Here it is, the final race of the Spartan season, finishing things off with a duel in the desert.
This was the Spartan Race World Championship, hosted by Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
In aspects, it was a similar experience to the European championships that I’d competed in this season when it comes to the layout of the championship, with it being across just one race. However, due to the location and the logistics around this, the format of the weekend was different, which had its pros and cons, which I’ll get into later in the blog.
From the get go, knowing that the race was going to be in Abu Dhabi and seeing the challenge they laid out for the athletes last year, I always knew this was going to be a tough test not only for myself but for everyone else around me. You had the desert heat, the continuous sand challenging your body and your footwear, and of course the fact that it’s a Spartan Race!
The approach that I took for this, though it wasn’t fully optimised, was to head out a few days earlier and conduct some acclimatisation as the UK isn’t the warmest in December compared to Abu Dhabi. There was also the task of me getting in line with the timezone so that I could optimise the performance on the day of the race.
Travel & Accommodation
Sorting my flights out myself, I chose to purchase one of the Nirvana packages that they had covering the championship. After my really good experience with them in Greece, it only made sense for me to go with them again for the peace of mind of everything being wrapped up into one, not having to worry about things like getting to and from the event site.
This time the accommodation was a normal hotel in the shape of the Park Inn by Radisson at Yas Island. This place did the job just right. Giving you all the facilities you needed like pool, gym, sauna and steam room, alongside your very comfortable and spacious bedroom, it had the added bonus of an extensive all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, which you can never complain at!
Given how far away the event site was from our hotel, the shuttles that we had were relatively smooth and timely, meeting the times requested.
Away from the racing and looking more at the experiences you could have had in the local area, this is where Yas Marina really strived and made it a great selection by Nirvana. Here are a few examples of what was on offer in the locale:
- Yas Marina – You were a 10-15 minute walk away, hosting a couple of beaches if the poolside wasn’t enough for you, along with a number of bars, food places and other entertainment options like an arcade.
- Yas Mall – Whether you needed some retail therapy or realised that you were short of something for the weekend, this was a short taxi ride away or medium distanced walk away.
- Warner Bros., Ferrari World, WaterWorld – All next to each other, if you needed a thrill in your life, these again were a short taxi ride away or medium distanced walk. When I ran past WaterWorld, it looked pretty crazy with the number and size of the water slides there!
Another good experience in my eyes with Nirvana and I look forward to using them next season if required for any abroad races.
Championship Weekend
Friday
Compared to other events, the day before the race was actually uneventful! For both the European and Trifecta World Championships, you had the ability to complete your registration, have the athlete’s brief and conduct the parade nations. For this championship, that wasn’t the case. Now, this could have been influenced by the fact that the championship fell on the weekend of the UAE’s National Day, allowing people to experience and enjoy that but I still feel that there was scope to still include it, lightening the load of the Saturday morning.
Instead, it was announced that Spartan athletes were able to attend the celebrations at the Sheikh Zayed Festival, featuring a blend of cultures from around the world, shows, fireworks and drone light shows. I had heard good things about this festival however, didn’t have the chance to attend. Though it may have been only a 10 minute drive from event site for the race, it was around 30-45 minutes drive for most people each way, and with the fireworks and drone display not until 2100, wasn’t particularly viable with the competition being at 0900 the next day.
With the Park Inn being located very closely to Yas Marina, there was a the opportunity to head down to the waterfront to spectate the fireworks that were on show there at 2100 along with other festivities however, I decided that a good night’s sleep was needed more to ensure I was performing at my best the next day.
Saturday
Pre-Race
Like any good athlete should, it was an early start to the day to get a good breakfast in to ensure I was adequately fuelled up for the challenge ahead and had everything I needed do a day at the event site. Hopping in our shuttle at 0700, it ended up being around an hour or so to get to the event site.
There was a little gripe when it came to registration. With everyone needing to register that morning and only two lanes open, this brought about long queues, causing a knock on effect to not only your preparations, having to rush them slightly, and leaving the race itself having to slide right to accommodate an athlete’s brief.
After being omitted the day before, the Athlete’s Brief was a clear and concise one by the team, giving the lowdown on all the obstacles, things to look out for on the course and explaining any tweaks or changes out there on what was about to become our battleground. Once that was out of the way, it was time to get a quick warm up conducted before getting down to business.
It certainly wasn’t the ideal morning prior to a race but what can you do? I’ll stop with my excuses!
