How to lose weight – exercise or drugs? Running is businessman’s choice, and he loses 22kg and gains a passion for marathons
- A doctor’s assessment that 102kg businessman Darshan Parekh had high blood pressure and cholesterol led him to start running – now he trains six times a week
- With the help of a coach, Hong Kong-based Parekh has competed in marathons and triathlons while keeping injury-free, healthy and passionate about running
Medication or exercise – which would you choose? Darshan Parekh was given these options when he was diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol during a routine medical examination in 2009.
The Indian-born, Hong Kong-based businessman, just shy of his 40th birthday at the time, chose to get active.
He took up running – something he had never done before – and the results have been remarkable. Parekh, who at time weighed 102 kilograms (225 pounds), shed 22kg in two years and has kept the weight off since.
He developed a passion for long-distance running, and has competed in more than 30 marathons and ultra-marathons in the past 13 years.
His running repertoire includes five of the world’s six major marathons – the Chicago, Berlin, London, Tokyo and New York marathons. He has run the Hong Kong Marathon 10 times, the Mumbai Marathon nine times, completed the 89km (55 mile) Comrades Marathon in South Africa and has run the 56km Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town twice.