Austen Smith reporting on Challenge Sir Bani Yas 2026.
Challenge Sir Bani Yas returned this year with cooler weather, calmer water, a modified bike course and an "Oasis", more on that later.
This year the cruise ship showed up, eventually. Which, considering the logistical nightmare of getting on and off the island as well as getting to the race village is probably the better choice.
Having raced the middle-distance last year, I possibly had an advantage. The swim course layout was the same with separate entry and exit but longer run to T1. This year I went with Precision Hydration as my fuel of choice and pre swim had one gel and a bottle with a few scoops of the carb mix.
Despite appearing to be way off others during the swim, the swim straight function on my Form googles according to Strava worked. It’s not a substitute for sighting though, and a note to others when heading for the first buoy, try heading straight for it rather than swimming straight out then turning. No waves and no face planting into seaweed this year, instead a strong current on the long straight and wetsuit legal swim, helped knock ten minutes off last year.
The bike course was shorter this year with only one climb and none of GTN Heather’s hot hairdryers on full blast. Instead, this year there was an Oasis where competitors could take a break for ten minutes without it affecting their time. On passing it for the second time it appeared to be a Canyon Owners Club.
I was into T2 1 hour 10 minutes quicker than last year’s bike. Fuelling wise I had allowed for longer including 120g worth of carbs in a flow flask, so no littering by me and no need for aid stations or the Oasis.
The run course was the same but different with the two of the turn arounds appearing sooner than last year. There were less aid stations on the run but made up for with Pieter Heemeryck personally handing me water on every lap which resulted in a "yes" from him each time I grabbed a bottle. A 30g carb sachet every few laps helped me maintain an almost constant pace. I’d lost count of my laps but no T100 cock up for me thanks to my Forerunner.
A final push into the race village toward the finish line and a run time over 20 minutes quicker than last year.
A lot more enjoyable race this year? Yes. Less challenging? Definitely. But I’m not letting that take away a performance which gained me 37th overall and 3rd in my age group. Next stop Samarkand.
By Austen Smith