Sitchon leaves for LA Triathlon today

XTERRA Saipan Championship age-group champion Manny Sitchon will be leaving for Los Angeles this afternoon to compete in the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon, which will be held this Sunday.

Sitchon, who won in the 50-55 age group of the XTERRA Saipan early this year, will be participating in the Olympic-distance triathlon, which will cover a 1.5-kilometer swim leg, 40km bike, and 10km run.

The tournament will also have a sprint competition (750meter swim, 20km bike, 5km run), but Sitchon decided to go for the longer race.

“I am comfortable with the longer race and it is what I trained for,” said Sitchon, who posted 28 minutes, 52 seconds in the 1.5km swim leg of the XTERRA Saipan Championships, 02:54:52 in the 30km bike leg, and 1:43:51 in the 10m run to finish the race in 5:07:25.

Sitchon used to swim during lunch time off Susupe beach park every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to prepare for the tournament in L.A. He had his run practice three times a week, cruising along the Airport Road in the afternoon, and rode his bike on weekends.

“I am hoping to finish the race in L.A. injury free and with a decent time,” Sitchon said.

The 52-year old triathlete decided to compete in L.A., his first triathlon event outside the CNMI instead of going to Maui, Hawaii for the 2008 XTERRA World Championships to save money.

Sitchon earned a trip to Maui for winning in the 2008 XTERRA Saipan Championships, but could not make it to Hawaii despite hosting a fundraising race several months ago to help defray the cost of his participation in the XTERRA World.

He, however, thanked those who joined the fundraiser, as money raised from the event will still be used for his trip to L.A.

This Sunday’s races will have Hollywood actress Jennifer Lopez as its endorser. Lopez’s triathlon activities are shown in promotional videos of the races.

The swim leg of the race will be an L-shaped swim in the Pacific Ocean at Venice Beach.

Participants will swim perpendicular to the shore, west 150 meters, left turn, swim south for 630 meters, another left turn to the east for 50 meters (toward the shoreline), then another left turn north for 570 meters and right turn to the shore for 100 meters. The start and the finish will be about 60 meters apart.

The bike course will start from Venice Blvd. then heads to Fairfax. The course goes up a slight incline on Fairfax to Wilshire. On Wilshire, bikers will go through Museum Row and the Miracle Mile. The course turns onto Highland briefly then turns right on 6th St. at approximately the 10 mile mark. Participants will cruise through the beautiful residential area of Hancock Park to Alvarado.

The run course will begin at Sunset Blvd. turnaround near Alexandria, heads back down Sunset Blvd. and merges with Sprint course at Alvarado. Both courses continue down Sunset Blvd. to Beaudry.