Cesar Guarin has run farther than any Filipino, literally.

He is 57 years old and has been running for nearly three decades.

It all started in 1978 when a young Cesar, then studying at the University of the Philippines, holding an ambition to become the first Filipino Olympic marathon gold medalist.

The fine arts graduate put most of his time and resources to become an ultramarathon runner.

Now he is running around the world to raises funds for Batang Pangarap, a sports programme for local street children in the Philippines.

“At this time in my life I have a simple goal: To keep on running as long as I last! My inspiration has been to complete this Global Run ”

Guarin is now all set to arrive in the Middle East for the Stage 7 — The Middle East Run — which he will cover from April to May. “I feel I was born to be a runner,” he told XPRESS in an interview. “I have had a taste of being a marathoner, an ultra-marathoner and now I am fascinated with the opportunity to become one of the few ‘global’ runners.

“As for me, running around the world is a beautiful challenge. It’s more of a gift of life that I want to claim and pursue to the end. It has become a tribute run for my countrymen who are called the Global Filipinos, as well as to all the people who believe in their dreams,” he added.

Guarin’s stint in the Middle East begins on April 9 starting from Bahrain and covers Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman before he arrives in the UAE for a 325km-run of the total 1,253km.

“I have been earnestly looking forward to doing the Middle East Run. It has been my dream to go to countries in the Middle East where Filipino communities are working hard to earn a good living,” said Guarin, who along with his team Joon Malicse and Lester Fernandez are making their first visit to the UAE. 

His stop at the end of each leg culminates with a gathering of Filipinos. “There are four million Filipinos across the Middle East. I look forward to connecting with as many as my team can manage to do in each country. I would like to meet them and say thanks for the hard work they are doing to help their families back home. It’s also a big help to our country with the money they collectively send,” said Guarin.

Guarin is determined to finish his 43, 258 - kilometer solo run in 42 countries across the world to promote mutual tourism interests between Philippines and countries where he will have his global run stages.

This one-of-a-kind ultramarathon has been partitioned into 15 stages, with stage typically requiring him to run 45 - 60 kilometers a day, for each of the 30 - 80 days per stage. Once finished, he would cover a total running distance of 43,258 kilometers in 42 countries and 865 running days.

“Along the way you get to discover which other goals you want to achieve. I just hope whatever running I am doing now and will be doing in future will make a lot of sense to people,” said Guarin, who is married with four children.

After the Middle East state, Guaring will embark on the USA-Canada- Alaska run which is expected to be completed in 74 days over 3.134 km.