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Ray Zahab

Inspirational Ultra-Marathon Runner and Adventurer

Ray Zahab
In Pursuit of the Extraordinary
Virtual: A New Reality
Virtual: Sharing in Incredible Adventures
Virtual: Impossible to Possible
TEDx - Trastevere: Education, Inspiration, Empowerment
Ray Zahab on the Spartan Up! Podcast
Sharing the Edge of the World with the Classroom
TED 2009 - My trek to the South Pole
Ray
Ray Zahab
In Pursuit of the Extraordinary
Virtual: A New Reality
Virtual: Sharing in Incredible Adventures
Virtual: Impossible to Possible
TEDx - Trastevere: Education, Inspiration, Empowerment
Ray Zahab on the Spartan Up! Podcast
Sharing the Edge of the World with the Classroom
TED 2009 - My trek to the South Pole

Ray Zahab wants people to know they are extraordinary. A former sedentary “pack a day smoker”, Zahab turned his life around in 1999 when he decided to get in shape and enter the world of ultra-marathons. Since then, he’s gone on to inspire millions of people around the world by completing jaw-dropping journeys, including running 7500 km across the Sahara, setting a Guinness World Record, and travelling close to 20,000 km on foot through some of the largest deserts and the coldest regions on Earth.

Zahab is the founder of the non-profit impossible2Possible (i2P), which uses adventure-based learning programs to inspire, empower, and, most importantly, educate young people on a wide range of subjects. He also hosts cost-free expeditions for youth. On stage, Zahab takes audiences through his tremendous personal story, demonstrating how individuals and organizations can undergo incredible change to break through limits and achieve incredible success.

In 2003, Zahab read about the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 160 km multi-day race through sub-zero conditions. Three months later, he won the race and was spurred on to continue competing and learning about how every one of us is capable of exceeding any mental, physical, or emotional limits we think we may have. Over the next two years, he won four multi-day races, either individually or as part of a team, surviving sandstorms, close encounters with poisonous snakes, parasites, infections, chafed legs, and dehydration along the way.

Entranced by the Sahara, Zahab decided to cross the whole thing. The gruelling 111-day journey happened in early 2007, chronicled in the Matt Damon-produced documentary Running the Sahara. Upon completing the expedition, Zahab was moved to found impossible2Possible, inspired by the realization that we are all capable of the extraordinary. Today, he uses his adventures to raise awareness and funding for important causes, and has completed dozens of expeditions across the Arctic, Siberia, Gobi Desert, and Death Valley, to name a few

In between his many adventures, Zahab has also found time to write two books, Running for My Life and Running to Extremes. As a speaker, Zahab has spoken at events such as TED, IOC World Conference, The Economist World, World Affairs Council, and corporate events all over the globe.

A recent recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada, Zahab is an Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Fellow of the Canadian Geographical Society. In 2015, Canadian Geographic recognized Zahab as one of Canada’s Top Explorers. His content has appeared on a wide range of platforms, from his own hosted TV series to appearances on Discovery, CNN, CBC, OWN, and many others.

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

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Client reviews

  • Your vision and commitment are totally inspiring! Your story clearly demonstrates that when one has determination and a clear vision, miracles can literally unfold.

  • Ray Zahab is one of those rare people who can translate his truly awesome accomplishments into an enthusiastic, riveting and inspirational message. Listening to Ray speak about what he does and how he does it is like taking a happy pill, jolting you into action, and making you believe you can do anything. He is one of those undiscovered Canadian treasures whose message about going beyond your limits gets more relevant every day…this man does not just walk the walk, he runs the run.

  • In the 15 years we’ve hosted this conference, you are the first to have feedback with 100% in the “amazing” category. And we’ve had some high profile people in the past. So many thanks! You were the perfect choice to compliment our theme, but more importantly your presentation, deliverance of it, professional manner and story itself were all stellar. You have an infectious personality and it obviously resonated with the audience.

  • Just wanted to say thank you again for doing an outstanding job last week with our team… I had a ton of great feedback from the group on your session, they found it really motivating and it fit perfectly to our theme.

  • Ray Zahab was really fantastic. He’s a special guy and so personable and down-to-earth despite his formidable accomplishments. His talk was a great start to the CPA conference and I know he sent everyone away not only in awe of him and what he has accomplished in a short period of time but also more aware of how we can all do a little bit to help make the earth a better place for all its inhabitants. We were very happy to have him on the program and wish him much success in his future endeavours.

  • Thanks so much for everything at Can-Fit-Pro this past weekend! I’ve heard nothing but amazing feedback about your presentation! I was actually filming some testimonials at the Can-Fit-Pro booth in the tradeshow, and one lady started crying when she was talking about your presentation! That’s amazing that you can touch so many lives in such a positive way.

  • Ray was a pleasure to work with and a true inspiration to the team.  Everyone was talking about him that night at our dinner event and all were moved to action in one way or another by his presentation.

  • The events with Ray went AMAZING! He was great, and did an awesome job considering he had 4 sessions to speak to in a two day span!

    We got to know Ray over the two days, and it was really inspiring to hear what he has done and the goals he has set out for his company and himself! It was great and we would recommend him highly!

    We had MANY staff approach Ray after each talk to thank him and to ask questions, or show interest in his work. It was really cool to see.

  • Ray, thank you!!

    A great presentation that captured the imagination of our audience. They could relate to your struggles and to your victories by virtue of your exceptional ability to tell a story.

    On a personal level, I certainly get it on a number of levels. Your ability to coax your body to achieve unbelievable feats of endurance is remarkable but as you say “it can be found within all of us”.

    On behalf of my partners at CIBC, thanks again for delivering your unique message at our conference

  • Ray Zahab hit a home run…probably fair to say a grand slam actually.  Very inspiring, engaging and relevant for our conference.  Best speaker we have had from you guys yet.

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