The 2027 Participants

Ahmed Alkatheeri is an Emirati ultra-endurance runner, author, and Hayat Ambassador. He has competed in some of the world’s toughest races across deserts, Antarctica, Siberia, and the Arctic, representing the UAE through resilience and endurance.

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Dan is a 49 year old investor and mining and metals executive based in Switzerland. Having entered the world of endurance sports 15 years ago through triathlon, Dan has completed 30+ Ironman races, as well as many other ultra distance running, biking and ski mountaineering events. A passionate traveler, he enjoys combining endurance racing with exploring remote locations.  

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Gavin founded Adventure Alternative in 1991 after global travels and expeditions, later creating the Moving Mountains charity to support communities in Kenya and Nepal. He is a ‘seven summitter’ and has climbed Everest six times. A mountaineer and social entrepreneur, he raised millions through climbs, and continues guiding, training, and travelling while upholding a tourism-for-charity model.

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Maria is a 39-year-old IT Product Owner based in Romania. She has completed four 8,000-meter peaks — Annapurna I, Kangchenjunga, K2 (first Romanian woman) and Everest. She is also passionate about rock climbing and has climbed numerous multi-pitch routes both in Romania and abroad. More recently, she discovered a new passion for running. Running her first marathon and ultramarathon opened up an exciting new direction: combining endurance running with the high-altitude and remote environments she has always been drawn to. 

Jan is a Commodities Trader in London. Outside work he reads, studies languages, and does things he doesn't particularly enjoy — running being the current example.

Finny grew up in Blackpool, working in his family's guesthouse and helping care for his parents from a young age. Leaving school with just two GCSEs, he moved from hospitality to executive leadership, became self-taught in technology, and stayed grounded in strong values. He now leads Accenture's Northwest UK region, driving large-scale transformation programmes across sectors, and serves as a trustee of a disability swimming charity. Finny recently published his debut book, Mindset Towards Mastery, which explores responsible leadership. He holds an unshakeable belief in every individual's potential to improve themselves.

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Tracey was raised on a disadvantaged estate in Manchester and first trained as a dancer before joining a travelling circus and performing across Europe, including before the Pope in Vatican City. Returning to the UK, she became a police officer, serving in high-pressure specialist units, including armed response, where she earned respect for her calm leadership, emotional intelligence and fairness. Now retired, she remains active in her community and is a certified police response driver. A mother of two, Tracey is a lifelong carer for their youngest daughter, and her life is defined by courage, resilience and doing what is right, even when unseen. 

Emmanuel “Manny” Gavrilis is a 33-year-old operations manager based in the USA, working at Amazon’s largest robotic fulfillment center in New England. Chaos, challenge, and constant movement are where Manny feels most at home. A certified rescue diver and avid hiker, his adventures have taken him from beneath the surface to summits around the world, while consistent training has built the endurance and resilience he brings to every new challenge.

Originally from Australia, Andrew now lives in the UK where he is a professional photographer. He has a passion for the outdoors and is excited to experience the unique landscapes of the Atacama desert. Andrew accompanied the team for the first World’s Highest Marathon in 2026 and is thrilled to be joining the team again to push himself even higher.

Paul is the Founder and CEO of BecomingX, a company he set up with Bear Grylls to help people and organisations achieve extraordinary things. He works with some of the world’s most inspiring and iconic people to demystify what it takes to succeed and to help people build the confidence and skills to succeed. Paul has four world records for organising and completing the World’s Deepest and World’s Highest Marathons.

TJ Halbertsma is a Dutch financier, adventurer, philanthropist and author who has lived in London for over 30 years. He’s walked to the North and South Pole, climbed the Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and the Eiger, swam from Alcatraz and Robben Island to shore and crossed the English Channel on a paddle board. This year he ran the Marathon des Sables and is looking forward to running the World’s Highest Marathon as his next adventure. 

Hazel is a 55-year-old mum of three boys. After 22 years building and running her own business, she recently sold it and is taking a deliberate pause from work to tackle a few bucket-list adventures and get out of the comfort zone. After serious FOMO when her partner Marc applied, she thought: why not go big and take it on too?

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Debby is 56, loves running and loves where running takes her. Whether that’s being chased by wild horses on the streets of Puerto Williams, breathing in the dry air of the Atacama or finding herself somewhere completely new, that sense of adventure is a big part of why she runs. She likes choosing challenges that make her grow and take her outside her comfort zone, and the World’s Highest Marathon feels like an adventure that will challenge her in just about every way.

Sally Orange MBE is a former British Army physiotherapist and motivational speaker who uses extraordinary challenges to raise awareness of mental health and cancer. She has completed more than 85 marathons, eight Ironman triathlons and the World Marathon Challenge. She is also the only person in the world to have run a marathon on every continent dressed as a piece of fruit! Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025, Sally ran to every chemotherapy session and completed a 50km ultramarathon halfway through treatment. She is passionate about showing that adversity does not have to limit what is possible.

Spyros is 51 and has been working as a dentist in the UK since 2004. He is passionate about the mountains and has completed a number of ultra marathons in the Alps as well as on Mt. Olympus. Trying to find the time to prepare adequately for those events without sacrificing family time and neglecting professional commitments has been his greatest challenge. Moving on the mountains offers a sense of freedom that he find impossible to feel on his daily routine. He will chase it for as long as he can!

Marc is a Senior Quality Manager for Murphys, supporting energy construction projects across the UK. Outside of work, he enjoys taking on physical challenges, particularly long-distance running, to test what he is capable of achieving, while encouraging colleagues to step outside their comfort zones and take on challenges of their own. 

Sara Storey is an ultra runner and has completed a few tough races including the Marathon Des Sables (twice) and already holds a Guinness World Record for the 2026 worlds highest marathon. Sara works in local government public service as a senior leader with a 28 year career in Adult Social Care. 

Ashley lives in New York City and is lucky enough to call Central Park her morning run route. She has competed thirteen marathons all over the United States, several with friends, and primarily chooses races based on spending a few days eating everything delicious in that city after the race. She works in product management in the streaming and print media industries. 

David retired in 2014 following a professional career at Arup and Accenture, including serving on the Global Executive Committee of Accenture for 11 years. Since retiring, he has developed a portfolio of roles with a strong focus on sustainability, education and youth. He is a supporter of TeachFirst, a Board Member of Teach For All and former Chair of UK Youth. He climbed Kilimanjaro in 2019, was a member of the WHM 2026 team….and is very much looking froward to WHM 2027 in Bolivia.

Sarah is a Business Change Consulting Director from Middlesbrough with a long career leading teams in demanding environments. An adventurer at heart, she has climbed Kilimanjaro, trekked to Everest Base Camp and cycled Land's End to John O'Groats. After discovering parkrun a decade ago, Sarah developed a passion for running and has since completed more than 20 ultramarathons and 25 marathons worldwide, including the Marathon des Sables, Polar Circle Marathon and five of the six World Marathon Majors. As a proud grandmother of two, she is passionate about demonstrating there are no barriers to challenge, growth and extraordinary achievement.

Nigel has spent over 30 years writing and speaking about mountaineering. President of Buxton Mountain Rescue and part of the Winter Spine Race safety crew, he released ‘Frostbitten’ in 2025, documenting how he survived nearly dying on a 1999 climb in Alaska.  He still climbs across the world, has set mountaineering records, a Guinness World Record and spoken to schools and businesses across Europe. He continues on life's adventure, forcing new boundaries and new experiences every day of his life. As Nigel says - "I don't want to die in an unused body…”

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