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Three Times a Winner

Richard Ussher / 14.12.2009

Our last race for the year got off to an inauspicious start when our team mate Jacob Roberts called to say he’d come off second best with a car while out biking and had a broken shoulder. Luckily for Jacob he didn’t look as bad as his bike or we’d have been at his funeral.
Ramadan was also about to start in Abu Dhabi so the whole country was about to head into a 2 week holiday and so a replacement needed to found ASAP so the flights could be organised.
Step in super sub Nathan Fa’avae who’d as luck would have it in pretty good shape having just raced in New Caledonia.

<b>Prologue</b>

This is where we were seriously worried about the skill level in our team with 2 swimmers and 2 almost non swimmers. We’d been up to some testing at the local pool in Nelson though and reckoned we’d minimised our weakness as much as possible with the aid of some flotation, a snorkel and some tow lines.

The opening MTB ride was just as scary as anticipated with the tension and nerves finally being released as over 160 athletes set off on the start of the 6 day race.

Off the bike and the pace was hot for the ensuing run through the grounds of the Emirates Palace hotel and out to the launching point for the swim. The swim had been in doubt earlier as several large barges had been blocking the course even as we’d set off on the MTB but even the weaker swimmers were relieved a gap had been cleared as the day was already heating up and the prospect of a further 5km of running didn’t seem appealing to anyone.

Into the water we were slightly in the lead but now it was just a matter of when we would get passed, not if. Surprisingly it took a while but then as we got closer to the beach opposite more and more people came passeed.

It should be pointed out that adventure racers are not renowned for their swimming abilities – in fact most of them avoid it at almost any cost, a mere survival tool as opposed to anything even slightly resembling speed. Add to that the fact there were several teams comprising top triathletes including Hawaii Ironman World Champion Faris Al Sultan and it seemed evident to most of us we were on a hiding to nothing.

Elina and I were going along OK but I was intrigued as to these occasional bursts of speed we were having, I made a mental note to ask Elina what it was it was making a massive difference to the pressure on the tow rope and therefore our pace, if only she could replicate it more often now!

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