DUBAI // After 25 years serving in the British army in some of the world’s most fractious combat zones, you would have thought retired colonel David Radford-Wilson would want to put his feet up to mark his 50th birthday.
Instead, the landmark, on Wednesday, was celebrated with a gruelling midnight run near his Arabian Ranches home in preparation for one of the world’s most infamous races – the 256-kilometre Marathon Des Sables in Morocco.
The multi-stage challenge takes place in the Sahara desert.
The former soldier is taking it on in the hope of raising more than Dh77,000 for a British charity that helps wounded servicemen and women return to civilian life.
“I injured my back falling down a drainage ditch on patrol during a tour in Afghanistan in 2008, and the doctors said I should not consider running again,” said the father of three.
“I hadn’t done much running up until considering this event last year.
“Ten years ago, I was deputy leader of the British Army Everest expedition. Now I’m 50, I wanted to do something similar.
“My friends of the same age were celebrating with parties or nice holidays. I wanted to do something slightly more useful.
“Once we moved to Dubai a friend reminded me I was in the perfect place to prepare for this kind of race.”
Although his soldiering days are behind him, Col Radford-Wilson wanted to retain a link to his life in uniform and to contribute to the welfare of veterans by raising money for Walking with the Wounded, a charity endorsed by Prince Harry.
The charity was established in 2010 and raises funds for the re-education and retraining of servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty.
Col Radford-Wilson, who now works for Aecom in its Middle East management services department in Dubai, is looking forward to his six-day desert race in April.
“When I first decided to do this it was the end of last summer,” he said. “It was still very hot, so running was soul destroying. I knew I had a very long way to go to prepare. By the time we run in early April, it will be like a full-on Dubai summer day with sandstorms and intense heat.
“We carry all our own food and sleeping bag.
“Every time you finish a stage there are temporary shelters with water.”
His training schedule involves running about 80 kilometres a week. Although he wants to be in the best physical condition possible, and to complete the race in a respectable time, Col Radford-Wilson said he would be happy just to be fit enough to survive it.
“I’m hoping it will be more mind over matter,” he said.
For more information, and to donate, log onto virginmoneygiving.com/DaveRadfordWilson
nwebster@thenational.ae
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
