The highly anticipated and unparalleled multisport event, the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, is set to happen in Cebu in a few days, marking the first time that this elite event is held in Asia, outside of Australia and New Zealand. With 2,900 slots sold out in less than 30 minutes, this year’s race brings the strongest line up of top-notch athletes from 43 countries all over the world, headlined by defending champion and Saucony’s Australian pro athlete Tim Reed – all converging on August 7, 2016 in Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa, Lapu-Lapu, Cebu.
One athlete who’s going to be there? Matteo Guidicelli. The multi-faceted actor, singer, and athlete is setting his sights on the event. In fact, he says that this will be his main race this year. “I planned out my schedule for that, so hopefully I’ll do okay,” he says.
Despite his hectic schedule, Matteo still finds time to stay fit. When asked how he finds time to juggle work and sport, he says, “I guess I have a good group around me that organizes everything. I just love what I do. I don’t do it because I have to, I do it because I love to.” At the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship Press Conference last July, Matteo also said, “Triathlon is important to me because I get to meet so many awesome people. My Team Ford Forza Family. My Cobra family. My Saucony family.”
Saucony supports influential athletes like Matteo who excel in their careers while using running as motivation to be better in everything they do, which is what the brand’s mantra “Find Your Strong” is all about. Matteo embodies the brand’s philosophy and eloquently expressed the mantra in his own words, “It says ‘Find Your Strong’, so it’s beautiful because everyone just needs to find where they’re strong at, and where they could push further. How do I find my strong everyday? With the people around me, especially Team Ford Forza, my team mates, they’re the people that inspire me to push more to go forward. Every little component that’s part of me, my (Saucony) running shoes. That’s where I find my strong.”
Matteo believes that Saucony is the perfect partner for his daily runs. In fact, Saucony’s award-winning technologies helped him conquer the 21-kilometer run leg of the Subic Ironman relay last March 2016 bagging 2nd place with relay teammates Dyan Castillejo who did the swim leg, and Noel Salvador who finished the bike leg.
“I haven’t been getting sore. The parts where I usually get sore because of the shoes, it doesn’t happen with Saucony because they’re just right in the right places,” says Matteo. The 26 year-old and his triathlon team—Saucony Ambassadors Team Ford Forza—were also awarded as Best Team Performance.
The gruelling 1.9k swim, 90k bike, and 21k run make up for the toughest battle of the self and the spirit. The event will be aired for the first time via live streaming in 120 countries to over 2 million viewers on www.ironman.com – don’t miss it!
