You Can Be Extraordinary if You Don't Underestimate Yourself.
In today’s LEGEND LIFE STORY interview I will be sharing my interview with ultra distance athlete and adventurer Ray Zahab who is a 52 year old Canadian based in Quebec and a father of 2 girls. He has completed over 15 ultra distance running expeditions in some of the most remote and unforgiving places in the world.
He shares how in his early 30’s he reached a point in his life he felt very unfilled and unhappy with his life. He was very unhealthy, smoked a pack a day and drank to much when he decided to emulate his brother an avid sportsman in the hope that he would find some inspiration for his life. It was this decision that saw him change direction in his life, giving up smoking and starting to try all kinds of adventure sports including mountain bike racing and ice climbing.
However the real shift occurred when upon reading about the Yukon Arctic Ultra 100 mile race and the people who raced it he decided to enter it so that he could learn what the extraordinary people who ran this kind of race learned about themselves. Competing in the race he eventually went on to win it and taught him that he should never underestimate himself physically, mentally or emotionally. It is this race that set him of on his ultra running career with running becoming his greatest teacher. It to this day continuing to teach him both, about himself and everything else in his life.
Since this first race he has run a total of over 14,000 km across some of the world’s harshest deserts including the Atacama, Gobi, Namibian and Patagonian deserts. He ran 7500km and 111 days across the Sahara to raise awareness about the water shortage. He has a world speed record for an unsupported trekking expedition to the South Pole. He has also trekked 650km unsupported across the Canadian arctic.
Ray constantly pushes himself in these remote and harsh locations to discover what he is capable of and to discover his full potential whilst proving to others that you should never underestimate yourself. To prove that everyone can be extraordinary if we are willing to redefine what we are capable of and pursue our passions.
He is also the founder of the non-profit Impossible2Possible which uses adventure based education programs to inspire kids to reach beyond their perceived limits.
Now in his 50’s Ray says “the magic years are the 50’s”. He says it is when you can really reap the awards of all what you have gained in experience, knowledge and endurance over all the years.
You can learn more about Ray by going to instagram @rayzahab and facebook @ray.zahab . You can also find out more about his non-profit Impossible 2 Possible by going to http://impossible2possible.com/.
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