Words By: Natalio Liares
Photos By: PHISHFOTOZ, Louise Adamson
Additional Photos By: Russel Chavez
I signed up for this 30km with the idea of ending the season with something unique – a “night race” in the wadi. After I completed the Extreme3 140km, I figured I might as well get my feet wet (or cracked and blistered) as it was predicted to be a rainy night.
The Night Rebel had two aspects that appealed to me. First, it is the only night race in the region. Second, Night Rebel had three races (10km, 20km and 30km), well organised by Urban-Ultra and it is in April. Nothing better than to end the running season with something easy (you heard it right) before it gets too hot. In this running season, I have basically completed nine races from November to April, claiming two ultramarathons, one marathon, three half-marathons and three 30-40km mountain races. After learning about the trail running community in Dubai, I realised that trail runners are a rare breed of bizarre that still train even when it’s freezing in winter and freaking hot during summer, and still wake up early in the morning to get in a three or four-hour trail/sand run.
Training
Well, crap. I did sit down and wrote myself a nifty little training plan that looked really great on paper. I will say that despite not training adequately according to popular standards, I did manage to log about two to three runs per week with a reasonable long run on Friday mornings and a few of those on the trails. I’m racing mostly every other weekend since January. I also cross train with weights. Luckily, I was able to join a group (www.dubaitrailrunning.com) run on Showka where the race took place two weeks out from race day. It started 6:20am I logged 31km that day and realised this was going to be a lot harder than I thought as the temperature rises from 20° to 34° as we finish.
Race day
The conditions of the evening were too good to last. The weather had brought some rain during the day, and it helped to keep everybody cool. My friend Zuzana and I arrived with an hour and a half to go. We had just enough time to do a gear check and set the mood. Race briefing starts 7:45pm. Twenty minutes later, I was running through the dark by the light of my headlamp. I had decided going into this race to leave all expectations at the start line. After all, you only get one first at each distance. I wore my Suunto, but decided not to look at it often. I wanted to listen to my body and not my watch. I started off mid pack and decided to take the first 1.5km climb nice and slow. I figured that since I had no idea how many people were ahead or behind me, I wasn’t going to start my usual calculating of who I needed to pass in order to start picking off people in my category. Not until the 10km mark. The first 15km went pretty darn swell as it’s mostly uphill. I was very conscientious of my fueling and took a gel at 7km (much sooner than I usually do on road races). I knew that the elevation gains and losses affect your body much differently. I never stopped at the water stations because I had enough of electrolyte drink, water and gel in my hydration pack. Enough to fuel up to the turning point (15km). On that note, I ended up being happy with my choice. My pack never bothered me and I was able to sustain my own fueling throughout most of the race, avoiding time costly stops at the water stations. The point was to cover as much ground as possible before feeling any fatigue at all, to “shorten” the race, in a way.
I started to notice that as I could see the line of runners ahead of me, I only noticed about two men. My immediate competitive nature kicked in and I started to wonder if I’d be able to catch any of them. I didn’t speed up, I still listened to my body and the gap between us remained about the same until 9km. I hit the wind and started to close the gap between myself and these men. I passed all two as I came into the 11km mark. This 30km course was out and back along the same route. As I started to near the halfway water station, all the runners ahead of me started passing me on the other direction as they went back out. This allowed me to see how many people were ahead of me. I saw seven. That meant that coming into the halfway point, I’m eighth. I arrived at the halfway point at 1:30:12. I was pleasantly surprised with my time. Then I’ve heard a voice-over from the crew, “The French Navies are fast, take them down one by one.” This gave me quite the mental boost as I filled up my electrolyte bottle and turned out for the downhill.
The downhill
Heading down the first 3km descent was cooler as temperature dropped from 27° to 22°. My mind was renewed but my legs and heart rate were crying. I turned up my music, put my head down and just put one foot in front of the other until I reached the 20km water station. I passed one navy as he stops for water. One thing I have learned about these long distances is that you can’t focus on the entire distance; that will crush you mentally. You have to compartmentalise. Once I got to the top, I knew it was nice and then downhill for another 13km before the last climb and undulations.
The last 5km was brutal. Those hopes were almost dashed. Somehow I messed up. And so I tripped, with my toe catching on a big rock 100m before the water station. There was a strange moment when I sailed through the air, flailing a bit before I landed, knowing I was in a slight dive position. In that split-second, it was frightening to anticipate what might happen. My life didn’t flash through my mind, but the question like “will I be able to finish?” certainly did. I was hit with most of the force of the blow centered on my core, I did get my hands down and scraped my palm. I stopped for a bit to assess, felt generally okay, and continued on at a slower pace. I started repeating a mantra that had popped into my head. I knew that no matter how slow, I just needed to keep moving forward. Forward is progress. I only had 5km to go and it was motivating to know that I would probably finish under three hours. I knew I was doing okay, considering I had made pretty good time on my first half.
I started picking up the pace again and my legs definitely felt fatigued from 26km mark, though I don’t quite consider it as bonking – just borderline delirium. My heart rate soared as I had to quickly react to avoid falling entirely when I hit a rock again (which of course, I still did one more time in 29.2km mark). It didn’t slow me down but certainly added to the mounting mental fatigue.
I crossed the finish line with an official time of 2:57:09 and it was good enough for fifth overall. It was extremely rewarding. Zuzana finished as first overall female with time of 3:35:40. I just love the Energizer Night Rebel, the positive atmosphere is contagious. We took in some breathtaking countryside, as well as gritty local terrain and a friendly racing scene. No iPod necessary. Enjoyed the trails in the peaceful evening. This left me feeling energised and excited.
Training tips:
Make sure you do some runs on terrain, to get your ankles and legs used to the rougher surface, descents and climbs. Train in your shoes, get used to them. Run at night with a headlamp.
Racing tips:
Always take first-aid supply. Tie your laces very securely. Use a good headlamp. Go steady at the start. Always obey the marshals’ instructions. Hydrate well and enjoy it!
