Darwin Tabal shows his medals together with his cousin, Cebuana marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, after finishing eighth in the 21k race of the 41st Milo Marathon Tagbilaran City leg.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
There’s another Tabal who is starting to make waves in the local running scene.
He is twenty-two-year-old Darwin Tabal, a cousin of Olympian and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Mary Joy Tabal, who is also from Barangay Guba, Cebu City.
Darwin showed signs of promise when he finished eighth in the men’s 21-kilometer race of the 41st Milo Marathon Tagbilaran City leg last Sunday.
It was a commendable feat considering that it was his first stint in a 21k race. He finished the race in one hour, 23 minutes and 21 seconds.
Homeboy Emmanuel Comendador topped the men’s 21k race by clocking 1:15.56.
Cebu Daily News found out that Joy and Darwin, who are first-degree cousins, have been training together for almost a year already.
Darwin, who is a B.S Mathematics graduate from the Cebu Normal University (CNU), said he is challenged and at the same time inspired by his cousin’s achievements in both local and international competitions.
“She shares with me almost all of her training program and I consider myself very lucky for being a cousin of Joy,” said Darwin.
He added that Joy is helping him improve in the lung-busting sport.
“She helps me perform my best and always gives me advices.”
Though he finished eighth, Darwin was still impressive as he finished ahead of some more experienced runners such as Francisco Elan (1:23.28) and Edilberto Batiancila (1:24.19), who placed ninth and 10th, respectively.
Darwin, though, knows he still has a lot to learn more from the country’s Marathon Queen if he wants to be as successful as her.
“Though ‘Tabal’ is already known because of Joy, it doesn’t mean I can be as good as her in this field. As what Joy always tells me, I need to be passionate and have to love what I do, and everything will else follow,” Darwin said.
Joy, on her side, believes that her cousin has potential in long distance running.
“He started long distance running for roughly a year and he already finished at the top 10. So his performance is very progressive and I can see his dedication and hard work in training also. He will surely go a long way if he will continue this kind of mindset,” Joy said.
The 28-year-old Joy said the only thing Darwin has to work on is his confidence.
“I always motivate him because he’s kind of hesitant and [sometimes] doubts himself. I think he lacks self confidence.”
Both Darwin and Joy are regularly seen training at the Cebu City Sports Center.
Darwin said that he will next prepare for his first 42k race in the grand finals of the 41st Milo Marathon this December 3, where Joy will be defending her four-peat title in the women’s 42k race.