KOCHI: Nixon Joseph runs not for prizes but for a humanitarian cause. Specifically, to raise funds for the Tyler Foundation’s ‘Beads of Courage Programme’ which helps children to record and tell their stories of courage during their cancer treatment.The Chief Executive Officer of the State Bank of India in Tokyo, Joseph will be running in the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. The prestigious Tokyo Marathon will mark the Aluva native’s ninth full marathon in total and the third in the Japanese capital.Last year, he had run three marathons in Japan including Osaka, Kobe and Tokyo for tsunami victims. Arguably, the 51-year old is the only full marathoner among the SBI’s 2,33,000 employees. The 2006 Mumbai Marathon was the first event he took part in.“My objective is to show the people around me that if we have determination we can achieve anything,” Joseph says. “I know I am aging and not capable of competing with professional runners. I have never been an athlete in my life but always a good student. I passed out from U C College, Aluva with high marks.”It was during the 2005 Mumbai flood that he decided to do something different, which later became a turning point in his life.“In May 2005, when Mumbai was submerged in floods, I had to walk over 14 km from Nariman Point to my quarters at Sion. I wasn’t much tired. After this, I decided to participate in some endurance exercise like the marathon. When I applied for the Mumbai Marathon, many people discouraged me but I wanted to prove myself. Though it took seven hours for me to complete the 42.195 km race, I enjoyed each and every moment of the suffering one undergoes to complete such a long distance. After the first event, I began practising regularly and could bring the time down to 4.35 hours in my later marathon in 2010,” he says.Joseph, who joined the Tokyo office in 2008, has run the full Tokyo Marathons in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In Japan, three lakh people apply for the 30,000 running positions.“I had been lucky to get selected in all the four Tokyo Marathons for which I applied. I ran in Tokyo in February, Osaka Marathon in October and the Kobe Marathon in November to complete a hat-trick of marathons in 2011,’’ he says.Explaining the causes he has run for, Joseph says, “I ran the Tokyo Marathons to support Japanese families in their fight against childhood cancer. I ran the Osaka and Kobe Marathons to support the earthquake victims and developmental activities in Japan. As Japan is one of the largest aid donors to India, I am proud as a State Banker and a Malayali and as an Indian that I have the opportunity to help the Japanese in return.”Rose Kuruvila Sankoorikal is his wife while Priya and Swapna are daughters. In July 2011, Joseph with his family climbed Mount Fuji.
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