One race, three disciplines, 97 hard-core athletes … today’s Red Bull Sultan of the Desert adventure race pits extreme athletes against the UAE’s challenging terrain – and each other – in the toughest endurance race in the Middle East. Tackling the rugged foothills of Jebel Hafeet, Al Ain, the entrants will compete in teams to finish 15 kilometres each of running and mountain biking with a 12km kayaking leg to end. We speak to the course designer Markus Stoeckl and the entrants Eva Clarke and Adrian Hayes about what to expect.
Markus Stoeckl
The mountain-bike course designer from Austria competes in downhill mountain biking and high-speed bike races, and has broken the speed world record on dirt (165kph) and on snow (210kph) with standard bikes. He gives his tips for competitors.
It is a quite technical track this year in which a very good rider will be challenged, but a not-so-experienced rider will have his easy line choices to make it to the finish line as well – it will just take longer. There will be some technical uphill sections, which could also include some easy climbing, and some downhill sections, where they need to show their skills. In total, the track is not too long, but it will be very challenging at race speed.
What I love most about my sport is the speed and thrill – accelerating from 0 to 200kph in approximately 10 seconds, which is faster than some sports cars and that’s without an engine.
Eva Clarke
The Australian endurance athlete is competing in all three legs of the race. She initially entered as part of a team, but her love for the extreme compelled her to attempt the entire event on her own.
I love pushing myself beyond my limits. The reality is I know it will be over in a few hours. It seems easy when you compare a few hours of discomfort to someone who is suffering from cancer or a life-threatening illness, or someone living in a war-torn country or living homeless on the street. It becomes a mental game in which I draw on life experiences to get me through. To finish the race, I will draw on how I perceive my life – I am blessed at the moment – my only hardship is a 45km endurance event. My mind is 100 per cent willing to finish, therefore my body will be one 100 per cent capable of following my mindset.
I have had several sporting achievements: Guinness World Records for the most knuckle push-ups in one hour and 24 hours, a bronze medal at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Jiu-jitsu World Professional Championship and Dubai Fitness Challenge winner in 2012 and overall runner-up in 2014.
Adrian Hayes
The adventurer from the United Kingdom, is also competing solo. He regards summiting the notorious K2 mountain range this year as his proudest sporting achievement.
I’m an all-rounder in that I’m regularly participating and competing in running, cycling, triathlons, weight training, hiking, rock climbing and mountaineering and, less frequently, swimming, adventure racing, kayaking and so on. What I love most is the sheer variety – apart from being good for the body, multidiscipline training and competing never get boring.
Summiting K2, the world’s second-highest mountain in Pakistan/China, this summer has been my proudest achievement. It is generally regarded as the hardest and most dangerous mountain in the world to climb and lived up to its reputation fully. With the exception of 2012, no one had managed to summit the mountain since 2008 – when 11 climbers died on the descent – and only 330 people in total have reached its lofty heights in 60 years, with 80 (or one in four) being killed trying to do so. My first attempt in 2013 ended up with the deaths of two of our fellow team members in an avalanche. This year, thankfully, it all went to plan with the best (though entirely relative) weather experienced on the mountain for years. I doubt whether anything can top it.
Polar and mountaineering expeditions are all about keeping on going through fatigue, exhaustion or pain and, although much shorter, adventure races such as the Sultan of the Desert require some degree of the same. What I will possibly suffer from during this event, however, is the heat – I cannot operate effectively in heat no matter what my mind wants and three cases of heatstroke and three of heat exhaustion in the past six years on Ironman triathlons and other adventure races is the result.
atomlinson@thenational.ae
