Asian marathon field too strong for Tabal

TOO TOUGH. Mary Joy Tabal also misses her SEA Games mark. Photo by Adrian Portugal/Rappler

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The Asian marathon field proved too strong for the Southeast Asian Games champion.

Mary Joy Tabal, who opened the Philippines' campaign with a gold in the 2017 SEA Games, finished 11th overall in the women's marathon event of the 2018 Asian Games on Sunday, August 26.

The Olympian marathoner clocked 2 hours, 51 minutes and 41 seconds, over 17 minutes behind gold winner Rose Chelimo of Bahrain (2:34:51).

Japan's Keiko Nogami (2:36:27) took the silver, while North Korea's Kim Hye Song (2:37:20) wound up third.

At the halfway mark, the Cebuana trailed at 13th place with a split of 1:20:49. Tabal also didn't come close to her SEA Games mark of 2:48:26

Christabel Martes still holds the Philippine women's marathon record of 2:38:44 set on July 2005 in Manila. – Rappler.com