Dubai’s Michael Logue plans to run across all six GCC countries in 20 days

Not content with breaking a Guinness World Records title in February 2026, Dubai endurance athlete Michael Logue will again push himself to his limits – this time with a 1,700km run across all six GCC countries. Starting on 1 February 2027, Logue aims to complete the challenge, named Project GCC, in under 20 days. The former Royal Marine will begin his odyssey in Kuwait before running through Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, finishing at the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. Logue, 33, attracted regional attention earlier this year when he set the record for the fastest crossing of the UAE on foot. The founder of Athlete Fitness in Al Quoz ran and walked 630km across the seven emirates to the Saudi Arabia border in five days, eight hours and 11 minutes. That’s close to three marathons a day for five days in a row – and the record came at a huge mental and physical cost. “I got sunstroke on the first day and started vomiting at the end of day one,” Logue told What’s On with a rueful smile and a shake of the head. “I was in so much pain, crying my eyes out. Two days after I finished, I ended up in hospital with cellulitis” – a bacterial skin infection. Reflecting on the run, Logue points to just 10 weeks of training and unseasonably hot weather as the factors that held him back. “I don’t remember a lot of it, to be honest,” he adds. “It was just a case of putting one foot in front of the other and taking it one step at a time.” To hit his target, Logue will need to average more than 85km a day – roughly two marathons – for almost three weeks straight. He’s under no illusions about what lies ahead. “It’s about how much pain you can physically put yourself in and how long can you hold out,” says Logue. “It’s two marathons per day and it’ll be extremely hard, but I think I’ll do it.”