Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge Begins Friday

The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge begins on Thursday, December 9th, holding down its now traditional spot as the last big adventure race of the year. This year's event will run from December 10 - 15 and play host to the best adventure racing teams on the planet, who will run, bike, and paddle their way across a tough course designed to push their skills to the limit.

The ADAC is made up of four distinct stages spread out over six days. Those stages begin with a Prologue that combines canoeing , running, and swimming in a 20km course, followed by a mountain biking leg of 30km and a final running section of an addition 6.3km. And that's just day 1. Subsequent days will see similar action and will include climbing sections, a desert orienteering course, sea kayaking, and more.

This year's race will host 50 team from 20 countries, including three time defending champs Thule Adventure Team and last year's runner up Team Orion Adventure. Perhaps even more exciting however is that there are 30 rookie teams in the field, which not only bodes well for the future of the sport, but also brings some new talent to challenge the top dogs. Perhaps one of those new teams will come out of the pack to threaten the podium positions.

Expect updates on the race once it gets underway later in the week. It should be a good one and offer a glimpse into what we can expect in 2011, which is shaping up to be a banner year for adventure racing across the globe.