JOY Tabal is the undisputed marathon queen in the country. It is not exaggeration to say that she is beyond reach by any Filipino woman runner as of now.
She has the medals - and trophies - to prove it, winning practically all the domestic races that she joined. She has ruled the National Milo Marathon, the most prestigious 42K race in the country, four straight years from 2013 to 2016.
She’s no slouch in international running competitions either. She won silver in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore in 2015. She is the only Filipino, male or female, to have qualified for an Olympics marathon - in Rio de Janeiro last year. She did not earn a medal but she finished the grueling run, which is already a feat in itself considering the history of DNFs in the event. And just recently, she added another trophy to her collection by winning the Ottawa 21K run in that Canadian city.
Joy was still giddy with that most recent win when she heard the bad news: she has been scratched off the Philippine team to the Kuala Lumpur SEAG in August this year by Patafa, the country’s amateur running governing body.
She was planning on celebrating her conquest with her family and running friends upon her arrival, she told Frankahay Ta! (dyCM 7:30-8:30 a.m.) yesterday. Instead, she was devastated by the news of her expulsion. “It never entered my thought that it would happen.”
The petite Cebuana runner has had run-ins with the Patafa in the past. Last year, she practically had to beg for her inclusion in the Philippine Olympic team despite the fact that she had achieved the qualifying time. But she thought that those were things of the past and her slot in Kuala Lumpur assured. The Patafa head, Philip Juico, told her so early this year.
Juico and his friends, who are all Manila-based, apparently had a change of heart while she was training in Tuscany, Italy in preparation for her race in Canada.They did not like that Joy trained abroad and, when in the country, in Cebu, not in Manila.
“Ayaw namin sa kanya, ayaw niya sumunod sa amin,” Juico said, adding that Joy has no respect for authority, has been divisive and disruptive and is not a worthy example to the other Filipino athletes.
Joy not a worthy example to athletes? When she’s not training or running abroad, Joy tends to her own grassroots athletics program in Guba where she grew up. Just what is your idea of a role model? We’re curious.