For some triathletes, the arrival of winter marks of time of deep training, with racing a distant prospect on the horizon. As the mercury plummets, hours are spent grinding through weeks of immense hard work in preparation for the coming season.
However, while international triathlon may not be on the cards, single-sport competition remains very much on the menu.
Two international triathletes have recently taken the chance to maintain their race sharpness. Rather than sticking to the realm of triathlon, they entered the cross country sphere.
Lisa Tertsch, a previous WTCS medallist and a 2023 World Cup race winner in Tangier, won the bronze medal at the German Cross Country Championships in Perl, Saarland.
She completed the 6.8km course in a time of 22:54. Beating her to the gold medal were Elena Burkard (22:40 minutes) and Eva Dieterich (22:43). For reference, Burkard was the 2020 German champion over the 3000m steeplechase.
As a result of her bronze medal, Tertsch has earned the right to start for Germany at the European Cross Country Championships in Brussels. The event will take place in December and will offer the chance for her to test her form against some of Europe’s leading runners.
In the bigger picture, the race in Brussels will be a handy staging point in Tertsch’s broader journey to the Paris Olympic Games next summer.
She qualified for the German Olympic team after finishing 4th at WTCS Pontevedra. She utilised a roaring final 10km to stamp her Olympic ticket and, but for a penalty, she could have even run onto the podium. Tertsch turns 25 today and, looking ahead to next summer, could be a dark horse at the Games.
Meanwhile, over in England, another World Cup winner also embraced the mud.
Hugo Milner won the Miyazaki World Cup in a breakout performance in October. Prior to that race, he had logged field-leading run splits at a couple of World Cup races. In Miyazaki, he took a blow-torch to the field and dismantled the daunting lead of the front pack.
Milner won the Liverpool Cross Challenge recently, completing the 9.8km cross country race in a time of 28:38. Given the distance and off-road conditions that represented a fantastic time. While Great Britain can lay claim to one of the preeminent runners in men’s WTCS in the form of Alex Yee, Milner could be on his way to inserting himself into a similar bracket.
With his result, Milner will be joining Tertsch at the European Cross Country Championships, albeit under British colours. The event will likely be little more than a stepping stone for the pair ahead of the triathlon season. Nevertheless, with their running looking in shape, both will seek to build up momentum to carry into a successful 2024.
More broadly, look out for further triathlete adventures in swimming, cycling and running throughout the winter.
