Mary Joy Tabal, being the fastest female marathoner in the country today, is one runner who enjoys a lot of press, most of them good and well-deserved.
But I cringe every time I read reports and sports news referring to Mary Joy as “marathon record holder” or “Philippine women’s marathon record holder”, because she simply is not.
The Philippine women’s marathon record is still held by Christabel Martes at 2:38:44. This almost 8-year old record was set on July 25, 2005 in Manila. The men’s marathon Philippine record is 2:18:44 set by Eduardo “Vertek” Buenavista in February 1, 2004 at the Beppu-Oita Marathon in Japan.
The faulty attribution is not Mary Joy’s fault. This persistent error in sports reportage came about after Tabal’s coronation as the new Milo Marathon queen in 2013 when Mary Joy not only won the women’s division of the 37th Milo Marathon National Finals in 2:48:00, but also beat Jho-An Banayag’s 7-year-old record of 2:48:16.
However, Banayag’s record, set in 2006, is not a Philippine record but an event record for the Milo Marathon National finals. I reviewed Milo’s press releases regarding Banayag’s record from 2012 and earlier and they have always referred to it as a “Milo Marathon national record” or the “Milo Marathon event record.”
This means that for Mary Joy to be correctly referred to as the “Philippine women’s marathon record holder” or even “the fastest Filipina marathoner” she must shave 10 minutes, 44 seconds off of her current personal best, which if given the chance and right logistical support Mary Joy can break in the next 3 to 6 years of her running career.
Milo Marathon holder, yes. Philippine marathon record holder, no. At least, not yet.
Am I being too anal about women’s records? Yes, and rightly so. In a sport where time is all that matters in determing champions and record breaking performances, it is the one thing you cannot afford to be wrong or imprecise about.
Theresian Runners
Congratulations to the organizers and winners of the Run with Venus: A Beauty, Health and Wellness Event by St. Theresa’s College High School Class ‘89.
The fun run featured 12K, 6K and 3K open categories and special categories for STC alumnae.
Marivic Tan (1:06:55) topped the 12K alumnae followed by Maria Herrera (1:11:47) and Maricel Maniquis (1:13:47). The podium finishers in the 6k alumnae were Alora Mae Tambasen (43:55), Arlene Basto (44:33) and Renee Songalia (44:59) while Altheah Dy (18:51), Hannah Trinidad (20:27) and Winnie Dublin (20:51) ruled the 3K alumnae category.
Run for Venus is just one of the many events leading up to the STAA Homecoming happening this Saturday, July 26 at 1 p.m. This year’s 12K champion, Dr. Marivic Tan, is a member of this year’s host class and silver jubilarian — STC H.S. Class ’89.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
