Ghani Souleymane, from Togo, bids for record aims to complete 100 back-to-back triathlon challenge competitions.

While Team Maverick as the Media Partner, is occupied with one of a much noble cause, Mumbai Ultra Marathon, another news which is simultaneously drawing attention is the Dubai Marathon scheduled to be organised on the 16^th. November, 2025 at Dubai. This presentation is an endeavour in adulating all the Marathoners worldwide for their relentless pursuit of venturing beyond limits.

When athletes from all around the world assemble for the “Dubai T100 format triathlon” scheduled on 16^th. November,2025, one athlete will have his eye on setting a world record after on the last of his 100-day challenge. Dubai resident Ghani Souleymane, who is from Togo, is attempting to complete 100 full-distance T100 triathlons in 100 consecutive days, ending in Dubai on November 16^th. Souleymane, who sells running shoes in Dubai Mall, has been training through one of the hottest summers in years, when temperatures edged towards 52ºC, as if his world record bid was not hard enough. Although it hardly matters for someone who has his roots in that part of the Hot & Humid World. The correspondent by the virtue of his professional assignments had the opportunity of spending a considerable period of time in Togo.  

Each distance will include a 02 kilometres swim, followed by an 80 kilometres bike ride and concluding with an 18 kms run. Souleymane, who is 42, employed as a shoe seller in a Dubai Mall begins his challenge from Kite Beach on Friday, August 8, when he will dip into the Arabian Gulf for a swim, followed by a bike ride out towards Meydan cycle track. He then aims to complete an 18 kms beachside run, a feat he hopes to repeat every day until November 16, when he will line up with some of the world’s greatest triathletes.

“It has been a little bit tough because I have to work and I have to train, so I wake up every day at around 3.00 am, pray and then get to the beach to swim”, he said. “The water is so warm; I have to get out after every 400 metres for a drink. When I’ve been training, I’ve been finished by noon, but it is still very hot at that time”.

Since the start of August, the Dubai Marathon has allowed runners to enjoy an air-conditioned indoor environment from 7 am till 10 am encouraging activity in summer. Souleymane hopes to join the runs for some legs of his 100-day challenge. It is a long way from Togo, when he first took his first steps in long-distance endurance running.

While growing up, Souleymane had joined his father’s colleagues in their daily training runs on the army base they called home. “Every Sunday, we would run to the border of Ghana. Sometimes, we would run 30 kms, and there were lots of people out running. Everyone was singing and it was great fun, a real party-like atmosphere. It didn’t feel like exercise and the time would go by so fast, since then I have kept on running”. Those memories kindled a flame for his relationship with long distance running.

He has completed several endurance challenges, including 30 numbers of back-to-back 45 kms Ultra-Marathon runs, and 30 Ironman events in 30 days. Both marked the October fitness challenge, an annual event in Dubai to encourage more people to take up sport and exercise. When he crosses the line in the Dubai T100 triathlon in November, he will have racked up more than 10,000 kilometres in 100 days.

“Most of the time, I do everything by myself. I am training all alone because it is hard to ask someone to wake up and come and swim with me at 4.00 am, they think I’m crazy. All I’m worried about at that time of day is the sharks”.

Competitors in Dubai may include current champion Belgian Martin Van Riel, who leads the men’s Professional Triathletes Organisation global standings, and Olympic silver medalist Hayden Wilde from New Zealand. In the women’s event, 2020 Olympic champion Flora Duffy, from Bermuda, is planning to race, as is 2024 World Champion Taylor Knibb from America and second placed Ashleigh Gentle from Australia. The triathlon tour’s grand final is in Qatar on December 13.

General registration for Dubai is open for amateur triathletes to take part in the 100 kms race, (2 kms swim, 80 kms bike, 18 kms run) as well as the sprint distance of 750 metres swim, 20 kilometres bike and 05 kilometres run.

“We did a double take when Ghani first got in touch and told us what he was thinking”, said PTO chief executive Sam Renouf. “Doing 100 consecutive T100s is quite an undertaking. We think he’s brilliant and a little bit bonkers, and we wish him the very best of luck. While this is at the extreme end of an endurance challenge, he’s showing what’s possible when someone puts their mind to it. This is very much our mindset with the T100 series, to showcase the best triathletes in the world racing head-to-head in iconic cities like Dubai, but also giving an opportunity for athletes of all abilities to get involved and have a go”.

Team Maverick