At age the of 40, Steve Mallia weighed 110 kilograms and was told by his doctor that his life would be at risk if he did not improve his health.
Now 54, the Bendigo man has turned his life around by completing all six of the world's major marathons.
He has just received his Six Star Finisher medallion, which is given to athletes who complete the Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, and Tokyo marathons.
"If you said to me, 14 years ago, 'You'd be completing the world majors,' I would have laughed at you," Mallia said.
"I couldn't even run 10 meters, let alone running 42.2 kilometres!"
He completed the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.
"It was such an emotional relief to finish," he said.
"About 500 meters from the finish line, I got my phone out and put the whole family on FaceTime so they could sort of run through the finish line with me.
"We were meant to all go to Tokyo in 2019, but COVID changed those plans."
'How do you do it?'
Mallia completed his first major race, the Melbourne Half-Marathon at age 44.
He had discovered his love of running four years earlier, quite by chance, during a walk his late father-in-law.
"We were walking around a lake and my dog, a husky, got off her lead and started swimming to the other side, so I ran after her," Mallia said..
"My father-in-law started timing me and when I got back he goes, 'You ran that lap in pretty good time — you should take up running Steve.'
"So I started jogging and really enjoyed it. And of the majors, it started with the New York Marathon, at my wife's encouragement, in 2014."
Mallia now volunteers his time to inspire other aspiring runners through a running club at his gym.
"People say to me, 'How do you do it? I can't even run 5km.' And I say, well, you just run — look for that tree and run to that tree.
"You just take small steps."
Paradigm shift
Mallia said he made some important changes when he took up running.
"My wife, Caroline helped me change my diet," he said.
"It was just a bit of self-discipline, not buying junk food.
"I was one not to have breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And having a good lunch instead of having a meat pie, having something healthy, as well as a bit of fruit."
Mallia and his wife are taking a well-deserved break in Cairns before he starts training for the World's Highest Marathon.
"Hopefully next May I get to do a marathon at Mount Everest," he said.
"That's my next personal goal."
