DUBAI // A unique group of athletes will come to Dubai next month to run a marathon as part of a gruelling around-the-world race.
The emirate is the second-to-last stop in the World Marathon Challenge, a competition where participants must run seven marathons on seven continents within seven days.
The race will begin on January 23 in Antarctica and will make consecutive stops in Chile, Miami, Madrid, Marrakech and Dubai before the finale in Sydney on January 29.
“The UAE and Dubai is a perfect location for a number of reasons,” said race director Richard Donovan. “It is part of the continent of Asia, it is a hub in terms of travel logistics, making it easy to find suitable flights to make the World Marathon Challenge work. It is almost equidistant between Africa and Australia, the final continent (and) the scenery and weather is quite beautiful.”
Mr Donovan, who launched the race last year, said the runners would follow a simple course along Dubai’s roads and footpaths.
“Time is a very precious resource in this challenge,” he said. “There is no point in adding to the challenge by travelling to a desert or making the course more difficult.”
Becca Pizzi is among the 15 racers who will attempt to run 295 kilometres in seven days – including 59 hours in a chartered plane flying about 38,000km.
The 35-year-old mother and day-care worker is vying to be the first American woman to complete the challenge.
“I feel like I was born to run this race,” said Ms Pizzi, who started running with her father when she was six.
She has been training almost every day for the past year, combining early morning runs with evening strength training.
“I train 30 hours a week,” said Ms Pizzi, who runs 120km to 160km a week.
“I’m trying to run on tired legs, so when I get to the third and the fourth and the fifth marathons I know how to run tired. But there’s a fine line. Doing that, you really have to take care of your body.”
Ms Pizzi said she ensured her fitness schedule does not interfere with her work – in addition to owning a day care centre, she manages an ice-cream shop – or cut into the time she can spend with her eight-year-old daughter, Taylor.
“I don’t want to take away from my work. I don’t want it to take away from my daughter, so I’m working out before she goes to bed or after she goes to bed,” said Ms Pizzi, who lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
She has completed 45 marathons in 27 American states in her bid to join the 50 States Marathon Club.
To qualify for the World Marathon Challenge, participants must be able to run the standard 42.2km marathon distance in all seven continents within seven days, according to the rules. The race is limited to 15 participants on a first-come, first-served basis.
“What I get out of it is getting to inspire so many people. When somebody calls me and says that they started running again or they are signing up for their first marathon or their half marathon, I feel like I’ve done my job,” said Ms Pizzi.
“I’m running to inspire and to tell the world that anything that you put your mind to, it’s possible.”
For more information, visit www.worldmarathonchallenge.com.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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