Outrun the Storm: A Camel, a Porsche Racetrack, and a Race Unlike Any Other
Al Haboob Racing brought Saudi Arabian sporting heritage to Los Angeles for an unforgettable day of competition, culture, and entertainment. Now, the one-of-a-kind racing experience is preparing to take on the world.
Los Angeles has seen its share of extraordinary sporting events, but a footrace against a professional racing camel at the Porsche Experience Center? Now that is something worth talking about.
On September 21, 2026, the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles in Carson hosted one of the city’s most unexpected athletic challenges. For the first time in the venue’s history, its famous racetrack welcomed runners instead of race cars, as Saudi Arabia’s Al Haboob Racing introduced Outrun the Storm, an exciting competition that challenged athletes to beat the speed of a champion racing camel.
And as it turns out, outrunning a camel is much harder than it sounds.
More than 120 athletes, runners, creators, and cultural personalities gathered for the event, including Olympic competitors, Team USA athletes, marathon runners, Ironman participants, and American Ninja Warrior athletes. The atmosphere was electric, filled with friendly competition, plenty of laughter, and a shared curiosity about a sport many guests were experiencing for the very first time.
The Ultimate Speed Challenge
At the center of the excitement was Hajma, one of Al Haboob’s elite racing camels and the day's undisputed star.
Before the event, Hajma ran two distances, a 900-foot sprint and a 1.3-mile endurance challenge, setting the times human competitors would try to beat.
The concept was simple, but the results were remarkable.
In the 900-foot sprint, only one athlete managed to beat Hajma’s time. In the 1.3-mile race, no competitor matched the camel’s performance.
For a crowd of accomplished athletes, the results offered a fascinating reminder that speed and endurance come in many forms.
The competition also provided plenty of memorable moments. Participants cheered each other on, celebrated their finishes, and shared the experience on social media, turning a unique Los Angeles event into a conversation that reached audiences far beyond California.
International football star Paul Pogba, an Al Haboob global ambassador and shareholder, captured the challenge's appeal.
“Who would have thought a camel could set a time that people in LA would be trying to beat?”
For Pogba, the concept represents a fresh way to introduce an ancient sporting tradition to a modern audience, using competition and entertainment to spark curiosity and encourage participation.
Where Saudi Arabian Heritage Meets Modern Luxury
While the races delivered the adrenaline, Outrun the Storm was about much more than crossing the finish line.
Founded by entrepreneurs and filmmakers Omar Almaeena and Safwan Modir, Al Haboob Racing is bringing a contemporary perspective to one of the Middle East’s oldest and most culturally significant sports.
Camel racing has been part of Arabian heritage for generations, celebrated for its connection to tradition, community, and the remarkable athletic abilities of the animals themselves.
Al Haboob is introducing that heritage to an international audience through elite performance training, advanced veterinary science, technology, and compelling storytelling.
Where better to celebrate speed and innovation than the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles?
The sleek architecture, high-performance racetrack, and sophisticated surroundings created an incredible backdrop for the event. It was a fascinating contrast between two worlds that, despite their different origins, share a passion for performance, precision, and pushing boundaries.
Beyond the racing, guests enjoyed a lively social atmosphere, with food and refreshing drinks featuring a Middle Eastern flair. The experience brought together culture, hospitality, and sport in a way that felt both authentic and distinctly Los Angeles.
Between races, attendees mingled, took photos, explored interactive exhibits, and enjoyed an afternoon as much about community as competition.
Inside the World of Professional Camel Racing
One of the day’s highlights was Camel Bootcamp, an interactive experience that gave guests an inside look at the fascinating world of professional camel racing.
Attendees learned how technology, specialized training, veterinary care, and animal welfare standards help prepare elite racing camels for competition.
The exhibit also introduced guests to robot jockey technology, an innovation used in modern camel racing that illustrates just how far the sport has evolved.
For many attendees, it was their first opportunity to understand the sophistication and dedication behind this centuries-old tradition.
Guests also watched Camel Quest, Al Haboob’s Netflix series, co-produced by and starring founders Almaeena and Modir. The series takes audiences behind the scenes of the team’s journey, revealing the personalities, challenges, and ambitions driving its mission to bring camel racing to the international stage.
Together, these experiences transformed Outrun the Storm from a sporting novelty into a meaningful cultural exchange, introducing American audiences to a sport with deep historical roots and an exciting future.
As Modir explained:
“Al Haboob was born from a belief that heritage belongs on the world stage.”
That philosophy shone throughout the event, where tradition and innovation met in a celebration of athletic excellence and cultural pride.
From Los Angeles to the World
What began as a unique racing experience quickly became something much bigger.
Following the event, social media was filled with videos, photos, and stories from participants sharing their experiences. The response was so enthusiastic that runners from across the United States began asking when they could take on the challenge themselves.
For Al Haboob’s founders, the reaction exceeded expectations.
“We came to Los Angeles wanting to introduce people to camel racing in a way they had never experienced before,” said Almaeena, who also participated in the activation.
The overwhelming enthusiasm has inspired the team to expand Outrun the Storm into an ongoing series of community runs and live experiences, with plans to introduce the concept to additional cities throughout the United States and internationally.
Al Haboob is also developing the Outrun the Storm Run Club, a community designed to bring runners together through group workouts, training sessions, social gatherings, and future opportunities to test their speed against professional racing camels.
The initiative is part of the team’s larger ambition to establish the world’s first professional Camel Racing League, creating a global sports and entertainment platform that celebrates heritage while embracing a new generation of fans.
A New Kind of Sporting Experience
Perhaps the most impressive part of Outrun the Storm was how effortlessly it brought together people from different backgrounds, cultures, and athletic disciplines.
Olympians competed alongside recreational runners. Sports enthusiasts connected with entertainment personalities. Guests who arrived simply curious about the concept left with a newfound appreciation for camel racing and the extraordinary animals that make the sport possible.
Participant Haley Videckis shared how much the experience meant to her family, particularly her son Mylo, whose excitement about the camels sparked a desire to see an actual race in Saudi Arabia.
That sense of discovery was what made the afternoon so memorable.
In a city known for exclusive experiences, celebrity gatherings, and high-profile sporting events, Al Haboob delivered something genuinely different. It was fun, competitive, culturally engaging, and refreshingly unexpected.
The Porsche Experience Center provided the perfect stage, but the participants' energy, the hospitality, and the excitement surrounding Hajma made the event a success.
With plans already underway to take the experience to new cities, Los Angeles may have witnessed the start of an entirely new international sporting phenomenon.
One thing is certain: Los Angeles knows fast cars, but on this particular day, a racing camel proved that speed comes in many forms.
And the question everyone is now asking?
Could you outrun the storm?
For more information: www.alhaboobracing.com | Instagram: @alhaboobracing
