11 camel riders from 9 countries compete during trial race for Camel Trek Marathon
Dubai,UAE
Sallam Sallam
Chinese national Alexis (Xiaozhe Huo) won the second trial race for the 2nd Camel Trek Marathon, organised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre (HHC), over the weekend at Dubai’s Al Marmoom racetrack.
A total of 11 expatriates from 9 countries participated in the race, namely: China, Italy, Iran, Russia, the United States, Romania, Germany, France and Spain. The annual Camel Trek Marathon is now open to expats in the UAE and those who have participated in any of the camel treks organised yearly by the HHC.
The preliminary race saw tough competition as Alexis was closely followed by German national Linda Krockenberger in second place and Russian Armenian expat Nonna Akopian in third place.
The main Camel Trek Marathon will take place next month as part of the Arabian Camel Festival, held annually under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Zainab Al Bisher, Zainab Al Besher, HHC’s Head of Initiatives noted the camel race for expats is organised in the “framework of spreading tolerance among different cultures of the world”.
Abdullah Hamdan Bin Dalmook, CEO of HHC, honoured all participants. Besher expressed her appreciation for the efforts of the participants who were keen to raise the level of competition, in addition to the skills they acquired from their training and the annual camel trek.
Winning secret
Alexis shared her winning secret: “It was not just physical but the race was also psychological. You need to have clarity of mind; avoid fear and be courageous in achieving your goal. The secret of winning the race is how I treat my camel. The camel feels the person riding it. If the rider is afraid, it will affect the performance of the camel; so you have to calm down and focus on the race. I hope to win again in the main race next month.
