We've reported months ago about a Qatar-based Ultra Endurance Running athlete whose aim is to conquer four of the most inhospitable deserts on Earth—the hottest, windiest, driest and coldest—in exchange for a basic human need: clean drinking water.
Well, for those of you who missed the said report, the athlete's name is Hichame Moubarak (a French national) and as of December 6, 2018, he has finally reached his last desert stop—none other than Antarctica's South Pole.
As part of the '4-Desert Grand Slam Challenge,' Hichame trekked through Namibia's Namib Desert (April), Mongolia's Gobi Desert (July), and Chile's Atacama Desert (September) before conquering the toughest 250KM ordeal of all four.
Dubbed as Earth's coldest, Antarctica's 'Last Desert' is remarkable for its early history of polar exploration and whaling. Here, the scenery of icebergs, mountains, research bases, and incredible wildlife are unparalleled anywhere else on the Antarctic continent.
The '4-Desert' race series is widely-recognized as the most prestigious outdoor footrace series in the world and was also once named by TIME magazine as one of the world's Top 10 Endurance Competitions.
In order to finish every 250km run, competitors traverse over rough country terrains in six days. Competitors are challenged to go beyond the limits of their physical and mental endurance and must carry all their equipment and food. They are provided only with drinking water and a place in a tent each night to rest.
Hichame's motivation in reaching every finish line is his advocacy to provide 1,000 families access to clean drinking water. He needs to raise USD$30.000 in order to do so and he needs our help. The donation can be in any amount and the kind-hearted donors will surely receive updates from Hichame's '4-Desert' journey until the time he's underway building the clean water project.
For the record, only 74 persons on Earth have successfully accomplished the feat of crossing all four record deserts in a calendar year and the 41-year-old is hoping to become a sport figure that Qatar can be proud of.
Before him, Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) Ambassador H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani became the first Qatari to reach one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface (the North Pole being the other one), where he planted the maroon and white Qatari flag to commemorate the 2014 National Day.
It can also be remembered how pioneering Qatari woman Sheikha Asma Al Thani successfully reached the North Pole earlier this year with the Qatari flag wrapped around her. She shared her victorious attempt along with an international team of women from across the Middle East and Europe.
This was the first time that the country got represented in the '4-Desert' challenge and the ILQ team is more than proud for Hichame and his new milestone wholeheartedly dedicated to Qatar!
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