Dr Khaled Al Suwaidi, executive director of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, will run 2,070-km from Shaikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi to Mecca in Saudi Arabia on February 1. The 38-day trip will see him run about 55-km a day and follows the non-stop 327-km run he did last year from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi in three days and eight hours. Daily headlines from the UAE and around the world brought to you by Gulf News. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/videos
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00So in 2015, I was 130 kilograms. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.
00:05I realized at that moment that I needed to make drastic changes.
00:11I was minus three, 32 years old.
00:16And I was academically gifted. I got my doctorate.
00:21I found food as an excuse to eat whenever I want.
00:27You know, food's more accessible nowadays than it's ever been before.
00:32All types of different food as well.
00:34Being abroad as well, away from my family, studying,
00:38you know, I had this ability to eat whenever I wanted.
00:40The fridge was always there in front of me.
00:43And I knew I had a problem, but I wasn't willing to solve it.
00:46I feel like some people that face this road to diabetes and obesity
00:51are in denial sometimes.
00:54And they don't want to accept that drastic changes need to happen as soon as possible.
00:58And I had to wait the last second, obviously, to make these drastic changes.
01:03It was a slow, very composed process.
01:07It took three years.
01:08I never went to go see a doctor.
01:10I never went to see a nutritionist.
01:12I never had a coach.
01:14In fact, I created my own food program over 20 times
01:20until I realized that I should cut out meat and chicken, which I have for two years,
01:24until I realized that I should be eating more plant-based, 90% raw food.
01:28And until the day we speak today, I'm still learning about food.
01:31This is the most important thing I want to share is I'm a runner.
01:35I'm running 2,070 kilometers from Abu Dhabi to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, February 1st.
01:39I'm the first person to run from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi nonstop,
01:42which means I only slept for one hour in 15-minute intervals.
01:45I've run the distance from Dubai to Washington, D.C. in 2018, 10,450 kilometers.
01:52I've run it.
01:52I haven't run to D.C. because there's a sea,
01:54but I run the distance from Dubai to Washington, D.C.
01:57I only started running November 2017.
02:01So I was not a runner, but I hated running before.
02:04But I was trying to explain to the crowd that we have to get out of our comfort zones
02:10and we have to suffer a little bit to learn a lot about ourselves.
02:13And we won't learn anything about ourselves in our comfort zones.
02:17So, you know, whether it's learning a new language or whether it's,
02:21you know, learning how to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable,
02:24you'll learn a lot about yourself.
02:26And another thing I really want to share is before I take off is
02:30in preparation in anything we do in life is the most important thing.
02:33The end result is a celebration.
02:35I am prepared to run this distance in 10 days.
02:40When I reach Mecca, I will feel very satisfied.
02:44As a Muslim, reaching Mecca on my foot is something I can't compare.
02:48I get goosebumps thinking about it.
02:50But I'm very prepared to reach Mecca.
02:52So there's not going to be any, what do you say?
02:56There won't be any secrets.
02:58Or I felt everything.
02:59I felt the pain.
03:00I felt the suffering.
03:01I've been in difficult situations.
03:03I've run in different terrains.
03:05So this is my celebration.
03:06By the way, I'm flat footed on both feet.
03:08So you're not meant to be running when you're flat footed.
03:11I've seen a doctor eight months after I started running,
03:13and I have curves on my feet now.
03:15So I reversed my flat footedness as well, if you want to talk about it.
03:19I'm no longer diabetic.
03:22If you told me three years ago, I'd be speaking in the health forum.
03:25I tell you, you're crazy.
03:26All right.
03:27But this is the life we live in.
03:28You know, we live in a life where change can happen.
03:32I would definitely share my experience and tell people
03:36sometimes it's important to listen to others,
03:39but others will not understand what you're going through.
03:42It's a journey.
03:43What I've been through in three years is a journey that I shared in my book,
03:48which is coming out in English very soon, called The Secret Is There Is No Secret.
03:51But there will be a lot of naysayers telling you that what you're doing is insane
03:57or what you're doing is wrong.
03:58But it's really important to share your message with your community,
04:02wherever you are in the world.
04:03We live in a very safe and great country with great leadership that provide us everything.
04:08And His Excellency Saeed Harab just showed us the facilities available in Dubai, just Dubai,
04:15for people to go out and do whatever they want, whether it's walk or get on a bicycle.
04:20So it's very hard to find an excuse unless,
04:24you know, you're diagnosed from an early age with a severe case of obesity.
04:28It's very hard to say, I can't do it.
04:30I mean, my son, when he grows older and he tells me he's lazy,
04:35there's not a road on this country I haven't put my foot on.
04:38I've run on every highway you can think of.
04:41I've run in every street, every corner.
04:42So it's just trying to show a message that anything's possible.
04:46It has to be through hard work and determination
04:49and the will to always create bigger and better goals.
04:53I mean, this is life, right?
04:55Creating goals and achieving them.