Former British soldier Harry Amos plans to run across all seven emirates of the UAE in less than six days to raise money for the Ma'an social contribution fund. Photo: Harry Amos
Former British soldier Harry Amos plans to run across all seven emirates of the UAE in less than six days to raise money for the Ma'an social contribution fund. Photo: Harry Amos
Former British soldier Harry Amos plans to run across all seven emirates of the UAE in less than six days to raise money for the Ma'an social contribution fund. Photo: Harry Amos
Former British soldier Harry Amos plans to run across all seven emirates of the UAE in less than six days to raise money for the Ma'an social contribution fund. Photo: Harry Amos

Former British soldier aims to run 630km across the UAE in less than six days


Nick Webster
  • English
  • Arabic

A former British soldier who rowed across the Pacific Ocean has his sights on running across the seven emirates of the UAE in fewer than six days.

Harry Amos, 38, was part of the four-man team from Dubai that took on the challenge of rowing 4,500km from California to Hawaii two years ago. While his rowing partner Paris Norriss is preparing to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, Mr Amos is determined to keep up with his childhood friend with his running challenge.

When running is mandated it becomes a background activity, but when you leave the army it has to come from your own motivation
Harry Amos

Both men are running for charitable causes, with Mr Amos, who has lived in Dubai for nine years, hoping to raise Dh50,000 ($13,615) for the Authority of Social Contribution Ma’an to support diabetes care in the UAE. His run will begin in Fujairah and cross the country before ending at the border with Saudi Arabia, about 630km later, and is scheduled to begin at the end of January.

“What the Pacific row taught me is that there is only room for an expedition of that size every five years or so, because you have to raise so much money,” said Mr Amos, who served in Afghanistan during his army career. “To get that done, we had to raise £350,000, so I wanted to do something a little bit smaller and closer to home, but equally as difficult. This running route through seven emirates was pioneered during the pandemic by another good friend of mine, Sean Burgess.

“He trekked from the Saudi Arabia border up to the Fujairah coast in a very respectable six days and 22 hours or so. He established the Guinness World Record route, and since then two other runners have completed that distance, the fastest which was five days and 22 hours. Hopefully, I can get close to that time.”

Scientific study

The first run completed by Mr Burgess was monitored by scientists at the Mohammed bin Rashid University Of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai, to assess the physical impact of the challenge. His run included 15 shifts of eight hours of walking and running which saw his body composition change drastically. Although his weight was largely unchanged, his body fat plummeted 45 per cent from 16.7kg to 9.1kg.

Harry Amos's credentials as an adventurer include rowing across the Pacific Ocean with his crew. Photo: Harry Amos
Harry Amos's credentials as an adventurer include rowing across the Pacific Ocean with his crew. Photo: Harry Amos

Mr Amos said lessons from that experience can help him to complete his 630km journey that means he will run the equivalent of more than two marathons every day. By switching the direction of the route – with the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah taken on early in the challenge and with proper rest – he hopes to make the run slightly less gruelling.

“I think that the previous runners all made a terrible mistake and should have been starting from Fujairah,” he said. “The last day is a killer because you've got to get over about 500 metres of elevation to go over the mountains. I’ve tested the uphill leg, which is a 32km route from Fujairah beach to Masafi on top of the mountains, so I know I can complete the hardest day, fresher and without overdoing it.”

Training runs include clocking up 70km a week, but that is set to be cranked up to 100km over the next week or two before his intense routine tapers off. He plans to fuel his run with about 8,000 calories a day, with Spinneys supermarket sponsoring his run to provide fresh food each day.

Harry Amos is a former Royal Marine who has made fitness part of his personal philosophy. Photo: Harry Amos
Harry Amos is a former Royal Marine who has made fitness part of his personal philosophy. Photo: Harry Amos

“I joined the Royal Marines when I was 18, and so by nature of my career I have been physically fit, and part of that has been running,” said Mr Amos, who will be supported by his wife, two daughters and baby son, as well as a medical team from M42 and Mubadala Health Dubai.

“When running is mandated it becomes a background activity, but when you leave the army it has to come from your own motivation. It takes discipline to maintain the routine, but it is fundamentally important for my physical and mental well-being. I'm definitely not Kipchoge [a Kenyan long-distance runner] but what someone very wise once told me: if you can't go fast, you better be able to go far.”

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Hydrogen: Market potential

Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.

"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.

Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.

The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

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Scorecard

Scotland 220

K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35

UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs

C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out

ACL Elite (West) - fixtures

Monday, Sept 30

Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
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Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)

Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

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SPECS
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Updated: January 08, 2025, 10:22 AM`