Tuesday, October 30, 2012

BROOKS Sports Inc.: Sees Philippines as one of South East Asia's hottest running Hubb



I consider Brooks shoes to be an iconic brand to my running lifestyle. When I started to engaged to serious running three years ago, the Brooks Trance 8 was the shoes that cradled me to endure my first few kilometers. The shoe size was a bit tight for me but surprisingly I was able to run long distances with it. Now, I seldom run with these shoes but i still use them for everyday walking and still feels good to wear.



last September 27, 2012, I was invited to an intimate gathering of media and bloggers to the launching of the partnership of Sports Resources Inc., the distribution arm of Quorum Group of Companies and Brooks Sports Inc. to announce the forthcoming launch of the first Brooks Concept Store in Manila.



According to Mr. Toby Cloudio, President of Toby's Sports Shop and RUNNR Store, the partnership of Brooks and SRI marks a milestone in the Philippine sports because the Concept store will be the first in South East Asia.



According to Steve Ave, Brooks Asia Pacific brand development manager for South East Asia, Brooks recognizes the growing running community among Filipinos and sees lucrative opportunities to present Brooks as the brand of choice in the running crowd. He says. "Brooks is you go-to company for anything and everything related to running."



In more than ten years that the brand Asics have placed to be the number one running shoes in market, Brooks have successfully over taken them last year with the overwhelming increase of sales model Ghosts, Trance, Revenna and Adrenaline GTS which is the number one running shoes in the market today and have voted as the running shoes of the year. 



Mr.Ave and Mr. Rodolfo Cloudio, the president of SRI added, " Brooks Sports Inc.and SRI are the perfect fit in that it share the same passion for fitness and running both a a sports and as a hobby. Proficiency and reliability has made it top of the best foreign brands like Brooks and wishes to expand in the Philippines.


 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

DASH IN TECHNICOLOR THIS 2013 WITH COLOR MANILA RUN


PRESS RELEASE:

Manila goes color crazy as Proactive Sports invites you to the happiest run to hit the Metro, Color Manila Run 2013! Get ready to race through clouds and crowds of Yellow, Blue, Pink, Green, and Purple and dash to the finish line, powder-splattered in rainbow colors.




The Color Manila Run 2013 is the first of its kind running event in the country where runners are showered with colored powder in different stations, eventually producing throngs of happy human canvas at the finish line. Be cheered by an army of cheerleaders in Magic Yellow station, enjoy the beats with the drum line at the Ocean Blue area, party like a rock star at the Funky Pink mosh pit, move and groove with fertility dancers at the Evo-Green spot, and get hot with poi dancers at the Fiery Purple stop over.

Composed of 1.5k, 3k, 5k, divisions, the first run of the year aims to bring about unique experience of running, infused with a color extravaganza to help encourage new generation of runners to experience the fun and fulfilling sport. The Color Manila Run will also put together the country’s hottest music artists, providing the rhythm and beats during the event. This colorful fun run  of 2013 will be held at the Bonifacio Global City on January 6, 2013.

Not just for fun, this exciting run is also for the benefit of Republikha, a non-stock, non profit organization that aims to empower the next generation through music and education, and Hop-E, a foundation moving towards helping eradicate poverty through the four elements, Education, Empowerment, Employment, and Events.

Be the best hue and join the most colorful running event in the city! Register now at the following registration sites: Runnr branches at Bonifacio Global City, Rockwell, and Trinoma, and Toby’s branches at Mall of Asia, Megamall, and Greenbelt 3 from October 24 to December 24, 2012, from 1PM to 8PM, daily. A registration fee of P750 will be required to participants of 3K and 5K divisions. 

Enjoy the start of the year with rocking music, awesome crowd, and fit body. Get your friends and family stretched out and ready for this amazing color blast to kick off a new habit for the New Year. Be part of the Color Manila Run 2013!



Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Gear4 Captures the Taste of Filipino Apple users



Gear4, a popular brand of a UK-based company Disruptive Limited is now invading the Philippine market via partnership with Ionetech, Inc. Disruptive limited is one of the world’s first company to offer a dedicated brand exclusively for iPod accessories under the Podgear label. In 2006, the company decided to rebrand the label and change it to Gear4. Under this label, it has conquered a big chunk of world market when it comes to iPod accessories.



With the growing market of Apple product such as iPhone, iPad and iPod in the Philippines, it is only natural that this top electronic British company to widen its scope of business in the Philippines. After all, our country holds the record of number of Social Network users.



IonTech on the other hand is as equally competitive when it comes to electronic distributorship in the Philippines. IonTech believes that Gear4 as a top quality brand will not only enhance the quality of experience of every Apple users but also open new innovations and introduce new products from the entry level to its top of the line brands.



