A Filipino triathlete based in the UAE has held an endurance triathlon on his birthday in order to donate a bicycle and related accessories to commuters in Metro Manila affected by the quarantine measures.
Known athlete Romeo III Tumayao Puncia said that he decided to spend his birthday last September 27 organizing a triathlon for a cause. The sports event, held under APEX Endurance UAE—the largest sports team in Al Ain, which he co-founded—involved 34 participants joining a 34-kilometer run, a 34-kilometer marathon, and a 3.4-kilometer swing, a tribute to his 34th year.
“I challenged my 34 close friends and some teammates to do either 3.4-kilometer run, 34-kilometer cycling, or swim 34 laps then I will exchange it with a helmet. Kung baga ‘yon ang part nila sa project, ako naman ay magbigay ng isang bicycle. I want to involve these people and super saya nila na mayroon din sila naging part to help someone,” he said.
The athlete has always been doing charity work yearly on his birthday, going to the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi to do feeding programs, as well as celebrate with the natives. However, for this year, he said he wanted to something special—this time to help Filipinos back home using his physical strength.
“We want to make it special like what we did from our previous project gusto natin pinaghihirapan, kasi madali lang naman mag-donate but doing it with physical body mas fulfilling ito kaya tinawag natin itong race with a purpose, and this campaign inspired so many people around the globe,” he added.
Puncia, who has been doing races with purpose campaigns, said that he decided to hold this event after he got inspired by a Facebook post of a friend regarding a triathlete couple looking for donations to help commuters in Metro Manila. The couple’s BeSeekLeta for EveryJuan was launched in order to provide bicycles to Filipinos in the region affected by the quarantine restrictions in the Philippines. They accept bike accessories, bicycles, as well as scrap parts.
“Since ang Race with a Purpose Campaign natin ay into that [donations and charity] and we did some programs few months back, so I decided to choose them to be one the beneficiaries,” he added.
Puncia added that the campaign began following the cancellation and postponements of their five major 2020 races in the UAE. The athlete said they instead decided to launch charity events this year, with the next ones coming this November and December.
