The Long Race of endurance

Jodiann Goulter
Jan 29
3 min read

The Long Race: Leadership, Endurance, and the Will to Win

In the heart of the desert, where time stretches as vast as the dunes, champions are made—not in a single moment, but over the course of the long race.

The Crown Prince & the Desert’s Calling

The air is crisp, the sands cool beneath the hooves of his Arabian gelding. The Crown Prince, a rider known for his calm intensity, exhales deeply, his breath steady as he prepares for the UAE Endurance Cup. This is not a test of speed—it’s a battle of mind, resilience, and an unbreakable bond between horse and rider. He leans forward, whispering to his mount, hands steady on the reins, heart aligned with the long road ahead.

The sun climbs higher, yet he does not rush. “Patience is what separates the good from the great,” he reminds himself, repeating the wisdom passed down from those before him. It is not about being the fastest at the start—it’s about lasting until the very end.

Monika & the Women Who Dared to Dream

Elsewhere, Monika, a coach with the fire of a warrior, watches her team take their places on the field—the first-ever Saudi women’s football team preparing to step onto the world stage. She sees the nerves in their eyes, the weight of history pressing against their shoulders.

She gathers them in a tight huddle, her voice steady but filled with the same energy that had carried her through years of coaching, battling, believing.

“Pressure is a privilege,” she says, quoting Billie Jean King, the legendary champion of resilience. “If you feel it, it means you’re in the game. Now step onto that field and own your place.”

And they do.

The Dakar Winner & the Test of Endurance

A thousand miles away, the roar of engines tears through the silence of the Arabian desert. The Dakar Rally is a test like no other—dust storms, exhaustion, the brutal elements that humble even the most fearless.

A racer, grit lining his jaw, crests the final dune, the finish line just beyond the horizon. He can feel the weight of the journey behind him—mechanical failures, relentless fatigue, near misses with disaster. But he did not come this far to crumble now.

He grips the handlebars tighter, reminding himself that leadership, like racing, is about vision—not just the moment ahead, but the long road beyond it.

As he crosses the finish line, the chequered flag waves. The podium awaits, but he knows this victory was earned mile by mile, moment by moment, in the silent decisions to keep going when every part of him wanted to stop.

The Formula 1 Driver & the Night Race in Bahrain

Under the floodlights of the Bahrain Grand Prix, a Formula 1 driver stands beside his machine, rolling his shoulders, exhaling the tension. His eyes fix above the steering wheel—not on the first corner, but on the long race ahead.

The crowd roars, the track shimmers under the desert sky, but he is already in motion, gripping the wheel, mind sharpening to a singular point of focus.

As he launches forward, threading through the pack, he knows what every great leader understands: “It’s not about how you start—it’s about how you finish.”

The Leadership of Endurance

Whether in the saddle of an Arabian steed, on the world’s most demanding football pitch, gripping the handlebars. Of a Dakar bike, or steering through the floodlit straights of Bahrain, the lesson is the same:

The long race is won not by the fastest, but by the one who endures.

And in the words of legendary coach Vince Lombardi, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.”

To lead is to last. To endure is to win.

And under the vast Arabian sky, where champions rise, the long race continues.

— JodiAnn