A running challenge around the UAE
Rene Croisier, Organiser of the Pan Emirates Run 2004 shares his views on the ‘Run’ and Thuraya
Thuraya gave us the confidence
“During the run, we would reach some places in the middle of nowhere and our GSM mobile phones would stop working without any warning. It used to be a few moments of panic and then we would realize that we could use our Thuraya satellite phone. 
Communication was critical as it was a running relay. We needed to ensure that the next runner would be ready at the next change over. Most importantly, as we ran in very remote areas and deserts, it was critical that we communicated with each other throughout our race. Thuraya gave us that confidence of safety. The team knew that we could always keep in touch with each other with Thuraya.
Another thing about the Thuraya phone was that it is not concerned with crossing borders. While we were running in some areas of Oman, the normal GSM mobile phone would stop working but the Thuraya satellite phone would automatically switch to Thuraya Oman. It was fantastic!
The GPS facility in the Thuraya phone was a bonus for us. The service proved to be highly useful in our run.
I wish to thank Thuraya for their support in our event. It was reassuring to know that when our normal mobile phones would stop working, I could use my Thuraya satellite phone”.
The Pan Emirates Run 2004
The Pan Emirates Run 2004 took place during 4-9 December 2004, in the UAE. A twelve-member relay team ran without interruption around the United Arab Emirates, covering all of its seven emirates.
The twelve member team finally reached the finishing line at the Abu Dhabi Intercontinental Hotel on Thursday 9 th December at 9:00pm.The Pan Emirates Run 2004 was 1150 km and it took the runners 128 hours 56 minutes to complete it.
Each member of the 12 running team ran a 5km section passing the baton to the next runner and so on until the 12 th runner passed on the baton to the first runner. The run went on days and nights. During nights, the runners ran a 10km section.
The objective of the Pan Emirates Run 2004 was to promote the ‘Beauty of the Emirates’ as well as a ‘Healthy Life style’ through sport and general physical exercise.
The truly international team comprised 12 runners from 10 different nationalities that included Rene Croisier (France), Marc Ehler (Germany), Mohamed Habashi (Egypt), Peter Thornback(Canada), Virginia Bird (Great Britain), Mark Fourie (South Africa), Bernard Warren (America), Linda Betz (America), David Bunting (New Zealand), Cheahyun You (Korea) Ronell Ricafrente (Philipine) and Andrew Gregory (Great Britain).