Barwa Bank is supporting Ziyad Rahim, its head of market risk, as he attempts to make it to the Guinness World Records by completing the Marathon Grand Slam in the fastest time.
The Grand Slam entails completing a marathon on all seven continents of the world and the North Pole. While the current record is 324 days, Ziyad plans to complete the Grand Slam in only 44 days.
Last year, Rahim became the first Qatari resident to complete a marathon on all seven continents.
In 2012, he also completed the 250km Marathon Des Sables, considered the toughest footrace on Earth, while raising awareness for the Noma disease in West Africa.
The world record attempt will begin in Antarctica on February 25 and conclude at the Geographic North Pole on April 9.
In between, Rahim will participate in Punta Arenas Marathon in Chile on February 28, Cyprus Marathon on March 10, Los Angeles Marathon on March 17, Auckland Marathon on March 23, Cape Town Marathon on March 30 and Dead Sea Marathon on April 5.
As part of his quest, Rahim will raise awareness for Care Pakistan, a not-for-profit organisation that provides free education to the poor in Pakistan.
Rahim admits that running eight marathons in less than eight weeks will be a tough task, with travelling and jet lag likely to be the biggest challenges for him. Due to work and family commitments, most of his journeys will be over the weekend.
“The flying time, including transits over the eight-week period, will be between 300 and 330 hours. My trips to Los Angeles, Auckland, Cape Town and Cyprus are during the weekend. So, I will fly for 20 hours, run a marathon and immediately fly another 20 hours to get back to the office,” he said.
The other challenge facing the long-distance runner is the constant variation in temperatures. Some of his races will take place in 30 degrees Celsius while temperatures in Antarctica and the North Pole can drop to -50 degrees. The North Pole marathon is the only marathon that is not run on land but on the frozen Arctic Ocean in extreme temperatures.
Steve Troop, CEO of Barwa Bank Group, said: “We are all inspired by Ziyad and wish him all the very best in realising an achievement that very few can even hope to attempt. Ziyad is a truly outstanding athlete and his personal motivation, dedication and commitment to being the very best are the values that we, as a young organisation, aspire to have at a corporate level. Barwa Bank encourages all our employees to take part in exercise. We are launching a staff fitness programme to help promote a healthy lifestyle.”
