Isports ATBP.

Saipan, CNMI—Choosing to use a pair of tires with tubes proved to be costly for Joe Miller as the Filipino bet finished sixth among the pros that competed in the 2015 XTERRA Saipan Championship last Saturday here in the United States territory’s largest island. The two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion completed the 1.5-kilometer swim at Micro Beach, a 40K bike ride around the steep hills of Mt. Tapochao, and a 10K run through the rugged jungle trails in three hours, 22 minutes, and 33 seconds. Miller submitted times of 22;:10  in the swim, 1:37:46 in the bike, and 1:01:12 in the run legs in his first try in the Crown Jewel of the Global XTERRA Circuit. He was 22:08 behind Australian Ben Allen, who claimed his fourth XTERRA Saipan crown with the fastest time of 2:40:25, 13:09 slower than the record held by International Triathlon Union World Championships gold medalist Olivier Marceau of France (2:27:16) in 2007. Miller said he was supposed to use...

Filipino triathlete Joe Miller used to hear stories from fellow pro Ben Allen of Australia and two others on how beautiful and challenging the XTERRA Saipan Championship course was. On Saturday, the first-year pro and former two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion will finally try his luck in conquering the first stop of the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Off-Road Triathlon series. “A lot of the pros that I used to compete with like Ben, Jacqui Slack, and Daz Parker used to tell me stories about XTERRA Saipan. How beautiful and challenging the course is, and that I should try competing in it,” said the Zamboanga City native. “I trained for 13 weeks for XTERRA Saipan and I’m targeting a third or fourth-place finish. I really wanted to see the result of my training that’s why I’m pushing myself hard. I wasn’t satisfied with my performance in XTERRA Philippines and I’m craving more. I want to challenge myself,” Miller said. XTERRA Saipan starts wit...