Mary Joy Tabal | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — After a triumphant return to running last year, Cebu’s Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal eyes her first international race this year in Singapore.
Tabal will be seen in action in the upcoming 7-Eleven Run tomorrow, Sunday, February 5, followed by a much bigger race, the OSIM Sundown Marathon Singapore 2023 in May.
Tabal returned to running after giving birth to her first child in the “Race For Our Heroes” last December and topped the 10-kilometer division at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The 33-year-old Olympian and bemedalled marathoner will be vying in the 16-kilometer category of the Singapore run. She didn’t disclose the distance she will be running tomorrow.
This will be Tabal’s first international race after sports events were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and getting married in 2022.
“It’s just a nice feeling that through running, I can express myself again, now as a mom. I also want to show to people that I or we mothers can still do something if we put our heart into it,” said Tabal.
The last time Tabal vied in an international race was in 2019 when she won silver in the Southeast Asian Games women’s marathon in Tarlac.
In 2022, Tabal married fellow athlete and Lieutenant Senior Grade Hector Dan Jimenez of the Philippine Navy.
Despite the excitement, Tabal said that she will take her return slowly and does not want to have high expectations.
“I am excited to run with the crowd where I used to be with. Nothing big to expect with my run this time, will be running the 16km which is for me a safe distance where I can finish in good shape,” said Tabal.
Tabal won the OSIM Sundown Marathon Singapore in 2012 when she competed in the 21k race. /rcg
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