Events Area
The events areas itself was quite dense but was spacious enough for not only all the competitors to get in but the vendors that were there too. Entering through the great doors at the entrance, this first took you into the merchandise shop, stretching out along the twisting corridor. Exiting from there, you were greeted with an expansive, sheltered space, that housed the food and drinks vendors, bar, numerous areas for you kick back and relax, and a number of cultural vendors selling a variety of souvenirs to remember your time there.
Outside of this spot, you had the main stage, set out with the podium on it. This is also where you found the bag drop, cold water rinse and a number of other food vendors. By the finishing line, there was a shaded carpeted area, with a numerous pillows and cushions to relax on, overseeing the Capital A Frame. For somewhere that seemed so small on the outside and dense once in the events area, never did it feel overcrowded and had everything that you needed.
Course
This part is likely the section you have all been waiting for! What was the course really like? Were there any crazy editions? How bad was the sand in the end? Was it harder than what was faced in Sparta?
Fret no more, I’m here to answer all your questions! (But if you have anymore, comment below!)
Starting with the obvious topic: sand. Oh the wonderful sand that it was! At the start of the race, the initial sections were fairly compact or had rock underneath, meaning that movement underfoot wasn’t too bad and gave you enough to push off with. This didn’t last too long though before things got softer and more challenging with each stride, draining the energy out of your legs.
This was particularly bad on the dunes, as you can imagine, with the surface giving away with every stride. Often you were down on all fours, bear crawling up to get the misery over with sooner! Even when you were finally at the top of a dune, when you went running down the other side, it’s not like running down a hill into another up hill, allowing you to carry the momentum. Oh no! Out there, you’d be able to get some sort of momentum before coming to an abrupt stop when going up the other side as all that momentum dissipates into the sand.
Oh, and they made sure that there were plenty of them. Often the short, sharp up and downs would come in batches of 3-5 dunes just to really test your resolve before being given a flat section to run on. In the race brief, they did mention that these would be the fast sections but I would use the term “fast” very loosely…
As the race went out, there were various little things that I picked up when it came to where to place my feet, such as:
- Not following in someone’s footsteps – This is one of the instances that this saying doesn’t ring true. You could tell where someone stepped as the sand had been churned up, making it softer and causing you to sink into it that little bit further.
- Stay away from vehicle tracks – The same thing occurred with the tyre tracks that were left by the buggies and 4x4s that were out on course.
- Darker sand – I noticed that when on darker and naturally formed sand formations, it was a little more compact and easier to walk on. Especially on the uphills of the dunes, you were less likely to start sinking in with each footstep, at least for the first few strides. It may sound minor but every little helps when you are running on sand for 13.2 miles.
Thankfully for me, with my VIVOBAREFOOT Trail Soft Grounds on, not only did I get good purchase with the sand, the wider footprint meant that I didn’t sink in as much as others did. Alongside this, my more natural running technique was more suited to this surface as it doesn’t reply upon me “pushing” off the ground, requiring more energy as it’s absorbed, but more firing that hamstring and simply just landing.
Where these shoes did let me down though, or maybe more so the fact I didn’t have full feet gaiters, is that the mesh on the upper part of the shoe let sand in very easily, meaning that after a few miles, my toes were being pushed up a solid wall of sand, causing serious discomfort, blisters and hindering my running. With that though, I feel this is completely down to me and my poor preparation in certain areas.
Moving on to the obstacles, there were a few changes and new things introduced that I had not seen before to add some variation, which is always good to see:
- Ape Hanger – This was taller than usual, making sure that you definitely had to climb the rope up to be able to get to the first rung of the ladder. There was the slight assistance of knots being added into the rope.
- Barbed wire crawl – There were three of these around the course but they were fairly high meaning that you could pretty much crawl on your hands and knees without too much issue. I mean, they could have been really harsh with these, putting them as low as what was laid out at Sparta, getting you really up close and personal with the sand!
- Zig-Zag Wall – Like the Z-wall but some new editions and a little longer. The first section was 5 poles that stuck out with no foot holds for you to use however, you could push your feet against the wall at the bottom but not on top. The second, third and fourth sections were your normal z-walls with 4 handholds, 4 footholds per section, with the final part being 4 ropes with 4 footholds before you hit what was a comically large bell!
- Capital A Frame – An A frame, just double the size at 50ft tall to finish off the race with.
- Laser pistol – This only featured on the team relay but it was the first introduction of the laser pistol “obstacle”. You could test it out whilst in the event area during the weekend to see how it will work for next season.
