Two Bangladeshis at the bottom of the world

Ejaj Ahmad and Asif Zahir crossed the finish line of the Antarctica Marathon on King George Island side by side on 9 March, completing the race as they ran it as a team.

To get there, they sailed two days across the Drake Passage, one of the most treacherous stretches of ocean on the planet. Then they ran 42.2 kilometers across volcanic rock, mud, and gravel, past Chinese, Argentinian, and Chilean research bases, surrounded by glaciers and Antarctic silence. Only 100 runners can take part in any single running of the Antarctica Marathon. Ahmad and Zahir were among them, according to a press release issued on 10 March.

“Most people imagine Antarctica as a white continent. We ran over mud and bare rock. Antarctica is losing 150 gigatons of ice every year, and Bangladesh, one of the most climate-vulnerable nations on Earth, will feel it first. Running across that altered landscape was a reminder of why the next generation cannot afford to wait,” Ejaj Ahmad said.

Ahmad is the founder of both the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) and the Global Youth Leadership Center (GYLC), serving as Executive Chairperson of BYLC and CEO of GYLC. He has spent his career building institutions and movements that challenge young people to discover what they are truly capable of. BYLC also organizes running events across Bangladesh, promoting physical fitness and healthy living among youth as part of its broader mission.

Read More

Vlogger Sumon, traveller Nilay set foot on White Desert of Antarctica

“This run reflects something deep in the Bangladeshi spirit: resilience, and the refusal to accept limits. We wanted to show that what is possible for our country has no ceiling. Dare to go where no one from your country has gone before,” Asif Zahir said.

Zahir is Deputy Managing Director of Ananta Group, one of the leading RMG exporters of the country, and a former Product Manager at Google. He has built his reputation on the conviction that ambition and responsibility are not in tension. They reinforce each other.

Both men dedicated their run to their late fathers, who first taught them to dare mighty things and never mistake the familiar for the possible. Carrying that lesson to the end of the Earth felt like a fitting tribute.

Paragon Group and Ananta Group partially sponsored the expedition, placing their names alongside a historic moment for Bangladesh.