Surviving the Subaru Impreza Challenge.well, sort of

MANILA, Philippines - This year marks the second year that Motor Image Pilipinas – exclusive distributors of the Subaru brand in the country – is staging the Subaru Impreza Challenge. It also marks the second year that The Philippine STAR has been invited to be the event’s official broadsheet partner. What exactly is the Subaru Impreza Challenge, you ask? Here’s a brief backgrounder…

The rules of the Subaru Impreza Challenge are simple. At the start of the challenge, each challenger is to set his right hand firmly upon pre-determined, raffled off areas around a Subaru Impreza. They are to keep those hands firmly in place for as long as they can, with only five-minute breaks given every six hours. During the break, they can eat, drink, doze off, clean up, rest or answer the call of nature. The moment the break is over, they should have their hands firmly placed back on their designated areas. The last 10 men (and/or women) standing earn the 10 seats to the main event in Singapore, shopping money and the chance to win P100,000 as the last Pinoy standing. If they actually end up as the last person standing during the main event (they’ll be going up against 400 other people from all over Asia), they get to take home a brand new Subaru Impreza WRX. It’s crazy, but it’s for real. We were there to cover it all the way through last year – through both the Manila and Singapore legs.

As exclusive broadsheet partner, we had the chance to meet and bond with the 10 Filipinos who represented the country in Singapore last year. While we in the media coverage contingent weren’t allowed to physically help them, we threw them all the moral support we could. Feeding and massaging them through the five minute breaks and giving them the occasional “You can do it!” push. And so while we’ll never claim to be as resilient as they are, we will always have respect for Farrah Aggarao, Erano Banares, Nadine Cabog, Jommel Dimapilis, Donald Gonzaga, Geovani Lapina, Baltazar Liwan, Aldrin Mariano, Alex Neblasca and Roberto Tomas.

This year, we’re sure to meet a new bunch of people who are just as crazy but also probably just as determined to bring home the bacon. We’re staring with the Manila leg in a couple of weeks and we’re getting more excited by the day. I’m kind of wary, truth be told. Going through several days of standing under the sun and/or rain isn’t exactly easy. But that’s what makes the Subaru Impreza Challenge such a unique and exciting event. Surviving it is never easy. But hearing the stories of the other people who had to go through even more is well worth the coverage effort. So that’s your guarantee. We’ll be there to cover this event for you every step of the way. Just keep reading. Watch this space…