The potential of Filipinos to make a mark in the world stage truly seems limitless, as proven once again recently by an astounding achievement in the field of sports—a 45-year-old woman who successfully completed seven marathons across seven continents in a span of seven days.
Even more astonishing is that Mench Dizon is not only a dedicated athlete but a full-time mom and busy tech entrepreneur. Her victory in conquering the 2025 World Marathon Challenge—added to her earlier accomplishment of completing the Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York marathons at the 2017 World Marathon Majors—has earned her the distinction of being the first Filipina to accomplish both.
Quite literally, her journey has seen her simply place one foot in front of the other, but has taken her farther than she could have imagined. By all indications, she considers herself a late bloomer of sorts—not a hardcore marathoner like many might imagine someone with such tenacity to be. She had only taken up running relatively late in life, after being prodded in the corporate world of all places. But what seemed to have been a step outside of her comfort zone had proven to be her latent passion after all.
Her day job in the tech industry is somehow another arena where she is constantly pushing boundaries and breaking barriers. Apart from being the country head of Yield Guild Games (YGG) Pilipinas, a cause closer to her heart is the Metaverse Filipino Worker (MFW) organization, where she capacitates Filipino tech talent to ride the wave of the burgeoning Web3 industry.
KUBO caught up with Mench and wanted to quickly find out what is next for this global Filipina busybody:
How do you feel attaining a world sports record for a Filipina? What are your next goals or aspirations?
I feel grateful for the opportunity to participate in both the World Marathon Majors and World Marathon Challenge. I am proud that I got to represent the Philippines in both. A particularly proud moment was when I ran in the Dubai leg of the WMC and the course volunteers were mostly Pinoys. I was happy to participate and have a seat at the table, representing them.
The next goal is to work on the challenge of providing work and bridging opportunities for MFWs. This is the difficult task ahead that I will focus my energies on.
How would you say your being a Filipino played a role or advantage in your achievement at the World Marathon Challenge?
As Filipinos, we are quite adaptable. The WMC had varying conditions that needed that kind of flexibility and adaptability. I knew that I could figure things out because as Pinoys, we always find ways to manage and carry through.
How does it feel to be a global Filipino role model? How do you balance your different roles as a mom, boss, and marathoner?
I feel grateful for this opportunity and I try to use this as well in advancing our efforts in the work that we do for the MFW.
I don’t subscribe to balance but [I am] more inclined to give each effort or aspect the focus that is needed. I would rather choose to give deliberate attention to the various roles that I play, one at a time. By doing so, I provide these the time and effort that each one deserves. Also, I try to harmonize how my day flows so I get to live a more integrated daily practice.
Filipinos have made great strides globally in this day and age but which aspect of society do you feel we—especially Filipinas—can still make a greater mark or improvement?
We can do so much more in terms of educating ourselves to take on work from where we are without leaving our country. My life’s work is all about bridging more of these opportunities back home so moms and dads don’t need to leave their families. We also strive to funnel more of these opportunities to the provinces where work and upskilling are harder to come by.
