CEBU’S top marathoner Mary Joy Tabal gets ready for another international competition as she laces it up in the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, a qualifying race for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Tokyo Marathon is set on March 1, 2020. Tabal will leave for Japan a week before the marathon. The Tokyo Marathon will gauge Tabal’s healing progress after suffering from Iliotibial band syndrome.

“I’ll be careful with my injury because it’s not yet 100 percent. This coming run will evaluate my fitness and how far I have recovered,” she said.

The 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medalist sustained the injury three weeks before the Milo Marathon National Finals in January.

“The target is to get me to better shape physically and mentally,” said the many-time national champion.

The participants in the Tokyo Marathon will get Olympic points depending on their finish.

Tabal said if she gets a good result in the Tokyo Marathon, her camp will consider joining the Ottawa Marathon in May. Tabal qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics after hitting the qualifying time in the Ottawa Marathon. (RSC)