Can a man race a train? Or in Dubai's case, the Dubai Tram? Gravity Zone and Julbo have created the Dubai edition of #racethetube – an online YouTube sensation which has prompted many to produce videos of attempts to race their local trains by foot.
39-year-old Ramez Shawky, Founder of Gravity Zone, is the runner in the Dubai version of the video which documents his quest to beat the Dubai Tram between two stops: getting off the tram and starting his run at Marina Towers station and getting back on it at the following Mina Seyahi station. Ramez had to beat the tram’s time of 3 minutes and 30 seconds between the two stations – a distance of 820 meters – whilst also facing two ticket station, two traffic light crossings, construction works and general road traffic.
The video was filmed using GoPros and iPhone cameras catching three different viewpoints of the run: as the runner gets off the tram and begins his run, one via a GoPro worn by the runner and a third capturing his entry back into the tram at the next station. The video was produced in collaboration with Julbo, experts in high-performance sunglasses who are closely associated with extreme sports.
The craze for racing trains and uploading the results on YouTube kick started in London in August 2014 after one London commuter decided to see if he could beat the underground tube from one stop to the next by foot. Becoming known as #racethetube, the video become a viral sensation, prompting many across the globe to document their own #racethetube attempts.
Where racing a ‘tube’ was either not possible or feasible, adaptations have been made to race a train and Dubai was no exception. Dubai’s #racethetube runner Ramez Shawky, said: “The run was a lot harder than it might seem. The road I was running is generally quite busy and traffic instruments can slow things down a little bit as you still want to keep safety at front of mind. The fact that running is not allowed inside the tram stations definitely added an extra challenge.”
So, did Ramez make it to the next station before the tram did? Watch the video and find out!
