{"id":193110,"date":"2015-03-04T04:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T18:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=193110"},"modified":"2015-03-04T04:00:29","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T18:00:29","slug":"prestley-breaks-pbt-ph-triathlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/prestley-breaks-pbt-ph-triathlon\/","title":{"rendered":"Prestley breaks PBT in PH triathlon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saipan triathlete Peter Prestley set a new personal best time in Olympic distance after competing in Tri United 1 last Sunday in Subic, Zambales in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>
Peter Prestley heads to the swim-bike transition area after completing the 1.5-kilometer swim in the waters off Dungaree Beach during last Sunday\u2019s Tri United 1 in Subic, Zambales in the Philippines. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He completed the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40K bike, and 10K run in 2:23:24, shattering the 2:28:47 he posted in last year\u2019s Pacific Island Triathlon Championships held in Guam. Prestley had split times of 28:42 in the swim leg and 1:07:24 and 46:18 in the bike and run parts, respectively.<\/p>\n

Besides earning a new PBT, the Saipan triathlete also made it to the podium in the 40 to 45 age groups, as he finished third in his division. Trimac\u2019s Lee Galdonez (2:17:45) and Fitness First\u2019s Peter McMeekin (2:22:56) took the Top 2 finish in the age group, which had eight participants, while Australia\u2019s Mitch Robin was the overall top finisher of the race after clocking in at 1:55:42.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tri United 1 course was relatively flat which made it a really fast race,\u201d said Prestley, who was a last-minute entry in the competition as he was in Subic for another event, but found out about the race and decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n

On race day, he missed the briefing and was greeted by around 800 participants getting ready to plunge into the waters off Dungaree Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was some current during the swim, but no waves or chop to deal with. I did get a jellyfish sting on my hand, but nothing major,\u201d the 40-year-old triathlete said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bike course was a little exposed to cross-winds so my strategy was just to stay tucked and aero and find a pace that I could maintain for an hour. Luckily, I didn\u2019t have any mechanical issues or flat tires despite some rugged sections of road that took a chunk out of my rear tire. I didn\u2019t notice it until after the race though, so it was a non-issue. In the run, the only problem was the heat, but I\u2019m used to that from training on Saipan. I finished 3rd in the 40-45 age group, which is always one of the most competitive age categories. The Bike King\/Tri United people were extremely nice and I hope more Saipan people come to try their races,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

After the Tri United 1, up next for Prestley is the Century Tuna Ironman 70.3, the tournament that brought the Saipan bet to Subic. The competition has a half-Ironman course and will be held on March 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt a longer half-Ironman distance race that will have much more climbing and will attract a lot more pros because it\u2019s an Ironman branded event,\u201d Prestley said.<\/p>\n

Prestley is using the two competitions in the Philippines to prepare for this month\u2019s XTERRA Saipan and Tagaman Triathlon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that both of these races will prepare me for the Tagaman and Xterra Saipan. I\u2019ll be entering the long course (70.3\/half-iron distance) race for the Tagaman and trying to qualify for Maui again during the XTERRA Saipan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saipan triathlete Peter Prestley set a new personal best time in Olympic distance after competing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":193111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2551,63,133,2552],"class_list":["post-193110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-peter-prestley","tag-philippines","tag-run","tag-tri-united"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}