At 8.30pm last night Jalal Bin Thaneya completed his journey of crossing the seven Emirates on foot from point to point.. He embarked on this remarkable journey to raise money for people with special needs. Jalal set out to complete the feat in seven days but a number of complications along the journey made that impossible.

At 30 years old this is just one of several long treks he’s done in recent years. In 2013, he cycled across the six Gulf states.

He’s also walked 2,000 kilometres between Abu Dhabi and Makkah and climbed the stairs of 100 Dubai skyscrapers. This trip came ten years after he first walked across all seven emirates. But he wasn’t attempting a world record back then.

Under the rules set by Guinness World Records, Bin Thaneya choose his own route through the seven emirates. He started at the Al Ghuwaifat border post, on Abu Dhabi emirate’s western fringe, and trek along desert and then mountain roads to end at Fujairah’s coastline.

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Day 1: It wasn’t always easy going.

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Day 1: No turning back. Photo taken on the Gwaifat highway. I’ll do my best to update my Instagram feed as I run and walk towards Fujeirah. #CrossingThesevenEmirates #UAE

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 19, 2016 at 5:36pm PST

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Day 4: I’m currently making my way out of this endless detour. Located on the E11 highway,it is being expanded and runs for 365KM through to Abu Dhabi. I have so far only come across one petrol station in this road. There are no services on this road and there are no lights at this point. My logistics plan has been turned upside down since day 1 and I am running on empty.

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 22, 2016 at 11:38pm PST

On Day 2 his supporting vehicle was totalled.

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Day 2: photo taken on the Gwaifat-Abu Dhabi highway. The great Emirate of Abu Dhabi has a land area of 972 km2 (375 sq mi) I began my journey for #SpecialNeeds from the UAE/Saudi boarder (Gwaifat) and I am now en route to crossing Ruwais. Our support vehicle was totaled yesterday as it hit a truck tire. My team is attempting to rectify the situation at the time of posting with limited resources. #CrossingTheSevenEmirates #AbuDhabi #UAE

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 20, 2016 at 10:29pm PST

Jalal’s journey wasn’t easy.

His support truck was totalled on Day 2 yet he continued with limited supplies. Some night he slept rough, didn’t have access to running water and survived on less than 1000 calories a day. 

Our roads don’t make it easy.

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Day 4: I’m currently making my way out of this endless detour. Located on the E11 highway,it is being expanded and runs for 365KM through to Abu Dhabi. I have so far only come across one petrol station in this road. There are no services on this road and there are no lights at this point. My logistics plan has been turned upside down since day 1 and I am running on empty.

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 22, 2016 at 11:38pm PST

No running water

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Day 5: after walking on this dark road through last night and today morning “barefoot”, I put my shoes on and started to run through the temporary dirt road which has been made so construction vehicles can pass through. I am running with under 1000 calories per day. I am sleeping rough on the side of the road and have no access to running water. Instead of giving up when my supply vehicle was destroyed on the first day.I am continuing my journey towards Fujeirah despite having no real food to eat to fuel the run. There are no services on this 380KM highway for a runner,no motels,no restaurants,no hospitals. Walking or running for 10KM is equivalent to 50KM on this endless monotonous highway where the car is King.This is the first ever crossing of the United Arab Emirates on foot from boarder to the coast,point to point. More updates soon and please follow @gulfnews for exclusive updates on my journey for special needs. #CrossingTheSevenEmirates #UAE ????????

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 24, 2016 at 4:52am PST

“a kilometer feels like 10 in the sweltering heat”

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Day 6: I’ve been walking,running,sleeping,eating and reliving myself on this same road for 6 days. A man living in the area said that walking from Gwaifat to Abu Dhabi city wasn’t easy since the terrain is derelict and abandoned up until a roundabout 60KM from where this video was taken. On this road,a kilometer feels like 10 in the sweltering heat and at night,temperatures drop complimented by poor visibility and fog. #CrossingTheSevenEmirates #Specialneeds #UAE

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 25, 2016 at 6:08am PST

Tough weather en route to Dubai

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Day 8: last night I ran until I reached Al Shamka and slept near an industrial area. The weather was not what I expected for December and has had a huge impact on this journey in terms of speed. So far I am able to keep steady pace and cover an average distance with the minimum food requirement and obstructions on the highway. There are other challenges I am facing as well but it would be a waste of energy to express this here. I’m on my way to Dubai city via sheikh Rashid highway (E11) #CrossingTheSevenEmirates #AbuDhabi #Journey #UAE #SpecialNeeds

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 26, 2016 at 11:25pm PST

Made it to Dubai!

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Day 11: I crossed the Dubai canal earlier today and I am now making my way towards Sharjah. Crossing through Dubai was challenging last night as I lost my support vehicle and ran out of battery but had to keep moving at night. I had a bad experience at one gas station from another customer and also nearly got hit twice by angry drivers. People in the city are less laid back and it hasn’t been a perfect experience for me coming into the city and I am now facing other challenges as I try to finish this journey. #CrossingthesevenEmirates #UAE #Dubai

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Dec 29, 2016 at 10:14pm PST

Day 14

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Day 14: Last night I slept in the mountains near the Friday market in Fujeirah before moving towards Masafi where I will pass through Ras Al Khaima territory. Theoretically I was supposed to do this last night but I wanted to end this journey during the day not at night. I’ve been plagued with bad walking and running form. The weather is warm and sunny here and there was some fog during the early hours which lowered visibility considerably. #crossingthesevenemirates #UAE #SpecialNeeds

A post shared by Jalal Bin Thaneya (@binthaneya) on Jan 1, 2017 at 9:27pm PST

The finish line.