Mary Joy Tabal and her trainer John Philip Dueñas visit the Cebu Daily News office in this file photo, a few days after she won the gold medal in Sea Games women’s marathon.
CDN FILE
ON her third trip to Tuscany, Italy, Cebuana Olympian and Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) women’s marathon gold medalist Mary Joy Tabal revealed that breaking the Milo Marathon grand finals record will be one of her motivations.
Tabal is gunning for an unprecedented fifth straight Milo national crown on December 3 in Cebu City.
The 28-year-old Tabal of Barangay Guba, Cebu City, will leave for Italy on Monday to start a yearlong training camp in preparation for next year’s Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Tabal will spend a month at the Tuscany Training Center where she will be closely supervised by her Italian coach Giuseppe Giambrone who also handled her two previous training camps there.
She said she is seriously considering going after the Milo record which she herself established last year. “It’s part of our goal, and I am really hoping for it.”
Last year, she bettered her record of two hours and 48 minutes by clocking 2:47.53 in the 40th National Milo Marathon grand finals in Iloilo City.
Tabal also bested her 21k personal record last summer when she topped the Scotia Bank Ottawa Marathon in Canada. She erased her previous 12k record of 1:18.45 by clocking 1:16.29.
She will return here on the last week of November in time for the 41st Milo Marathon on December 3. “Our main target for this training in Tuscany is the Asian Games next year, and part of it also is the Milo Marathon,” added Tabal.
After the Milo race, Tabal will spend the holidays with her family in Cebu City and will fly back to Tuscany on January.
“I am excited and grateful for this opportunity,” Tabal told Cebu Daily News. “I would like to thank all those who supported me, Motorace Philippines, Mayor Tommy Osmeña, the Cebu City Council, Thirsty and Trunkx Adarna.”