Wadi Bih Relay

Last weekend was the Wadi Bih relay, the 17^th edition, the longest running expat sporting event in the UAE.  It started as a HASH.  The route has changed over the years since the borders have been tighten up, so now it completely takes place in Oman instead of starting in the UAE and finishing in Oman, or something like that.  

I meet up with my team, the 3 Fins, Thursday night after an excruciating long drive and passport issues…

  Soon after picking up a rental mountain bike in Dubai, I realized I forgot my passport.  The border is lax, not that lax.  I did have a copy of my passport and after calling some friends, I figured I would get through.  I got through, but only after going to the local police station and having them look at my papers.  They kept repeating that I

 worked for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, so either that was their way of identifying me, or that got me through the border.   I was then able to eat, the Fins had some BBQ. 

The third Fin flew in for the race.  He is a journalist and author.  He has done over 100 marathons and even has done the Hood to Coast relay!  He was our default organizer.  It was only a 76km relay, with 5 member teams, the legs were short, 3-4km average. 

Our fifth teammate was Faris Al Sultan.  For those who do not know him, he is a professional triathlete and Ironman Champion (Kona) from 2005.  My friend, Kevin, has been in touch with him as he has been in and out the country training over the last several months.  Kevin joked that he should do it, but Kevin filled his team, so my team got the “extra.”  We all met up and ran through a quick strategy session and then listened to Faris and his training/racing stories as well as

 the evolution of the UAE.  He has been coming here for 10 years!  He is a very down to earth, normal, easy going, which was very cool to see.  

The route is a flat for 15km then gradual uphill punctuated by a 2.2km 25% grade section to the top of the wadi.  Then a rolling 4km section to the turnaround.  It was rough at times keeping up with the runners as the sections were short and we ran fast!  Add in another 100 teams, plus their car and the single lane wadi track becomes a bit congested.  It was all good since we left 90 minutes after the official start and before half of the competitors.  We didn’t run into much traffic after we got down off the steep section.  That section was the main bottleneck for most.  We were also far enough in front that the dust kicked up by cars was never really a factor.

Last years winner went 5:08 on this course, we were looking to break 5 hours.  We ended up going 4:45.  Kevin’s team had a ringer as well, a professional runner with a 1:06 half marathon PR.    We finished and found that another team had beaten us by a minute!  Fine, we got second, but no, Kevin’s team threw down a 4:35!  Bastards!  We won some hotel vouchers (one night stay) and some vouchers for a sports store (100 dirham each). 

After some food and beers and more food I crashed in the tent on the beach.  The plan for tomorrow was to ride the course on mountain bikes. 

Both Kevin and I were a bit thrashed from yesterday.  I think he dug a deeper hole than I as I felt relatively good most of the ride.  The super steep section was tough, I think the runners were going up faster than we rode.  It was all graded track with some loose larger rocks.  There have been several days a shamal winds, so the visibility was very poor.  It’s been very poor all over the country for days.   We bummed some coke from some random people and then headed down.  Once down the steep section he descent was super fun – nice rolling downhill through wide corners and a little jump here and there.  My ghetto rental bike worked pretty well despite what it looked like.  We completed the ride in around 4 hours.  Probably less, but I screwed up timing with my Garmin.  The steep section as 1500’ by itself and I’m not sure what the total ascent was. 

Next race is March 6^th, an Olympic.  The day prior is a charity ride from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain, 180km.  I’m hoping to do that as well.  It will be a slow easy ride with plenty of stops.  That will be it before IMRSA April 5^th.