Emirati Father of Five Inspires the World by Running 100km Every Week While Carrying the UAE Flag at Global Marathons

For Salem Al Hashemi, the road to the world's biggest marathons started not with ambition but with curiosity. When his brother talked him into entering a 10km community race on Yas Island in November 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the civil engineer and former footballer was not even certain he could cover the distance.

Five years on, after countless hours balancing a full-time career, family life and training runs of up to 100km a week, Al Hashemi has completed every race in the expanded Abbott World Marathon Majors series — a journey that has carried him from the streets of Abu Dhabi to some of the most iconic courses on the planet.
“I just wanted to know if I could run 10 kilometres without stopping,” he said of the race that started it all. At the time he was 34, with years of football and CrossFit behind him but no experience running farther than the 3.2km fitness test from his national service days.

A life changed in 41 minutes

He need not have worried. Al Hashemi crossed the line in 41 minutes, placing 10th among roughly 500 runners and finishing as the second-fastest Emirati in the field. By his own account, the race changed the direction of his life completely. He bought his first pair of running shoes the next day, and a week later shaved more than a minute off his time in another 10km event.

That was when he discovered the Abu Dhabi running community and joined the Abu Dhabi Running Team. What followed was, in his words, race after race. He has since finished more than 100 local races and over 20 international marathons, lowering his personal best to 2 hours and 48 minutes.

Lessons from falling

His first full marathon remains among the most memorable. Running the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon in 2021, he thought the hardest part was over as he approached the finish — then both legs cramped 200 metres from the line, sending him to the ground. It was the first cramp he had ever experienced, despite a lifetime in sport. He dragged himself across the line rather than stop.

The setback became fuel rather than deterrent. At his next marathon his legs seized again near the end, this time around 50 metres out, but he slowed to a walk and stayed upright. Months later, at the Barcelona Marathon, he finally broke the three-hour barrier with a time of 2:58 — a result that qualified him for major races including Boston and Chicago.

Winning the mental battle

Al Hashemi is convinced that marathons are ultimately won in the mind. One of his hardest tests came at the 2023 New York Marathon, on the stretch runners call the 'Silent Bridge', where the crowds fall away and all that remains is the sound of breathing. Watching others stop and collapse around him, he admits it was one of the few times he seriously considered withdrawing. He pushed on.

Another defining moment came at the 2025 Boston Marathon. An injury two months earlier had wrecked his preparation, and the course's notorious Heartbreak Hill compounded the difficulty. After finishing, his oxygen levels dropped below 80 per cent and he was taken to the medical tent. To ready himself for such moments, he trains his mind on long solo runs, repeating a simple refrain to himself: I can do it.

Balancing family and ambition

These achievements have come alongside a demanding engineering career and the raising of five children. A marathon build-up takes about three months, with six training days a week covering between 90 and 100 kilometres. After eight or nine hours of work, he explained, another two or three hours go to training — time that would otherwise belong to his family, and annual leave planned around race calendars.

Unlike many elite runners, Al Hashemi funds the entire journey himself: the travel, race entries and equipment, all driven by passion for the sport. His profession, he says, shapes his approach. Engineering teaches you to solve problems and plan ahead, he noted, describing how he maps out each year around work, races, family and holidays, and finds another solution whenever plans change.

Among a rare few

Completing the series places him in select company. According to Abbott World Marathon Majors, only 2,094 runners had earned the programme's Six Star Medal for finishing the original six majors by the end of the 2025 New York City Marathon. Al Hashemi has gone further still, completing all eight races that now make up the expanded series.

One of his proudest moments came off the course entirely — carrying the UAE flag during the Parade of Nations before the 2023 New York Marathon, as the announcer named his country and spoke of its landmarks. Last year he was honoured by Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, for completing the majors, a recognition he said showed the country's leadership follows and values such achievements.

For all he has accomplished, Al Hashemi insists the story is unfinished. He has more goals, he said with a smile, though for now he is keeping them to himself. Every finish line, as he sees it, is simply the start of the next challenge.