Pinoy bet Miller tries his luck on XTERRA Saipan



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 with a 1.5-kilometer swim at Micro Beach and transitions to a 40K bike leg around the hills of Mt. Tapochao before finishing off with a 10K run through the rugged trails.

Miller, whose grandfather is an American, said that he used to compete with Allen, Great Britain’s Daz Parker and Jacqui Slack, and South African Bradley Weiss. All four have been urging him to come and compete on Saipan.

“They’ve been asking me to come and join them on Saipan. Particularly, Ben, because we became good friends and I even lived in their house when I competed in Australia,” said Miller, who arrived on Saipan early Thursday morning and despite coping with jetlag went out and tried the XTERRA Saipan’s bike leg.

The four-year triathlete, who will be competing as a pro for the first time this year, said that he now knows why a lot of his colleagues have been coming back to compete in XTERRA Saipan after seeing the course that will go through the jungle of Mt. Tapochao.

“I tried the whole trail in the bike course since it was already marked. It was challenging but I saw the beauty of the island and now I know why the other pros keep on coming back to compete here. I will try the run portion,” said Miller, who is hoping for a Top 5 finish.

Miller, who relocated to Mactan City in Cebu province when he concentrated on his blossoming triathlon career, said he was on his way to a Top 5 finish in last month’s XTERRA Philippines in Albay but both his tires got flat that’s why he had difficulty catching up with the lead group of pros.

He managed to finish the race in 3:10:48 to still end up at sixth place among the pros in the men’s division and 20th overall. “I’m a strong mountain biker since that is where I started racing before slowly transitioning to triathlon. But there’s nothing that you can do if you encountered mechanical problems. Hopefully, I won’t encounter the same problems that I had back in XTERRA Philippines.”

Completing the Asia-Pacific series is another reason why Miller decided to join XTERRA Saipan. The series also includes stops in Guam on April 11, Australia on April 27, and Malaysia on May 2 and 3.

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