The MotorAce Racing Team. (From left) Tenggoy Colmenares, Mary Joy Tabal, John Philip Dueñas and Tolitz Dagoy Albina in a press conference at the Casino Español. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Cebuana marathon champion Mary Joy Tabal gets ready for Japan training
Cebuana Mary Joy Tabal, the country’s reigning Marathon Queen, has won countless titles in running.
But as she prepares for the Boston Marathon slated this April, the petite runner of the MotorAce Racing Team feels that the pressure leading toward that memorable day is starting to build up.
“I am really pressured right now but I have to set that aside and focus on my training,” Tabal said in a press conference on Monday at the Casino Español.
For Tabal, the pressure is not about just joining the “World’s Mecca of Marathon.” It’s actually about qualifying for the Rio Olympics.
The Boston Marathon is one of the races in the world that serves as qualifying round for the Olympics.
With that in mind, it is understandable why the MotorAce runner from Barangay Guba in Cebu City is feeling the pressure. She knows, though that she should stay focused.
“I’ll do my best to get the much-needed training so that I can somehow ease the pressure I’m feeling right now and replace it with a little confidence,” Tabal said.
She is expected to leave for Yokohama, Japan on Feb. 22 to train with legendary Japanese marathoner Akio Usami and other elite Japanese marathoners.
Tabal’s training in Japan will finish on April 11. She will then head straight to Boston to train with another legendary marathoner, Dick Beardsley.
Tabal said the Japan and US training will just be finishing touches as she has already reached 70 percent of her training here in the Philippines.
Part of her training included tune-up races here and outside Cebu.
“I will grind myself there because this is my only chance of competing in Boston Marathon especially qualify for the Rio Olympics,” Tabal said.
MotorAce Philippines shouldered Tabal’s expenses for her Japan trip, from processing of her visa, her accommodation, food and allowance.
Her visa was processed last January and has been approved. It is scheduled to be delivered to her this week. She will be housed at the Nippon Sports Science University in Yokohama, Japan.
“Right now, Rio Olympics is the only thing I am focusing on,” she said. “I’m not planning on anything else as of the moment except for my participation in the Boston Marathon. All my next races will depend on the result of this marathon. It’s either I will be in the Rio Olympics by August or not. If I don’t qualify, then that will be the time when I will look for other opportunities.”
According to MotorAce Philipines chief Jonel Borromeo, they won’t stop supporting Tabal because one of the company’s aim is to make an athlete’s dream come true. And it’s surely a dream come true for Tabal if she will be able to make it to the Olympics.
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