Mercure Challenge/Jebel Hafeet Duathlon Race 2

Having survived the first Jebel Hafeet duathlon, race 2 came around on 27 February.  This time the competition was provided by former world Ironman champion Faris Sultan.  It’s often said that athletes at the very top of their sport are real gentlemen, and that it’s only those a rung or two down who can be a bit ‘stroppy’ - well Faris is proof of that.  A more approachable, modest, and down to earth guy you will never meet, a true champion and a great ambassador for the sport.

But how did he do in the race?  Well, I managed to get within 10 metres or so at one point early in the climb, and I swear I could smell the petrol fumes this guy is so powerful.  I don’t know if he saw I was there, but very soon he just opened the throttle a notch wider, and he was gone up the hill.  I made it into transition well behind Faris, but ahead of the mere mortals and this time managed to hang on to 2nd place until the top of the hotel road (OK, that’s maybe 100 metres, but it’s an improvement on last time!).  Climbing the first 10% section was about as slow as forward motion can be before it is downgraded from ‘run’ to ‘walk’.  I’d even done a bit of run training this time round, but it made not an iota of difference!  I’m convinced the only way to train for runnning after cycling up Jebel Hafeet is to do the exact same thing in training - it’s a whole different sport to your weekend 5k run, more akin to battering your leg muscles with a large lump hammer.  Still, only two of the real runners got past me, so 4th overall (to a world champion!), and 2nd veteran (choke) was a good day’s work, and in what other sport do you get to line up with a world champion?

Next event is the Dubai Triathlon Club Olympic Distance triathlon on March 6, which for me is a 40k bike, a nice distance as it equates to the 25 mile tme trials of my UK time trialling days.