We’re fully familiar with the 100km distance in recent years thanks to the T100 – but last weekend saw a very different version at the inaugural Samla 100 International multi-stage endurance race in Qatar.

In December the 2025 professional season was rounded off in style with the T100 Grand Final in Qatar with a 2km swim, 80km bike on pristine roads and an 18km run.

But a new event in the same country could hardly have been more contrasting. Samla has been around for five years as a Qatari-only event 200K but this year the organising committee of Samla and Visit Qatar put on Samla 100 International for the first time.

One of the few similarities was big prizemoney, with $300,000 up for grabs, including $50,000 to each winner. But what faced the athletes was a non-stop, point-to-point endurance challenge spanning four demanding disciplines – swimming, cycling, running, and kayaking.

Set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of southern Qatar’s sweeping sand dunes, the pre-race publicity said: “The course offers both beauty and brutality in equal measure. This is not a race for the faint-hearted or inexperienced; Samla demands exceptional self-discipline, unwavering determination, and unbreakable resilience.

“Participants will battle nature, terrain, and time in a test that honors the very meaning of its name – Samla, a word rooted in Qatari heritage, symbolizing endurance, strength, and perseverance.”

It was six stages – a 3km swim, a 21km run, a 22km mountain bike, a 4km kayak, a 22km mountain bike and 28km run. So a staggering 49km of running in searing heat – plus sections of the bike where the sand and elevation meant the competitors had to get off and push!

Here’s how it all played out…

Women’s race – Klamer sees off Learmonth

Olympic gold medal winner Jess Learmonth (GBR) was one of those involved in the T100 World Championship Final in Qatar in December and she made a bold bid for victory here on her return to the Arabian Peninsula.

For much of what was an eight-hour-plus race for the women, she and newly-retired Rachel Klamer (NED) raced alongside each other.

But it was on the last leg – that brutal 28km on soft sand and in energy-sapping heat – where Klamer finally pulled clear.

The Dutchwoman finished strongly to cross the line in 8:09:11 and said afterwards: “I hope this will inspire other women at all levels to take part in this event.

“It was something completely new for me and I almost loved every moment of it – but it got harder and harder towards the end.”

Just over 20 minutes later Learmonth, who had been reduced to a walk on the shifting sand at times in the latter stages, reached the finish for second place and $30,000.

She told us: “I loved coming back to Qatar to race the first edition of Samla 100 International. The event was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I certainly should have trained more in the lead up!

“The race took around eight hours and it flew by, the mixture of riding through sand dunes, hopping on a kayak, nearly sinking. It was incredibly well organised and the support out on course was amazing. People cheering you on at aid stations, driving through the desert in Land Cruisers shouting support and more.

“The racing was very eventful, I was lucky to race a lot of it with Rachel, it was great to share the experience with her. Shame she ran off over the sand dunes towards the end! I would love to do it again; it was such a mental battle that I’ve not had to experience before.”

Men’s race – Weiss underlines meaning of Samla

In the men’s race it also turned into a two-way battle for much of the race, with Bradley Weiss eventually getting the better of fellow South African Henri Schoeman.

Weiss asserted on the final run to stop the clock in 6:29:12, seven minutes to the good. A fast-finishing Milan Brons (NED) was third.

And it proved an emotional – and timely – success for Weiss who wrote on Instagram: “What a race … what a country … thank you Qatar! Thank you @samlaqatar.

“After an incredibly testing 2025 season I very nearly hung up my racing suit for good. But if this life has taught me anything it’s resilience. I dusted myself off and went back to work (mostly thanks to a few persistent training buddies back home!). Very grateful I didn’t throw in the towel just yet!

“Saturday was one of the most special racing experiences I have had in my career. Thank you to everyone that continues to support and believe in me.”

Will Draper (GBR), who won three times in a breakthrough 2025 campaign, battled back well for fourth after a couple of testing challenges and he gave us a nice insight to the event, explaining: “Even the race director said beforehand that it’s hard to give you too much information about the course because it changes every day depending on which way the sand blows over the landscape. The elevation, the surface you run on and things like that literally change overnight.

“A lot of people wait until they retire to go into the adventure racing scene but it was nice for me to experience it while still training for triathlon. The distance of this and the time of year meant it was a little bit more open for current professionals to have a go and I think this will definitely grow and grow.”