Tabal finishes third in Italy 21K

Cebuana Olympian Mary Joy Tabal is slowly reaping the progress of her prowess three weeks into her training program at the Tuscany Camp in Italy.

This after the diminutive marathoner placed third in the women’s 21-kilometer race, sharing the podium with Portugal and Kenyan runners in the Padova Marathon in Padua City, Italy last April 22.

Tabal clocked 1 hour, 18 minutes and 58 seconds and was 54 seconds behind second placer Alice Mogire Kemunto of Kenya. Sara Catarina Costa Pontes won the race in 1:15:50.

“I actually saw the Kenyan on the latter part of the race. Pero nalaspag ko because of the heat and there was no water in the last part of the race course,” said the 28-year-old Tabal.

Tabal joined the half marathon race in Padova Marathon to test her mileage after three weeks, and was not even expecting to be in the podium with the international elites.

“The podium finish was a bonus. Being invited as part of the elite field and representing the country was already a great feeling for me,” said Tabal, who is training at the Tuscany Camp for the 2018 Asian Games set on Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Indonesia.

Tabal’s performance in Padova Marathon got the well-deserved applause from her Italian coach Giusseppe Giambrone and longtime trainer John Philip Dueñas.

“My coaches said that it’s only third week on and my training, not on its peak yet, but I was able to show a good performance,” said Tabal. /