It’s a bit ironic that for much of his life Hideki Kinoshita hated running. The Leonia resident never spent much time pounding the pavement or on the track until the fall of 2007 when he decided running would be a great way to get in shape.

Not even Kinoshita could have imagined the shape he would be in now, though, some 26 months later. He’s transformed himself into a first-class athlete and in the process has done something even more remarkable – he’s become a standard bearer in the fight against pancreatic cancer.

Kinoshita has become North Jersey’s marathon man, running 28 of them since September 2008. He’s ran 14 marathons in a 13-week stretch this past fall and will be running in the Orlando Half-Marathon on January 9 and the full marathon on January 10, all in an effort to help raise awareness and money to fight pancreatic cancer.

His goal was to reach $10K in donations and he’s already exceeded that total, raising $10,390. Kinoshita is still accepting donations, which can be made through his website www.firstgiving.com/kino555. You can also track his progress, check out his best times and get a real feel for what this remarkable 30-year-old has accomplished.

“Before I started running, I think the most I had ever run was a 5K,” Kinoshita said. “I played soccer, basketball and baseball in high school and I hated running. But I wanted to get in shape and one of my co-workers was running in the 2007 New York City marathon. So I went to cheer him on and I was inspired. I ran my first marathon in Yonkers in September of 2008 and I was hooked.”

Running, however, took on a different meaning for Kinoshita in January of 2009. He and his girlfriend, Deborah Hsieh, watched as her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, eventually succumbing to the disease in August. Kinoshita, who also had an uncle die from the disease in 2003, decided that he could raise money to help fight the dreaded disease by running more.

He started by organizing the River to the Sea Relay in August, an event where a seven-person team ran a 92-mile relay from the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean at the beach in Manasquan. That race raised more than $26,000. Donations are still being accepted for this event at http://www.firstgiving.com/pancan_r2c.

Kinoshita also read Dean Karnaze’s bestseller “50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons In 50 Days”. It, too, inspired him.

“Initially I was planning to do five states in five weeks,” Kinoshita, an engineering consultant who also volunteers for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. “As I was running those, though, I realized my body could handle it and it became easier and easier and it grew to 14 weeks.”

Kinoshita said he would run more but the financial burden is too great. He pays his own way to all of the races in which he runs. He jokes that sponsorships are usually given to people that “run really fast, under three hours”. His best time was 3:56:07 in the New York City Marathon last November.

“A lot of runners will raise money for various causes that they want addressed,” said Kinoshita, who added he will try to run at least one marathon a month. “People will donate because they see you taking up a physical challenge. They see the months of training and effort it takes.”

Kinoshita is planning to run marathons in Houston [January 17], Tokyo [February 28], Los Angeles [March 21], Bug Sur [April 25], New Jersey [May 2], Pocono Run For The Red [May 16] and finally in the Jemez Mountain Trail Ultra 50-Mile Run [May 22]. Supporters and friends can also follow his progress through his Facebook page as well.