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The build up: 

I'm not exactly sure where to begin when it comes to my journey at the European Championships. Firstly, the pressure this year was higher than any pressure I had felt in previous years of my racing career, I know it mainly comes from myself - but going into a championship weekend as double defending champion is humbling. This meant, the mental aspect for this event, was almost as important as the physical aspect.

When I reflect on my history of racing the European Championships, I realize that I haven't had much success at the European Championships. Except for last year in 2022 when everything fell into place and I managed to win both distances, the European championships have always been my "nemis" race (with many DQ's and bad performances earlier on). Therefore, winning both distances in 2022 was quite unbelievable for me, and was one of the most important moments in my OCR career.

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This year, my goal was not only to show that my win last year wasn't a fluke, but also to defend my titles. However, 2023 had a rough start (alot of sickness and health issues), which disrupted a significant portion of my training. My off-season preparation, which usually elevates my performance to the next level, wasn't as sufficient her in start 2023, as it had been in previous years. Therefore, in mid-April, I made the decision to cancel alomst all non-training-related-plans to focus solely on my training and recovery.

In the start of 2023, I had a difficult time figuring out what my main goal for this season should be. My guiding star of becoming a European and World champion for the entire time of my OCR career was acchieved in 2022, so now what? I tried to focus more on hybrid racing during my off-season, however, the conflicting training methods between HYROX and OCR made it challenging to pursue both simultaneously. I had to make a choice, as there wasn't enough recovery time for me to excel in both HYROX and OCR simultaneously - when you want ro excel af both.

So from spring, I focused only on OCR, my running, and doing my utterly best to be ready to come back at defend my titles at the European Championships. It was now clear, that this was the goal all the time along, it just didn't seem as clear in the start of 2023.

Now, let's delve into the championship that took place in Tata, Hungary. The event is organized by the World OCR FISO organization and hosted by the Hungarian OCR Federation (HOCRA).

I was thrilled to stay at the Tata Olympic Training Facility, the same venue as the championship event, which was offered to the winners of 2022. Beautiful historic venue, with an eventful weekend to come.

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The short course:

I had prepared myself mentally for the short course, reviewing it with the Danish national team and our coach, Thomas Johansson, the day before. We dedicated a lot of time to visualizing the course

I found myself in Heat 1. I was a bit confused about how the heats were determined, with some strong competitors missing from my heat (Heat 1). I also wasn't sure if being in the first heat was an advantage or disadvantage, but I pushed all these "uncontrollable factors" aside, and focused on my own race and what I could control - being as prepared as possible.

Standing at the start line, I was fully aware of my plan and where to push on this. 3K course with 25 obstacles. All in my heat burst out over the startline with power and speed. I tend to start off really fast, even when I plan not to as I am often too excited when the start goes off. This time, however, it was intentional to start fast. One of the first obstacles was the laser pistols, and considering my previous challenges with the laser pistols (in the Spartan Big Bear 3K race in the US recently), I wanted to ensure I wasn't too far behind the pack when tackling this obstacle. The first 1.5K of the 3K course had the most densely of obstacles (17 out of 23). I knew I had to push myself to the limit in this section, as this is where my strength would lie.

I cleared all the obstacles without making any mistakes, fueling my excitement as I entered the 1K run section with very few obstacles. It was crucial to maintain a steady pace during this part of the race, as the last 200-300m held five technically demanding obstacles right before the finish line. Fortunately, I maintained my pace perfectly as I approached the last set of obstacles. I felt the rush, but I also felt in control as I tackled the final five obstacles in control. I got super excited having a lot of people and spectators following along for the race, as I could feel the buzzing energy.

With a sprint, I crossed the finish line in a time of 20 minutes and 14 seconds. The special thing about starting in Heat 1 is that, despite setting a good time, you have no idea if someone from the next heat will beat you. I had to wait an agonizing 30 minutes before finally getting the result I had hoped and dreamed of—to once again claim the title of the fastest time and call myself the Short Course European Champion of 2023!

It's an indescribable feeling when everything falls into place, and that's exactly what happened in the short course. I executed my plan flawlessly, took calculated risks, and it all paid off! Standing on the podium, at the top spot for the second consecutive year, I received the biggest trophy of my entire career. Looking out at all the incredible Danish athletes, who proudly sang along to our national anthem, I can tell you that it doesn't get much better than this.

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The standard Course:

Championship weekends can be tough because, even after winning a European championship title, there's no time to celebrate. The next race awaits the next day. It's tempting to indulge in champagne and bask in the glory of my triumph, but I knew I had to focus on giving my best in the standard course.

I approach the standard course with a more relaxed mindset. My nerves are calmer since the initial pressure of starting the championship event has subsided. The standard course, with its 12 km of (mostly) flat running and with 52 obstacles, excited me! Just before the race start, we were informed that some technical obstacles had been removed due to the rain protocol. This news affected my mentality a bit, since I thrive on more obstacles, especially the technical ones. However, I quickly dismissed these negative thoughts and concentrated on the challenge ahead. I knew that the first section of the standard course would suit me well, as it included the 17 obstacles from the 3K loop. However, I also needed to conserve energy and not push too hard because there were long running sections ahead.