Gear4 as brand is always in tune with the latest pop-icon culture such as the Angry Birds speakers which they collaborated with entertainment media company Rovio. With the lot of fake brands that goes around the industry, many of these products are manufactured piratedly, so don’t mistake them for the low quality rip-offs kinds.



Be up to date with the latest Apple apps with Gear4 Smart Link App. It can be downloaded in itunes store for free, and it works great with Gear4 Smart Compatible dock. It offer features that let you access to your music library and display art work in full-screen. It comes also with radio station organizer that allows you pick your favorite station in a file. These products even give you an accurate weather climate and give a five day weather forecast.



Gear4 is not limited to speakers and docks. It also makes iOS devices that makes your iPod experience a little bit interesting. The Gear4 unity remote app is a state of the art technology that allows you to make your iPod, iPhone or iPad become a universal remote control. You can have a full command to your TV, DVD player or Radio from your iPhone. This technology has earned Gear4 the CNet UK Editors choice Award. Gear4 will definitely capture a wide scale of Filipino market with all the products that make Apple devices more enjoyable and fun. It is a very affordable investment to amplify everyone’s Apple experience. 



 But wait, there’s more…

Gear4 and IonTech knows that Apple devices are just half of the total constituents. That is why pretty soon Gear4 will also launch side-gear devices for Android users as well and that makes the fun even more exciting! 


Immuvit Fearless Challenge Trilogy Culminates in NUVALI



The rainy season is always a good time for trail-running. Unlike road races, many race organizers would opt to cancel a run in a bad weather condition for safety concerns. But for trail running, the wetter, the better. That is why trail-running organizers would rarely cancel trail adventure races on a rainy day. The trail-running community indeed is a special breed of runners whose contentment in running feats can only be satisfied by defying their own physical limitations.



If the uneven rough road texture with mud and rocks can be challenging enough, some rare breeds would even go beyond the natural running obstacles and would customize a series of man-made challenges just to elevate the punishment way higher. And believe or not, many city-slickers would be “crazy” enough to pay for the registration fees just to experience the adventure. So, living the city life can be that boring, huh?

It was also the running debut for my new pair of MERRELL Barefoot Trail Glove


 LEG 1:

The Immuvit Fearless Challenge 2012 is one of those race adventures that require more than running skills and leg power. It is a combination of trail, circfit and metafit exercises, and military boot-camp type of obstacles packed in three series of challenges. The first leg was held last August 26 at the La Mesa Eco-reserve where more than a thousand runners ran fearlessly along the trails and conquered a series of obstacles such as the fire wall, log-hurdles, a shorter kind of military wall, the mud-wall and tire hurdles. All obstacles were experienced by all of the 5 and 10 kilometer distance runners.

After a quick tarpaulin slide...

 LEG 2:

The second leg was quite different from the usual race, because it was actually a test of stamina and core strength. This time the runners were trimmed down to less than 200 brave challengers who battled each other in a series of exercises at the Quezon City Circle last September 28.

20 reps of pull-ups on the RIP: 60...

A group of ten people in each wave dashed away to do 20 counts of pull-ups in the RIP:60 Suspension trainers. Each participant was accompanied by two officials, a timer and a guide. One gets the official time of each challenger per task and the other one checked the accuracy of execution of each exercise made to prevent cheating and short cuts. Each wrong execution made will be added to repetitions of 20 counts. After the adrenalin rush of the RIP:60, challengers ran to an area to do a 20 meter tire-flip, then to another area to do another 20 counts of modified push-ups where, for every push up, a challenger had to move sideways to do another count completing 20 push-ups which was one tricep-buster.

20 reps of modified push-ups...

After that, participants dragged a tire tied on a rope and did a 20 meter loop. A much easier task was sort of a breather to prepare a challenger to another set of gruesome challenge – the lunge walk. Runners sprinted to another area where one did several lunge walking for 20 meters while carrying 40 pounds of dumbbells. At this point, each one was beginning to feel an extreme cardio and muscle fatigue because of the high intensity of the challenges, but the race was far from over because after finishing the lunges, each ran to the last leg by doing 20 counts of the Tabata Burpees. This is executed by doing a standing position and will drop to do one push up, stand up again and jump clap, literally, a life-draining exercise. After completing 20 counts, each will run to the finish line 50 meters away.

Sprinting away towards the first exercise...


