Mary Joy Tabal, the Philippines’ first Olympian runner, goes for history when she defends her crown in the 41st National Milo Marathon on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Tabal, who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics, has been the undisputed Milo Marathon queen and this time, she tries to become the only participant to win the prestigous event five consecutive times.
Making her attempt extra special is she will do it in her beloved hometown of Cebu.
The biggest race in the country will be staged in the Queen City of the South for the first time.
Tabal and reigning Milo Marathon king Jeson Agravante lead over 32,000 running enthusiass and professional athletes of all ages. Around 800 elite runners qualified to the National Finals over 300 are competing in the full marathon event.
Primed to give the Tabal and Agravante a run for their money are race veterans Eduardo Buenavista, Eric Panique and Cristabel Martes.
Gun start is at 3 a.m. for the 42k run, the 21k run is set at 4:30 a.m., 10k is at 5 a.m., 3k at 5:30 a.m. while the 5k run is at 5:35 a.m.
The race begins at Cebu Normal University and ends at Cebu City Sports Complex.
The event marks the conclusion of the 16-leg qualifiers.
The fastest 42k finishers will be rewarded as a total of P500,000 each awaits the champions.