Weekend fun

We had a whopper weekend with the Energizer Night Relay on Friday night, a 24km trail run at Suikerbosrand on Saturday morning and a 16km paddle training session on Sunday afternoon at Germiston Lake.

The links above direct you to posts on Lisa's 'Adventure Lisa' blog.

All dressed up for the Energizer Night Relay

A most amazing morning at Suikerbosrand - fresh green grass and lots of eland

Irresistible…

Media Release: Award winners and newcomers bolster record-breaking field for the 2010 Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge.

One of the main objectives of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge is to encourage the
worldwide development of the sport among competent but relatively inexperienced athletes.

Today, with newcomers from around the globe flocking to test themselves in this
internationally acclaimed event, is widely considered as an obligatory stop on the adventure racing calendar. This ability to continuously refresh the field by attracting new and eager talent to the race is due in part to the ongoing ADTA awards programme inaugurated in 2008.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority introduced the scheme to aid new, highly competitive teams wishing to pursue a racing career on the international scene. As in the past, partnerships with existing events or organisations within the AR community were established and, through a process of competition or selection, 4 teams will be awarded the race entry fee and return tickets to Abu Dhabi for each team member.

Two of the teams will be chosen via the direct competitive route and must finish as the highest ranking team in a single race or series that has yet to race outside their home territory.

Sweden has already named a squad Statkraft Adventure Team, with expert adventure-racing tactician Arvid Björkroth at the helm of a group of experienced AR athletes. In July he led his team to 4th place in the 950 km Explore Sweden Monster race and was thrilled when his team was presented with the ADTA award. In the USA, the award will be given to the first eligible team past the post in the season closer of the Checkpoint Tracker National Championships, to be run at the end of October. A strong turnout is expected and competition will be understandably fierce throughout the field as all the teams on the series compete in the grand finale where the “winner takes all”.

For her 3rd year running as an ADTA award selector, Lisa de Speville is introducing another hand-picked team of South African newcomers to the international adventure-racing scene. This year Lisa has chosen a squad of three young women and one male who are not only new to international AR but have little experience over the distance and terrain they will encounter on the ADAC.

The other team qualifying through the selection process is from Australian where the SleepMonsters website has drawn up a short list of five teams from the 16 registered for the award. The final decision will be taken during the first week of October when the jury announces the award winning team.

These four novice squads will be competing in a field of 50 teams drawn from at least 20 countries, a majority of which are competing in the race for the first time and have been lured to this universally acknowledged world-class event by its undeniable pedigree. In the words of Hadi Masron, captain of race rookies Sart Ecorace (Singapore): "Other teams on the international circuit were already saying the ADAC was fast becoming the toughest race in the world. Well who could resist that challenge?"

Live race coverage and information at http://www.abudhabi‐adventure.com/

Teams rush in as word goes out

Media Release: Word of mouth is driving huge interest in the 2010 Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, we look at what some of the team’s have to say….


Mughamarah (UAE)
Since July Mughamarah has been following a comprehensive fitness and training programme, involving general fitness and endurance training, focusing on the specific disciplines featured in the race and honing equipment and technical skills. Team captain Jean-Marc Laventure reveals this expat team’s goals: “Deepen existing friendships and build new ones; experience the adventure and Abu Dhabi’s stunning natural landscapes; seeing how well we can perform in some of the world’s toughest conditions and against some of the world’s best prepared teams.” But they’ve also done their homework… “From our analysis of previous editions of the race, any section can become difficult if the conditions are unfavourable. We are trying to prepare ourselves for the worst: sandstorms; extreme heat or cold; no wind or extreme waves on the sea-kayaking section.”

Sart Ecorace (Singapore)
Familiar faces on the international circuit, Sart Ecorace couldn’t resist the chance to try out the Abu Dhabi event: ”Word was going round from other teams on the circuit about how the ADAC was fast becoming one of the toughest races in the world. Who could resist that?“ confessed Hadi Masron. “We are also particularly eager to gain as much race knowledge and experience as possible from the other professional teams in this race.” They are certainly taking the words of their fellow athletes very seriously, maximising their participation in other regional-international races and reviewing gear and recovery rates in the run up to the ADAC. “We are concentrating our training routine on kayaking, running and biking,” Hadi concluded.

