Guest column: Endurance athlete Lee Ryan on turning adversity into motivation

In January, Ryan plans to run seven marathons in seven days across the seven emirates of the UAE to raise money for charity and inspire people in the UAE to stay fit and healthy.

Lee Ryan is a Dubai-based personal trainer, marathon runner and holder of three Guinness World Records. Courtesy Adidas

I am an endurance athlete and next month I’ll run seven marathons in seven days across the seven emirates of the UAE. Motivation is a big part of what I do.

I’m a personal trainer and I love my job. Seeing the difference that healthy living can make to a person’s life is hugely inspiring. Whether I’m talking to a taxi driver about what he eats and how to stretch, or a chief executive about how to find time to look after his body, everyone starts from the same place. It’s a journey for me to see their mindset and their passion change; to see the doubts they used to have disappear and their confidence grow.

A lot of things motivate me. I want to achieve something. I have a family now and I want to leave a legacy for them to be proud of. I hope my influence will show them and others how that they can overcome any challenge by breaking it down, making a plan and never giving up until you have achieved what you set out to. Sometimes you need to do something a bit crazy for people to notice you. I want to inspire people by doing something that’s bigger than me.

It’s not just the positive things in my life that keep me going. Since training for the seven-marathon challenge, I have tried to turn adversity into motivation. I lost my son two years ago. He’s in my mind a lot and he’s that drive when things get hard, when I don’t want to get up in the morning and it’s dark outside and I’d rather stay in bed. He wakes me up and gets me going. Just last month I lost my mother after a two-year battle with cancer. She didn’t have a choice in the battle she went through, so I put myself through these endurance challenges and I hope that her memory will live on in whatever I succeed in. I think to myself “you’ve signed up for this, you’ve got no reason to stop”. She had no choice.

Training and enjoying the great outdoors has been a helpful outlet for me. I’ll go for a run and I’ll try to exert my energy and emotions through that channel. It allows me to find my own motivation and think deeply about things. Hopefully, the inspiration of going through life’s traumas and still wanting to be the best that I can be will inspire other people to do the same.

Now more than ever, the main reason I put myself through these endurance challenges is to raise funds, the majority of the time for cancer awareness. In January, I set a new Guinness World Record for the most number of burpees completed in 24 hours. Before I decided on the UAE marathon challenge that I’m doing next year, I considered taking on the World Marathon Challenge – seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. It would have been a fantastic way to see the world, but it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to take part and I thought, “why would I raise all this money to take part instead of raising the money for charity?”

A good friend of mine came up with the idea of doing a similar challenge here, in the place we call home, so we can inspire people in the UAE to stay fit and healthy.

My first marathon is on January 16 in Abu Dhabi, and it all finishes at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on January 22. I’m lucky to have the support of my family and friends and sponsors such as Adidas.

Having my son and my mother at heart and the sounds of my family cheering me on those final few kilometres will be motivation enough for me.

To support his UAE marathon challenge, follow him on Instagram at @LeeMRyan and Twitter @LeeRyanPTDXB

Lee Ryan is a Dubai-based personal trainer, marathon runner and holder of three Guinness World Records.