Filipina athletes emerge as top winners of the Under Armour Test of Will Finals

It seems like the athletic gods are on our side as Filipina athletes have been having a field day achieving goals and triumphs lately. On the heels of Mary Joy Tabal’s Rio Olympics-qualifying finish at the recently-concluded Ottawa Marathon, a pair of Filipinas also made it great in this weekend’s Under Armour Test of Will Finals in Singapore.

Know more about it through the official Press Release below.

Cheers!

Filipina athletes rule Under Armour’s Test of Will finals
Two Filipina athletes hoisted the Philippine flag aloft in Under Armour’s Test of Will finals

Zoe Pond-McPherson (right) and Noelle Wenceslao (left) topped the female category of the sporting brand’s Asia-wide competition

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The “Three Stars and a Sun” insignia was fully represented in Under Armour’s Test of Will finals at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore on May 28 as Filipina athletes Zoe Pond-McPherson and Noelle Wenceslao topped the competition’s female category.

With the entire archipelago resting on her shoulders, Pond-McPherson claimed the coveted gold medal in Under Armour’s inaugural Southeast Asia-wide fitness challenge that pitted eight male and eight female contenders from countries such as the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Widely regarded for her moniker “The Fittest Woman in Philippine Crossfit,” Pond-McPherson shined among the eight female hopefuls.

On the other hand, Wenceslao had a silver-medal finish in the Test of Will competition.

Pond-McPherson and Wenceslao went through an eye of a needle inside the highly-touted structure known as “The Tower,” which contains different fitness zones with calisthenic exercises.

In the first phase, participants had to undergo 20-kilocalorie Assault AirBike and accomplish 20 jump squats and 20 ab roll-outs.

Difficulty and intensity took a notch higher in the competition’s second part as contestants were obliged to complete 20 burpees and 20 repetitions of 12.5-kilogram single-arm dumbbell thrusters.

A multi-rig course and pull-ups were prepared in the third session, while the last stage catered 64-kilogram kettle bell walk, 20-kilocalorie bike sprint, tire shift and 12-meter rope climb.

Pond-McPherson is no stranger to fitness challenges as she strutted her wares at the 2015 Crossfit Games Pacific Regional in Wollongong, Australia alongside the strongest female practitioners in the region.

Meanwhile, Wenceslao has 16 years of experience in the field of dragon boat paddling and an avid outdoor enthusiast.

In 2007, Wenceslao achieved a milestone as she became one of the first three Filipinas who reached the summit of Mount Everest.

Pond-McPherson and Wenceslao’s male counterparts were able to make it into the top five of the men’s division.

Merwin Torres occupied the third sport of Test of Will’s male category, while Derrick Maercado came in at fifth place.

All of the four Filipino representatives were mentored by fitness power couple Jim and Toni Saret.

Make sure to follow Under Armour Philippines via @underarmourph on Instagram and Twitter as well as Facebook at www.facebook.com/underarmoursea.

More photos from the event:

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WORLD VISION RUN – June 26, 2016

WORLD VISION RUN 2016
June 26, 2016, 3:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Blue Bay Walk, Pasay City
500m/3km/5km/10km/21km
http://www.runrio.com/worldvisionrun2016

BENEFICIARY: World Vision

REGISTRATION PERIOD:
ONLINE: April 18 to June 12 at www.runrio.com/worldvisionrun2016
IN-STORE: May 16 to June 19

REGISTRATION VENUES:

REGISTRATION FEES AND INCLUSIONS:

TECH SHIRT:

ASSEMBLY AND GUN START TIMES:

RACE ROUTES:

OTHER REMINDERS:
• Race Kits may run out before last day of registraGon, therefore registration may end earlier than announced deadline.
• Tech Shirt size and color availability will be on a first come first serve basis. A timing device will be used by all participants during the race.
• Parents or guardians who want to accompany their child needs to register for the 3k category

The Urbanears Active Hellas

Sometime in March, I received at no cost, the Urbanears Active Hellas wireless headphones. In exchange is my promise to use and provide feedback on the product afterwards. I have shared the press release and features of the product on a previous post which you can check HERE.

Nowabout two months after, here is my honest and unbiased review of the product. Read on! 😉

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The Urbanears Active Hellas sounds surprisingly good for its modest price. It is delightfully lightweight and comfortable to wear too.

This Bluetooth headphone can wirelessly stream music or movie sound without the hindrance of a cable and there’s a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides up to 14 hours of wireless playback between charges.

The sound quality for music is also very good. Music can be controlled using the finger-touch-swipe action on one ear with an LED indicator on top –  the volume via a swipe up/down action, next/previous track selection via a swipe to the left or right, play/pause  via a single/double tap and touch-hold for a few seconds to power on/off.

It is attractively designed, lightweight, sweat-proof and with a removable headband and earpads that are washable. I especially like the white and blue color combination of the product that was sent to me. It’s pretty comfortable too (for on-ear) and stays on my head securely, even while running.

The material of the earpads is slightly rough though and the Bluetooth pairing with my Sony Xperia Z3 sometimes has sound interruption when the phone is placed inside my bag. However, this may be a case to case basis depending on the Bluetooth implementation in smartphones. The sound interruption however, was not encountered when the headphone was paired with two different notebook brands. The headband can easily fall off if not properly inserted in the frame maybe owing to the fact that it’s removable for easy cleaning/washing.

I let my daughter use it whenever she is watching her favorite series or movies and she too is amazed to hear sound details not present in her old wired headphones. I am afraid that she has gotten so comfortable with it and might ask that I give it to her permanently. 🙂

In conclusion, for me, the Urbanears Active Hellas are an appealing set of wireless workout headphones that can also be used for running and everyday use. For its price of Php5,250, it is worth the investment. Mine still looks like it has just been unboxed from the package.

