Olympic winner to runners: ‘Pursue your passion, chase your dream’

MANILA, Philippines - American track star Allyson Felix hit town Tuesday to drum up the Nike We Run 2013 and at the same time link up with the Filipinos whom she exhorted to pursue their passions and push their limits.

An Olympic four-gold winner and World Championship eight-gold holder, Felix drew warm welcome from Filipino running enthusiasts as she made her appearance at Planet Sports at Bonifacio Global High and later at the Ayala Triangle Park.

Her success story is being compared to the spirit and courage of Filipinos who have experienced challenges in life but still choose to rise above those challenges and succeed.

“Allyson Felix is a huge inspiration to all of us. She inspires not only women but all people who have experienced difficult challenges in life. By taking those challenges and turning them into motivation, Allyson has achieved much in her career being the only US athlete to win three Olympic gold medals since 1988,” said Courtney Cole-Faso, the Nike Phl country marketing manager.

The biggest track athlete to visit the Philippines in years, Felix shared her inspiring story and promoted the Manila stage of Nike’s We Run 2013 set Dec. 1 in Marikina.

Manila is part of Felix’s three-city tour in Southeast Asia, helping drum up Nike’s We Run 2013 with the Manila stage expected to draw over 15,000 participants.

In line with its theme “You Move, I Move”, runners must sign up for the race with a “buddy” to encourage runners to constantly motivate each other to achieve their goals.

Around 350,000 runners from around the world are taking part in the We Run series motivated by Nike+ and Nike Running design innovations.

From Sao Paulo, to Seoul, to Singapore, runners compete in races ranging from 5K to full marathon.

Felix had encouraged the Filipinos to pursue their passions and push their limits the way she did in achieving her dreams.

The world champion’s climb to international glory has been a pleasantly unexpected journey. Having picked up the sport already in ninth grade, Allyson zoomed to greatness quickly, establishing a first world junior record in 200m at 18.

She never turned her back from there.

She rose to the mountaintop in the London Olympics with a three-gold haul in 200m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay.

In 2008 in Beijing, she copped her first Olympic gold medal as part of the US triumphant 4x400m relay.

In Athens in 2004 and in Beijing four years later, she was only runner-up in her pet event.

“But I never stopped dreaming, and there was I living the dream in London,” said Felix.

From 2005 to 2011, she won eight World Championship gold medals in 200m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay.

At present, she’s already a four-time recipient of the Jesse Owens Award from USATP as Athlete of the Year – only the second woman to win the award at least thrice after Marion Jones.

Felix was also winner of the IAAF female athlete of the year in 2012.