Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge Day 4

leader MTB
It was a very busy weekend for the teams competing in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, as they spent most of the second day on their bikes and in their sea kayaks, only to stay in those kayaks for the third day as well. Today, the fourth day of the stage based adventure race, removes water from the equation, with the teams going head to head in a 107km (66 mile) desert run.

The Kiwi’s continue to dominate the leaderboard with Team NZ now holding down the top spot and countrymen Team Desert Islands currently in second place, just a minute behind. The French team of Sport2000 Vibram Outdry is running in third, with Wilsa Helly Hansen, also of France, in fourth, and Team Nike clawing their way back up to fifth place after hovering around tenth for much of the weekend.

This long desert run will continue through today and tomorrow, with Day 6 bringing three stages that include a short 12km mountain bike section through the desert, followed by another trekking section and ropes course in the mountains, and capping the entire race with a one more final mountain biking leg 27km in length.

Some of the best racers in the world are in the top ten at the moment, and it’ll be interesting to watch them come down the stretch and see who ends up pulling it out. The Kiwis are running strong, which shouldn’t be a surprise since the sport was practically invented in New Zealand, but the best teams in the world have elected to end 2008 at the Adventure Challenge, and the second iteration of the event seems to have cemented it’s reputation as one of the top races in the world.

Kraig Becker

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