Anthony & Maricel Pangilinan join Berlin Marathon 2014

MANILA, Philippines - Athlete couple Anthony and Maricel Pangilinan represented the Philippines and watch brand Timex in one of this year’s most-awaited races  — the Berlin Marathon held in Germany on Sept. 28.

The couple, who has joined a number of road races — from The Bull Runner Dream Marathon in Laguna, to the New York Marathon in the United States and the London Marathon in the United Kingdom — were both nervous and excited for the Berlin race.

“Anything could happen or fail to happen, in a four-hour, 42-kilometer run,” says Anthony. It was the first time for both Anthony and Maricel to go to Berlin and so they were very excited as the marathon doubled as a citywide tour.

The Berlin Marathon is also a flat course, an advantage for the couple who has had hill trainings in Laguna. This made the couple very positive about breaking both their personal records in the race.

For preparations, the couple trained non-stop  — sometimes together, sometimes alone and other times even with their children and parents.

Anthony, who has been running since high school, admits that it has become an integral part of his life. He and Maricel consider it a therapy. “It would be difficult to survive our busy lives without running or training. I love the high from it, it’s my ‘me’ time. I get fit, I finish with lots of creative ideas, I am always happy after a run,” Maricel says.

They both have a number of goals in every run, number one is getting to the starting line. Timex paved the way for this duo to join the Berlin Marathon, just as it did for their previous road races in New York and London.

For over six years, Timex has been supporting the athlete couple in marathons and triathlons.

“The support has been amazing and our children have grown with the brand.  We have enlarged in terms of our having competed in numerous races and we really are so thankful to Timex because they were there from the very beginning during the infancy of Team Pangilinan,” Maricel says. Anthony adds that they are both very honored with the brand’s support, so they honor Timex back by consistently finishing strong in their races.

Timex, which goes with the philosophy “Master Every Mile,” seems to have found great representatives in the Pangilinans as well. “I savor every meter and every minute of my runs. Seems like a prerequisite to this philosophy. I’m in it every moment, body mind and spirit,” Anthony says.