A growing scene – triathlon in the UAE

The Middle East is not exactly synonymous with triathlon. It’s certainly a young sport here in the UAE but, like in the rest of the world, one that’s growing fast.

The first big difference, as I mentioned before, is that – due to sweltering summer heat that regularly climbs above 45°C – triathlon is a winter sport here. You can train during summer – pools are chilled and as long as you cycle or run slowly and very early or late in the day – whereas, for around eight months of the winter, conditions are fantastic. Warm every day, very little rain, few storms…

But, anyway, that means that, as most the rest of the tri-competing world is currently taking a bit of time off or contemplating their winter training schedules, we’re just getting going here.

The fantastic people who run Emirates Triathlon organise a sprint series, with a  regular monthly 750m/26k/6k triathlon taking place at Ghantoot (on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi). With so many Brits, Europeans, Americans, Suth Africans, Aussies and Kiwis mixing here, in Dubai especially, there’s a huge appetite for triathlon and these sprints usually sell out (250 capacity) three weeks or so before the event. They’re getting more and more popular too.

Golden Tulip Al Jazira - starting point for the swim in the Ghantoot sprint tri series races.

For me, as a novice but OKish triathlete, they form great B races and barometres for my training. There are bigger events I’m more focused on, but these Ghantoot tris form the bread and butter for most of us based here.

Anyway, the next of these sprints is bright and early tomorrow morning (6.30am start as it’s still quite warm once the sun’s fully up). I’m really looking forward to it to see how I’ve improved over the summer, plus it’s the first race I feel I’ve had a nice, relaxed week leading into the race which, due to work, rarely happens. I’m hoping I can turn that into a PB.

I’ll let you know how I get on…