Singaporean stock broker completes 148th marathon with CCM

CEBU, Philippines - Mohandas Kandiah, 51 years old from Singapore, completed his 148th marathon yesterday when he took part in the Cebu City Marathon.

A stock broker by profession, Kandiah started running in 1995 and has toured all around Asia, Europe and America to join international races.

He was ecstatic and proud as he finished the Cebu City Marathon, which is considered as one of the biggest marathons in the country.

“This is my second time running a full marathon here  in the Philippines and the first time here in Cebu and I can say that the run (Cebu City Marathon) is great and I’m looking forward to join again next year,” he said.

“People here in Cebu are very nice, I target to join 29 races this year and I’m so glad that I started it here.”

But Kandiah clarified that he is not running for the prize, but he is doing marathons for a healthy lifestyle and also a way of meeting friends all over the world.

“I’m just running for fun, I don’t care of my personal time, I am not a Kenyan you know, I just enjoy running,” he said.

Meanwhile, another scene stealer in the marathon was 77-year-old Raul Cepeda who was officially registered as the oldest runner.

Cepeda drew cheers from the crowd as he successfully finished the 42k full marathon.

For his part, organizer and Sports Writers Association of Cebu (SAC) president John Pages declared the run as a success as close to 8,000 took part.

“Happy ta kay it was a success and the weather also was beautiful landong siya dili kaayo init maong daghan ang mga runners nga sayun rang mihuman sa lumba,” said Pages.

“Next year we are looking forward for another great race.”- THE FREEMAN