Abu Dhabi: More than 160 of the world’s best endurance athletes Friday begin a gruelling, six-day cross-emirate battle for supremacy as the largest-ever Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge – one of the world’s most international endurance races – gets underway.
With its most diverse sign-up to date, the 2009 Adventure Challenge - held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Sports Council Chairman - boasts Guinness World Record holders, arctic adventurers, defending champions, ultra-marathoners and Ironman legends, as well as a host of aspiring racers from more than 20 countries.
Leading the charge this year will be New Zealand’s Richard Ussher, two-time winner of the Challenge, who is returning with an enhanced racing quartet; Adrian Hayes, a leading UAE-based explorer who has broken records for his expeditions to the ‘3 Poles’ and Greenland; and Faris Al Sultan, the 2005 Ironman World Champion and captain of Team Abu Dhabi Triathlon, the crack-endurance squad backed by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
And with a punishing 400kms awaiting the 40 mixed-sex teams – an Adventure Challenge requirement – the globe’s elite are ready to kayak; mountain bike; climb; run; desert hike and cycle their way across Abu Dhabi’s most stunning and demanding terrain, including the vast Empty Quarter – the world’s largest expanse of unbroken sand – and the dizzy heights of Jebel Hafeet, one of the UAE’s highest peaks.
“This year’s field is testament to how this event has evolved to become one of the world’s top five adventure races. It has grown both in terms of the number and calibre of participants to make it one of the global racing circuit’s most important events,” said Ahmed Hussein, Deputy Director General, ADTA, which organises the Adventure Challenge.
“The Challenge demonstrates the emirate’s stunning natural landscapes to a global audience and will unveil parts of Arabia unseen by many. It will truly be a journey of discovery for the athletes and the millions of people following the action globally.”
The Adventure Challenge 2009 begins at 8am on Friday on Abu Dhabi’s famed Corniche - adjacent to the main New Public Beach entrance - with a city-wide triathlon and a 33kms afternoon sea-kayak to the emerging Saadiyat Island destination.
And with a spectator-friendly opening leg, ADTA is urging the UAE’s sports fans to come and cheer on the teams.
“Never in the sport’s history has such a wide collection of racers convened for one event, which speaks volumes for the international status of the race. It will be a great opportunity for local enthusiasts to see, first-hand, these athletes in action, and to support their fellow countrymen and women,” added Ahmed Hussein.
After camping overnight on one of Abu Dhabi’s coastal islands on Saturday, the teams will then kayak 50kms back to Abu Dhabi city, before heading inland on Sunday for the 120kms, two-day desert orienteering leg through the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter).
Having tackled some of the world’s tallest dunes, with many peaking at 200 metres, the teams swap their hiking boots for cycling shoes on Tuesday as they mountain bike the 86kms to the edge of the sprawling Liwa desert.
Wednesday sees the teams scale the towering 1,240 metre Jebel Hafeet, which backdrops the Oasis City of Al Ain, before first light, armed only with rope and a harness, before cycling and running the remaining 41kms to the finish line at Al Ain’s historic Al Jahili Fort.
Teams from Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States are confirmed for 2009, with the winner receiving a top prize of US$40,000.
In addition, four amateur teams will make their international racing debuts as part of an ADTA Awards programme. The all-expenses paid scholarships were awarded to teams which had never raced professionally yet had a proven track in their own domestic races.
To follow the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge 2009 teams live via GPS, please log on to: www.abudhabi-adventure.com
