Beboy Dolen was all ears as four-time Milo national marathon champion and Rio de Janeiro Olympian Mary Joy Tabal delivered a lecture in their native province of Cebu last year.
Tabal surely left a lasting impression on the 10-year-old triathlete as he topped the boys’ 9-10 group in the Alaska IronKids held at Shangri-La Mactan in Lapu-Lapu last week.
Dolen, a sixth grader from Taytay Elementary School, clocked 24 minutes and 28.3 seconds, almost three minutes ahead of second-placer John Christian Pabuaya (27:20.5).
“I thank my coaches for helping me,” Dolen said in Cebuano.
Dolen’s coach, Andoy Remolino, recalled that when he first trained the boy, he didn’t even have a pair of sneakers.
“But I saw he’s got big potential,” said Remolino.
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