Team www.AR.co.za in GoMulti Magazine

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Race costs

I've done a basic summary of our race expenses so that we can see how much this race cost us to do; and roughly how much it would cost you to do it in 2010.

Clothing
We just went for tops (2 x short sleeve, 2 x long sleeve and 2 x light fleece pullovers) as bottoms are a lot more personal preference and everyone has black shorts/tights. Race conditions are warm, so we didn't need to go crazy on clothing. That helped. Total was R950pp (girls got off at around R900 because our short sleeve tops cost less). We were very fortunate to receive our clothing from First Ascent at wholesale prices.

Additional gear
We all needed toget Petzl Shunts. Three of us needed mountaineering helmets. All needed leather gloves for the rope sections. Three of us got bigger hydration reservoirs (3l). We all needed waterproof matches and bigger space blankets. I needed a bigger knife to conform to race specifications. Chris got a trekking pole. We all needed double lanyards. Three needed travel towels and additional drybags. On average, for the main stuff we all needed, it probably amounted to anything between R2000 - R3000 per person. We got our gear through Petzl and Ram Mountaineering at wholesale prices.

The compulsory gear lists are pretty minimal - how much you need to get will depend on how much you have already.

Three of us also attended 3 x paddle coaching sessions. Total of R450 each.

Another expense was goods for the first aid kit. They gave us quite a list and we had to have double of most things. I don't know what we spent here. We didn't use any of it.

Food
My race food cost me about R650.00. I spent more though because I still have leftovers, which I didn't pack. I'll use this for other races. Bars and gels up your expenses quickly.
Before the race we got rolls, chicken, tomatoes, cheese for lunches (spent about R500 in total). We ate three meals at restaurants - around R140pp each time per person.
So, we're looking at around R1250.00 per person for food (race food and pre- and post-race).

Hotels
Accommodation in Abu Dhabi is VERY expensive. We arrived on the Tuesday morning; so that night was for our own expense (the race accommodated us from the Wednesday). This cost us just over R1300pp sharing, excl. breakfast. The race accommodated us after the finish on the Wednesday night (at the Hilton in Al Ain!). We were only flying on the Friday at noon so the Thursday was for our own expense. The cheapest hotel we could find cost us around R930pp sharing, incl. breakfast. So, this was almost R2300.00 each just on two nights accommodation.

Transport
Public transport infrastructure is good; but travelling is difficult with three big and heavy race crates and four people. Buses only take you to the bus/taxi depots. We learned how to find cheaper rides but they are not always convenient. We spent around R1500 in total on buses and taxis to and from airports, hotels and also our trip to Dubai (which was the cheapest!).

Summary (per person)
Transport - R375.00
Hotels - R2,300.00
Food - R1,250.00
Clothing (tops) - R950.00
Additional gear - R2,500.00
Paddle coaching - R450.00
TOTAL - R7,825,00 per person

Entry and flights were covered by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority as part of their Awards programme. We were one of 5 teams to receive this. If we'd had to pay the costs would have been:

Race Entry (3500 EURO): R48,000.00
Flights (Joburg - Abu Dhabi on Etihad): R6,000.00pp (R24,000.00 for team)

So, if we included race entry (R12,000.00 each) plus flights (R6,000 each) = R18,000.00 each.

So, the overall total then would come to almost R26,000.00 per person. And, as the race provides boats and bikes you won't get hit with extra luggage costs, which is R200/kg; we came in under our luggage allowance!

Comparatively this is brilliant for a 6-day, mostly catered (5-Star catering too!), international adventure race. And, this is a race I can 100% recommend whether you're a competitive or social team. This race is not a slog-fest and it is very doable, even by inexperienced teams; it has a touch of luxury. Awesome experience and event.

What to eat during the race?

Food lists became an interest to me when I started doing self-sufficient staged ultra marathons. You have to carry all your food and clothing and equipment for the 5 or 7 days from start to finish. So, weight becomes important. The race regulations specify that you have to pack at least 2000kcal/day. Although you won't die, I find that I feel hungry on Day 3.

Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge was a bit different in that catered dinner and breakfast was provided by race organisation on the 1st, 3rd, 5th nights - and after the finish. We then had to provide snacks and munchies for all the days and dinner for nights 2 and 4 (breakfast for the mornings too). We ate a lot this trip.

