Bull of Africa
“Special forces are the ‘ladies’ of AR,� claims Sofrana Unilines’ captain
Mark Gray / 30.06.2005
“Adventure racers should never complain. They should simply do whatever is necessary to finish a race,� says David Bejilali (38), captain of Team Sofrana Unilines. Bejilali was visibly disappointed by the performance of team-mate Michel Dubois who, he claims, was insufficiently trained for The Bull of Africa despite being a member of the special forces division of the French Gendamerie.Sofrana withdrew from The Bull after officially completing only 190km of the 580-kilometre expedition race. Dubois had a nagging hip problem that started during the first 50km trekking leg. But, he continued through the next 130km MTB leg.
Bejilali said he told Dubois to abandon the race at a transition point where there would be food, water and medical attention. “Michel said he could continue but there was enough evidence to suggest the opposite and we were not prepared to leave him in the desert during the next hiking leg without sufficient food or water.�
Bejilali said he thrives on risk and pain and believes that even the most elite soldiers are often incapable of handling expedition-style adventure racing. “They are trained to use guns and knives and while they are physically strong and fit, they only have relatively short energy bursts.�
“Adventure racers learn to do without,� he added.
Bejilali races with his wife Stephanie. They incorporate punishing sessions into their training regime. Once a month the pair heads out to trek, bike and paddle for three consecutive days without sleep. They eat while moving, never stopping to rest. They also regularly go for 30-hours without food or water. “We want to suffer during training so we can duplicate the sensations we will encounter on multi-day adventure races,� he explained.
He said special force operatives are “ladies� compared to him and his wife.
Bejilali’s Bull race strategy was to race without sleep for the first three days. Their game plan fell through and their ambition to finish in the top 10 fell short. That’s adventure racing.
ENDS
Photo by Peder SundstromSee All Event Posts