Penalties
Is this still the hot topic at the moment in the Spartan world? I’m sure there are one or two that are wondering what they did with the penalties as the idea is developed and refined for full implementation next year. Well, from what I saw, it seemed that all the technical obstacles, where you have to traverse from one side to the other, were the ones that had penalty loops. These weren’t weighted, like that of the Trifecta World Championship, as it was deemed that sand was enough to slow you down and make it a worthwhile penalty.
All other obstacles, the multiple attempt ones, were where the burpees were.
To answer the question that someone from Sparta gave me of “Which was the harder course?”, I think they both have their challenging elements. Sparta was more challenging with the obstacles, with there being more of them, being more technical based and the extended versions of them. Sparta even had more elevation gain!
Nothing compares though to the sand element of this one. Yes, it rained and was treacherous but 13.2 miles of sand is gruelling. Compound this with the baking heat and it truly became a test of your mental fortitude. There were many that I spoke to who said they considered dropping out along the way, myself included. Parts of the TWC Beast course I actually enjoyed.
I can’t say the same about this one. I was definitely overwhelmed with emotion at the finish line, simply from the challenge that the course had presented.
Nation's Parade
It was good to see that every nation had their chance to get onto the stage with their flag flying high alongside their fellow compatriots, taking the time for each and every one to get up there and have their moment as they were called up alphabetically. However, I will be completely honest that after being spoiled at Sparta with the nation’s parade there, this one seemed very disappointing and it was unclear as to how it was going to be conducted.
There was a clear and reoccurring request for athletes to go to the registration tent and claim their flag but from there, it wasn’t instructed clearly as to how it was going to be completed. You had some nations returning to in front of the stage straight away whilst other queued outside and came in to the event area in a random order. I do feel like this could have been alleviated through the processes put in place in Sparta whereby there was a nominated flag bearer and set process for forming up with your flag and bringing everyone in an order.
The other side of things was that only those that had finished later in the day, competed in the later race or were there for the awards ceremony were in attendance, leaving things a little underwhelming on the numbers front or with some countries, no one there.
Awards Ceremony
Starting with the Elites as you would expect, both the male and female top 3 were brought up, presented their plaques the appropriate level dignitaries, had the national anthem of the winner played before being presented with their cheques. This was followed up by the male and female podiums combining for a collective photo. This led into the presentation for the Age Group athletes, going through each age group and sex one by one, allowing each person to have their moment of glory on the podium, receiving that well deserved delta plaque.
Afterparty
Unfortunately, I didn’t stick around at the event site for too long after the presentation of the awards due to my bed needing plenty of rest after the day’s race, how I was feeling and what had intended to be me taking on the Trifecta the next day. From those that did stick around, I didn’t see or hear much on this front, feeling that most voted to get themselves in bed to rest up, ready for the next day.
Sunday
Sunday for me didn’t go as planned at all and I had to make the ego bruising by deciding that I wouldn’t be competing. This was due to the issues that I had had with my footwear and their intake of sand causing issues for my toes and blisters on my heels, alongside the continued dizziness, headache and nausea after the amount of effort and exertion I’d put in whilst in the sun for an extended period of time.
It was a painful pill to swallow as I had fully gone into the weekend with the ambition of completing one of the toughest Trifectas, having paid my entry fee, and had even packed my bag the night before in case I did come around to feel a lot better. Alas, it wasn’t to be. I may have been able to throw myself into it, grind my way through and get the medals but felt ultimately, would it have been worth it? For what the outcome may have been health wise, ruining both my final few days in Abu Dhabi and beyond, as well as the high that I had from the day before, wasn’t worth it.
Team Relay & Open Races
It would have been an interesting day if I had been in attendance, witnessing an insight into what the 3km race would entail in the future and how the team relay went down in the end. I’m afraid, this is where I tell you that I haven’t heard much either way on this topic so you’ll have to ask someone else who was there or raised in this event. Overall though, I get the feeling that the Sunday was a success, even if it was tough for those out there running, with many coming away with their Trifecta medals, smiles on their faces and feeling of pride of taking on and defeating one of, if not, THE toughest Trifecta in the calendar.
Competing in the World Championships in Abu Dhabi was a great way to finish off the season and was the most challenging race of the year, which I find very fitting. The way the weekend was conducted was great on the most part, with a couple of areas in places that could have been better to make the experience that overall perfect send off for 2022 in my opinion. This wasn’t enough to diminish the shine of it all and maybe I’m just being picky after being spoilt with the previous events.
Let’s see how Spartan takes another step up next year. They have plenty of things changing and it will be interesting what that does to the Spartan Race sphere.
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