Dubai resident Max Calderan will set off on a 340km trek across the desert from Saudi Arabia to the Omani border early Friday morning.
An extreme athlete since he was a teenager, Calderan will go through severe periods of dehydration and sleep deprivation in order to become the first man to cross the Tropic of Cancer on foot.
The Italian national is an experienced endurance runner and has completed an array of gruelling challenges, including running non-stop for 90 hours over 437km in Oman and was the first man to cover 200km in 48 hours across Oman in 2007 – where temperatures hit a high of 56 degrees. During Ramadan in 2012, he ran 250km across the merciless Sinai Peninsula in Egypt while fasting.
A man who can put his body through ruthless challenges like this is no ordinary person, and this is something that has taken years of conditioning as Calderan continues to test his physical and mental boundaries.
“I said to my mum in 1974, that when I’m older I will be the first man to cross the desert because here it was written that it is impossible,” Max told Sport360. “As for me, nothing is impossible. We are men. We are humans. We came from nature. Why is it impossible? Why? There is no reason.”
“It’s a matter of remembering who we are at the origin. We cannot be scared about anything from nature. Why are we no longer able to do it? Only because we have been conditioned by what we read in books or from other people.”
His latest expedition will start over the UAE border in Liwa and bring him across the desert to Oman where he is expected to finish on March 21.
One of Calderan’s biggest accomplishments in the punishing summer heat was a 360km expedition across Saudi Arabia in 75 hours where temperatures reached as high as 58 degrees.
“Once we enter the desert, we start to over-think and panic and forget who we are, so in this case, mind preparation is very useful until the first step into the desert,” Calderan said.
“After this you have to remember that you are bigger and stronger than you think. You are not average. Each of us has their personal method, their own training and decisions. It’s very easy but it’s just one small key to open a very big door.”
In the build-up to his First Ever on Foot crossing challenge, Calderan trained in three main areas: sleep deprivation, water deprivation and food deprivation, something he believes is critical if any athlete is to challenge extreme activities.
“I do all my training sessions to the limit. I was running up and down flights of stairs at my building in JBR and I ran up 700 floors last week to prepare myself for this. It’s a matter of tough training, but the main point to remember is to train yourself during the night,” said Calderan.
“I normally have three to four hours sleep. During my previous explorations, I slept five-seven minutes every three/four hours. In Oman two years ago, I went without sleep for 100 hours, just small naps. It’s very useful if you’re stressed.”
“We have to train our heart, our mind, to react within us to discover something. I feel, not I think. You need to study every day of your life in order to improve and be the best you can be.”