The Urbanears Active Hellas can be purchased from any of the following stores in the country – 

Astroplus | Astrovision | Automatic Center Banana Telecom | Beyond the Box | Bratpack BZB Gadget Hive | DigiHub | Digital Walker District 32 | Egghead | Electroworld | Fashion Rack Globe | Gadgets @ Xtreme | iCenter | iGig iLiberty Tech Gadgets and Accessories | Islands and More | iStore | iStudio | Listening Room | Mobile 1 Odyssey | Pound It | Powerhub | Rustan’s Dept. Store Samsung | Secret Fresh | Senco Link | SM Music & Video | Switch | Tackthis | The A-Shop | Urban Athletics Urban Gadgets | Wellworth Department Store.

Learn more about this product by visiting http://www.urbanears.com

*The Urbanears Active Hellas was provided to this blogger for free but no compensation was received in exchange for this review.

Under Armour Cebu Brand House Now Open!

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Performance footwear, sports gear and apparel innovator Under Armour (UA) continues to expand its reach in the Philippines with the opening of a brand house in Cebu City last May 22.

The first in Southern Philippines, the 164 square-meter UA brand house is conveniently located on the ground level of Ayala Center Cebu. This ups the number of exclusive UA outlets in the Philippines to four, further underscoring the importance of the country as a growth area for the Baltimore-headquartered firm. Customers can browse and purchase a range of innovative, quality merchandise the company has been famous for since its inception 20 years ago.

“We are extremely grateful for, and humbled by, the incredibly warm reception from our Filipino customers. We believe that UA’s success is a direct offshoot of the worldwide trend towards an active lifestyle, and how the brand values reflected in our products have successfully promoted such,” said Triple Pte. Ltd. CEO Michael Binger. The company holds the exclusive distribution rights for UA across Southeast Asia. “During his visit to the Philippines, UA founder, chairman, CEO Kevin Plank had described Asia Pacific as one of the linchpins for truly defining UA as a global brand. Indeed, our upward business trajectory here exemplifies that, and increasing our presence should further enable it,” he added.

One of the highlights in the opening of UA’s new brand house was the Armour Challenge, a competition that consisted of three physical challenges: mountain climbers, squats, and burpees and was opened to male and female participants 18 years old and above . The competition, held at the Ayala Center Cebu’s Activity Center, awarded the fastest to complete the exercises a UA tank or sleeveless top and a discount coupon. All other participants automatically received discount coupons as well. Famous husband-and-wife fitness coaches and UA brand ambassadors Jim and Toni Saret gave valuable fitness and training advice to participants and the general public. A former national athlete, Jim was educated here and in the US on sports science and is the founder and training director of APEX (Athletic Performance Enhancement) Sports Training, Inc. Like Toni, he was one of the trainers in the Biggest Loser Philippines television program. The two presently host MetaBEATS, a fitness show on the Lifestyle Channel.

Under Armour’s other brand houses are located at BGC, Megamall and UP Town Center. Under Armour is also available in multi-branded sports houses, such as Tobys, OV, Planet Sports, Rustan’s and major stores in key cities. Visit http://www.underarmour.com.ph for more information.

Nike Inspires and Enables Filipina Runners to be #BetterForIt and Celebrates Their Achievement at Nike’s First All-Women Half Marathon in Manila

PRESS RELEASE:

Nike Inspires and Enables Filipina Runners to be #BetterForIt and Celebrates Their Achievement at Nike’s First All-Women Half Marathon in Manila
NRC Half Marathon Manila 2016 is part of the NikeWomen Victory Tour

On May 15, 2016, more than 4,000 runners celebrated their #BetterForIt journey that began in January 2016 by running in the first ever Nike NRC Half Marathon MNL.

Manila, Philippines, May 15,2016 — The NikeWomen Victory Tour in Manila culminated in the NRC Women’s Half Marathon with more than 4,000 Filipina runners conquering the 21 km run with their buddies. In the spirit of NikeWomen Victory Tour, runners committed to be #BetterForIt from the time of registering for the race last January 2016.

The 21 km race began at Blue Bay Walk in Macapagal Highway Manila and ended at the leisure resort, Island Cove, that served as a race village for the runners. Within the race village, runners were able to relax and recuperate from the run with an array of services from massages, stretch-downs by professional therapists and trainers. Runners could also re-fuel with healthy energy food and cool down by the pool. In celebration of their achievement, runners could compose personal notes to their race buddies. Nike + users who accumulated more than 250 kilometers on their Nike+Running app also received special access to post-race analysis with N+RC coaches and shoe cleaning services.

“Every aspect of the race since the registration through the training journey, encouraged women to be #Betterforit and today, we saw how they went the extra mile to become better versions of themselves” says Patrick Reyes, Country Marketing Manager for Nike Philippines. “As we continue to enable women to achieve their personal bests with Nike innovations and services, we hope that our runners today recommit themselves to be on this journey to be #BetterForIt in every facet of their lives.”

Runners were enabled from the beginning to start their training with the Nike+ Run Club 12 week training program, a physical training journey through the Nike+ Running app and the Nike+ Running Club sessions held twice weekly. The training program helped race participants maximize their efforts on race day through a variety of training that included Speed, Endurance, Recovery and also Nike+ Training Club (N+TC) workouts.

The NRC Women’s Half Marathon Manila is part of the largest global women’s event series, the NikeWomen Victory Tour, which will see female athletes around the world challenge themselves and experience the power of the global fitness community through a series of one-of-a-kind running and training events.