 LEG 3:

 The leg 3 is the toughest of all three legs. It was a very tough trail-running with another series of obstacles in the vast nature sanctuary of NUVALI in Sta. Rosa Laguna. Somehow, I realized that the second leg was just a prelude to prepare me for something like this; because it was a 16 kilometer trail run with not just 5 obstacles like the first leg but 13 and definitely much harder than the last one.

One kilometer stretch with 10 kilos sand bag... 

 Dubbed as “No turning back”, the Immuvit Challengers face another set of extreme obstacles both natural and man-made. The trail runners set-off in wave-batches with 10 minutes interval to prevent over-crowding in some obstacles. The first hurdle was a jump over the fire wall, a quick taste of some harder ones up a head. The next were several tire hurdles and tire mound set-ups on uphill climb that made it much difficult to cross.

the first obstacle. a greasy climb...

After a long tiring run in the wilderness, distance between other runners became far apart and I found myself running alone on the trails. Then came the river traversing which was my personal favorite, this was where we navigate our way through the rocks and against the current of the river. I always enjoy crossing through waters because it cools my feet and legs. Other runners don’t find it enjoyable because water carries more weight on their shoes. Obviously, some shoes don’t have better drainage system making them difficult to run with. However, other trail shoes just like the one I’m using, the MERRELL Barefoot Trail Glove, have an excellent drainage system so it doesn’t keep the water in the shoes. The mesh constructions are wide enough to release all the water instantly shortly after stepping onto dry land. But it doesn’t protect you from sand and small stones from entering as well, so after crossing the river, I made a quick stop to empty my shoes of all its small contents.

Fire wall jump...


 After a hundred meters or so of water, we climbed the wall going back to the trail again. There were several obstacles along the way like a military wall which was much higher than the first leg in La Mesa and made a lot of runners feel very exhausted. Just a few kilometers from the finish line, we crossed another body of water, like a pond which was supposedly waist-deep only. But due to the rain from previous days, the waist deep pond became chest high. I was running behind my friend Alfred a.k.a Running Atom, noted for his short and small built, when we arrived at the pond area. While everyone were feeling so tired because of fatigue, there was a short scene of comic relief when we saw Running Atom began to swim through the pond because he was too short to walk through it. It’s a good thing he knows how to swim and every one of us there applauded and cheered him because he was the only runner who did a duathlon feat in a trail running event. 

Ice pool dip...

After two easy obstacles, there was a few hundred meters of running to the finish line and crossing it was never been so sweet. I never bothered to check my time then. I was more than glad to finish it without any injuries. I recalled my experiences in all three legs of the Immuvit challenge and I felt overwhelm by the gravity of the challenges and how I and other finishers conquered them all. It was indeed a fearless feat that made me a more mature runner. With that adventure experience I will train harder with no excuses anddefinitely will not turn back to another Immuvit trail running challenge next year.


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Pink Kurve: lingerie for Men?!



For the record, I’m still straight and I want remain that way for the rest of my natural life, so when you talk about lingerie, it is an apparel where women are supposed to look and feel sexier not just from their own perspective but also to men’s, but we would prefer and enjoy seeing them on women and not on men.



PINK KURVE, a lingerie boutique is opening a new radical idea by introducing lingerie for men. This concept is the brain child of husband and wife team Carlo and Kaye Garcia. The couple was also behind the very successful lingerie lines Hot Pink Lingerie which they opened last 2004.



Coming up with a lingerie apparel lines for men is a complete paradigm on how men sees lingerie. Pink Kurve offers a wide selection of under garments for men from boxers, briefs types with exciting and fun designs to bikini types underwear.



I was surprise to be invited to the launching of the new Pink Kurve branch at one of the city’s posh establishments, located at the Power Plant Mall. Together with some of the members of the media, the launch is an intimate gathering where we witnessed the unveiling of their new lingerie selections in the new shop.



The designs of these selections are not of the typical lingerie that one sees in the usual lingerie shops. They offer designs for even large size women that will make them feel good about themselves wearing them. These are Le Mystere apparels, a new York-based brand renowned for its “it’s all about the fit” technology, a perfect solution to women with large frames.



Body Wrap apparels are also in their selection which they introduced last 2009. This Canadian-based product offers seam-less pieces design to complement the figure and are comfortable enough for everyday wear. 


I was able to get into some of their men’s selection labeled as Pull In under wear and most gave a very comfortable feel. I tried the boxer types and see how will it perform on my every day running regimen. The designs were very colorful. They even have Marvel and DC character designs but apparently those were out of stock. 



Last Run United 3, The Pull-In under wear a running debut and tried it on a 32 kilometer run. Surprisingly, it gave a good performance. It didn't absorbed sweat as compared to ordinary cotton under wear and it does not crumpled in the middle even in long distance run. The fabric material is very soft and does not irritate the skin. 



