Triathlon Time

Scott has completed his part of the Triathlon. Now he just has to run to meet Stephan at the cycling startline. Scott said the run was the hardest part!

Hendrik crosses the finish line, note the team time of 5 hours 48 minutes and 24 seconds

Team 376 Scott Morrow - Swimmer (American), Hendrik Atsma - Runner (Dutch) and Stephan Saenger - Cyclist (German)

Our Triathletes at Toast the Tri Gathering the following Weekend: Reinier Van Der Wal did the short coarse, same as our relay team, except he did the entire race. Our team of Stephan, Hendrik and Scott. Peter Satchwell did the the long coarse which is basically the entire coarse TWICE. He is a crazy man and plans to do an Ironman competition in South Africa

The Long-Suffering Wives: Katarina Saenger, Katherine Atsma, Christine Morrow, Ginette Satchwell and Marleen Van Der Wal. We are smiling because the race is over!

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The Abu Dhabi Triathon - Where do I start to explain this turn of events for Scott... Well, Scott has been swimming almost daily since last summer and competed in the Abu Dhabi Mile Swim on the Corniche Beach last October (Go back and read that blog to get info on the Van Der Wal family). I believe that competitive spirit was rekindled that day, as Scott was out of the water 3 seconds before Rainier...

Jan 2011 We went to the Yas Triathlon (held on Yas Island home of the F-1 race venue) to cheer on Reinier and Martin Simpson. Scott and Stephan (also employed at Mafraq Hospital) were talking and Stephan tells Scott that he is a cyclist but not much of a swimmer. I commented that it was a shame that athletes such as Scott (who will never run farther than the shore line to the cyclist again) cannot compete as a relay team. We are told "Oh, Yes there are relay teams" and the trap was sprung!

The guys found Hendrik to run. Hendrik has only run for a few years and he told me that he started running as a way to relieve the stress and clear his head. Amazing!

The Abu Dhabi Triathlon is only in it's second year and is already attracting world-class athletes. The purse was $50,000 to top male and top female and 1,200 people participated. Swimming venue was The Emirates Palace, a 7-star hotel at the far end of the Corniche. Scott swam two mornings before the race at the Emirates beach, while I enjoyed watching the news, sports and organizer people prepare. (It is rough sitting on a beach towel watching everyone else work.)

Race Day we were up at 4:30 and picked up Reinier for drive downtown. At the swim venue way too early (but you all know Scott and "The Schedule"). We watched the sun & the excitement level rise as the crowds swelled in anticipation of the race start. 30+ Male Elite were first wave, followed two minutes later by 20+ Female Elite. There were 10 separate waves (i.e. starts) as 1,200 individuals entering the water at the same time would be difficult. Scott was in the 6th wave of about 200 swimmers. He got a mouth full of water, his goggles filled with water and with so many people he felt he was in a washing machine. However, he finally settled down and found his stroke. I was thrilled to be at the finish line and capture his picture. As an aside, Reinier was in the same wave and beat Scott this time - rematch anyone?

Scott handed off the ankle braclet with timing chip to Stephan and off he went. While Stephan cycled from one end of the Corniche to the other, out on to Saydiat Island out onto Yas Island and back again... (Gosh, I'm exhausted just thinking about the 100 km for short course cyclists.)

Scott, Hendrik and I walked a very long way up to the next transition spot. Apparently there were buses, but we missed that valuable piece of information. We met up with Rainier and Hendrik's families and were in plenty of time to shout encouraging words to Stephan as he handed off the racing chip to Hendrik. Waiting and cheered for all athletes we knew, including an American woman (from Indianapolis) who came to Abu Dhabi alone just to do the Tri.

Race Day was extremely warm (even by Abu Dhabi standards) and some competitors were unable to finish. Our dear friend Martin (you will recall him from New Year's Day blog about hosting the USNA Midshipmen) was forced to drop out due to major issues with his bicycle; I see a new cycle in his future...

While Hendrik was running 10km, Scott and I had an ice cream and enjoyed the company of Stephan's family. Decided Hendrik should be showing up fairly soon, so we ventured out of the delightful shade and made our way to the finish line. Scott raises the camera and voila, there was his teammate. Hendrik had run the 10 km in less than an hour and this after the long walk (I'll tell him about the bus, too).

To Toast our Athletes, a gathering was held at Katherine and Hendrik's villa last Saturday afternoon. It was cooler day and we all enjoyed being outside. The many children were running and playing in the neighborhood park, which they found after they had eaten their fill. The food was lovely as everyone brought something and we all just sat and enjoyed the day. Meanwhile, the athletes were discussing training strategy, this race and future races. Peter got quite a ribbing for his exhausting regeime and his ironman competition was discussed at length. Reinier beating Scott is the swim portion of the race was also brought up and a re-match was discussed. The wives were able to get to know each other and commiserate over the trials of being wives of athletes. However, there is a plan afoot for Ginette, Marleen & Katherine to do the triathlon next year. Hendrik may do the full course himself and we found out that Katarina is a runner.

It was a varied group of people: British, German, Dutch, Scottish and 2 lone Americans, which may be my favorite aspect of living overseas: meeting people from other countries. Scott is committed to swim in late April in Dubai with another acquaintance from Mafraq Hospital. Christoph completed the sprint course of the Triathlon, but prefers to run.

AND there is also next years Triathlon to ponder...

Love to you all, Christine (& Scott)