Vaseline's race to Maui is on

MANILA, Philippines - After the successful Vaseline Men XTERRA Weekend in Cebu early this year, Vaseline Men will continue to raise the bar for Filipino triathletes by forming a Philippine team that will compete in the prestigious XTERRA Off-road Triathlon Global Championships in Maui, Hawaii on Oct. 28.

Vaseline Men will organize a five-member team to represent the Philippines in the prestigious event. This is the first time that the country will be sending an official team to compete in one of the biggest triathlon series in the world. The team will be composed of coach Noy Jopson and celebrity athletes Matteo Guidicelli and Drew Arellano, with two more members to be selected via the search for the best Filipino triathletes in the Vaseline Men XTERRA Tri-Outs Camp: Race to Maui.

The Vaseline Men XTERRA Tri-Outs Camp: Race to Maui is a three-day camp held last Sept. 15 to 17 where the seven triathletes competed for the two coveted slots to the Maui championships in Hawaii. The training camp included seven grueling and physically demanding Warm Up and Tri-Challenges which tested and prepared the participants for the actual Maui competition.

Joining coach Noy, Drew and Matteo are Takbo.ph’s Jinoe Gavan, chiropractor Martin Camara, Second Wind’s Hector Yuzon, ultramarathoner Mark Hernandez, Health Food president Raffy Zamora, swimbikerun.ph’s Carlos de Guzman, and Sutherland Global Services corporate training manager Redg Plopinio.

Everyone is encouraged to take part and show support for the Vaseline Men Philippine team by watching the journey and struggles of the participants in www.youtube.com/vaselinemenph. Viewers can then vote for their favorite triathlete by clicking on the voting link found within the YouTube site, or at the end of every episode.

Vaseline Men brand manager Jonathan Cua (leftmost) with the seven contenders composed of (from left) Dr. Martin Camara, Hector Yuzon, Mark Hernandez, Raffy Zamora, Redg Plopinio, Carlos de Guzman and Jinoe Gavan

The two athletes with the highest scores by Oct. 18 will join coach Noy, Matteo and Drew to represent the Philippines in Maui. The remaining two triathletes will be announced online also on Oct. 18.

Aside from raising Filipino pride in the competitive triathlon circuit, voters also stand to win P50,000 as each vote is equivalent to one electronic raffle entry. Two lucky voters of the triathlete with the most number of votes will get a chance to win P50,000 each. Voting will end on Oct. 17 and the electronic draw will be on Oct. 18. The winners will be announced in the Vaseline Men Facebook page (www.facebook.com/vaselinemenph). Photos by Ver Paulino