Female elite long distance runners have more reason to compete in the Cebu City Marathon on January 10 at the Cebu IT Park.
This, after Milo Marathon three-time champion and the country’s Marathon Queen, Mary Joy Tabal decided to skip the race to focus on her preparations for the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon slated on January 17.
Tabal, who placed second in the Standard race last January 25 in the the half marathon 21-kilometer distance, is targeting no less than the top spot next month.
The Milo Marathon grand slam winner, is also the defending champion in Cebu City Marathon’s 21k half marathon event.
She finished the race in one hour, 20 minutes and 37 seconds behind Australian Ellie O’kane and bested another Australian Jane Richards.
Her time was less than a minute shy of her personal record of 1:19.37.
Last December 7, Cebu’s long distance phenom bagged her third straight Milo Marathon Nationals crown in the race’s 39th edition held in Angeles, Pampanga.
She told Cebu Daily News that the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will mark the start of her long and grueling preparation for the Boston Marathon in April next year.
“I’m going to prepare for the Boston Marathon by January and that will be the main focus for me next year,” said Tabal.
The Boston Marathon is the 2016 Rio Olympics qualifying race that Tabal will compete in.
To qualify for Rio, Tabal said she has to surpass the qualifying time of 2 hours and 42 minutes or six minutes faster than her personal best of 2:48 which she established in 2013.
Tabal had a sterling 2015 campaign because aside from winning her third Milo crown, she also captured a silver medal in last June’s Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.
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