The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge
Female-dominated team home after Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge
Lisa de Speville / 19.12.2010
"This year's race was tough," says Team www.AR.co.za's captain Lisa de Speville. This was her third consecutive Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge leading a relatively young and inexperienced team. "The first four days were crazy! From the moment the prologue – a fast-paced multidiscipline sprint around the city's main beachfront - started we seemed to rush from one leg to the next; sprinting on bikes, running flat-out, commuting in buses to new locations, setting up camp, eating, sleeping and then up again – once at 2:30am – for the next stage's start." When Day 5's sea-kayaking stage was cancelled due to high winds and unsafe conditions in the Gulf, many teams welcomed this unexpected day of leisure. The final sea kayak stage on Day 6 was shortened to 35km confined to the protected beach-front bay as conditions outside remained turbulent and unsafe.
South Africa's adventure racing website, www.AR.co.za, receives a race entry – plus flights - from the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority to bring a team to the event. The only condition is that the team, bar one member, must have no international experience. Taking this a step further, de Speville selects the team members for their relative inexperience in the sport. The months of preparation and the race itself serve to bolster their skills and add to their adventure racing competence with a view to seeing each member contribute their experience to build stronger and more competitive teams locally.
In this team sport where mixed-gender teams are usually three-men-and-one-woman in format, female-dominated teams are unusual. "I decided on this composition because it is rare – and a first for me. Also, we need more female racers with experience to complement local teams," says de Speville. Team www.AR.co.za's members included Lizelle 'Zelle' Smit, Lizelle van der Merwe and Steven Erasmus.
"Zelle and Lizelle have only been racing for a year so they encountered many firsts at ADAC," says de Speville. They found the canyoneering especially challenging with its sharp rocks and steep, roped descents, which required constant clipping on and off safety lines. "I always joke that canyoneering, which we call kloofing in South Africa, is fun for the first hour, interesting for the next and thereafter you can't wait to get to the end because it is physically and mentally demanding; you've got to be alert with every step," de Speville explains. "After this, any other ropes sections they encounter in races will seem child's play." It took the team more than four hours to complete the technical 1200m descent.
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