Sepik Ironman into 10th year as East Sepik’s premier event

 THE town of Wewak in East Sepik will hold its 10th Sepik Ironman event this weekend.

Athletes from all over the province with ring-ins from Port Moresby, Lae, Goroka, Manus and other parts of PNG will converge on the northern coastal town to compete for the K22,500 prize money.

Started in 2004 with 20 athletes, the Sepik Ironman event today commands a permanent fixture of the provincial calendar every June.  

The event this year will once again attract a record number of athletes – organisers say there will be at least 400 athletes.

The event is an off-shoot of Triathlon but is run as a team relay event. 

The first part is a 4km run, followed by a 15km bike ride, a 800m swim and finished by a 5km run.

NCD Governor Powes Parkop is flying to Wewak to celebrate this occasion with a team comprising some of Port Moresby’s seasoned triathletes and runners.

Team NCD is made up of Port Moresby roader runners Swans Pinampio, UPNG student and runner Elizabeth Rihatta, former Miss PNG and PNG representative triathlete Rachel James and Port Moresby cycling speedster Lee Rassmussen.

Meanwhile, Andrew Duggin of Point Engineering company established his dominance on the course last weekend as the person to beat in the Global Construction triathlon series.

Duggin won the Olympic Distance triathlon event in a time of 2 hours 23 minutes. A close second was Anni Galdames of PSI in 2:23.20, while Alotau’s Callum Skeet finished third with 2:25.30. 

May was the second installment of the Global Construction sponsored triathlon series. The tri-series comprised a sprint distance event and a super sprint event.