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Race Result September 2008September 27th - Dubai Triathalon Club - Aquathon Saturday 27th of September was Dubai Triathalon Club�s first major event of the season, a swim/run aquathon along the beach at the Meridien Mina Seyahi. It was well organised, had hundreds of entrants, and reasonably mild weather for the time of year. There was a long course (800m swim/5km run) a short course (400m swim/2.5km run), and events were open to individuals and teams. The 5pm starting time meant we were in for a finish just before sunset, in a very scenic spot in front of Barasti. There were a surprisingly high number of ABRaS entrants � 15 in total � proving that we are more bi than we previously admitted, and possibly even more surprising is that, excepting Frederique, Dominic and Richard B (and Niels, Ryan & Kieran, who are under-age), every one of them was at our Welcome Drinks social on Friday night. Some of the entrants had even progressed from the Royal Mirage on Friday night on to the Irish Village, and indeed may have headed over to Barasti ahead of the race... There were so many spectacular performances, it�s hard to know where to start. The overall fastest time on the long course was provided by a two-person team in which Niels was the runner (proudly wearing his ABRaS vest!), winning Niels a medal in the team prizes (1st). Next ABRa in was Chris Taylor, who not only completed the long course in 37:29, finishing 18th overall, he then rushed back to Road Runners and ran Safa Park as well!! (And mate, no matter what Richard says, no shame in being one minute behind a 17 year old girl: Carina is going to the Junior World Championships next year!). Only 22 seconds behind Chris was the team on which Sarah Opperman ran, earning her a medal in the team prizes (3rd). And on the subject of medals, ABRaS made quite a scoop on individual prizes also. Frederique won the short course, with Alison Williams second; on the long course Tracey won second place in the female V40, and last but not least, our beloved leader came out of triathlon retirement...to finish second woman overall, winning the women�s under 40 category! Seems like 10 years off didn�t make much difference! Other truly admirable performances came, on the long course, from Richard B, Daryl (part of the heavy partying crowd of Friday night), our new half-Ironman Kevin, Luc, and our ever-braver Dominic who has improved hugely since the first summer sizzler and finished well up the field. And on the short course, our Janet (who, having done all of two races in her life decided to run the New York Marathon in November) also threw herself into the fray and finished only one second behind the 3rd place medallist! Interesting to me is that, despite her constantly-lengthening list of victories, Anna still seems a little hesitant about getting up on the podium to accept her medal. Myself, on the other hand, who would have no problem at all standing on a podium before five million, unfortunately never wins anything. On this particular occasion, I managed to even out-do that honour by actually disqualifying myself during the swim so that I ended up doing only a 400m front crawl plus the 5km run. Because this officially disallows me, you will find if you turn to the results that I am not even listed as a participant (http://www.dubaitriclub.net/Results/aqua1_0809.html). In fact, the only hard evidence that I actually attended is a rather dismal photograph of a drowned-rat looking person well off in the distance. It was taken by my husband, as part of a series in which he managed to capture some rather outstanding shots of Anna storming across the finish line :o)). It was great fun and I reckon there will be ABRaS at further Tri Club events this season. Race Report by Amanda.
September 18th - DRR Iftar Challenge Well done to everyone who raced in the Iftar race on Thursday. It was a great little race with a big turn out in a brilliant setting (despite the weather). It was good to see so many ABRaS vests out there, especially in the mens race. There were 7 ABRaS vest in the first 10 men to finish. Fantastic!! Congratulations to our new member Christian on winning the race, first time in an ABRaS vest, first time in a Dubai race. A great run by Neil saw him finish second, showing the youngsters a thing or two, Neil was also first V40. In the ladies race, Anna won the race while new member Sarah Opperman�s hard training over the summer showed through as she had a great race to finish second. Unfortunately for us Sarah will only be in Dubai for another month. Tracey ran well to finish third and win first V40 while our �loyalty award winner� Angeline wasn�t far behind and had a great run to finish fourth. Gigi was pleased with her 6th place and 2nd V40, especially as she�s doing the Berlin marathon next Sunday. Well done to all our ladies, Julie, Jo, Alison and Carol, all finishing well up in the field of 53. In the junior 2.5k race It was 1, 2, 3 for ABRaS members Ryan, Kieran and Niels. Ryan dominated the race in a superb time of 8.50 and new ABRaS member, Kieran Gibson showed that he also has got loads of talent and was only 12 seconds behind. Niels, still struggling with his knees, ran very well to finish a clear 3rd . Well done boys! Full Results on - DRR Iftar Challenge Results September 7th - Singapore Half Ironman Race went well. swim 1.9k, bike 90k, run 21k. The weather was very hot and humid i have found that out when i had a perfect sun burnt mark of my tri top. I would attach the picture but don't know where it will apear. My time was 6hrs 59min. Wasn't exactly what i wanted but i was happy to complete it and i took a lot from it for my next one. My times were, Swim was 52min (1.9K), bike 3hr12 (90k), run 2.44 (21k). The water in Singapore was nothing like Dubai there were dead fish on the beach and you couldn't see your hand when swimming. Then to top that little insects or something kept stinging my face. Not a nice experience but swim was nice a little too relaxed and easy than I planned but i felt good coming out the water i was 120th in age group and 684 overall. Bike ride was supposidly going to be flat, but with no hills in Dubai they took there toll at about 85k when i started getting cramp in my hamstring, apart from that i felt strong so far, off the bike i was 132nd in age group and 731 overall. Off the bike i didn't the old jelly legs as i started really easy. Once i started running though the previous 4hrs work was starting to take effect. My legs were getting tight but as my head was ok i could keep myself going as i wanted to hear the commentator annous my name coming over the finish line. Time for the run was nothing to phone home about but all i was thinking is that i have finshed. I came in 131st in my age group and 748 overall. In the end as much as i didn't get my time i was happy i'd finished the longest race i have ever done. I'm now taking what i learnt from Singapore and going to use it for Dubai Half Ironman in January. Report by Kevin Birch |
