Write up from Tuesday's comp in Dubai:
My trip to Dubai started very early Monday morning, and finished when I finally arrived at the hotel, 13 hours later. Having lost another 3 hours to the time difference it was pretty much time for dinner and bed. However there was still long enough to experience just how hot it was, even 3 hours after sunset!
Lunch the next day was followed by an athletes meeting. At which point it turned out that the events were totally different to those advertised, however this is fairly typical and I quite liked the sound of the new ones. The afternoon was spent avoiding the sun and ridiculous temperatures and discussing tactics for events no one really knew much about!
We turned up at the venue an hour or so before it was due to kick off. We were greeted by a crowd of several hundred and 5 or 6 TV cameras. It all looked very professional. They even had 2 sets of brand new equipment for every event so they could all be ran head to head.
To keep things simple for the live TV coverage we were told that the running order would be kept the same for all 5 events, typically I was in the first pairing with a massive guy from Georgia who didn't speak a word of English!
1st event - Arm over arm
They had set up two brand new hummers for us to pull over a 20m, each weighing about 3 tonnes. They looked and sounded heavy but in reality they were 50% too light. This event was very easy and all 15 competitors completed it within 6 seconds of each other. Luckily for me I was the only 1 to go under 20 seconds and took the first event win.
2nd event - Anchor carry
You had to pick up and carry the 150kg anchor as far as possible, turning every 20m. The Georgian I was paired with went off very fast, after his second place in event 1 I suspected that he was going to be my main competition. I kept going until he dropped at 85m, and managed another 24m before I ran out of breath and gave up at 109m. A distance that was good enough for the lead right up to the final pairing, I was beaten by the very last man to go and had to settle for second.
3rd event - 390kg Yoke
An event I would consider to be a strength, however this was a particularly horrible yoke and I struggled to maintain any sort of balance from the very start. The big Georgian who was 2 points behind me going into event 3 took an early and considerable lead. His slow and steady approach was working a lot better than my all or nothing style. I dropped the yoke 3 or 4 times before completing the course, but moved much faster between drops so managed to eat into his lead and cross the finish line at exactly the same moment. We were given the same time and split the points. I suspected that our time of 21 seconds would be beaten by several others, but everyone struggled with the yoke and only 3 others finished the course, the fastest of which was 15 seconds outside my time. Joint 1st.
Event 4 - Rifle hold
The idea here was to hold two 10kg rifles at arms length (crucifix position) for as long as possible. Something I've never done before, not even in training. Having shared 1st place in the last event I still had a 2 point lead over the Georgian, we were both a good few points clear of 3rd. My only aim was to win my pairing and ensure I stretched my lead going into the last event. I set up and got going, I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite easy. My opponent dropped the guns at around 55 seconds, I still had plenty left in the tank (shoulders) at this point and carried on until I was stopped at 70 seconds. I have no idea which rule I breeched, but felt able to continue further. However I'd done enough for 2nd and extended my lead to about 8 points.
Event 5 - Loading medley
Load 4 different items ; sandbag, shackle, treasure chest and barrel onto a high platform. The objects weighed between 100kg and 140kg. All I had to do was beat the Georgian to take the overall title. My opponent made a mistake with the first object, putting me ahead. I paced myself to avoid any mistakes of my own to ensure I stayed in the lead. My time of 34 seconds beat his effort of 41 seconds and I knew I'd done enough to take the overall win at this stage. The other athletes were all still to go, only 1 of which managed to beat my time.
Overall - 1st
Very happy with my performance in conditions I'm not used to with events I hadn't trained for.
A few days off before I start my preparations for England's strongest man 105kg .
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