These world class products are just among Pink Kurve wide selections. Their vision is to continually re-invent lingerie and be at par with some of the top brands in the market to meet the ever changing preference and taste of their customers.


Sunday, October 7, 2012

NUVALI Cup: Nurturing a New Breed of Sports Heroes



NUVALI, the most talked about nature-adventure eco-community in the south has raised its popularity as a favorite weekend destination in the field of outdoor sports. Its 70 square kilometer of vast land offers not just to the outdoor enthusiasts but also gaining fame in the field of football, baseball, beach volleyball and the newest attraction, the wakeboarding.

Beach Volleyball


Football Clinic

Dubbed as “LEAGUE OF HEROES: Nuvali Cup 2012”, this sports event is an annual tournament of various schools in the south and all over metro manila in various fun-filled sport discipline. Now on its third year, this event becomes even better with other schools joining in and of course new sports, like the wakeboarding coming into play. Presently, Nuvali’s vast topography offers a 10 hectare open area that can accommodate three FIFA size football field, two baseball field, three volleyball courts and a multi-purpose sports club house.





The multiple tournaments were held last September 15 to 16,that was participated by more than 3,000 young athletes from various schools in the Laguna area and Metro Manila. The main goal of this event was to engage more youth into sports as an avenue to learn character and personality building, through sportsmanship and camaraderie, work better skills as a team and learn to celebrate not just victory but also in defeat.

One proud goalie

Nuvali Cup Sponsor

The Cup was also a venue to hosts a special football challenge where UFL star players Ali Boromeo, Nate Burkey, Jonah Romero and Carlie de Murga had a grand show down as part of the opening ceremony. Their presence was also part to encourage the young ones to continue the sports they love as they play among the young athletes. Their presence was certainly a huge inspiration to many. 

UFL athletes...

As Nuvali continues to be a sports haven for these young athletes, the Nuvali Cup hopes to encourage more young Filipinos to engage in sports activities as many rise as sports legend themselves in the future.



Friday, October 5, 2012

Tropicana Coco Quench: Coconut made even better


There is a new thirst quencher in town! TROPICANA, one of the top fruit juice beverage producers in the market today has come up with another thirst satisfying drink that brings the best nutrients in the most natural from. Tropicana Coco Quench is 100% fresh and made from real coconut water packaged from the vast coconut plantation of Saryaya Quezon Province. 



In a tropical country like the Philippines, coconut is an ever present fruit that is readily available in most public market anywhere. Buko juice as it is commonly known to many, can be access in every corner of every streets. As much as they are much cheaper than the packaged form, the preparation and hygiene is another question.



However, Tropicana Coco Quench is made and packaged with the cutting edge processing technology that preserves the freshness of the fruit in just a few seconds from harvest to packaging. Coco Quench  is among the first of its kind to prolong the freshness of coconut to a period of 8 months shelf life. The juice is vesseled in a durable Tetra Pak Packaging much comparable to the protection of the coconut shell and husk. This allows the juice to stay fresh as the real fruit without the need of preservatives and added flavors. 



last September 27, 2012 Tropicana Coco Quench made its launching debut at the One Esplanade, SM Mall of Asia Complex. The launch was attended by Tropicana's business partners, friends and members of the media in a night of festive celebrations with Borgy Manotoc as the host. The event was served with good food and of course over flowing Coco Quench for everyone. The night was also celebrated with fashion show form the top models featuring coco quench as the drink to keep a healthy body. after a while the host raffled-off three iPad 3 for three lucky winners. After which, all of the guests where given packs of Coco quench as take home loot for everyone to enjoy. 






Thursday, October 4, 2012

Adidas brings to the Philippines three Hip-hop DJ legends




Three of the most sought after DJs in the hip-hop industry banded together in a once in a life time series of events happened in key cities of South East Asia last August. These hip-hop legends are no other than DJ Ali Shaheed Mohammad, DJ Maseo and our very own DJ Short Cut.



Sponsored by a leading brand in sports and hip-hop apparels, ADIDAS, made it possible to bring these three hip-hop icons together for a South East Asian tour which started in Bankok, Thailand last August 4, then a stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last August 10, Then they brought the house down in Ho Shi Min City, Vietnam last August 11, a few days after that, went to Singapore and made an out of this world party last August 16, and a day after that, August 17, they flew to their last stop in Manila and were welcomed by two types of storms, one by the hip-hop community and the other one is a tropical monsoon, because there was literally a storm when they arrived.



