Taking on the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge

Sunday, 30 May 2010 11:41

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge 2010

What to expect at this year's ADAC? In early December 2009, as most ‘normal’ people started to wind down and think about Christmas pudding, the four green members of Team www.AR.co.za competed in the third annual Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge (ADAC). If you’re wondering what made them so green, read on...

ADAC is a six-day staged adventure race, which means it incorporates the relative luxury of staged racing (read: sleeping at night in tents and enjoying catered breakfasts and dinners) with a challenging desert course.
From the azure Gulf to the expansive Liwa Desert, ADAC always proves to be a fast-paced race to the line for competitive teams. For the rest, it’s an unusual international racing experience they won’t soon forget.

The ‘green’ team

The three team members accompanying www.ar.co.za owner Lisa de Speville were selected through an online ‘fill-in a form’ process. The team was considered green because they had not raced together as a unit before ADAC. “It’s a risky way to choose a team,” says de Speville, “especially when I select people not knowing them very well, or not at all. Gut feel works - brilliantly.”
The team’s preparations began in September with general fitness (run and bike) and copious amounts of paddling, including technical coaching sessions. The team joining de Speville was:
Christo Viljoen (33, Bloemfontein) is a good all-round experienced adventure racer with a strong trail running pedigree.
Alex Pope (21, Johannesburg) is a top South African orienteering racer.
Francois Jooste (20, Pretoria) brings Schools Adventure Racing and mountain biking (24 hour and staged) experience to the team.

The setting

ADAC stands out for its exceptional organisation, unbelievable catering (most breakfasts and dinners) and of course, the setting.
“Perfect climate, amazing paddling environment, a desert that words inadequately portray and awesome canyoneering up the rocky Jebel Hafeet Mountain, which rises from the flat-as-a-pancake terrain,” de Speville describes. “Generous prize money that goes to 30th place doesn’t hurt either.”

The result

“We achieved all the objectives I’d hoped for the team,” beams de Speville. “To finish the paddle mid-field; to collect more than one of the four optional checkpoints on the 36-hour desert trekking stage (two); and to finish in the money (higher than 30th). We finished 27th out of 40 teams.”
Will a third Team www.AR.co.za go to ADAC in December this year? “I hope so,” says de Speville. “I’m toying with the idea of an all-girls team (or 3:1 girl ratio). I’d also really like to see Cyanosis and McCain Adventure Addicts there. I think they’d be able to race into the top 10.”
Team www.AR.co.za’s participation in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge is made possible by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority Awards.
The Awards give novice teams an opportunity to compete in an international race.
Team race reports and captioned photographs at www.teamwwwarcoza.blogspot.com

< Prev		Next >