ITU Cross Triathlon World Champs zittau 2014

Arriving in Germany for my first ever International race on the European Continent was daunting, and that it was the World Champs compounded things somewhat! I had just received my Protea colours as a Junior Elite and it was a good feeling to be representing South Africa.

Rode the cycle route 3 days before the race and realised that I would have to ride hard to be in contention as there was very little technical riding (which I love). The run route seemed pretty flat and uneventful so was expecting a really fast run time. The distances were longer than what I am used to in South Africa, but less technical.

Woke up on 16th August, race day to rain, rain and more rain. Everything was muddy and slippery! I put my trusty mudguards on to stop mud spatter into my eyes on the cycle route.

The start was hectic and my nerves made me lose a bit in the 750m swim leg , I came out of the water in 9th place.

Had an excellent transition to the 26km MTB cycle route and went out really hard, by the halfway mark of the cycle route I was riding for 3rd place. I was feeling strong in the wet, muddy conditions and had made time on the leader with the Storm handling the loose, muddy terrain perfectly.

Just after the halfway mark in the cycle, I moved into 2nd place on some slightly technical downhills and then my rear tyre lost pressure an a fast grass descent. I bombed it but fluffed the job and only some of the air got into the tyre. Two people passed me while I was doing this but I rode hard (on a soft, squishy tyre) to move back into 2nd place on some more technical descents. Then I consolidated my position through some solid fast downhill riding, my rear tyre drifting and wobbling all the time. Eventually arrived back in transition still in 2nd place but now too far behind the leader to realistically catch up the 3min deficit over the 6km run route.

My transition into the run was a bit slow, started running only to find out that the run course had turned into a skating rink in the wet conditions! I slipped and fell in the transition area and then at each corner on the run course struggled to stay upright. All the competitors were in the same boat and it was quite fun to hear the war stories afterwards. I finally ran into the finish some 4min behind the Austrian competitor and about a min ahead of the German (3rd place). It was a great moment for me to run up to the finish line waving the South African flag which the team manager handed to me 100m from the finish.

This was a great experience for me and I am proud to have attained a silver medal at my first International Cross Triathlon race. My equipment and training helped me to achieve this goal, thank you Silverback, Newton and Xterra Wetsuits!