ABU DHABI // Their teammates and team name may change, but Richard and Elina Ussher remain remarkably consistent in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge.
The husband and wife from New Zealand were on the winning team for the fourth consecutive year yesterday, teaming with two other Kiwis to win the title for the Thule Adventure Team.
They won all nine sections in the six-day endurance race, including yesterday's 33km kayak race around Lulu Island.
Thule Adventure - the Usshers, plus Marcel Hagener and Nathan Fa'avae - won by more than 80 minutes from the Thule Adventure Europe team, from France.
"The universal camaraderie, energy and will to win just cannot be measured. It is always special to win a race, but to do so four times in a row is unbelievable," Richard Ussher said.
"We've had a fantastic week together and the race's new-look format was a thrilling experience. We need to see more of races of such diversity elsewhere around the world."
Jacky Boisset, the captain of Thule Adventure Europe, said he was satisfied to take the runners-up position but challenged Ussher and company for the 2011 race.
"We are very happy as this year's second place is better than all our previous results," Boisset said. "If we won the race, there would probably be no reason for us to come back. We'll be back to do it again next year and we'll do everything we can to beat Ussher's team. The strategy for 2011 is just one word: win."
During the six days, athletes from 48 teams swam, mountain biked, canoed, climbed, kayaked and navigated their way through the deserts, mountains and waters of Abu Dhabi.
Forty-eight teams completed the Challenge, including 30 who were competing for the first time.
"The fact that 48 teams, including all the rookies, came back safely after six days ... demonstrates how this event is improving international standards and developing the domestic talent pool and pedigree of endurance athletes," said Faisal al Sheikh, the events manager for Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.
Thule Adventure's final time was 45hrs, 44mins and 47secs. Thule Adventure Europe was second, followed by Wenger (Switzerland), Adidas Terrex (UK) and Netcompetence (Sweden).
Bernhard Hug, the Wenger captain, was pleased with the third-place finish. "I never expected to reach the podium and we are very proud we did," Hug said. "It was hard to be motivated today after a full day's rest yesterday, so to get that consistency of performance back straight away is no small achievement."
Among the eight local teams, the best finish was recorded by the 2XU Blackberry team, who took 15th overall. EcoRacers were next, 30th overall.
"This is a very good result based on the amount of training we did," Darryl Chiles, the 2XU Blackberry team captain, said. "Although the race was much tougher than last year, I like the new design because it keeps the event fresh."
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
START-UPS IN BATCH 4 OF SANABIL 500'S ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
Saudi Arabia
Joy: Delivers car services with affordable prices
Karaz: Helps diabetics with gamification, IoT and real-time data
Medicarri: Medical marketplace that connects clinics with suppliers
Mod5r: Makes automated and recurring investments to grow wealth
Stuck: Live, on-demand language support to boost writing
Walzay: Helps in recruitment while reducing hiring time
UAE
Eighty6: Marketplace for restaurant and supplier procurements
FarmUnboxed: Helps digitise international food supply chain
NutriCal: Helps F&B businesses and governments with nutritional analysis
Wellxai: Provides insurance that enables and rewards user habits
Egypt
Amwal: A Shariah-compliant crowd-lending platform
Deben: Helps CFOs manage cash efficiently
Egab: Connects media outlets to journalists in hard-to-reach areas for exclusives
Neqabty: Digitises financial and medical services of labour unions
Oman
Monak: Provides financial inclusion and life services to migrants
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.5L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh129,999 (VX Luxury); from Dh149,999 (VX Black Gold)
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
CREW
Director: Rajesh A Krishnan
Starring: Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kriti Sanon
Rating: 3.5/5
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date
