Vaseline Men is Sending the First Philippine Team to XTERRA Off-road Triathlon Championship in Maui

Early this year, Vaseline Men held its successful XTERRA Weekend in Cebu and the brand aims to continue raising the bar for Filipino triathletes by forming a Philippine team that will represent the country in the prestigious XTERRA Off-road Triathlon Global Championships in Maui, Hawaii this coming October 28.

There will be a five-member team who will be sent off as the first Philippine contingent 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. Two more members will be selected from some of the best Filipino triathletes who participated in the Vaseline Men XTERRA Tri-Outs Camp: Race to Maui.

The three-day camp was recently held last September 15 to 17. Seven triathletes are competing 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 in October. 

Jonathan Cua, Vaseline Men brand manager, and the 7 contenders

In the Warm Up Challenges, members of the camp went through various swim, bike, and run challenges where they learned the different techniques needed to become a better triathlete. In the Tri-Challenges, the participants were asked to do mini triathlon competitions under time pressure to test their speed. All the participants went through at least one Warm Up Challenge and one Tri-Challenge each day during the three-day camp. 

Jonathan and Tricia

During the press conference held at the Milky Way Bar in Makati, host Tricia Chiongbian-Concepcion and Vaseline Men brand manager Jonathan Cua affirmed how rigorous the training has been for all seven contenders who are composed of Takbo.ph's Jinoe Gavan, chiropractor Dr. 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. You can view their complete profiles here.

Coach Noy and Matteo

Be part of the selection process and show support for the Vaseline Men Philippine team. You can even win loads of cash just by voting for the triathletes you think deserve to go to Maui! Watch their journey and struggles via www.youtube.com/vaselinemenph. Episodes will be uploaded one at a time for the next three weeks starting October 1 until October 15. Click on the voting link found within the YouTube site or at the end of every episode. Each vote will help determine the two winners from the training camp.

Public votes are equivalent to 50% of each participant's score while the other 50% will come from the judges' votes and the athletes' actual performance during the three-day camp. The two athletes with the highest scores by October 18 will join Coach Noy, Matteo, and Drew in the once-in-a-lifetime chance to represent the country in the XTERRA World Championships. 

Aside from helping raise Filipino pride in the competitive triathlon circuit, two lucky voters of the triathlete with the most number of votes will also get a chance to bring home P50,000 as each vote is equivalent to one electronic raffle entry. You can vote for two athletes per week. Voting ends on October 17 while the electronic raffle draw will be on October 18. Winners will be announced in the Vaseline Men Facebook page www.facebook.com/vaselinemenph.

For more information on how you can follow the adventures of the seven contenders, please visit the Vaseline Men XTERRA Tri-outs Facebook and YouTube pages.