Look: Abu Dhabi-based runner who ran 250km in deserts 9 times, says it 'saved his life'

The first time Ammar Sabbah ran 250km across the Sahara desert, he didn’t do it for the glory. He did it because it sounded like fun. “I love the desert and I love camping,” says the Abu Dhabi-based ultra-runner. “So, when I heard about the Marathon des Sables — 250km, self-supported, sleeping in tents, carrying everything on your back — I thought, why not?” 

That casual ‘why not’ has since turned into nine finishes of the world’s toughest footrace, with a tenth on the horizon. Now 57, Sabbah speaks about running like others speak of meditation — or religion. In fact, running has brought him closer to both life and death than he ever imagined. “It saved my life,” he says. “Twice.”

Running into the void — and finding clarity

The Marathon des Sables isn’t a regular race. Held in Morocco, it’s a week-long ultra-marathon through sand dunes and scorching temperatures, with competitors carrying their own food and gear. “You get water stations. That’s it,” says Sabbah. “Everything else — sleeping bag, food, safety equipment — you carry on your back. It's not just a physical challenge. It’s mental. Emotional. Spiritual.”

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During the longer stages, he often slips into a trance. “Your brain goes into places. I’ve had full conversations with people who aren’t here anymore. My late mother, my uncle. Sometimes it feels like I’m dreaming with my eyes open.” It’s also when he writes — not with a pen, but in his mind. “I love writing. I get poetry ideas during runs. Business ideas too. The basics of a piece just start to flow. Some of them I remember. Some get lost in the sand.”

Marathon Des Sables with running buddies from Jordan

Desert highs and near-death lows

Sabbah isn’t driven by competition. “I never trained to win,” he says. “My goal was just to break into the top 150 once. My best was 242 out of 1,200. And I was thrilled.” But even as he pushed through race after race — Oman, Jordan, Morocco — something started to feel off. “In 2016 I wasn’t improving anymore,” he says. “I thought, okay, maybe it’s age. Maybe it’s the ACL tear I’d had. I just wasn’t getting faster.” Then came Al Marmoom Ultra Marathon in Dubai — another 250km. Sabbah wasn’t planning to enter, but the organiser reached out directly. “He said, ‘How can we not invite the guy with the most desert ultras in the UAE?’ So, I agreed.”

The entry required a cardiologist’s clearance. Sabbah wasn’t worried. “I’d just done a 100km race in Jordan. I felt fine.” But during the test, the doctor paused. Something was wrong. “He told me, ‘I don’t think I can let you run.’ Later, we discovered I had over 90 per cent blockage in a major artery. I was one heartbeat away from collapse.” He underwent urgent surgery. “I went from being ‘fit’ to nearly dying, just like that. And it was because I signed up for a race. That’s how running saved me the first time.”

Training in sandstorms and city limits

For Sabbah, training has never been about long hours. “Daily runs are short. Never over 10km. Weekends we go longer — 30km maybe. And before a big race, we’d do a five-day desert camp: Run in the morning, rest, run again at sunset.” When he moved to Dubai in 2014, he lived near Al Marmoom and trained between office meetings. “I’d go out for 45 minutes in the sand, then go back to work.” 

Now based in Abu Dhabi, he drives out to Al Wathba’s artificial mountain area to run. “You can still find that nice heavy sand, or gravel, or uphill. You train your mind more than your legs.” Still, he admits he sometimes overdid it. “There were years I’d do two or three of these races in one season. I remember running in Oman, then Morocco three weeks later. Not a smart idea.”

The second scare — the valve that almost stopped everything

Years after his first surgery, Sabbah began feeling the same decline. “I wasn’t getting faster. The fatigue was back. Something felt off.” A second opinion confirmed it: the previous stent was fine, but his aortic valve was calcifying. Eventually, it was opening just 20 to 25 per cent — far from what the heart needs.

In September 2023, he underwent open-heart surgery to replace the valve. “I told my doctor, let’s just do it. I don’t want to lose my performance slowly. Let’s fix it properly.” A year later — almost to the day — he was back in Jordan, running a 250kmtrail race through Petra and Wadi Rum. “It wasn’t my best performance. I was still in rehab. But emotionally? It was everything. The nostalgia. The silence. The people asking, ‘Where have you been for so long?’ It was like coming home.”

After open heart surgery

No carbs, no gels — just grit and fat-burning

A clinical nutritionist by training, Sabbah has re-thought everything about endurance fuelling. “For years, we all followed the high-carb diet. Energy gels, pasta loading — all of it. Now, I’ve switched to low carb. I run without sugar. Without gels. I go straight into fat-burning.” He’s careful not to push extremes.

“I’m not fully keto. And I worry the new trend is the same mistake — just in the other direction. But for me, this works.” He adds: “I have degrees in biochemistry, clinical nutrition, exercise physiology. And after all that, I still believe everybody is different. You’ve got to find what works for you.”

Sabbah now owns Arena Fitness in Abu Dhabi, where he combines decades of ultra-running experience with professional expertise in clinical nutrition and exercise physiology. But he’s careful not to glorify suffering.

“We’ve made overachievement look glamorous. But if you’re running ultra-marathons just to prove something on LinkedIn — that’s not it.” His advice? “Only do this if you love it. If you don’t have the passion, the pain won’t be worth it. But if you do — it’s the most beautiful experience you’ll ever have.” And if he’s not enjoying it? “I don’t run. I haven’t run in six weeks,” he said, laughing. “My mind’s busy with business. I’ll get back to it when I feel like it.”

When asked what’s next? Sabbah says he hasn’t picked his next race yet, but Morocco is calling. “I want my tenth Marathon des Sables; it would be the 40th anniversary; I’m not sure I’m ready… but I might just go anyway.” 

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