Tri United 1’s celeb triathletes

MANILA, Philippines - Showbiz personalities are taking to triathlon like fish takes to water, so to speak. And their tribe is increasing every tri season. A number of them, in fact, participated at the recently-held Tri United 1 2013 in Subic, Olongapo.

Spotted at the swim-bike-run event were Isabelle Daza, Paolo Abrera, Drew Arellano, Erwan Heussaff and Matteo Guidicelli. Paolo and Drew are regulars at Tri United tri races, as they are part of Unilab Active Health triathlon team.

Also seen at the Dungaree Beach in Subic during the race were John Prats, Melai Cantiveros and Robi Domingo, the cast of I Dare You — ABS-CBN’s reality TV series, who was filming an episode involving a challenge for Matteo.

In the show, the hosts and their celebrity guests go through different challenges to win prizes for Filipinos with inspiring stories to share. And for the episode shot at Tri United 1, Matteo raced for person with disabilities (PWDs) and if they placed among the Top 15 in the race, they win the challenge.

Matteo was part of the relay of Team Trinspire (triathlon team of PWDs). He tackled the 750m swim and 5km run, while his teammate Al (an amputee) took on the 20km bike category. Matteo said the PWDs inspire him a lot. During the race, he even posted on his Twitter account: “Today I raced for the PWD’s (people with disabilities). They changed my life.”

“They really inspire me, I want to help them more,” he said. According to the I Dare You crew, Matteo won the challenge. They ranked fifth place in the race.

The actor said he went straight to Tri United after his 3 a.m. taping, the race started at around 5 a.m. “This is the first time I joined Tri United. I love it. I will join the Tri United 2, if my schedule permits.”

Tri United is organized by BIKEKING (headed by Raul Cuevas) in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Tourism Department and presented by Unilab Active Health, the race officially starts the 2013 season of the four-leg series. After Tri United 1, two more races are lined up, Tri United 2 on July 7, Tri United 3 on Oct. 27, Tri United 4 on Nov. 24 plus the SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) Unilab Active Health duathlon event on Sept. 8.

For details, log on to www.unilabactivehealth.com.