The Arabian Quest

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An Arabian Adventure

John Falchetto - Mountain Extreme / 22.03.2005

Ras Al Khaimah, UAE - Last Friday, 18th March, saw the inaugural running of the Arabian Quest eco-adventure race where contestants mountain-biked, skipped and generally scrambled to the top of Jebel Jays and back down again.

The first ever edition of the adventure race brought together over 60 participants eager to climb the 1900 meters of Jebel Jays in Ras Al Khaimah. All funds raised through the race will go to the World Wide Fund for Nature office in Dubai towards the establishment of a mountain protected area in the Ras Al Jebel area.

“This was a great success, everyone enjoyed themselves and came back down safely,� said John Falchetto, founder of Mountain Extreme and organizer of the Arabian Quest race series. "I think for the first edition, the race was well balanced including a contrast between fast and slow segments, trekking and biking, pain and joy. All the contestants who took place came back tired but exhilarated and this was a big plus for us".

Cycling up Wadi Shaha for more than 15 kilometres, challengers then swapped their bikes for running shoes to race across loose rocks and varied hilly terrain to checkpoint five, which was the turn-around point for most contenders. Only teams registered for the Arabian Quest Extreme continued to the peak.

In the all male category, team "Fun and Madness" of Dubai took top honours, outsmarting and outrunning the competition. The second team, "Stonemonkies" from Ras Al Khaimah took a wrong turn and this little error in navigation on the way to the summit cost them precious minutes. Fun and Madness completed the gruelling course in 8hours 8 minutes.

Co-ed team "Mountain Goats", led by expert hiker Dee McEnery and mountaineer Adrian Hayes, took the first place in the Arabian Extreme – Mixed category with a time of 9hours 50minutes.
The all women’s Arabian Quest title saw an exhausted but happy finish for team "Baad Bedouins". Exhilarated team captain Heather MacKenzie exclaimed,“the Wadis and masses of boulders were challenging; we discovered two species of snakes en route as well as friendly donkeys and goats.�

“We had to be as fast as possible as we were running out of time and water, the Ras Al Khaimah Police helicopter was reassuring, as it circled us at least four times. All in all it was a great adventure and something we would like to do again next year,� said MacKenzie.
Seasoned adventure racers Marie Josée Trépanier and Robert Lamoureux took team Tak Ming to victory in the co-ed Arabian Quest category with an impressive time of 6hours 12min.See All Event Posts