Alberte Kjaer Pedersen’s running ability is no secret.
In 2021, she ran the 3000m at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Poland, clocking a time of 9:00.80 which was a Danish record. Four years earlier, she raced at the European Junior Cross Country Championships in Slovakia.
On the triathlon scene, her running soared to prominence at the World U23 Championships in Edmonton in 2021 when she won the silver medal after logging the fastest run split of the day (a 34:04). By way of comparison, only the silver medallist in the women’s WTCS Final in Edmonton, Leonie Periault, ran faster on the same course that weekend.
Yesterday, Pedersen produced the latest instalment in what is rapidly becoming a fearsome CV.
She took on the En Forårsdag i Aarhus – DM10 (“A Spring Day in Aarhus – DM 10 km Road Race”) which doubled as the Danish National Championships. The organisers promised a lightning fast route through Havreballe Forest and Pedersen capitalised upon it.
She ran a time of 33:11 to win the silver medal in the women’s category.
To put that into context, Gwen Jorgensen’s best ever time over the 10km on the road was a 32:12, done in Sydney in May 2015, the year she became world champion for the first time. Not yet 25 years old, Pedersen is inching closer to the official sub-33 minute mark (last year she ran sub-33 on an uncertified course).
Her performance also comes after concussion stopped her from racing earlier in the season. With the concussion now behind her – and her running evidently in fine fettle – she will be racing at WTCS Yokohama in three weeks.
Thus far Pedersen’s best performances at the Senior level have come over the Sprint distance. She has World Cup wins over the shorter distance to her name (Huatulco in 2021 and Miyazaki in 2022) as well as a 4th place from WTCS Montreal last season in the Super Sprint format.
However, Edmonton in 2021 showed that she can produce over the Olympic distance.
In light of her latest showing in Aarhus, Pedersen could do something special when the WTCS returns in Japan.
Meanwhile her Danish team mate Emil Holm took on the men’s race in Aarhus. Holm recorded a time of 29:50 on his way to 5th place. That appears to be the first time Holm has officially dipped under the 30 minute barrier and almost matches the time recently logged by Michele Sarzilla in Bergamo.
A 10th place at WTCS Hamburg in 2021 remains Holm’s best result in the Series. As with Pedersen, though, he seems to be coming into form nicely and, as a young athlete, could have a breakout season lying in wait.
