My Dreams of being Lawrence of Arabia have been Fulfilled!

By Scott Wells
Alli Baba rider - The Winner of the Race!


Wow! Extreme Racing was Extremely Fun. At least for me. It was Extremely Exciting for a couple of my rivals and in every way unforgettable for everyone who came out to see. We mounted the camels right in front of the winner’s circle and immediately, Oklavision’s Brent Skarky was having a tough time with Sahara Sarah. Brent gets my vote for Hero of the Week. Not many people would’ve had the nerve to get back on “Sarah” after what she put him through. To begin with, camels are HUGE. Brent’s eyes about popped out when he first mounted and the first word to come out of his mouth was, “Wow!” And that was about two seconds before Sahara Sarah did her best impression of a rodeo bull. Brent hung on for dear life as Sarah lunged and hopped, slinging her handler around like the tail of a kite. And that was just for starters. Meanwhile, KFOR’s Lance West’s camel was about to roll over on him. And Steve O’Brien (of Magic 104) and I were having quite a time getting into those so-called saddles.


Once we were all mounted and our camels more or less accustomed to us, off we went toward the starting gate. That part was really fun. People lined the rail, yelling their encouragement and asking us who was going to win. Everything went pretty well until we got behind the starting gate. That’s when Brent earned his Medal of Courage. It’s individuals like Sahara Sarah who give camels a bad name. Once again she went into a camel gymnastic routine, throwing Brent all over the place, banging him around and finally throwing him from her back. In the process, Brent’s had taken a beating. At that point, most people would’ve definitely thrown in the towel. No one would’ve blamed him. World Champion jockey and longtime rodeo competitor G.R. Carter was right there to serve as a replacement, but Brent courageously “cowboyed up” and climbed back on Sahara Sarah once she was in the starting gate. In the meantime, you can’t imagine the sounds my camel was making in that starting gate! He was bellowing like a bull—obviously very eager to start running. The handlers had warned me that my camel Alli Baba “tended” to bear to the right. That was an understatement!

When that gate crashed open, Baba bolted to the right and though I pulled as hard as I could, there was no way I could straighten him up. I could see the other camels on my left and I could see the outside rail and I figured Alli Baba could see it, too, so I finally gave him his head and let him have it his way. Once we got alongside that rail, all I had to do was stay in synch with him and let him run as fast as he could—and believe me, that camel loves to run! I could see out of the corner of my eye that we were in front but what I couldn’t see was that Steve O’Brien, who was in second place, had slipped over to the left side of his camel and was hanging on for dear life! Steve finished second, with only his foot showing above the camel’s back. That took a lot of strength. It was the truest definition of “hanging in there” you’ll ever see! I’m sure it was a ride he’ll never forget.

Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, though I’m sure there are some sore muscles and painful memories. The crowd, in the meantime, had a terrific time and lots of laughs. Those who “bet” on my camel got ten dollars worth of free casino play or horse bets and regardless, their five dollar “bets” went to help the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund which is a great cause. We’re definitely going to do this again next year. I wonder, though, if it’ll be easy to find volunteers next time?