The document discusses the Nation's Triathlon in Washington DC and its connection to the upcoming TriYas event in Abu Dhabi. It describes the triathlon in Washington as involving a 1.5km swim in the Potomac River, a 40km bike ride past monuments, and a 10km run. It notes that many participants are fundraising or taking on personal challenges. It then discusses how the Egyptian triathlete Omar Nour is involved in both events and aims to promote Abu Dhabi as a sports tourism destination through the linked triathlons.

1. Sunday, February 23, 2014 www.thenational.ae Sunday, February 23, 2014 www.thenational.ae
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fit
March15marksthefifthyearoftheAbuDhabiInternational
Triathlon, with three distances: Sprint, Long and Short. For more
details and to sign up, visit www.abudhabitriathlon.com
Nearly1,300peoplehavesigneduptoparticipateinTriYas2014, the region’s only day-to-night triathlon.
Race-pack collection is on Thursday at Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi from 6 to 9pm. Gates open at noon on Friday,
the day of the triathlon. Visit www.yasmarinacircuit.com
We’resatontheedgeofthePotomac
river in Washington, six strangers,
toes dangling in the water as we
ready ourselves to jump.
Ahead of us, hundreds of others
have already leapt, their bodies now
struggling against its murky waters,
armsthrashingandnecksstraining,
gasping for breath.
It is barely dawn, yet behind us an
armyofmasochistswindsroundthe
river, waiting their turn. They are
thousands-strong, grown men and
women, all of them visibly agitated,
filled with horror at the self-harm
that looms ahead.
We are about to make good on
a pact that for some was made
months, even years, before. Today is
the day we sacrifice ourselves to the
vengeful currents below. The day we
jump into the Potomac.
Or at least, that’s how it seems. But
as the sun comes up, its rays bounc-
ing off our neon Lycra mankinis and
shiny rubber wetsuits, an entirely
different picture emerges. It is one
dominated by men with shaved legs
and tubs of Vaseline, a world where
women wear stern expressions and
flex fearsome physiques. A world
where the fearsome stench is from
the oversubscribed pre-race porta-
ble toilets. This is the territory of the
Mamil (Middle-Aged Man in Lycra).
This is a triathlon.
Sharingthejourney
Above, the Nation’s Triathlon takes participants past many famous landmarks in Washington, while the swimming component, right, involves a 1.5km dip in the Potomac. Courtesy Andrew Raine
This weekend is TriYas, one of
the biggest events on the UAE’s
sporting calendar. Andrew Raine
visited its twin event, the Nation’s
Triathlon in Washington DC, in
search of the secret of tri
Not just any triathlon, but one of
North America’s largest: officially
called the Nation’s Triathlon.
Ahead of the estimated 5,000 par-
ticipants – drawn from 14 coun-
tries–liesa1.5kilometredipinthe
Potomac, a 40km cycle past many
of the town’s most celebrated
monuments and a 10km run along
the Washington channel.
Quite why the participants have
signed up is unclear. Those stub-
born enough to complete the
course will have little to show
for the effort, beyond a bottle of
Gator­ade, a finisher’s medal and,
for those who forgot the Vaseline,
wince-inducing chafing.
Supposedly, this is a competi-
tion, yet few here are competing.
Hundreds are raising money for
the Leukemia and Lymphoma So-
ciety,othersbecausetheyaccepted
an ill-advised wager and some are
pickingupagauntletthrowndown
by a former, flabbier version of
themselves.
The most awe-inspiring exam-
ples are the armed forces veterans
taking part, some with up to three
limbs missing, who shame the
rest not only with their indomita-
ble spirit, but also their athletic
­prowess.
Yet the question remains: why?
Why must the personal challenge
involve donning a brightly col-
oured leotard and jumping into a
murky river?
If the motivations of the competi-
tors are unclear, those of the spon-
sors Etihad are positively obscure.
Why has it asked a group of 7ft-
tallairhostessestowanderaround
the streets of Washington handing
out fairy cakes emblazoned with
motivational slogans? And why
are the same giant ladies stooping
down to award medals to athletes as
they cross the finish line? The glam-
ourtheyprovide– itisthesameteam
whoattendtodriversattheAbuDha-
bi Grand Prix – seems incongruous
with the world of amateur triathlon,
perhaps the world’s least sexy sport.
Perhaps Omar Nour, the Nation’s
Tri mascot, holds some of the an-
swers. Five years ago, Nour picked
up the gauntlet thrown down by
his flabby, 105 kilogram self and
dropped to 87kgs in four months of
training. Now 34, and thin as a whip-
pet, Nour is a professional with his
sights set on the Rio Olympics.
Yet Nour is more than merely a
mascot. He is the human link bind-
ing the Washington Tri to another
race 11,000 kilometres away in Abu
Dhabi–TriYas,itsnewlyofficialtwin
event, held this Friday. His is the
spandex that stretches the Atlantic
to bind two world capitals together.
