Ironman 70.3 Philippines

It was the first time in a very long time that I went home early morning and had to wake up an hour after just so I could catch the streets open before an event closes down majority of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu’s streets. It was the first time Cebu hosted the IRONMAN 70.3 event, and although I’m was never the running or triathlon fan it was a blessing and an awesome opportunity to witness hundreds of triathletes who tried their best in finishing the race. 

It was one of the busiest two weeks of the year and was my first time to handle the marketing activities and efforts of the company I’m working for. First time to call up ad account executives, working late night to finish deadlines and so much more. It was prelude of the Sinulog season when we’re extremely busy. 

Here are a few photos taken from my blackberry during the event

Event Pass - although you can catch the triathletes in the street, you’ll have to pay a certain amount to get into Shangri-la Resort and Spa to witness the race start and finish.

Lapu-Lapu City’s Mayor Radaza, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia and Shangri-la Mactan’s General Manager on stage during the opening ceremonies of Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

The crowd and participants waiting for the race to start.

Ironman 70.3 Philippines winner Pete Jacobs out of the water.

A shot of the now famous Arnel Aba, minutes after he got out of the swim portion of the race. 

The bike park. 

During my walk from the beachfront of the bike park, I passed by local celebrity Anne Curtis, her boyfriend Erwan was of one of the participants. It took awhile for me to realize that it was her. I also got the chance to say hi to Iya Villania at the finish line. Other celebrity spotted during the event were Kuya Kim Atienza, Piolo Pascual, Tessa Prieto Valdez, Sen. Pia Cayetano, Matteo Guidicelli and many more. 

Fans with their I Heart shirt from Islands Souvenirs (shameless plugging)

That’s me in front of the Islands & More ATK branch that we turned into an Islands Souvenirs outlet for the event.

Tahoooo for brekky

The beautiful beach and pool area of Be Resorts

This guy and a few of the organizers were being total a-holes and didn’t allow us to cross the street to go up to the Finish line cause there were racers running towards this area already. A lot of them told us that it was for our safety, we might get bump into a racer but earlier during the bike course, they allowed people to cross the street which is more dangerous than a a man running. It was quite disappointing especially that we paid a premium to witness the rate at the finish line. According to them it was the hotel’s directives. 

Went home early afternoon and immediately soaked my aching feet in a tub full of iced water. It was tiring but I’d love to do it all over again next year. 

I also had high respects for our men in the visual merchandising and workshop department. This was at around 1 in the morning, we were up as early as 8am posting streamers for a little guerrilla marketing that we did during the event and even though we were all tired and lacked sleep, they still managed to make all the displays look their best.