I had a good start, messed a bit up on the laser pistols, but stayed in control in this first section taking the lead, which was crucial because I knew some strong women were behind me, and I needed to be ready for particularly the running sections. Around obstacle 27 on the course, my fellow Dane, Ulrikke Evensen, caught up to me. I paced myself through the long running sections, staying within reach of Ulrikke, but eventually, she pulled ahead and disappeared from sight. She is a super impressive runner.

As I approached the final stretch of the race, actually having done quite a long section without people in sight before nor after me, I reached the obstacles Dice & Musician obstacles (41 and 42 out of 52). When I arrived, I just saw Ulrikke finishing of the Musician obstacle. Prior to these obstacles, we had traversed a water section, leaving me and my hands soaking wet. When reaching the Musician obstacle, I was some of the grips where in painted metal, which posed a problem with my wet hands. I hesitated about whether to wear gloves or not, wasting valuable time. Ultimately, I decided to remove the gloves just before starting, I reached for the grip on the "musician" obstacle, my hand slipped right away but I was stil hanging in the start grip (which was a ring). In a somewhat arrogant attempt, I tried hanging from in my elbow (while trying to put my gloves on again), using up a lot of energy and causing my forearms to fatigue. I managed to get on both gloves, hanging like this, but as soon as I started the obstacle, I slipped off. It was a critical moment for me. Not only did I lose time, but I also lost a wristband, which I knew was crucial.

I started to stress, which is unusual for me, but the one-attempt rule on obstacles forces you to reconsider your race plan. I went on to the "Meet the Predator" obstacle and again I made an unfocused mistake and losing yet another wristband. Now I had only one left, and I had to complete all the remaining obstacles. Normally, this wouldn't stress me out, but having only one wristband left was a new situation for me. I played it safe, taking breaks before each obstacle to ensure I could complete them all thus also slowing down quite bit on the last part.

Crossing the finish line, I felt relieved that it was over. I wasn't extremely proud, but I wasn't disappointed either. The first part of my race had gone well, but the mistakes I made were mainly due to poor race planning, and not due to lack of athleticism. To my surprise, despite doing two penalty loops, I secured the third spot overall. I was both stoked and surprised by this outcome. I was happy that I stayed calm and deeply grateful the performance was enough to get a podium spot. I'm so proud of my fellow Dane, Ulrikke Evensen, who claimed the top spot. Seeing the Danish national colors atop the podium once again was a moment of joy!

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Team Relay:

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I woke up Sunday feeling quite smahed and with a super stiff neck, needing some Red Bull wings to get my energy levels up for this last race of the weekend. Normally, I've been part of a mixed team, but this year, for the first time, we had a national team representing Denmark. Our national coaches handpicked the teams, and I was thrilled to be running for the female team. I had two strong teammates with me: Ulrikke Evensen for speed and Henriette Bardrum for strength, while I focused on technique.

We were placed in the last heat, but we had a good plan, knowing our strengths in different sections. The team relay essentially involved completing the 3K loop, with specific obstacles tailored for each category, ending with a short section where we ran together, carrying a stretcher. I was particularly happy about having the technical section, as I felt confident with the obstacles on the 3K loop.

However, nearing the very end of the course, I made a technical mistake on the Monkey Mix obstacle. The Team Relay can be intense, and it being the third day of racing, my brain and body were in full "race-brain-mode". As a result, I gripped a cannonball incorrectly on this final obstacle, I sensed something was wrong, and conferred with the judge, having to make a split-second decision-making follow the judge's instructions saying it was approved. After the race, video was review and we found it wasn't. Later on, we received a penalty for the technical mistake, adding two minutes to our time.

Luckily, it didn't affect our position on the overall podium. as we had a 3.5 minutes to the second-place team, Poland. However, Initially, it was a bit intense for me because I didn't know the exact timings of the other teams, and we were unsure how much of an impact the penalty would have on the final standings. Thankfully, everyone was informed about the situation, and good sportsmanship prevailed, allowing us to be content with the final results.

Championship weekends can be incredibly intense, but they're also one of the things I truly love. Split-second decisions need to be made, and sometimes they work out for the best, while other times they don't. That's just how racing is, and I continue to learn from each race, even after almost 10 years of participating in OCR races. One remarkable aspect of the weekend was the support. The support from home, my sponsors, and my husband was amazing. But, most importantly, the support from fellow athletes and competitors at the European championships meant a lot. Everyone was kind, offering congratulations, singing the national anthem with passion, asking for selfies, and engaging in conversations. This made the experience even more rewarding and uplifting. Thank you for being a part of this journey by reading along.

If you're still here, well done! This was one of the longer blog posts, but we had three races to cover and a significant lead-up. Thank you for following along!

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