I've got a spreadsheet, which I've added to over the years. It contains lists of foods I like for races (and that don't need to be cooked) as well as portion weight; protein, carb and fat content; and calorie contribution.

This time around I put together my food packets and then, out of interest, I added them to my spreadsheet, which I've pasted below. I ate almost everything except a few protein bars, gels and Rehidrates. My worst thing was the USN Hi-Energy bar (unpalatable chocolate cement) and my winning food was the Jungle B'fast cereal with a dash of Cape Creamy soy milk powder. Add 200ml water to the ziploc bag, shake, bite a hole in the corner and suck. Yummy! (Banana and honey flavour cereal).

Click to open the table of foods.

Garth's race food delights included packets of crisps, especially things like Big Corn Bites, Fritos and Niknaks. Lauren had quite a lots of peanuts and raisins mixed with other nuts and corn nuts. I'm quite partial to corn nuts too - great crunchy texture.

Of interest, Tweet said they took 7-8kg of food per person for EcoMotion. Remember that they would have been providing food for themselves 24hr/day, whereas we had a number of meals provided.

Our race photos

A collection of photos from the race are available on Flickr. The photos won't be online indefinitely, but they'll be there at least for the next few months.

If you click through each of the images, you'll get the captions too. If you put them on slideshow view you'll see the photos without the captions.

We'll be doing a show-and-tell evening at Adventure Racing Club in Joburg next year, probably in February.

Home sweet home and thank you

We are safely back in South Africa and have almost all gone our separate ways. Garth is with me tonight; he flys back to East London in the morning.

This race and trip has been a very special experience for each of us. My special thanks go to Lotta, from the organising company Saga Events. We first met in 2005 when I went to France as media for the Raid World Champs. Lotta kindly remembered me and our country way down in the South of Africa and generously facilitated our coming over. Elise handled all our visas and flight bookings, also answering our race questions.

Hand in hand with Lotta is the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority who put up their special Awards for teams, who have not competed internationally, to attend their event. This initiative contributes to the sport of adventure racing as a whole, and not just this event. We cannot begin to express our appreciation for this opportunity suffice to say a huge thank you for your vision and generosity in making this possible for us.

Friends and family at home, thank you for your support and encouragement during the race and through the months of our race preparation. It is great just knowing you are in our corner willing us through each stage.

To all the friendly South Africans from the city, islands, stages, desert and every where else we encountered you, thank you for making the effort to find us, say hello and cheer us on. A special thanks to Wendy, Lizane for taking us sightseeing in Dubai. It really is a tribute to the friendly warmth of South Africans in sharing their time and hearts with a team of strangers. Thank you.

There is adventure racing and there is the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. It is an exceptional race made distinctive through its staged format, 5-Star cuisine on nights catered by the event, brilliant organisation and logistics and warm hospitality and the social vibe. But, make no mistake, although this race lets you sleep and the catered meals will blow your mind, it is still a tough physical adventure sport event. The competitive race upfront is unbelievably fast and the athletes are incredible.

As for the race setting... The clear waters of the Gulf, the magnificent desert islands and, of course, the Lewa desert will have you gaping. I preferred Abu Dhabi to Dubai, its smaller but more well known brother; and unlike this popular sibling Abu Dhabi is not all malls and hotels (though there are enough of these, with more coming). Abu Dhabi has all of these wonderful outdoor pursuits, especially paddling and desert trips, to offer visitors.

Finally, my teammates. Thank you firstly for applying to join me on this race. It is usually trying enough to race with friends or an established team, yet you took the chance on me, my choice of teammates for us, this unusual opportunity and our mix-match team.

Lobby, Garth and Chris, you are all special racers with open hearts, well rounded abilities and skills, initiative and warm and kind personalities that will complement any team you join or create.

I could not have been more fortunate than to spend this time and racing experience with you.

That's about it from me. Over the next few days I'll post some stuff on what we ate, photos, GPS tracks from the desert trek and other bits.

Till then, enjoy the weekend.

Sent using my Sony Ericsson C902

On the way home

At the airport. We fly in 3hrs and will be back in Joburg around 8. Always good to return home but it means our fabulous adventure is over.

Sent using my Sony Ericsson C902

Atlantis

Huge fish tank at Sol Kerzner's new Atlantis resort.

Sent using my Sony Ericsson C902