Two Dubai adventurers aim to complete seven marathons on seven continents within seven days, in one of the world’s toughest endurance running challenges.
Britons James Elliot-Square and Paris Norriss will take on the World Marathon Challenge that involves back-to-back 42.2km runs in January.
The pair will experience a world of extremes, setting off from Antarctica where the temperature is expected to be -25C across a course of ice and snow, before jumping on a chartered plane to South Africa where sunshine could see the mercury rise to 30C.
To set foot on Antarctica is one thing, but to run a marathon there? Not many people can say they've done that
James Elliot-Square
From Cape Town, both will then try to catch up on sleep, food and hydration in the air as they fly to Perth, Western Australia. The fourth leg will see them jet off to their home city of Dubai, before running more marathons in Madrid, Fortaleza in Brazil, and ending in Miami. They will leave an expensive carbon footprint behind from their almost 300km global challenge, but they hope to raise $200,000 to support children’s charities in the UAE and Hong Kong.
“James came up with this crazy idea to run a marathon in every continent on the planet in a week, so seven marathons, seven days on seven continents,” said Mr Norriss, 39, who runs a production company and has form in endurance events, as part of a crew that rowed the Pacific Ocean in 2023. “We have to do the whole thing in a week. So the biggest issue is the logistics.
“When we land, we'll have just a few hours and then we've got to get running. I'm looking to do each one in about five hours and James might get something closer to four hours per marathon. We'll have just a couple of hours to have a bit of food, refresh and then we're back on the plane where we will be trying to recover.”
Guinness World Records
The World Marathon Challenge is acknowledged by the Guinness World Records. The shortest average time per marathon recorded by a man was 2 hours 45 minutes and 57 seconds, set by American Michael Wardian. Meanwhile the fastest woman was Kristina Schou from Denmark who averaged a marathon time of 3 hours 25 minutes and 57 seconds.
Another American athlete, Kyle Vogt completed all seven in a world record of three days, nine hours and 38 minutes, while the shortest time for a woman was American Becca Pizzi who took six days, seven hours and 58 minutes. Blisters and injury pose the biggest problems for the pair of runners, who have been supplied with several pairs of running shoes each by a sponsor, Asics. The two men, friends since school, have limited marathon running experience, but have cranked up their training schedules to cover around 80km a week.
“There's only two aeroplanes that we will go on, one will be to Antarctica because that's a special type of Russian plane,” said Mr Norriss. “And from then on from Cape Town all the way around, we have a chartered plane. There'll be a few other runners from around the world with us.”
Mr Norris has had a series of adventure travel programmes featured on Emirates flights. He plans to record his experience and produce a short film for each marathon leg.
The pair aim to raise $200,000 for the Sparkle Foundation and the Sovereign Art Foundation, two charities that support underprivileged children around the world.
“The Sovereign Art Foundation in Hong Kong does workshops with kids, using art therapy to help underprivileged children,” said Mr Elliot-Square, 41. “Some have gone through trafficking, violence in the home, are orphans or under-privileged in other ways.
“We want to make a difference for charities that aren't necessarily as well known as some of the mainstream ones. I like to see the money actually getting to the end-user, rather than it being swallowed up by a lot of red tape. Sparkle is a great charity, and they do some amazing work in Africa.”
Air time
The challenge will also have a competitive team element, with the fastest combined marathon times of the top three team scorers, who finish all seven marathons, declared winners. Runners are expected to be in the air for around 68 hours during the week-long event. It will be a particular challenge for Mr Elliot-Square who manages a permanent foot injury.
“I had a rugby accident when I was 21 and severed nerves and ligaments in my left leg,” said Mr Elliot-Square, who advises businesses looking to expand in the GCC. “I still have drop foot, so when I run I have a slightly different style.
“After such long exercises, it can have a knock-on effect so I'm a little bit worried about that. My mind is strong, so I’m sure I'm going to get through this. To set foot on Antarctica is one thing, but to run a marathon there? Not many people can say they've done that.”
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• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
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AIDA%20RETURNS
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- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
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- Better
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Encore:
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
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After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
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It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
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Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
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- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
