CEBUANA runner Mary Joy Tabal offered no excuses when she finished 124th place in the women’s marathon event of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
She said she was able to prepare well for the race, held along a 10-km loop inside the famed Sambódromo area.
But stomach cramps and the sweltering heat midway in the footrace sapped her energy, it almost made her give up,
Tabal told the Manila Standard that the words of coach Philip John Duenas, who had to jog along portions of the crowd route in his bid to keep an eye on her, kept her going.
“Kasi ‘yung feeling na I came into this race well prepared. Sa training ginawa ko lahat ng makakaya ko kahit mahirap. Sa diet naman kahit ‘di masarap tiniis ko. Sa pahinga, I had it also but in a competition, anything can happen during the race, kagaya kanina. I was running okay at start but then going to the half, I felt na bigla na lang akong nag-slow down and I saw everybody’s slowing down also. Parang nag-slow mo ang time pero kami pala ang nag-slow mo. And the heat really affected us all,” said the 27-year-old Tabal.
Duenas said Tabal was able to hydrate properly, but they did not anticipate to bring in special bottles with electrolytes to help her reenergize and keep cramps from happening.
“If we only knew na wala silang electolyte stations na ipo-provide, I could have filled in all my special bottles with electrolytes considering the very hot weather. And I think kulang talaga ‘yung hydration stations given that weather. So, nagsimula na akong mag cramps sa paa hanggang sa likuran ko kasi parang kulang na kulang ‘yung fuels ko sa katawan and nahihirapan na makabawi,” added Tabal.
Tabal finished with a time of 3:02.27, which was way off her best time of 2:43.31 when she qualified for the Olympics in the Ottawa Marathon last May 29.
She was 38 minutes behind gold medalist Jemima Jelagat Sumgong of Kenya.
Bahrain’s Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa settled for silver in 2:24.13, while bronze belonged Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia who clocked 2:24.30.
Duenas kept egging Tabal on as he ran past spectators along the roadside railings to keep up with her along certain areas in the route.
“Sumasakit na siya and may part talaga na gusto ko na huminto, pero naririnig ko si Coach Philip ang sabi, ‘kayo lahat parehong may masakit na, tiisin mo, remember Olympics ‘to, alalahanin mo lahat nang pinagdaanan mo marating lang ito,” added Tabal.
She was tempted not to finish the race, but, in the end, Tabal refused to give up after seeing other runners slow down, and did not continue afterwards.