an overall time of 04:22:25 as he bested last year winner John Alcala’s clocking of 04:32:20 in the grueling 1.9km swim, 90km bike, and 21.1km run race held under overcast skies.

Cao timed 30:04 in swim, gained on Salem in bike in 02:21:40 but came up short in the closing leg with a 01:26:39 clocking for an overall time of 04:23:13.

“I feel very happy to win this race. I’ve been eyeing on this for the whole year and now it came true. With all the hard training, it finally bore fruit,” said Salem, who strategically reserved his strength during the swim and bike legs then let it all out in the closing stage.

“I made sure I didn’t make the same mistakes that I did last year. Now, I made sure to reserve some strength to the push for the run part,” said the Lanao del Norte ace, who struggled to finish 17th last year.

“The most challenging part was the run because Cao was really close behind and was also determined to win,” said Salem, who pocketed the top P60,000 put up by Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron. “The last two kilometers was crucial because Cao was also pressing hard to catch up and I can feel him behind. But I pushed the hardest.”

Linden, who topped the punishing full IRONMAN Philippines in Subic last June, settled for third in 04:24:41 with leg times of 28:52 (swim), 02:22:30 (bike) and 01:28:48 (run).

Alcala, meanwhile, failed to recover from a 35:35 swim start and ended up fifth behind Mervin Santiago in 04:29:25 with times of 02:23:51 in bike and 01:26:34 in run. Santiago clocked 04:28:40 with leg times of 33:00 in swim, 02:19:50 in bike and 01:31:00 in run.

Ramo spiked Tri SND Barracuda’s romp in individual competition as she dominated her side in 05:02:56 with leg clocking of 29:39 (swim), 02:41:18 (bike) and 01:47:44 (run).

Ramo placed second to absentee Ling Er Choo of Singapore, who won last year’s inaugurals in 04:57:46. She took command early and never yielded the lead to beat Grace Banzon by almost 27 minutes and likewise won P60,000.

Banzon timed 05:29:23, including 34:51 in swim, 02:44:05 in bike and 02:04:49 in run, while American Catherine Wood placed third in 05:36:26 with leg times of 41:07 (swim), 02:56:58 (bike) and 01:49:54 (run).

Chloe Jane Ong timed 05:38:47 for fourth while Brazil’s A Nunez Muellerroger clocked 05:41:00 for fifth in the event organized by The IRONMAN Group/Sunrise Events, Inc, and served as first-time host to Asia TriClub and Relay Championship.

Backers of the event, which drew entries from 38 countries, were Vinfast, Active, Gatorade, HOKA, ROKA, Breitling 1884, Athletic Brewing Co., Fulgaz, Hyperice, Qatar Airways, Red Bull, Santini and Wahoo.

Other supporters are Always Advancing, Compressport, Ekoi and Nirvana, Outside+ and Sportograf.com, City of Puerto Princesa and RLC Residences, Sante Barley, Lightwater, Prudential Guarantee, Regent Foods, The Philippine Star, One Sports+ and Cignal.