Tabal tops Milo Gen. San leg

REIGNING Milo marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal conquered the 39th Milo Marathon General Santos Leg yesterday, her first road race after winning the 2015 Southeast Asian (Sea) Games marathon silver medal last June 7.

In spite of not joining any fun runs in four months, Tabal was still in top form and completed the half-marathon in 1 hour 21 minutes and 42 seconds, to win the P10,000 cash prize. She finished more than 10 minutes ahead of the other podium finishers. Mona Liza Ambasa clocked 1:35:03 for second place and Noemu Andrea Galeos came in at 1:52:44 to complete the top women’s top three.

Since becoming a member of the Philippine team, Tabal has not been joining local fun runs like she did before.

“This was my first road race, and it felt very great being back on the road,” she said.

Tabal said that before the start, she was very excited and felt the hunger to race, after skipping running events since June.

Even if she’s not taking part of the weekend fun runs, Tabal is in racing form and is consistently working hard with long-time coach John Philip Dueñas.

“I was able to maintain my pace from start to finish. I can say that my performance was OK (compared to previous races),” she said. “I’m happy because I know I have improved my performance and I’m not still at the peak of my training.”

Tabal of Barangay Guba, Cebu is referring to her 42-kilometer training for the National Milo Marathon Finals slated on Dec. 6 in Angeles, Pampanga.