An Egyptian who lives in DC, Nour
is well known in Abu Dhabi. He
trains in the emirate in the win-
ter, takes part in TriYas and gives
motivational talks to the emirate’s
schoolchildren. At 6ft 4in, he is a
sportsman, personality and Arab
role model all rolled into one.
For race weekend, he bounces
around the city, inspiring partici-
pants with his infectious enthu-
siasm, hosts boat tours on the Po-
tomac and dutifully attends the
Georgetown Cupcake shop on 33rd
and M Streets, where shoppers
queue down the road for fairy cakes
served by the Etihad crew. Stephen
LaMontagne,theowner,isexpecting
to sell 20,000 cakes this weekend.
Nourposeswithacake,butisunwill-
ingtotakeabite,perhapsmindfulof
his former self.
He hopes his involvement can in-
terestathletesinvisitingAbuDhabi.
He and Yas Marina Circuit are plan-
ningtoholdatriathlontuitioncamp
to highlight the capital’s credentials
as a winter training destination for
both professionals and amateurs.
“Just like London has Hyde Park
and New York has Central Park,
Abu Dhabi has Yas Island,” he says.
“Where else in the world do they
open a Grand Prix racetrack for the
public to run and bike around?”
There are other Abu Dhabi faces,
too. A delegation from Yas Marina
has been wandering around Wash-
ington for days wearing luminous
pink TriYas T-shirts. They get a lot
of strange looks, yet with such high
visibility they are unlikely to be trod
upon by wandering female giants
from the Middle East.
Leading the Yas men is Nick
­McElwee,whohasshavedhislegson
Nour’s advice. (“If he’s not shaved,
he’s not serious” is how Nour sizes
up his ­opponents).
ButMcElweeisdeadlyserious.Bat-
ting away suggestions that Day-Glo
pink is not an entirely macho look,
and with the sun reflecting
offhisnewlysmooth,aero-
dynamic shins, the mar-
keting guru explains
that twinning the two
triathlons is a way of
speaking to people on
a “segmented group
level”.
“The long-term plan
is to position Abu Dhabi
as a sports tourism destina-
tion and we want to be at the heart
of that,” he says. “We want to attract
professional and amateur athletes
and this is the start. Rather than just
saying: ‘Abu Dhabi is open for busi-
ness’, you’ve got to give people rea-
sons to travel.”
But people already have plenty of
reasons to travel between the two
capitals – Etihad introduced direct
flights in March last year and the
route enjoys 80 per cent occupancy.
It’s hard to imagine that encourag-
ing triathletes to travel for two races
each year will significantly affect the
company’s bottom line.
And if the company’s not here for
the money, then why is it?
The answer comes at the end of
a sparkling VIP event held at the
UAE’s Washington embassy, where
athletes rub shoulders with diplo-
mats and pink T-shirts jar against
the starched collars and tuxedos.
As the guests depart, the Etihad
­ladies hand out goody bags. The
bags contain fairy cakes, possibly
aimed at carbo-loading athletes,
and the fabled luminous pink Tri-
Yas T-shirt. “Be one of us” appears
to be the message.
But there is more. Also included is
a report from the US-UAE Business
Council and it is in this unlikeliest
of all locations that the answer to
that seemingly ineffable question
“Why?” is to be found.
For, hidden away at the end of its
nine pages of dense business analy-
sis of the two country’s commercial
links,thereisaconclusionsosweet,
so insightful to the nature of ama-
teur sport – nay human existence
itself – that it bears repeating:
“We would be remiss in closing
if we did not lift up a won-
derful intangible of all
this activity,” reads the
report’s conclusion.
“The positives that
flow from human in-
teraction, from trav-
elling to new places
and getting to know
each other … when
we do that, the world
becomes, little by little, a
safer, more peaceful and more
tolerant place.”
In other words, triathletes are like
Day-Glo diplomats, a front line forg-
ing friendship between nations, our
strange and questionable fashion
choices disarming even the most
hostile stares. In the animal king-
dom, bright colours mean: “Dan-
ger, I’m poisonous.” In the Mamil
kingdomtheymean:“Relax,I’mnot
even serious.” In the face of such
vulnerability,suchfashionfauxpas,
fear and suspicion are impossible.
Stripped down to our mankinis, it
is plain for all to see: underneath we
are the same, so let’s be friends, you
and me. Our neon leotards distance
us from many, but they bind the few
ever tighter. This is why we can face
ourfears,inthosedarkhoursbefore
sunrise, when we are certain we are
alone and doomed. We need only to
wait for those first rays to reflect our
luminescence. We are an army of
lighthouses, thousands strong. We
are Mamil. Hear us roar.
•TriYas is held on Friday at the Yas
Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. Visit
www.yasmarinacircuit.com and
www.facebook.com/triyasuae for
details
ĝĝ artslife@thenational.ae
Just like London
has Hyde Park
and New York has
Central Park, Abu
Dhabi has Yas
Island
Omar Nour triathlete
Athletes compete in TriYas last year. Right, the Egyptian Omar Nour. Sarah Dea / The National; Sammy Dallal / The National