a filipino triathlon coach

Phillipino Inspiration10/5/07 There are downsides to this job. Constantly washing sweaty clothes is one. Having ludicrous zebra style tan lines is another. But there are some positives. Spending a week training and racing in the Philippines was one of these, and for me, the experiences I had there epitomises the benefits of being a pro-athlete: the opportunity to travel, see different places, meet new people, eat weird and wonderful food and best of all (if you’re lucky) get paid for it. I met some of the Philippine duathlon and triathlon team at the Mekong River ITU race in March, well to be more precise I had danced funky chicken style to ‘its raining men’ (which it wasn’t unfortunately) with the Filipinos and a group of thai lady boys. They were obviously so impressed with my dancing prowess that I was invited to complete at the Subic Bay ITU race in the Philippines on 5 May. Having managed to persuade the boss, I travelled to the race a week early to do some training (read: sig...

This year, triathlon in the Philippines has officially shown a huge attendance in terms of local participation. Last May this year here in Subic Bay, the annual ITU-ASTC Subic International Triathlon gained a total number of 400 plus participants. On previous years subic triathlon event hardly gets 250 racers. Triathlon clubs also started to make brands; be it corporate or friendly organized team you see them showing up on any multisport events – whatever their goal in joining, all are motivate to finish and enjoy the event. The recently concluded Cobra 70.3 Ironman marked the launching of triathlon in the country. The bar was raised to international level of organization. Not only the event became a festival for triathletes and enthusiasts, but sounded a great awareness to ordinary people and potential corporate sponsors. As a Filipino directly involved in the sport and the business, through the years I saw the shift was phenomenal. The word “triathlon” is starting to become commo...