The biggest payout and most competitive obstacle course race we’ve ever seen is going down in AlUla, Saudi Arabia this week. Bringing out top talent in trail running and OCR. And I wanted to get an idea of what the athletes are gearing up with, for this 8-hr race in the desert.

I talked with one of the athletes competing this weekend. Ja Shua Ried. He’s out of Durango, Colorado and comes from a background in BMX and bodybuilding in his early years. Turning to trail running and OCR and has been a threat in some of the longer OCR races we see him at. Focused on the ultra and sub-ultra distance.

Quick Course Overview

Location – AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Desert terrain. Sand, rocky, dry, mostly flat.

Weather – Athletes are running 8am-4pm + on Saturday Feb. 24th. Looking at a low of 53 and high of 81 degrees Fahrenheit.

Obstacles – Maybe 20 or so, opening up at different points along the race. Athletes will need to maintain grip and upper body strength, move their full body well through space and will likely get wet through obstacles along the way.

Fueling

Fueling is incredibly important in a race of this distance and in this type of weather.

Ja Shua will be using 90g carb pouches of Precision Fuel & Skratch labs Strawberry Lemonade electrolytes added into his flasks. He’s bringing 6 flasks, 2 regular Nathan flasks and 4 insulated ones. Being carried with his Naked Innovations fuel belt.

Extra items to give him a boost in this race include beet root powder, pickle juice, ketone esters and caffeine.

Footwear

Ja Shua has been rocking Speedland shoes for a while now. It’s no big surprise he’s bringing them out here for this key race. He’s going with the Speedland: PGH

A pair of MudGear socks on the feet and since it’s a desert race, he’s putting on the RAIDLIGHT Desert Gaiters to keep that sand out.

Clothing

And lastly, his clothing includes some generic brand light and breathable shorts coming from Amazon. A Norrona shirt and a Headsweats hat.

Ja Shua has been putting in a solid training block leading up to this race and it’ll be exciting to see how he does out there. Check out the race on Instagram and YouTube and Follow Ja Shua on IG @ja_shua_ried