4 Empty Quarters (UAE)
Another expat team flying the flag is drawing on previous experience and rigorous personal preparation in the hope of improving on their 2009 result. “For all of us, the challenge of competing in such a long duration event coupled with the opportunity to see Abu Dhabi in a different way is immensely motivating,” explains Robin McGowan. “We are comfortable working together but as many of us travel quite extensively, group training is tough, so we are concentrating on our own individual training plans. However, weekends are reserved for working on the practical aspects of team coordination and, in particular, on biking and kayaking. None of us have a strong kayaking background and so maintaining a good pace on the sea-kayaking leg is going to be the biggest challenge…” Robin reveals. But this time around ambitions and expectations are running high: “Last year we had a simple goal which was to just complete the course – this year we are still relaxed about our participation but want to push it a little more targeting the longer options and trying to see just how far we can push ourselves,” he added.

ADTA Award winners can't lose

Media Release - When Adventure Challenge organisers, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), essentially hands your team a spot on the starting line and a chance to experience one of the world’s greatest outdoor events as part of its dedicated awards scheme, you can’t help but feel like a winner.


In the USA, competition for the much coveted Checkpoint Tracker slot is understandably intense as the Checkpointtracker National Champs approaches at the end of October. A number of teams are in contention for the ADTA Award slot with current table leaders, Wedali from Minneapolis, looking like firm favourites. Competition remains fierce and any of the five leading teams could catch them and steal top spot as the series reaches its climax.

For the first time the Australian arm of Sleepmonsters has been chosen to select a team from among its very highly competitive stable. A short list of five teams from the 16 registered for the award will be drawn up the first week of October with final selection being made by jury.

In her third year running as an ADTA Award ambassador, Lisa de Speville is throwing caution to the wind by introducing a team of South African rookies to the arcane arts of adventure racing. “This time my focus was on a 'girls' team, going with three females and one guy format,” said Lisa. “I'm the only one with trekking and running distance experience. …I really have got myself a novice team!”

A strong runner, experienced orienteer and expert paddler, Lisa’s one potential weakness, biking, is more than offset by the complementary skills of her chosen teammates. Adri van der Westhuyzen only ran her first 24-hour plus race in August but brings powerful mountain biking to the mix while Steven Erasmus has some adventure racing experience behind him. “Steven is a strong runner and biker and over the past three months has developed into a very decent paddler,” Lisa enthused. Completing the team is 22-year-old AR newbie Lizelle Smit, who managed a victory racing in a pair team at the recent Swazi Xtreme - a tough multiday non-stop adventure race in Swaziland. Her strengths are in running and cycling but with almost no paddling experience, she will find the sea-kayaking legs very challenging.

The other team with a bib to its name is Statkraft Adventure Team from Sweden, which boats adventure racing kingpin and expert tactician Arvid Björkroth at the helm of an eclectic group of experienced AR athletes. Arvid, a self-confessed multisports “failure”, was a little surprised in July when he led his team to 4th place in the 950 km Explore Sweden Monster race. He was even more surprised when they presented the team with a pair of socks… and the ADTA Award!

Pernilla Lagergren has been an endurance athlete for some years now and is recognised as one of Sweden’s top AR females. With a penchant for the saddle, she is accomplished on both bikes and horses, and has a keen eye for fatigue levels when the team begins to flag. She is the team’s governor, deciding when to rest and when to go. Team navigator Peter Hagglund is an effective all-rounder and ice hockey player whose engineering streak has landed him with the task of designing the team’s all-important gaiters for the desert trek. Another team member with an air of flair about him is Henrik Enberg. An excellent biker, he was a member of the junior national team and his physical strength and constant high spirits will come in handy for keeping the morale of the team at its peak when the going gets really tough.

What the team lacks in international racing experience, it more than makes up for in determination.

“We would like to beat some of the other Swedish teams but we have no experience in desert racing so we will just train harder,” assures Arvid.

Though the race conditions will be foreign to them the stage format has added appeal: “I like these stage races and it will be great to meet the other teams in night-camps,” he concluded.