Champion athlete Youssef Rochdi only set foot in Abu Dhabi to walk down the aisle – but his passion for running has made him go the distance.
The super-fit American, a winner of a host of international titles, moved to the capital in 2016 to marry his partner, who lived in the emirate.
He intended to switch back to the US soon after, but quickly felt at home in the UAE.
Something was missing, however, as he explored the city and found a distinct lack of "running vibes".
He discovered the Zayed Sports City running track, where he ran alone for two weeks.
“There was no one there, just a few people on the football pitch,” said Rochdi, 37.
“This made me sad back then, how people do not run in this city. So I had an idea to develop and promote training in the community.
“I started making small announcements on my Facebook page: 'I am running at this time in this place who wants to join me?'”
He soon found many willing to follow in his footsteps as a one-man band steadily grew.
As more people joined the ranks, Rochdi received support from community and sporting groups that helped him to organise runs and training sessions.
Spurred on by the backing, he founded Abu Dhabi Running Team.
The club now boasts 2,000 members and is the official training group for the Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon.
On any given weekday, Rochdi is joined by dozens of residents – adults, teens and children – for free training sessions that start with warm-up laps, stretches and interval runs.
Runners divide themselves into groups based on skill levels, so they can complete sessions at a comfortable speed.
Every Friday morning the team also goes out from the start of dawn to run long distances that range between 10 kilometres and a half marathon.
Rochdi likes to take a scenic route – often gliding past the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque on to the Arabian Gulf track leading to Al Hudayriat Island, or along the Abu Dhabi Corniche – to attract more enthusiasts to join in.
“The Abu Dhabi Running Team has helped a lot of people in the community, including heavy smokers and obese people who could barely run two kilometres when they started, and now they are running half marathons,” he said.
Running transforms lives
One of those members is Rania Abbas, a mother of three, who has set her sights on running the full distance of 42km at the upcoming Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon in November.
It is a far cry from when she first laced up her running boots.
"I was a heavy smoker and I did not have a healthy lifestyle," said the Egyptian, who works for the Singaporean ambassador to the UAE.
“But since I started running I adopted a different lifestyle.”
Her first motivation was to run 10km at the Adnoc Marathon in 2019.
“I heard about the Abu Dhabi Running Team through social media. I could not finish 400 metres during my first training with them.
“But Coach Youssef believed in me and told me I could do more, so I kept pushing myself and learning from the team.”
Ms Abbas, 42, managed to run the 10km distance in 2019.
“I was amazed by the result. It was the first 10km run in my whole life.”
Since then she has participated in 25 races of different distances, and quit smoking,
"I had been smoking since I was 22, but when I started to achieve in running, I did not want anything to tamper with my performance."
Chef finds ingredients for a healthier life
Another success story is Imad Al Shaar, a chef from Syria.
Since tasting the food that he prepares is part of his job, the 33-year-old found it tough not to pile on weight.
“But when I joined the running group eight months go, I started to see a change in my body and my life.
"In eight months, I lost more than 11 kilograms."
A long and winding journey to fulfilment
Rochdi knows only too well the value of having a mentor when pursuing sporting goals.
He embarked on his own path to success in his early teens in his home city of Casablanca.
He was 15 when he took part in first “serious run", a 6km cross country qualifications race for a national championship.
“I won third place in the qualifications, and I was nominated to represent my school at the championship," he said.
However, when it came to the big championship race, he “did not do well”.
“So I was disappointed and I quit running and stuck to kickboxing – until I broke my nose," he said.
His brother was a running champion at the time, so he decided to go to him for guidance.
“There is a five-year age gap between us, and he was very serious about running, so he gave me tips and I started to focus more on the sport.”
In 2000, he qualified to represent Morocco in the World Schools Cross Country Championship in Boston.
“After that I entered a lot of competitions in the US and enrolling in runs every weekend; so we had the chance to shine," he said.
“First I was just competing for my club, Westchester Road Runner, until I got the US citizenship in 2007 and started presenting New Jersey in state competitions.”
Personal achievement now takes a back seat to watching others achieve their ambitions as Abu Dhabi Running Team continues to pick up pace.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Results
Stage 5:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Jumbo-Visma 04:19:08
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:03
3. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Sergio Higuita (COL) EF Education-Nippo 00:00:05
5. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:06
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 17:09:26
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:45
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:01:12
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:01:54
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo 00:01:56
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
MATCH INFO
Austria 2
Hinteregger (53'), Schopf (69')
Germany 1
Ozil (11')
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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