Matthew Kaea a Tongan marathon runner aims to be the first Tongan to compete in the world's five major marathons, of Boston, New York, Chicago, London and Berlin.

Matthew competed in the Boston Marathon last year and completed the 44km race in three hours 12 minutes. Last month, March 7 he ran in the Napa Valley Marathon and came in at 37th place with a time of two hours 58 minutes, which qualified him to compete in the New York Marathon in November.

"Qualifying for New York and Boston was difficult because both races were very popular and to qualify one must have fast finishing times to be selected by the marathon committees," he said.

On his calendar, the Tongan runner plans to run in the London Marathon in April 2011 followed by the Chicago Marathon in October of the same year. He also aims to compete in the Berlin Marathon in 2012.

Matthew who is also a competitive triathlete said he had completed the two most difficult races and he planned to enjoy the remaining three without the stress of having to qualify.

Matthew said that his other goal is to qualify and compete in the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, which comprises a 2.2 mile swim, an 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run in Hawaii.

When not competing, Matthew works in a Management Position as a Controller for a VoIP firm Toktumi Inc., a Skype-like company for small businesses.

In between work and training, Matthew is an avid traveller.