Dubai explorer begins 150 km journey for charity

The Italian, who calls himself “the son of the desert” will begin the 24-hour plus journey on Thursday running along on the hard shoulder of the country’s busiest road to raise money for the Al Jalila Foundation, a charitable foundation for children focusing on medical education and research.

Max Calderan at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi before the start of his 150-km run. Delores Johnson / The National

DUBAI // The drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai can seem a daunting task for some, so you can just imagine what they would make of the idea of making the 150-kilometre journey on foot. Oh, and doing it while fasting.

But for Italian Max Calderan, who calls himself “the son of the desert”, it is an opportunity not to be missed – even in the midday sun and temperatures of 45°C and higher.

He began the 24-hour-plus journey on Thursday night, running along on the hard shoulder of the country’s busiest road, to raise money for the Al Jalila Foundation, a children’s charity that carries out medical education and research.

The starting point was at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, after iftar, and the destination is midnight at Dubai’s Jumeirah mosque on Friday night.

Having gone days without food or sleep while crossing some of the most barren desert terrains on Earth, Calderan was confident this trip would be one of his easiest feats. In fact, not having to face the wilderness made for a change.

“There’s no question with this as to whether I will survive or not,” said Calderan, who is being tailed by a support vehicle.

“We thought to go to the ­desert but decided mosque to mosque would be better ­because it’s Ramadan.”

The Italian converted to Islam 12 years ago. “Ramadan is a big opportunity to understand how lucky we are,” he said.

“We never think about what’s important for other people ­until we arrive at the stage of deprivation.

“So once we start to be in a state of deprivation, at least without food or water, it’s the only period where we can ­understand what it means for people like those escaping ­Syria. We have almost one month to think about it.”

The Al Jalila Foundation is a cause close to his heart.

“Linking with children is the best because they are the future,” said the father of three.

“They are the small tree growing up and we need to feed these trees with the best water so they grow up in the best way.”

Off-roading expert Albert Pereira is leading the support team. Having traversed the Tropic of Cancer on Calderan’s recent desert adventure, he said conditions for this journey were very different.

“It’s just the traffic we are concerned about,” he said.

“We have to make sure he’s right off the road.”