DUBAI // The UAE’s first ultra-marathon will be held this weekend, with athletes tackling a 140-kilometre cross-country course in the Northern Emirates.
Usually, competitive runners would have to travel abroad to participate in such a competition, such as the Comrades ultra-marathon in South Africa, or the Dead Sea ultra.
Zuzana Laukova, 33, is one of the runners at the event, which begins and ends in Ras Al Khaimah, starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday. A conference manager and fitness trainer, Ms Laukova ran her first ultra at Wadi Bih this month, where she completed 50km. To be classified an ultra, a race must exceed the 42km of a traditional marathon in one day.
“This Urban Ultra is my first self-supported race and I’ve never run such a distance in my life,” she said. “I’m feeling very excited but at the same time nervous.”
Racing just an hour from home makes the event accessible, although she is prepared for a huge mental challenge.
“Hitting the wall and convincing my body to keep going even when you feel like you can’t go on anymore will be the biggest challenge and hopefully I won’t get lost while running in the dark,” she said.
Wouter Kingma, 39, a photographer from the Netherlands, has been involved in adventure sports his whole life but picked up running when he moved to Dubai 12 years ago, starting with 10km races and marathons.
After having competed in triathlons and Ironman events, he completed his first ultra in 2011 at the Gobi March, a 250km self-supported race in remote western China.
He hopes the UAE’s latest race will grow, much like the popular Wadi Bih between the UAE and Oman, and over time attract an international crowd. There are 25 participants registered this year but organisers say interest has been such that they expect triple the number next year.
“From experience I’ve learnt that people from all walks of life enter these races,” Mr Kingma said. “The great thing is that you don’t need to be a super athlete ... there is so much more to completing the race than just fitness level. As the race evolves it becomes more a mental mind game. I’ve seen the strongest athletes drop out as well as guys with average fitness levels doing extraordinary stuff to finish. For many it’s crossing the finish line that counts.”
Absolute Adventure will provide the support crew, all of whom are first-aid certified, in addition to a roaming medic and nurse, quad bikes with first-aid kits and a medical tent at base camp.
The routes include mountains, jeep tracks, goat trails, boulder scrambles and wadis. Day One’s 50km starts at 3pm and continues well into the night. At 8am on Friday the 35km run continues, ending with a gruelling final 55km.
“Some areas are very remote and little-visited so the areas remain pristine with some spectacular views and surroundings,” said Pascale De Jong, from the organising team.
Toby Gregory, 35, from the UK, is an ultra-marathon first timer and said it would be “a real test, especially over this sort of terrain”.
In two years, he has run two full marathons. While some might say the cumulative distance, the heat or the mountain inclines and deep dunes are the real challenge, or even the snakes and scorpions, Mr Gregory agrees that an ultra is more mental than physical.
“I’ve learnt that finishing a marathon isn’t just an athletic achievement. It’s a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible.”
He said this event’s creation reflects the standards among the growing running community.
“A lot of these local runners push the boundaries as far as they can be stretched, taking part in marathons and ultra races all over the world. To have an ultra on our own doorstep is amazing. It’s going to be brutal but the geography in the UAE is made for it.”
mswan@thenational.ae
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Always check the weather forecast before setting off
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The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
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Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
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Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
