Tabal tops Ottawa Marathon in record-breaking fashion

CEBU, Philippines - Cebuana marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal dominated the 21-kilometer women's open class of the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon in a record-breaking fashion the other night in Canada.

Tabal, who is the first Filipina marathon Olympian, snared the title with a personal best time of one hour 16 minutes and 27.4 seconds. She broke the Philippines record of 1:18:45 set by Mercedita Fetalvero in 2008.

The 28-year-old Tabal was the only non-Canadian in the top 10. She was trailed by Brittany Moran with 1:18:42 as Lynda Gingras placed third with 1:22:58 clocking.

Tabal admitted that it was her goal to break the Philippine record and she was happy that she accomplished it.

“My goal is really to break the Philippine half marathon record of Mercidita and I am happy that I did it!” said Tabal.

The Ottawa Marathon was the same race that gave Tabal her qualifying time during her bid for the Rio Olympics last year.

Tabal was sent back to Canada as part of her incentive when she won the women’s title of the 2016 Milo National Marathon.

Tabal opted to do 21K as one of her tune-up race in preparation for the Southeast Asian Games on August in Malaysia where she is aiming to grab the gold medal.

After her stint in Canada, Tabal will have a short rest before she continue her training camp abroad. (FREEMAN)