Cobra Ironman sidelights

PILI, Camarines Sur, PHilippines  – Movie heartthrob Piolo Pascual competed in the relay races for Timex where his teammates included marathon race organizer Rio dela Cruz.

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Alaska Milk assistant coach Jojo Lastimosa brought along his wife Buchik to watch the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines organized by his boss, Wilfred Steven Uytengsu. Jolas joined Aces coach Tim Cone in the gallery, rooting for the latter’s wife Cristina and Alaska assistant Richard Bachman.

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One-legged athlete Rudy Fernandez was one of the participants here. The 63-year-old Fernandez is a fierce competitor in triathlon, running, swimming and cycling events despite his obvious handicap. He shot to fame in 1996 when he swam Guimaras to Iloilo to eclipse the record of Terry Fox.

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Globe’s Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Sen. Pia Cayetano and Cobra vice-president for marketing Hubert Tan were some of the top executives who saw action in the event.

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For the second straight year, race organizers brought in popular race announcer Whit Raymund to make the event more lively and interesting. Raymund was impressive in making blow-by-blow updates of the race to the delight of the appreciative crowd. His favorite word for this year was “Mabuhay.”