John Franklin Kennedy Caacbay

From dojang to the road: Pauline Lopez chases personal milestone in Australia

Article (news)

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez is set on chasing a personal milestone in the Land Down Under.After she made the transition from national athlete to coach, Lopez has been focused on developing the next generation of taekwondo champions through SHERO.But last year, Lopez started to take up running more and included it in her weekly grind.<div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZwfjNvkZo4/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=675&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A696635.9000000358%2C%22ls%22%3A695834.6000000238%2C%22le%22%3A696628.8000000119%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="925" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>&quot;On my personal end, I took up running. I took up running, which again, I think I&#x27;ll never let go of being an athlete. That&#x27;s just a big part of my life. But it&#x27;s also running has been giving me a space that I can use for myself. And I&#x27;m also training to run in Sydney for the Sydney Marathon,&quot; she told ABS-CBN News.For Lopez, running is a welcome challenge, which she uses to make herself better.&quot;It&#x27;s been giving me like a space for I guess self-improvement and also [I] kind of like I miss that feeling of being able to do something so hard and do it. And that&#x27;s also kind of reflecting on the things that I do if some challenges come my way because I can do something so hard I can do this too right?&quot; Lopez shared.&quot;So it&#x27;s like my self-care I know it sounds kind of insane kind of saying like coach you find running fun I do find it fun,&quot; she added.Every time Lopez hits a new milestone or personal best in running, Lopez said she gets the same feeling when she used to compete as an athlete.The Southeast Asian Games gold medalist wants to show her students that they can also challenge themselves even outside taekwondo.&quot;Why I do it and what inspires me also is to, I lead by example and I choose to do hard things. I can teach, I can work, I can run, I can train. But this is something I do for myself. At the same time I want to inspire them that it&#x27;s not only taekwondo where you can do hard things,&quot; she said.What inspires Lopez is the running community which is full of optimism, encouragement and fun, especially when the group trains together.&quot;Ring to the road. It&#x27;s something almost similar things that I picked up from taekwondo the discipline, the hardships. But it&#x27;s also what I&#x27;m learning in the community of running it&#x27;s doing something together. So in the training, it&#x27;s not just me going through it,&quot; she explained.Last June, Lopez completed her first marathon, the Manila Marathon, unlocking a new achievement and core memory in her life.After a year of training, Lopez will finally get to chase another milestone in the Sydney Marathon in Australia.  The Asian taekwondo champion admitted the journey was not easy, but she believes it will be worth it once she crosses the finish line.  &quot;Training for the marathon it&#x27;s different. It&#x27;s something that I kinda have to do by myself and it&#x27;s like you&#x27;re going against you. It&#x27;s you versus you. I don&#x27;t have to do this. No one is asking me to run. And some days I asked myself, why the heck am I doing this?&quot; she shared.&quot;But again after that run, it&#x27;s again proving to myself that I can do hard things. I can choose to do hard things. I&#x27;m very grateful for that opportunity and also that my body can move. Because not everybody can do this,&quot; Lopez added.Before the Sydney Marathon, Lopez added another achievement by representing the Philippines in the Nike After Dark Tour 2026 in Manila.&quot;My first question was are you sure? I was like are you sure because I came from taekwondo so why me? There was that doubt and that fear because I was like why me, I&#x27;m not a runner,&quot; Lopez shared.  &quot;But that was exactly what it&#x27;s about. It&#x27;s coming from something that&#x27;s so different and it&#x27;s also so difficult. And I think they wanted to see if I can do it, anyone can. It&#x27;s definitely an honor. I still can&#x27;t believe it to this day,&quot; she added.In 2023, Lopez was also featured by the global sports brand in another campaign.&quot;We did our first shoot. I don&#x27;t know any more after that. I&#x27;m gonna be posting about my journey and let&#x27;s see from there,&quot; she said.Lopez is already in Australia with her father ahead of the Sydney Marathon set for August 30.

Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez is set on chasing a personal milestone in the Land Down Under.

Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez is set on chasing a personal milestone in the Land Down Under.