We wanted to interview some of the sponsored teams heading to this year’s Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge (ADAC) next month. We caught up with Lisa de Speville and she shared with us a little about her team that she selected via an application process.

Who will make up the team for this year’s event?

Lisa de Speville (33) – the owner and editor of South Africa’s adventure racing website, www.AR.co.za. Her day job is in public relations and media. She has 10 years of adventure racing and ultradistance running to her credit; she is strongest on foot and competent in other disciplines.
Christo Viljoen (33) – he’s a future trader by day and a bass player in a local band by night. He’s an all-round athlete, strongest on foot, with many years of multiday adventure racing experience.
Alex Pope (21) – a 4th year electrical engineering student, he is one of South Africa’s top orienteers and has represented his country internationally at championship events. He has a lot of experience in short 2hr to one day events; this will be his longest race.
Francois Jooste (20) – a 3rd year mechanical engineering student, he is an accomplished mountain biker. He has been doing 24hr mountain bike races for years and he got into adventure racing through the schools league.

Alex and Francois

How was the team chosen?

I am very fortunate to receive another Abu Dhabi Tourism Award to take another South African team over to the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. As I did last year, I open the three places on the team (me plus three) to our South African adventure racing community. I post an application form on the website, www.AR.co.za, and people get a month to submit their application. Once applications close, I spend an afternoon reading through each one in the order in which they were submitted. I then make a spreadsheet detailing each person, their age, gender, location and things on their application form that stood out for me. Once I’ve narrowed it down, I start phoning their references; many of the applicants I don’t know personally. I prefer the references to be people that I know – and who know me. The really hard part is when I have four or five people that I really like – but I can only take three. When I’m deciding between two or three people, my last step is to phone them and to just chat – nothing specific in the conversation. It is little things that seal the deal. Like last year, I had many really super applicants this year. The final team composition is a combination of age, experience, location and, most importantly, personality. The hard part is building a team from people I may know only in passing, or not know at all (selection based on gut feel!), and to get a combination that is really going to gel in a race environment and that they will fulfill my objectives for their post-race activities. I choose people that I feel will share their experiences from ADAC to introduce others to the sport, to guide and teach others and, in time, to lead their own teams in an international race. Team www.AR.co.za is not created to stay together; we do this race as a team and there after each person goes on their own to build their own teams. I had an amazing team last year with Lauren, Garth and Christiaan and this year I again have an absolutely awesome team with Alex, Christo and Francois.

Where is the team from?

We’re all South African. Alex and I are in Johannesburg – we live a few blocks from each other, which is very convenient. Francois is in Pretoria, about 80km North of Jo’burg. Christo is in Bloemfontein, which is about 4 hours South of Jo’burg. We have only all been together twice; and only for a few hours each time. Alex and I paddle regularly together and we’re both orienteers, so we do a lot of the same events. In October I spent a week with Francois on the set of a new sporty tv programme; we were both in the teams for the test shoot. This past weekend Francois, Christo and I spent a weekend together; Alex is currently overseas on the support crew of another South African team, Cyanosis, at the AR World Championships in Portugal. Francois and I ran the six hour foot rogaine as a team – it’s the first sporty thing we’ve done together. The next time we all get together will be the day before we fly to Abu Dhabi.

How was the team selected for sponsorship?

I did some media work for the organisation involved with ADAC a few years ago. When ADAC came around, and specifically the Abu Dhabi Tourism Awards, they made contact. This race has the most amazing country representation and they were really keen to have a team from Africa at the race. South Africa is really the only place adventure racing happens and we’ve got an active community and supportive media. It also helps that South Africa’s adventure racing website, www.AR.co.za, is my baby; so the race gets great coverage. Abu Dhabi Tourism Awards is an amazing initiative in that they give novice teams the opportunity to race in a well organised international event. The Awards work differently in each of the countries that receive the Award. Essentially, www.AR.co.za received the Award and it is opened up to our adventure racing community to apply for a place on the team. I look for people who are currently actuve participants; they need not have much experience. The most important criteria is that they will use this experience to create and lead their own teams and, I hope, to race abroad in years to come. This team is built to be temporary and each participant is tasked with sharing their experiences to guide other racers.

Christo, Lisa and Francois

How did the team do in 2009? Top finishes?

We’ve never raced together but as individuals we’re all fairly competent across a range of disciplines. Alex is one of our country’s top orienteers – he really excels and has represented South Africa as a junior and senior. Francois is a superb mountain biker with many wins and podium positions to his credit. Christo’s strength, like mine, is definitely on foot. He recently placed 18th (open male category) and 16th (overall) at two gruelling trail running events in October. This past weekend, running with another guy, Christo won our annual six hour foot rogaine. Ultradistance trail and mountain running do it for me, in addition to orienteering and rogaining. I’ve had some nice results this year including a ladies win at a five day stage race, setting a new ladies record at a 80km trail race, a team relay win at a road 100-miler and a lovely social participation in the six day TransRockies Run in Colorado in August.

