… I just thought I would write this because it’s a good story to share with you.
If you don’t know who Ray Zahab is… you should. He is one of the best ultra-runners of all time. Period. And he’s Canadian, from Ottawa actually. But that’s only the half of it. Read the rest of this and you’ll see why.
You could say he’s “the best” ultra runner of all time, but that gets into a debate. And he is so far off the beaten track that it would be hard to measure anyway. For the really “big” ultra runners, and “marathon swimmers” the conventional runs and swims just aren’t big enough. Both in distance and in impact. So once they’ve done all the big races, they move on… and invent their own events. Dean Karnazes, Lynn Cox, Marshall Ulrich, Penny Palfrey, Lewis Pugh, Kevin Murphy (google them if you don’t know!)… and I’d like to say “the list goes on and on”… but it doesn’t. There really are only a small handful of people in the world like these people. And Ray is at the top of the list.
People think it’s pretty cool that I’ve done a few of the events that I have, like attempting the English Channel, running Marathon des Sables, swimming Lake Ontario, and a few others… and I’m proud of these accomplishments too… but that is still very much in the land of the mortals. That’s where Ray and I over-lapped… briefly. We met when I was doing one of my biggest events, Marathon des Sables (243 km race across the Sahara Desert)… and Ray had just run it too.
The difference is… this was one of the pinnacle events of my athletic career… for Ray it was where he started. He dabbled in the hardest races in the world… to start… and usually won them. Then he went off the beaten track… literally.
He wanted to do more. Not just in difficulty or distance (although that too), but he also wanted to do more “good”. So he started “Impossible 2 Possible” to educate, inspire and empower teens. And that’s a whole big deal on it’s own. Check out the website. (http://impossible2possible.com/home)
Then his first “big one” was running 7500 km across the Sahara Desert in 111 days. Ponder that for a moment. And watch the movie… “Running the Sahara”, it was narrated by Matt Damon and won all kinds of awards. www.runningthesahara.com
The list of his athletic accomplishments goes on and on… start at the bottom of the list and read up… you’ll get the idea…
Running and Expedition Highlights
- November 2012 i2P Expedition Botswana Youth project.
- September 2012 Ray and Ferg Hawke run non-stop across Baffin Island as training for their upcoming 2,300km crossing of the Gobi Desert.
- December 2011 i2P Expedition India Youth project.
- August 2011 ran close to 240km from North park boundary to South park boundary of Death Valley, totally off road.
- May 2011 i2P Expedition Bolivia Youth project.
- January 2011 ran length of Atacama Desert, 1191km from Peruvian border to Copiapo, Chile in 20 days.
- October 2010 i2P Expedition Amazon Youth project.
- May 2010 i2P Running Tunisia Youth Expedition.
- February 2010 ran 650km in 13 days unsupported across Lake Baikal in Siberian winter.
- September 2009 i2P Expedition Baffin Youth project.
- January 2009 trekked 1200km unsupported as member of 3 man team to Geographic South Pole from Hercules Inlet, 33 days, 23 hrs., 55 min.
- May 2008 ran average 80km per day in each of Canada’s 13 Provinces and Territories, in 13 days.
- August 2007 ran 3 coastal trails of Canada (Akshayuk Pass, Baffin/East Coast Trail/West Coast Trail) back to back, in 8 days.
- November 2006 ran 7500km from Senegal to Red Sea, crossing the Sahara Desert in 111 days.
- May 2006 Gobi March, Racing the Planet, 250km 1st Place Team
- February 2006 Libyan Challenge, 190km non-stop 1st Place
- October 2005 Sahara Race, Racing the Planet, 250km 1st Place
- April 2004 and 2005 Marathon Des Sables, 243km
- November 2004 Trans 333 Niger, 333km non-stop 3rd Place
- October 2004 Jungle Marathon Amazon, 200km 8th Place Solo, 1st Place Team
- February 2004 Yukon Arctic Ultra, 160km non-stop 1st Place
Then check out his website and you can get more of the details about this amazing guy. http://rayzahab.com/rz
But all of this was just an intro… in case you don’t know Ray… now you do.
I guess the thing is, I didn’t really have a reason for posting all this, except to say and show how much I support this guy. Because on top of all those literally unfathomable accomplishments… he’s a good guy. Not in the “good guy for a celebrity” sense… no, he’s really just a nice and thoughtful guy. Not just because he’s friendly and a “do-good” kinda guy, or because he is a great motivational speaker (check out that list on his website too… pretty amazing!)… but because of what he’s like in person.
All this to say, he just called me. I talk to him once in a while. No real reason, he just called me up. Not an email or text… he just called to say “hi”. You know what it’s like when you are off to do a marathon or Ironman and there is a million things to do… well he’s off to run across the Gobi Desert in China… 2300 km. And he leaves on Monday. And he calls me out of the blue to chat. Not to ask me for anything or to tell me anything… this little trek of his just came up in passing… we were mostly talking about good adventure books (he’s written a few and is writting another and just finished a reality TV show, in his spare time… haha!). It’s Thursday… he’s leaving his family for a month and a half… to do one of the toughest runs in history… and he just calls me up to chat. Which makes it sound like we go way back… we don’t… we just kinda think the same. One of the benefits of doing all these crazy races and such is meeting guys like Ray. I love saying that I know him, because he’s an amazing athlete and great person… and love being associated with people like that. The type of guy who says “give me a call sometime”… and you don’t… but he calls you. He’s a guy that I’d like to be more like.
I wouldn’t mind running like him either.
Just thought I’d throw that out there… so if you didn’t know about Ray, now you do… and if you see any of his books, or TV show, or movies, or charities, or any of his causes… do support him. He’s a good guy and deserves support. And he’s a good buddy of mine.
Good luck in the Gobi, Ray!
Cheers,
Rob