Pint-sized Reyes wins women’s marathon
TABAL Mary Joy Reyes of the Philippines is only 1.49m tall.
But size clearly doesn’t matter in marathon as she romped to the women’s gold in 2’48:26.
Only six runners took part in women’s marathon in Putrajaya yesterday and Reyes, who is from Cebu City, finished more than seven minutes ahead of silver medallist Hoang Thi Thanh (2’55:43) of Vietnam.
Thailand’s Natthaya Thanaronnawat, the gold medallist at the 2015 Singapore Games, clocked 2’58:17 to bag the bronze.
The 28-year-old Reyes took the lead at the 15km mark and never looked back to seal the Philippines’ first gold in athletics at the KL Games.
Reyes shed tears of joy after crossing the finish line.
“I was the silver medallist at the Singapore Games but this time I proved to everyone that size does not matter by winning the gold,” said Reyes, who set her personal best of 2’43:31 at the Ottawa Marathon in Canada last year.
Reyes, who has a Master’s degree in public administration, started her athletics career as a sprinter in 2006 before switching to long distance running under the advice of her coach John Philip Duenas in 2009.
And she has no regrets about making the switch, having also featured in the last year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Reyes was supposed to feature in the recent World Athletics Championships in London but decided to skip it to focus on the SEA Games.
“I made the right decision. I’m thrilled to win my country’s first gold in athletics in the KL SEA Games.
“I hope this gold will inspire and motivate my teammates to win more medals at the Games,” said Reyes.
A total of 45 golds are stake in athletics and the Philippines Athletics Federation have set a fivegold target.