Two-time SEAG bike champion to hold virtual race

Marites Bitbit, the gold medalist in the 2005 and 2007 road race editions of the biennial SEAG, said the virtual trail run to be held on November 5 to 8 will be staged using the virtual race app Strava. (File photo: Marites Bitbit/Facebook)

BAGUIO CITY – A former two-time Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) bike champion will be holding a four-day virtual trail race in the early part of November.

Marites Bitbit, the gold medalist in the 2005 and 2007 road race editions of the biennial SEAG, said the virtual trail run to be held on November 5 to 8 will be staged using the virtual race app Strava.

“People can register then have their race route tracked by Strava,” said Bitbit, who also won a silver medal in the mountain bike race in the 2005 SEAG.

She said the track is three kilometers long and the more rounds a participant makes, the better chance of winning the race. The virtual race will be staged as part of the city’s celebration of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) Month this October.

“We will just have to counter check it with the race app,” said Bitbit, who built a mountain bike course in a three-hectare lot in Loakan barangay here, near the airport.

“Of course, there will be price money and medals to be given to the winners,” she said. A special award will also be given to a runner garbed in traditional wear.

“Since this is a race in time for the IP month celebration, we will give a special award to the one who joins wearing an ethnic attire,” she said.

“I am glad to be back in my hometown, after some time away to better my skill,” said Bitbit, whose mountain bike course is now 100 percent complete and is a favorite for mountain biking enthusiasts including the famed Team Lakay.

She said that she is also eyeing another virtual trail run in December during the barangay fiesta of Loakan village.