What are the team’s strengths and weaknesses?

I think that our strength will be on foot; not necessarily in terms of speed, but in resiliance. Although we won’t be at the front, I think we’ll make it through the desert section comfortably. We’ve been working on our paddling. Alex and I have been paddling really well and I go into this year’s ADAC knowing what to expect. Been there, done it and will be able to do it again. Christo has good race paddling experience behind him and Francois is adaptable; he has done all kinds of river paddling in plastics but he’s relatively new to kayaks. Last year our team (different people) of non-paddlers placed the best in the paddling of all the stages! The guys are all strong bikers; this is my weakness.

Is this the team’s first international event?

Yes. I’m the only one who has raced internationally before – I did ADAC last year with a different Team www.AR.co.za combination (they team will be different every time and for every race, by its nature). Alex has run in international orienteering events, but this will be his first international adventure race as a participant. Christo has been racing locally for many years so this is going to be so great for him; and Francois… he has been fortunate to be at the front of local sprint races – I can’t wait for him to see just how fast the teams up front at ADAC really are. Hahahaha

What is the team doing to prepare for the race next month?

We’re all regular runners so a lot of our attention has been on paddling regularly. We also have been doing coaching sessions with a local paddle coach, Russell Willis. He worked with our team last year and it made such a difference to us. Russell has been working with us on getting our style and technique efficient so that we can get through the long, long paddle stage comfortably (well as comfortable as you can be paddling hard all day!). My focus over the next three weeks will be on biking; the guys will probably bike a lot too because we’re all good on foot.

For the rest, it is about getting gear, team clothing and all the bits and bobs together as the weeks tick down.

How psyched are you to race in Abu Dhabi this year?

I am VERY excited about ADAC this year. For me, I have another superb team of motivated, competent and talented teammates. They’re also great guys and we’ll all have good fun together. Last year it was new to all of us and so we went in not quite knowing what to expect. I hope that my experience from last year will help to better guide our team and to have a better strategy, especially with the optional controls on the desert trekking stage. And I know how to make MUCH better gaiters for this year; so that will make a BIG difference.

If we looked inside your race pack in Abu Dhabi, what would be surprised to find?

You’ll probably find a cable tie here and there – they fix almost everything – and I usually always have my titanium spork (spoon/fork), that my American trail runner friend, Bob, gave me many years ago. It goes on every race with me – ultra run, stage race or adventure race – and it always comes in handy for on the move meals.

What is the team’s strategy for the event?

We don’t really have much strategy aside from completing every stage as efficiently as possible. This race unfortunately doesn’t have challenging navigation – I’d love more orienteering and navigational elements – so it really is a speed-fest in the front. We’re in this for experience and it would be great to place at the top of the Award teams. Personally I’d like us to improve on what our 2008 team did in the desert (better gaiters this year will already make a big difference and will save time) and if we can have a good paddle I’ll be extra pleased.

Does the team have a sleep strategy for the race?

As ADAC is a staged race, we get lots and lots of sleep. The only place that strategy will really play a role will be on the desert trekking stage. The compulsory sleep has just been increased to eight hours (from six) and we can take it at no more than two places (compulsory, not optional, checkpoints)

How do you stay focused and motivated for such a long race?

Any distance event, whether single discipline or multidiscipline, is about bite-sized chunks. You complete one chunk, whether 10km or a stage, and then move on to the next. I focus on chunks, not the whole picture, because unless you get through the chunk, you won’t get to the next. This makes focus easier because the race becomes about each section, not six days.

What will be the team’s hardest challenge at the event?

I’m hoping that we won’t have a hardest challenge! For the most part I think we’ll just work our way through the event, appreciating each experience and enjoying the amazing scenery and terrain that Abu Dhabi offers. For me, I can’t wait to get back into the desert. I was completely captivated and the Liwa Desert is one of my favourite locations on this planet.

Is there anything else that we should know about your team?

What is quite interesting is that Alex is insulin-dependant diabetic. His father is diabetic too so he has grown up in an environment where he has learned about the disease and how to manage it within a sporting framework. As Alex says, it is almost easier to be racing because you just need to eat and your body burns – so sugar is easier to control. Alex has steadily been progressing into longer and longer events – this will be his longest – and learning about what works for him as he goes along. He has such a good future as a navigator – he is already exceptional! – and also as a diabetes ambassador, really proving that with good management diabetics can do anything they want to.

I’m sure I’ve got the youngest teammates in the race. Alex is 21 and Francois is 20. They’re both ahead of their years in terms of experience. Alex has been orienteering since before he can remember; I’ve known him since he was a young teen. Francois comes from a family of cyclists so he got into 24hr mountain bike events at the age of 14. They’ve got such great adventure racing futures ahead of them and I’m certainly that ADAC is going to be the most amazing foundation.

Our team blog is www.teamwwwarcoza.blogspot.com. We’ll be posting content and pics from the race.