'Pinoy Big Brother' housemate Paul Jake Castillo joins IronMan Cebu despite falling sick
CEBU, Philippines — Former "Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up" housemate Paul Jake Castillo still pushed through with IronMan 70.3 held last August 7 in Mactan Newtown, Lapu-Lapu despite falling ill a month ago.
The Cebuano native and former actor did not look ill while waiting for his teammate to arrive at the bike stop and obliging rushing fans to take a photo with him.
"I biked lang. Unfortunately, I couldn't do... well, I could, but I don't want to suffer and get injured. I just got tested positive one month ago. Everything got cut... training. Wala. Since CCLEX just opened, so I decided to bike lang," Paul Jake revealed to Philstar.com and select media.
Paul Jake has been joining the popular triathlon event since 2014 and he has never missed an event in Cebu. He emphasized not missing Cebu since he is from the island city.
"Haven't missed sa Cebu that's why I said I had to do it. Kasi if I miss one Cebu, 'di ba I represent Cebu? Cebuano man, so I have to do it for my pride. Siyempre, CCLEX is opened so I wanted to bike also. I wanted to experience it," he shared.
IronMan 70.3 featured around 2,000 athletes from 46 countries. It's an endurance race that featured 1.9-kilometer swim, 90-kilometer bike, 21-kilometer run race course. Among its course are the Mactan Newtown thoroughfares, beachfront and the newly inaugurated Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).
Germany-based Filipino athlete August Benedicto won the title by finishing four hours, 29 minutes, and 16 seconds.
Paul Jake had actually registered pre-pandemic for the race. He has trained for it but he fell sick. He's glad to have joined the race.
He is also happy about the location of the race course because it was "festive" and more people were able to cheer on and witness the winners win and participants reach the finish line.
"This year is not about winning; it's about everything getting back to normal. It's all about getting people enticed to be active. As you can see, everyone's biking, everyone's running. It's sad 'cause why just now?" he said.
Despite being away from the limelight after his stint in 2009, Paul Jake remained a noticeable celebrity even to this day especially in the triathlon circuit. Fans at last Sunday's event approached him for photos even while waiting for his cue to join the race.
"It's very nice. I haven't been active sa showbiz for quite a long time now and siguro my name is being attached lang to my wife's name so it's very nice to see mga people especially mga Cebuanos. They still know me," Paul Jake said.
He is married to actress Kaye Abad, who has also since been inactive since relocating to Cebu and building a family with the actor. They have two sons. He admitted that he's now more focused on his family and businesses.
Paul Jake is happy to see more people lining up to join races like IronMan. He shared that triathlon might seem intimidating but he said that one does not have to have a set of skills except learn how to swim, bike and run.
"No one is getting younger and the events, especially now, they're getting way better. Just register lang and then after that, train first. You'll be suffering but after crossing the finish line, you'll be looking for the next race. I guarantee you that," he said.
He wants to join the Subic 5150 in October but he's not too sure about it since he is flying out of the country next month.
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