Team sports lead to better lives

Award-winning Kapuso investigative journalist Kara David turned up at the media conference for the fifth My Daily Collagen Triathlon recently, so we thought she was joining the tough sports competition. No, she wasn’t joining. She showed up at the media huddle to support the project as a multiple-time triathlon champ in the country. The last time she won was in 2023, specifically the Ironman triathlon in Subic Bay, Zambales. She swam 1.9 km, raced on a bike for 90 km, and ran 21 km. She was already 48 years old at that time. She is now 51.

In August 2022, she clinched third place in the Mount Mayon Triathlon, which involved a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride, and a 10km run.  Later that year, she also finished third in the New Clark City Triathlon, comprising a 900m swim, 50km bike ride, and a 12km run.  

In June 2019, she finished her first-ever IronMan solo race. That’s 1.9km of swimming, 90km of biking, and 21km of running.

Her consistent performance led her to qualify for the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship slated in Finland. As she was a working woman, she couldn’t go to Finland. 

David couldn’t stay long at that midday media huddle in Pandan restaurant in Quezon City because she had a class to attend but she managed to share that she had to engage in athletic activities to ease up her bipolarism. Her doctor said indulgence in sports is better than taking so much medicine for bipolarism. 

In 2015, she joined ex-actor Onemig Bondoc’s swimming team and eventually got recruited by other groups that are into biking and running. 

“Maraming beses na akong nabudol ng mga kakilala ko rin naman para sumama sa mga sports group nila. Pumapatol naman ako sa mga pambubudol nila para na rin sa kalusugan ko (I have been invited to join many sports groups by my friends. I have joined the teams for my health),” joked the cheery investigative journalist who has pulled off incredible in-depth reports for GMA7’s cluster of fearless investigative programs over the years, including the award-winning iWitness and The Reporter’s Notebook. 

The Kapuso actor who has enlisted in the My Daily Collagen Triathlon slated for 9 March at Subic Bay in Zambales is Kristoffer Martin. It won’t be his first. 

In February 2023, he won second place in a triathlon at Subic Bay. 

Martin seems to spend most of his free time from acting assignments preparing to join sports tourneys. 

In December 2022, he took home a medal from Taktak Cycling Challenge held at Daang Bakal Road in Taktak, Antipolo City. 

On 7 July 2024, he clinched first place at the  Super Aquathlon at the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub. Competing in the All-star category, he completed a 450-meter swim, followed by a 4-kilometer run, and repeated the sequence.

Comedian Bearwin Meily, 48, and his teen son, Ico Meily, are set to participate in the My Daily Collagen Triathlon. 

Running was what Meily turned to when he moved away from drug use and other vices in 2000. He lost a lot of weight. But he gained a sincere faith in God. He was actually a GMA star, too, for some years, and even top-billed a magician’s show there, Naks!, with Benjie Paras. 

“When I lost weight, I didn’t look funny anymore. The network couldn’t think of casting me in un-funny roles. Since I was already into running, I decided to be an organizer of fun-runs in the subdivision where my family used to live. I will say it’s God who led me into putting up a business that has to do with running,” lengthily recalls Meily to the media in previous interviews. 

Given a chance, Meily can talk about how he relies on praying to God to handle problematic situations in his life. He does it cheerily though. He hasn’t lost the warm gab of a comedian. 

He recovered from the pain and anger of the unfaithfulness of his wife — which the wife herself confessed to him. 

He prayed and run and preached in his own way. He sometimes sound like a pastor and he knows it. He points out that he is un-ordained. He and his wife have been conducting prayer and enlightenment sessions for problematic couples’

The My Daily Collagen triathlon offers multiple categories, such as the Standard Distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) and Sprint Distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), catering to both beginners and seasoned athletes. 

This marks the fifth year of the My Daily Collagen Triathlon, themed “Where Stars Are Born,” is aiming to celebrate and inspire athletes of all levels. 

Among the distinguished All-Star Team athletes joining the event on are Lougee Basabas-Alejandro of FIT PH, renowned as the Imago vocalist; the dynamic Vanessa Agdon, celebrated as the head coach of PNY Tribe and celebrity athletes Alou and Aira Lopez.

Adding to the excitement are other inspiring members of My Daily Collagen All Stars Team who continue to elevate the triathlon community: Ruth Paulina of GAS Coaching, Eryka Rie Garcia of PNY Tribe, Justine Rianne Diza of Lakan Tri, and Andy Darmawan of Trimac.

More than just a race, My Daily Collagen Triathlon has become a must-experience “racecation” — a thrilling mix of competition and leisure that brings together athletes and their loved ones for an unforgettable weekend. In 2024, hundreds of participants crossed the finish line at SBMA’s Boardwalk. This year, about 400 participants are expected to join the event.

Triathlon teams from all over the Philippines, including those from as far as Zamboanga will be taking part, alongside international participants from the US and Asia. The influx of athletes and their supporters also gave a significant boost to Subic Bay’s local economy, proving once again that sports tourism is alive and thriving.