Time to put sports into your life

MANILA, Philippines - With running, you get to think, to pray, to concentrate, to meditate.  I like running because there’s a goal to be reached, a finish line.  Maybe you don’t meet it every day, you won’t always reach that target, whether it’s that finish line, or a certain heart rate, but there’s always something that you do have to reach.        — Piolo Pascual

In a recent lunch to discuss the upcoming Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines event in Cebu, and the 2013 commemorative watches with Timex brand ambassadors Rio de la Cruz and Ani de Leon Brown, the conversation meandered so far away from running and triathlon into long-ago childhood games and the magnetic appeal of an adorable toddler. 

Coach Rio is the face of running in this country, and from coaching celebrities, he has evolved into a bona-fide celebrity in his own right.  His recent wedding merited a multi-page spread in entertainment magazine YES, and guests and sponsors included his celebrity clients ranging from business bigwigs Fernando Zobel to showbiz denizens Karylle and Bianca Gonzalez and broadcast journalist Karen Davila. 

Triathlete and new mom Ani de Leon-Brown brought along baby boy Dash, and everyone doted on him.  We discussed the different paths they took in their sports and how they deal with their own motivation issues.  We may not have stuck to strictly sports.  But isn’t that what the best runs do? Open up views and vistas that you never noticed but somehow find a way deep into your soul.

On August 4, the two athletes’ willpower will once again be put to the test with the return of the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines at Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa. Together with the 2,150 participants — of varying ethnicities from 35 countries — Rio and Ani are set to showcase Filipino athleticism.

PHILIPPINE STAR:  What can you say about the burgeoning popularity of your respective sports in the pop culture and society at large?

RIO DE LA CRUZ:  Well, it’s true that sports is really part of the lifestyle now.  Our first race, in 2007, we had 100 participants.  In one year, the races would average 500 to 1,000 (participants).  And then now, we have from 5,000 to 10,000. 

The celebrities really made a big difference.  For example, the sub Piolo, when he first ran and established his record, challenged many long-time runners to try hard to break that record.  And now, I conduct free clinics.  Running has given me so much and I really do want to give back to the sport.  Everything that I’ve observed and experienced in runs abroad, I try to replicate it here, because very few Filipinos naman can go to New York or other marathons abroad, so I still want to share what I see in other countries.  And then before, we would organize a race a day, but now we average three a day, and if before it was just here in Metro Manila, now we hold them all over the Philippines:  Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, lahat!

ANI DE LEON-BROWN:  I would say that the popularity of the triathlon is still on the rise.  There was a time when the perception of the sport was that only the fittest of the fit could do it.  But just like in running, where people realized that they could just start with a 5k then work their way up, people became aware that they could start with a relay, or do a shorter version, they didn’t have to do the Ironman levels right away.  But they could still be a part of the experience. The popularity of running also helped because people see it as an event that can stretch them, help them to do something that is different but still connect them with running.

Of course, it’s been well documented that there are undeniable physical benefits of sports such as running and triathlon.  But what are some of the mental, emotional, and maybe even spiritual benefits of these sports?

RIO:  For me, personally, running makes me feel positive. I always say that you can’t have bad thoughts when you run.  Talagang, no stress. For example, sometimes when I’m running, I imagine na nasa Olympics ako, and I really get a high.

ANI: It shapes your character.  From the moment you start training until you cross that finish line, ang dami mo nang dinaanan (you have been through so much), so many events before that minute.  That strengthens and shapes you as a person.  That’s why the people I know who are in this sport, they are so strong, since they’ve been through so much.

Your passion and dedication to your sport are palpable and infectious.   How did you start in your sport?

RIO:  Nung bata ako, we didn’t have lots of toys, video games, those things.  So we would play and invent our own games.  May game, we would let a dove into the air, and when it comes back, whoever catches the dove first, winner.  I would always win that game.  I started running young, maybe 10 years old.  That started it, and then of course, I got a scholarship to UP, and as soon as I graduated, I made sure that I would coach track and field there, because I really wanted to give back.

ANI: It was really all by accident.  Originally, I was a swimmer simply because my sister was into swimming.  The roots of triathlon were in UP, with the UP Mountaineers.  They read about a triathlon in an issue of Outside magazine and they just copied what they saw in that article.  Our swimming coach was also a mountaineer and he signed us up.  We thought, well, we’re pretty fit, it should be easy. The coaches told us it would be easy.  It was not. As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.  I would never have done it had I known just how hard it would be! It was in Subic, we had to run by the jungle and it was so hard.  I did not do a triathlon for three years after.  But when I did it again, I trained properly na.  And my life has really gone in reverse.  I am actually an interior decorator.  I used to take on as many projects as I could to fund my training in Australia, but now, I’ve found a way to do triathlon full time, and I don’t even do interior decoration anymore.  I am also the only Asian in the Timex International Multisports Team and I am so proud that I get to be part of this  team.

Music is a great way to get motivated.  What’s on your playlist?

RIO:  Well, I like R&B.  I like Ne-yo.  I choose songs that get faster and faster and of course, towards the end, yung pinakamabilis (the fastest) for that strong finish.  But safety first.  When you’re running on open roads, you should concentrate, and not have any music.  You should only have music when you’re training indoors, or on streets that you know very well, and where there is no traffic.

ANI: Evanescence, Bring Me to Life; Foo Fighters; David Guetta; Fergie; Will.i.am; Flo.rida.

Recently, commercial director Paul Soriano’s movie debut Thelma made waves because Maja Salvador turned in an award-winning performance.  Who do you think can play you in a movie?

RIO:  Of course, Piolo, he can just wear a wig!  But if he doesn’t want to do it, maybe Jericho.  We have the same color!

ANI:  (laughing)  I don’t really know the actresses!  But I want someone who is morena like me. 

Do you ever think of grooming a protégé?

RIO:  When we meet young runners, and I see some potential in them, I really help them out, I give them new shoes and encourage them.  Siyempre, I want to discover rin.  And I want to help develop sports tourism (in the country) by showing how fun the runs are here, and then offering na rin packages to go to Boracay or other destinations.  I really want to do all I can to support the running community.  Of course, we can’t do it without Timex.  You can’t imagine a run without Timex.  And even before I worked with them, I had been using Timex.

ANI:  I love the Iron kids.  That will really be my legacy.  There are now Iron races for kids and there are as many as 200 of them competing.