The two-day Spartan Agoge Challenge kicked off in the Liwa desert, as part of the lead-up to the Spartan World Championship in Abu Dhabi, hosted for the first time ever in the Middle East on 3 December.
The Spartan Agoge Challenge is one of the toughest ever endurance challenges, with a duration of 60 hours, during which participants face a number of physical and mental obstacles, in addition to searching for water and food resources.
The participants took on the challenge in the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world, and had to learn how to survive among the sand dunes.They were divided into teams, each of which had to collectively work to overcome various obstacles and navigate the difficult path towards the end.
The challenge involved participants traversing around 50 kilometers within the Empty Quarter desert while enduring strict limitations on their resources in order to reach the most difficult obstacles that await them on the second day of the challenge, which ends on Tuesday. Four participants have already withdrawn due to being unable to complete the challenge.
Suhail Abdulla AlAreefi, Executive Director of Events Sector at the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: "The Spartan Agoge Challenge is one of the most difficult endurance challenges in the world, and it is the first event in the country conducted ahead of the Spartan World Championships, which paves the way for the competitors in the championship to explore its paths and difficulties."
He added, "Abu Dhabi's hosting of the 2021 Spartan World Championship for the first time outside the United States of America and in the Middle East comes as a continuation of the successes it has achieved as the capital of global sports and as a destination for elite athletes worldwide in various sports."
He further expressed that Abu Dhabi is keen to present an exceptional and impressive version of the World Spartan Championship, pointing out that the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, in cooperation with Spartan International, would harness all the essential ingredients for success of the upcoming global event. Organizational plans have been prepared in line with the distinctive style that keeps pace with the prestigious international reputation of Abu Dhabi and its leadership.
The World Spartan Championship will be held in Abu Dhabi from 3 to 5 December, with a large number of elite athletes and juniors expected to participate, alongside participants in community races for different age groups. The championship is one of the most important and largest in terms of challenging participants’ abilities and physical fitness.
