This adrenalin rush can have a sting in the tail

Every Friday, Alan Devereux gets dressed up like an officer and shoots pellets at hundreds of miles an hour. Welcome to his weekly hobby: airsoft.

lan Devereux, a communications officer for the British Business Group, says airsoft is an intense stress reliever.

Alan Devereux ends his workweek as a mild-mannered communications officer for the British Business Group the same way every Friday: by grabbing a gun and shooting it up with his buddies in a sport called "airsoft".

What's your day gig like?

My job is primarily public relations, with a strong focus on internet PR. Once the group realised their work was no longer confined to big stuffy chairs and a cigar-smoking room, they set up LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts. They need someone to monitor that. We're basically using social media as a net to find members, grow the group and link existing members.

Your work also brings you to the office on Saturdays. Why?

I run courses for our members. There are a lot of social media cowboys offering training, where you see invoices charging up to Dh10,000 (US$2,720) to set up a Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Not to monitor - just to set it up.

On Fridays, you head to Sharjah and blow off steam by participating in "airsoft". What is that?

It's similar to paintball in that it involves a gun. It was started in Japan in the 1980s because people weren't allowed to have personal firearms. Every Friday morning we head to a shooting club, dress like soldiers and run around with toy guns shooting pellets at each other at over 330mph (530kph). They sting when they hit.

Sounds painful. How is this different from paintball?

Airsoft is more of an honour game. You have to put your hand up and acknowledge you're hit. There's no paint mark. There are safe firing distances. If someone is within a 5-metre range you don't hit them. It's not gentlemanly to shoot someone in the back.

How did you get into the sport?

I was interested in playing paintball. Someone at work mentioned airsoft. I didn't know the sport existed until I got here two years ago. I went down one week: I felt like I was 13 again. When I was a kid, I played laser tag and pretended I was James Bond and John Wayne, and on the PlayStation I must have killed a million zombies and rescued a million hostages. In real life, I abhor guns. I'm not a big army fan. But for five hours running around in the sun it's good for the heart, lungs and morale.

And a good stress reliever, I take it?

It's intense stress relief. It's a full-contact sport. You need military-grade goggles. BBs [airsoft pellets] can get embedded in your skin. I've lost half a tooth. I originally played it to lose weight. I haven't lost a pound. The good thing about it is when we have competitions the tension is so high; that adrenaline rush is better than anything I've had in my life. It's like someone coats your brain with ice cubes and Pepsi.