REIGNING Milo Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal is set to join two big international races early this year, starting with the prestigious Standard Chartered International Marathon in Hong Kong on Jan. 25.
This Hong Kong stint will serve as the first long-distance race abroad for the 25-year-old Cebuana this year. Her second will be the Los Angeles Marathon on March 15, which is part of the incentive she got for winning the Milo race last month.
Tabal said she won’t join the 42-kilometer race in the Standard Chartered event because she’ll be using this as preparation for the Los Angeles Marathon.
“I have two months to prepare for the LA Marathon and the Standard Chartered race will be part of [the preparation], ” Tabal said.
Because of this, Tabal may miss two major local races this month, the Cebu City Marathon on Jan. 11 and the Cebu City Triathlon on Jan. 25.
Tabal is the defending champion in the 21k open division of the Cebu City Marathon.
“We might not join Cebu City Marathon because we have already signed up for the Standard Chartered in Hong Kong but we will try to enlist and ask Rio Dela Cruz for a registration form but we are not sure of it right now. It depends on Coach Philip’s (Dueñas) decision.” Tabal told CDN.
Dueñas is Tabal’s trainer and coach who will be also accompanying her in both international races.
Tabal will start her year with a short race in the Sinulog Fun Run tomorrow starting and finishing at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
The race will only be a 5-kilometer race traversing the Sinulog carousel.