Two Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) employees are setting the standard for healthy living through their love of exercise.
Dr Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Bone and Joint
Centrer, and John Smith, project manager, Support Services with HMC’s
Ambulance Service, have a passion for endurance sports.
Dr al-Kuwari is a keen cyclist who first took up the sport after being
introduced to it by one of the surgeons who taught him at university in
Canada.
“I noticed that he was never tired and I asked him how he managed this.
He told me that he cycled to stay fit and it helped him focus at work.
So I bought a bike and began cycling with him and from there my passion
for the sport was born,” Dr al-Kuwari said.
Following a 27-year career in the British military, for which endurance
running was part of his job, Smith was encouraged by friends to run the
Ooredoo marathon in 2014, the first formal marathon he had entered.
“Though I hadn’t done any formal training for the marathon, it was a
brilliant experience. I’ve since completed the Ooredoo marathon every
year and to challenge myself I now look for marathons in various
countries around the world. In the past four years I’ve completed 14
marathons, including in China, Jordan, Myanmar, and Switzerland,” Smith
said.
Dr al-Kuwari also combines his passion for cycling with travel and has
taken part in many road and off-road cycling events around the world.
“I have travelled to more than 20 countries for various cycling events.
My most recent challenge was cycling 400km across Cambodia with 14
friends,” said Dr al-Kuwari.
“One of my proudest accomplishments was achieved through the Global
Biking Initiative, which organises cycling events across different
countries in Europe. With other members of the Qatar Cyclists group, of
which I am the chairman, we have raised over QR4mn to build a school in
Gaza,” he added.
Smith offered some advice for people wanting to get involved in sport or regular exercise for the first time.
“People need to overcome the psycho-social barriers and believe that
they can do it. Setting a goal is a great way to motivate yourself, even
if the initial goal is to walk just 500m. From there it’s simply a case
of progressing and increasing the goal gradually. Don’t think you can’t
do it, you really can,” Smith said.
Both sportsmen believe that physical activity has had a positive influence on their health and their overall lives.
“Cycling has really changed me as a person. It gives me a lot of
positive thoughts and helps me perform better in other aspects of my
life and work. As a surgeon, I have to stand and concentrate for many
hours at a time and cycling has really improved my endurance and focus,
enabling me to become a better surgeon,” Dr al-Kuwari added.
“By holding several programmes for the National Sport Day for all
sections of the society, Qatar is advocating a healthier and more sound
community. HMC is keen to develop a healthy population in the country,”
said Nayef al-Shammari, assistant executive director of media, HMC.
Dr Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (left) during a team race.