Nonetheless, the three DJ legends were warmly received by members of the media and of course by our local hip-hop talented dance crews who have earned several recognition and awards for their exceptional dance moves. The press launch of their arrival was held at Adidas Greenbelt Store in Makati where each DJ gave a short stint of their unique skillful mixes. Of course, these rare mixes will not be complete without matching it with fancy moves from our local dance crews with their lockers, poppers and break dancers. 



Their stop in Manila was the last leg of the tour but it was quite exceptional because they have extended their stay for another day to give their Filipino fans a one whole day of hip-hop partying at the WhiteSpace hub the next day.




GOOD NEWS NOCTURNAL RUNNERS. ADOBO RUN AFTER DARK RETURNS


PRESS RELEASE:

Gear up in your neons and reflectors as adobo Magazine, the country's premier advertising and brand communications publication presents its third edition of adobo Run After Dark, the magazine's trademark Halloween-themed night run and flagship event of the year.



This year’s incarnation sets the stage for an estimated 5,000 runners on October 20, 2012 at the SM Mall of Asia complex with assembly time scheduled after sundown. Runners are encouraged to add to the spectacle by donning their creepiest and craziest Halloween costumes, with cash prizes at stake for best in costume, aside from the top runners of the 5K, 10K and 15K race categories.



Unlike the usual day runs, adobo Run After Dark promises a unique experience for participants as they are treated to all-night festivities after completing their feat, with live music, fireworks displays, and free flowing beer!

Run, party and light up a home as part of the proceeds from registrations will benefit the My Shelter Foundation, headed by social entrepreneur Illac Diaz. Their pet project, ‘Isang Litrong Liwanag’ was also launched at last year’s adobo Run After Dark and has since gained worldwide recognition and support from the United Nations for the grassroots lighting program. Visit www.aliteroflight.org for more information. 



Organizing this year’s race is Princess Galura of Event King who is behind other popular and successful running events such as the Condura Skyway Marathon, NatGeo Run, and Alaska’s Iron Man competition, among others. Event King’s participation promises to raise the bar further on technical aspects of the run, while ensuring a fun time to be had by all.



Telco heavyweight Smart Communications leads the pack of newcomers supporting as event partners this year, along with SM Mall of Asia, Greenlite Banner, Timex and hydration partners Summit Water and 100 Plus. Returning partners Meralco, McDonald’s, St Luke’s Medical Center and Videosonic complete the roster of sponsors. Media partners include Business Mirror, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer.net, The Bullrunner, Multisport Magazine, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Runnersworld, WheninManila, Mellow 94.7 and 99.5RT.



Interested parties can register online at www.adobomagazine.com/adoborun. In-store registration is also available at R.O.X. and Runnr, both in Bonifacio Global City, Second Wind at 45, Malingap St., Teacher’s Village, Q.C. and at the adobo magazine office at OPVI Center, 2295 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati. 

For inquiries, please email adoborun@gmail.com or call/text 0917 432 8479.


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Body Attack @ Fitness First Xplosion 2



Last September, I completed a 32 kilometer barefoot run at Run United 3 earning myself the “Afroman” distance Finisher. I crossed the finish line at SM Mall of Asia with a chip time of 3 hours and 28 minutes. My preparation for that run was a one month accumulation of long distance trail and road running plus a series of indoor exercise which I believe a critical element in strengthening the core and upper body strength.



A week before the RU3, I joined a 5 kilometer fun run at the Coast Guard Run with my Barefoot Running buddies. Since the distance was too short and not enough to complete my training, I decided to extend my physical regimen in an indoor workout routine at Fitness First Explosion 2. It was also a very good venue to field test ZEM 360 footwear, transition shoes designed for barefoot runners.



The Bodyattack is a 90 minute non-stop cardio aerobic workout that builds stamina and core strengthening. The routine was participated by hard core junkies from 17 branches of Fitness First all over the metro. The routine was led by a renowned Fitness instructor from New Zealand Mr. Gandalf Archer. Together with him is Fitness First National Group Exercise Manager Yee Sin Theo and other fitness instructors from other countries like Singapore, Australia and Malaysia.



 Admittedly, in the initial exercises, I underestimated the intensity of Bodyattack but later on I realized that this one is no kids play. In the first few minutes of the routine, there were about a hundred people in a hyper mode execution but later on, when the routine intensified, there were a few of us left to continue on. After the 90 minute set, a handful of hard core fitness junkies requested to extend the routine to another 30 minutes. Now that one really pushed me to my limits but I stayed on and committed to finish it.



After the set the feeling was great! It was like finishing a 21k run. When I left the hall, I suddenly realized that I’ll be running a 21k trail run at Discovery Trail Run the next day.


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