Mercure Challenge Jebel Hafeet Duathlon

Now, you may be wondering why someone would want to make the climb of Jebel Hafeet harder than it already is.  Isn’t it enough to cycle or run up up a 10 kilometre long, 1000 metre high mountain in baking heat?  Indeed, why not just drive up the thing?  Or even better, stay in bed?  Well, this isn’t the time to get into that debate, and if you don’t get it, you probably never will.

Anyway, for several years, UAE triathlon coach extraordinaire, Jason Metters, with the support of the Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet Hotel, has been organising the Jebel Hafeet duathlon.  Yes, you read that right - duathlon.  As in cycling and then running.  Here’s the deal.  You cycle from the bridge at the foot of the climb to the Mercure Hotel car park (just under 8.5 kms, to an altitude of 915 metres), and run to the top of the mountain, before turning round, and running back to the hotel car park (4 kms).

Having done only the bike section during a couple of the events last year, and been called “a big wuss” for doing so, I thought I’d give the whole shooting match a go this year.  And what a great day out it was too.  I hauled my new look lightweight frame (that’s my frame, not my bike’s frame) up in first place in 31½ minutes, and set off on the run, having been overtaken by one of the real competitors in the transition zone.  (How can these people change from cycling kit into running kit faster than I can unclip a pedal?)  Unfortunately, running has never really been my thing.  To be fair, some have even used the term ‘waddling’ in preference to running, but off I set nevertheless, on my first competitive running event since the knee-crushing 1991 Mount Kinabalu Climbathon (“The World’s Toughest Mountain race” according to the organizers).  The only good thing to say about the run section was that the pain didn’t last for as long as the bike section - about 19 minutes in my case.  Which I’m assured is snail-like.  At least it looked that way to me compared to the two guys who steamed past me on the way down.

So 4th place at the end of the day.  A great day out - but running still sucks!  Photos to follow in’shaalah.

Big thanks to Everaldo Reyes III of World Gym Abu Dhabi for getting me back down to my fighting weight, and to Burkhard Leide, Team@World Directeur Sportif, for gently pointing out that I needed to do so.