When I hear of an event – any event at all, the first thing that comes to mind is that “It is a competition and somebody is bound to be a winner”. We have events all throughout the season that focus on a person or a set of people to be touted as the winner of the competition. While I’m not against the idea of having winners, it’s just that we are all too absorbed with the idea of winning when in fact the gist of joining an event is to have fun and have a great weekend – the competitive edge is optional.
So it was an absolute surprise as I found myself setting foot inside The Dome in Dubai Sports City last 17th-19th of September to take part in an event where they explicitly tell you that “everybody goes home a winner”. This is an event where the people get photos with Roman guards, shoot arrows at targets or play with a buddy and battle it out in a joust only to end up lying down on the foam laughing at each other’s knockdowns. This is a fun weekend; this is the Dubai Gladiators Challenge.
Held inside the Dome in Dubai Sports City, the Dubai Gladiators’ inaugural event saw hundreds of hopeful warriors battle it out across three days. To give them a taste of the event, the 17th of September witness the open training day wherein the participants and several other visitors got to experience the challenges and prepare for the intense combat that ensued between individuals and teams over the next two days. Now, it does seem misleading that there seems to be a “competition” but here’s the catch – nobody went home empty handed, with every single participant receiving a medal, and a goody bag filled with gladiatorial swag and other goodies from the event’s partners.
The first day was a blast with participants most especially children having a great time with their families taking on the challenges such as Target Shooting, The Arena, the Joust and event one on one Rope Pulling! There was various interesting sights at every challenge but what would be most memorable was during the Rope Pulling when visitors surprisingly “participated” in the pull between two persons so that at the end both sides had three or so people, all laughing at their fun antics and doing the same thing all over again. I even managed to train my archery skills over at the Target Shooting challenge wherein I was single-handedly owned by a toddler of a girl. Hats off to her for managing to hit the farthest target!
But it’s not only in those challenges where fun could be found. The joust saw some funny moments what with couples battling it out against each other in a creative form of “quarrelling” and even colleagues laughing at how they could easily removed the stresses of the work day with the use of an inflatable joust and their favourite break time buddy. The Arena was another challenge altogether – At first sight, it’s just a simple looking course but hear me out that it was made with the intention of really testing your mettle. I got my own taste of it and the idea that it was easy was easily debunked as I found myself reaching for my breath after climbing, jumping, crawling my way to the finish line. The Arena witnessed several gladiators who managed to achieve the course in record times the fastest being online a quick one minute and 29 seconds! You can find a list of the top 20 times in the chart below along with another chart for the final team scores.
The next days witnessed individuals and teams take on the various challenge and those who achieved the most points won another prize on top of their goody bags! Several lavish prizes were also raffled off during the day ensuring that everybody went home happy and content after a challenging day. The last day – the teams was where it was at. Offices, friends, and families all teamed up to achieve the most points and it was the climactic resolution to the time they spent during the training day. The Saturday Gladiators jumped hurdles, pulled ropes, swung jousts and shot arrows in order to prove who would gain the blessing of the Emperor and be crowned the top Gladiators of the day. The award went to Team Adventure HQ who managed to net an astounding team score of 300points. They were closely followed by Team Alemcowith 277points and rounding of the top gladiators was Team EO Vikings with 270 points. After the awarding, a bevy of photos ensued with everyone showing off their best gladiatorial poses with the Dubai Gladiators very own warriors complete in their Roman regalia. Sadly, the event had to come to a sudden close in light of the passing of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai’s son. The organizers found it proper to pay their respects to the family in this manner. But despite closing its doors early, everyone was jovial to find out that the event will be back during the winter season for another round! And this time, they promise a more intense challenge held in the unbridled and unlimited vastness of where else? The outdoors!
Words By: Keith Perena
Photos By: Jung Francisco
