Tabal places 3rd in Milo Marathon

CEBU, Philippines - Cebuana Mary Joy Tabal exceeded expectations after placing third in the 34th Milo National Marathon in Manila yesterday - the best finish made among all Cebu-based qualifiers.

The 21-year-old Tabal finished in three hours, eight minutes and 36 seconds.

This is her first 42.195-kilometer race, and yet, Tabal survived and beat the seasoned runners which included some Kenyans.

Cebu’s queen of the road, Mary Grace de los Santos, could only make it to fifth spot after running out of gas before the final stretch.

Tabal herself suffered leg cramps in the last 1.5 kilometers, but with the strong support given to her by her trainor at Southwestern University, Philip Duenas, and another SWU runner Jess Gonzaga, the debuting marathoner was able to overcome the odds.

Another Cebuana, Madelyn Carter, came up with another eighth place finish for the third straight year.

No Cebu-based male runners were able to give men’s champion Eduardo Buenavista a good fight with most of them including, Duenas, Gonzaga, Jobert Carolino and Elmer Bartolo deciding to go easy and just back up their female counterparts. (THE FREEMAN)