Mary Joy "MJ" Reyes Tabal-Jimenez OLY (born July 13, 1989) is a Filipino

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner. She is the first female Filipino marathon runner to qualify for the Olympics, which she has done by running a time of 2:43:29 in the Scotiabank

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Marathon in 2016. She placed 124th at the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Tabal, a veteran of local and international marathons, made her official debut at the

2003 Southeast Asian Games The 2003 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games, SEA Games 22 and also known as Vietnam 2003, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 5 to 13 December 2003 in Hanoi, Vietnam. This was the first t ...

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, Vietnam and has won a silver medal in the women's marathon competition in the

2015 Southeast Asian Games The 2015 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, or the 28th SEA Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2015, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held by the city-state of Singapore from 5 to 16 June 201 ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and a gold medal in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and won the women's division title in the National Milo Marathon Finals for six straight years, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. She was recognized as the 2016 Athlete of the Year by the Sportswriters Association of Cebu. Tabal and fellow marathon runner Rafael Poliquit Jr. represented the Philippines in the 2016

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

in April 2016. She finished 20th overall in the race.

Career

2016

On July 13, 2016, the

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is the Sports governing body, National Sports Association (NSA) for Athletics (sport), athletics sports such as track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking ...

(PATAFA) reinstated Tabal in the national team, a year after she resigned due to conflicts between training and sponsorship agreements with Motorace Racing, Tabal's sponsor, but it was removed from the association's national team in September 2016, days after her Olympics stint. On December 4, 2016, Tabal won the women's category of the Milo Marathon National Finals in

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

and she became the first runner in the marathon's history to complete a four-peat title record by clocking in 2 hours, 47 minutes and 57 seconds.

2017

At the first day of the 29th Southeast Asian Games on August 19, 2017, Tabal gave the country's first gold medal after dominating the 42 km women's marathon event with an official time of 2 hours, 48 minutes and 26 seconds.

In popular media

In 2018, actress

Sharlene San Pedro Sharlene Santos San Pedro (; born April 5, 1999) is a Filipino actress, singer, and media personality. She made her first television appearance at the age of four when she joined ABS-CBN's talent search ''Star Circle Quest: Kids Edition'' in 2 ...

portrayed Tabal's life story in ''

Maalaala Mo Kaya (, abbreviated as ''MMK'') is a Philippine television drama anthology series broadcast by ABS-CBN and Kapamilya Channel. Hosted by Charo Santos-Concio, its first iteration was aired from May 15, 1991 to December 10, 2022. It is the longest ...

s episode entitled ''Rubber Shoes'' which was aired last February 24, 2018."Maalaala Mo Kaya: Rubber Shoes" on IMDB
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabal, Mary Joy Living people Sportspeople from Cebu City Filipino female marathon runners 1989 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Olympic track and field athletes for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in athletics SEA Games competitors for the Philippines SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines Competitors at the 2003 SEA Games Competitors at the 2005 SEA Games Competitors at the 2007 SEA Games Competitors at the 2009 SEA Games Competitors at the 2011 SEA Games Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Competitors at the 2015 SEA Games Competitors at the 2017 SEA Games Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Filipino YouTubers