LAHORE: Ziyad Tariq Rahim, an adventure-lover, is on the brink of creating history by becoming the first Pakistani to set foot in marathons in all seven continents of the world.

Ziyad, a banker based in Qatar, has participated in some of the toughest races in the world namely the namely Marathon Des Sables (MdS) and Antarctica Marathon earlier this year and is eyeing the marathon in New Zealand which will be held in December this year.

“After competing there, I will be the first Pakistani who will have run in marathons in all seven continents,” he told Dawn in an interview.

The 38-year-old from Lahore is the son of well-known cricket commentator Tariq Rahim and when he took part in the Antarctica Marathon in March this year before participating in the MdS the next month, Ziyad became the first person to take part in two extreme marathons in the space of a month.

“MdS is a gruelling marathon and is considered to be the toughest foot race on Earth,” Ziyad said, referring to the race which is run in the Sahara desert in Morocco.

“Participants cover 250km of the Moroccan Sahara over six stages, in temperatures averaging 50oC throughout the day.

To compound the physical challenge, the wilderness and the varied terrain of rocky mountains, mile-high sand dunes and salt flats means that the competitors have to carry everything they need to survive in the event, including all personal belongings like sleeping bag, stove, food, distress flare and an anti-venom kit for potential snake bites.

“The race tested me to my limits; both physically and mentally as we had to survive the heat in the morning and bone-chilling nights and I saw few competitors drop out through injury, exhaustion and one from cardiac arrest.

“It was by far the most intricate race I have ever participated in.”

On the challenges he faced in Antarctica, Ziyad said that he needed the same endurance levels. “I battled over 2,000 feet of elevation change during the 42km course, 90Km/h winds, snowstorms and temperatures of around minus 18-20oC,” he said.

According to Ziyad, who saw a temperature difference of 70-75oC between the two races, that has changed his outlook on life. And now he plans to raise funds for various charities in Pakistan.

“Those events have truly changed me as a person and realised how comfortable our lives are when compared to the poverty I’ve seen in Africa,” he said. “The victims of the Noma [a belt that runs in sub-Saharan countries from Senegal to Ethiopia] are mainly children under the age of six, caught in a vicious circle of extreme poverty and chronic malnutrition. Doing what I can to draw attention to their great suffering is what pushes me forward in the toughest moments.”

Ziyad told that he had prepared extensively for the two races by successfully completing marathons in Amman and Red Sea (Jordan), Beirut (Lebanon), Colombo, Reggio Emilia and Pisa (Italy) and Dubai  between October 2011 and January 2012.

“I’ve been taking part in long-distance events for over 10 years now and have so far completed over 90 long-distance races in over 20 countries and six continents,” he said.

“However, I realised that if I ever wanted to raise awareness for a noble cause, I would probably have to do something out of the ordinary to attract attention.”