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UAE expat runs 78km while fasting during Ramadan

Dubai - Calderan told Khaleej Times that he hopes that the event shows that anything is possible, with proper planning and mindset.

Dubai-based extreme athlete and desert explorer Max Calderan covered 78 kilometers in sweltering heat during his 15-hour Ramadan "fasting run" at Al Qudra Lakes.
The run, according to Calderan, was designed to make a statement about the limitless possibilities about the human mind and spirit, the importance of food and water and the necessity of exercise during the Holy Month of Ramadan by running and walking as many kilometers as possible in the hours between Suhoor and Iftar, all while fasting.
According to Calderan, the trek - which began at 3:56 AM and ended at 7:07 PM on Friday - was "very tough".
"The main difficulty was finding the capability to manage the increasing temperatures and distance in kilometers in relation to increasing dehydration," he explained. "It's like an algorithm, the management of the body."
Despite the difficulties and extreme heat - which hovered at approximately 50 degrees Celsius in the afternoon - Calderan said he felt reinvigorated by the end of the journey.
"I was surprised.once I arrived at the end, I was tired, but yet my body was still full of energy. It was like going through a full-body cleanse," he noted. "I wasn't as thirsty or hungry as I thought I would be. I was just having some difficulty talking because my mouth was so dry."
"The first hour was worse than the final run," he added. "When I finished the run, I drank a half liter of lemon mint without sugar. I wasn't hungry at all, and I didn't eat anything until the following day. My body told me I was okay, and my mind was working at 1,000 kilometers a minute."
During the event, four other athletes and one of their sons, a six-year old who accompanied Calderan and his father for the last kilometer, accompanied Calderan at various intervals.
Calderan told Khaleej Times that he hopes that the event - along with other similarly arduous feats of endurance he's accomplished in the past - show that anything is possible, with proper planning and mindset.
"We can really push (our) limits to unexpected places, because they don't exist, except when we don't try do something," he said. "The combination of training and fasting, done properly, is something that can boost the unknown side of our body."
"We must have a full understanding and total set-up of our bodies.we need a full understanding and total-set up of our body. Everything works better if we deeply know our starting point," he added. "But, nothing is impossible if we already feel that we can do it."
- bernd@khaleejtimes.com