SariAnderson.com

Team Nike Running in the Jebel Hafeet Mtns. Photo courtesy Mike Bitton, CheckpointZero.com

It appears that Team Nike pushed hard throughout the final stage of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, running up and over the rocky, technical Jebel Hafeet Mountains and traversing the rope sections with ease. They finished the stage with the second fastest time, just a minute behind the overall race winners, Team Desert Islands. However, in the end, Nike was unable to bridge the 26-minute gap to finish on the podium. The stage was just too short and there was no navigation to slow the teams down, so everyone was going flat out.

Sari and Chris Forne finishing

I know the team will be a disappointed with their fifth place finish but they have to be proud of the fact that they clawed their way all the way back from tenth place just two days earlier. The team will also split a nice check for $11,500, just in time for Christmas.

Sari and the rest of the team will be on a plane shortly and will be back stateside tomorrow morning. We’ve had a couple of feet of snow in the past few days…they’re in for a bit of a shock after spending a week in the desert. I’m sure Sari will be excited to shift gears and start the Rando Racing season.

Congratulations to Team Desert Islands and our boy from Colorado, Jay Henry. They had a flawless race against the world’s best. Full race results here.

And thanks to everyone for reading and for your continued support! Special thanks to Mike Bitton at CheckpointZero.com for all his terrific photography. Check out all his race galleries here.