By Travis Macy • Photos by Monica Dalmasso

In 1994, when I was 11 years old, I watched from the support car as my dad, Mark, ran 146 miles from Death Valley, California to the summit of Mt. Whitney, more than 14,000 feet above. The Badwater
Ultramarathon is one of the hardest races on earth, and during those two days in the support car a lifelong reverence for the desert grew within me. While I always relished brief forays into the empty, dry spaces of North America, nothing I had done previously compared to what I would experience in Abu Dhabi in December of 2009.

Flying out of Denver International Airport just ahead of a looming snowstorm, I realized that missing a few good powder skiing days in Colorado was a small price to pay for a chance to race in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, a six-day multisport race in some of the most inspiring, unique, and unforgiving terrain on earth. For the next week, I would run, bike, paddle, swim, and climb through the vast sand dunes, deserted trails, sprawling seas, steep cliffs, and incredible cities that make Abu Dhabi a true treasure of the Middle East. Although the temperature at my house was well below freezing, I hoped that running through deep snow in the weeks before the race would prepare me for romping up
and down sand dunes.

The Players
The stakes were high with 40 coed, four-person teams from 20 countries competing for the largest cash purse in adventure racing. Like most international adventure races, the field included a disproportionate number of Kiwis. Race-hardened in the unforgiving climate and steep hills of the Southlands, the experienced athletes of Team Qasr Al Sarab and Team ADCO (who had both gained the support of local sponsors for this race) could be expected to contend for podium positions.

The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge is a distant descendent of the original Raid Galouise and Raid World Championship, and a number of competitive French teams toed the line in an event organized by a French company called Community. Other familiar faces included the Swedes of Team Lundhags Adventure and Spanish/French of Team Buff Thermocool.

Strikingly absent were the Americans of Team Nike, the most successful adventure racing team in history, but interestingly present were the Germans of Team Abu Dhabi Triathlon. Led by Faris Al-Sultan, winner of Ironman Hawaii in 2005, this team of uber-triathletes generated whispers across the field and media before the race.

Would the fittest triathletes in the world have what it takes to complete a multi-day adventure race? Could they win?

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3. Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge Prolongs The Pleasure
4. Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge Announces 2010 Event Dates
5. Team Checkpoint Zero/Inov-8 Heading to Abu Dhabi