Aneta Erlebachová: a look back at the ICF World Championship in Leipa 2023

The World Championship – this race was the high point of the autumn season for us. We had been preparing for it properly for almost half a year. And at last the weekend it had all been leading up to was here – 28–29 October. Leipa in Germany was hosting the World Championship for the second time, but this time the trail had changed a lot.

25–26 October: arrival at the race site and a first look at the trail

We leave home in the early hours of the morning. Leipa isn’t too far for us, so even with breaks to walk the dogs, the journey takes just under 5 hours. So we arrive around noon at the stake-out, which becomes our home for the next few days. We “checked in” with our van among the other Czech team members. We had just under 300 m to the start, so an ideal spot.

After settling in, I went out to jog the trail and stretch after the journey. I liked the trail a lot. It was completely flat, but it had 23 turns, so it was very playful and fun. I still didn’t know which of the girls I would start with in the end. Each of them has her strengths that would suit a trail like this. In the afternoon I went out on the trail once more, this time on foot and with Azeri, so that she could take a look at the route too. Stormy is a pro by now; she doesn’t even need to see the trail. I even have the feeling that she enjoys races more when she doesn’t know the route in advance.

The next day, 26 October, you can train on the trail with the dogs. It starts to rain and there’s more and more mud on the trail. In the morning Eclips starts his training; he will represent the Czech Republic in the bikejoring category with my aunt, Ilona Erlebachová. Right after him, Azeri did her training run too. Both of them ran the new route without problems; only Azeri didn’t want to turn into the finish chute at the end, which she’ll still have to work on.

After lunch I go and run the route at a brisker pace. And because, even after all the racers had trained on it, the trail still seemed quite runnable, I decided in the end to line up at the start with Azeri.

In the evening the vet-check awaits us. For Azeri it was her first experience of a veterinary check at a race. I have to praise the way the vets behaved: they didn’t rush the dogs, and actually, despite a really thorough examination, the dogs didn’t feel uncomfortable. At the check Azeri earned a score of 4–5 (ideal condition). The vet-check also included a check of the racing equipment, that is, whether the dog’s harness fits and whether the line is the length set by the rules. We passed the check.

Stormy spent the whole weekend enjoying a holiday in Germany. She went for walks, looked for mushrooms and actually seemed pleased that she didn’t have to run in the mud.

27 October: one day to the start of the race

It’s Friday, so tomorrow it all kicks off. The nerves are rising. We got our numbers from the team leader (ours was a lovely 632). It’s still raining and the conditions on the trail are getting worse. The organisers banned any more training with dogs, to keep the trail in the best possible state. My certainty from yesterday that racing with Azeri would be a good idea is gone. Given her strength, it’s going to be very interesting on such a slippery trail. But the whole day went by calmly, all about getting ready for tomorrow’s race. Only the stake-out, which is in a meadow, is gradually turning into one big muddy puddle. In the evening there was the opening ceremony with a nice laser show.

28 October: here it is – the first race day

All in all, I’m a worrier, so I’m stressed right from the morning. Still, everything went in the classic, established race-day rhythm – watering, walking, watering…

The first of our group to set off for the start was my aunt with Clip. The truth is that waiting for someone to reach the finish is maybe even more stressful than racing yourself. But they were brilliant: after the first day they were in 1st place in women’s masters bikejoring, and because they held on to that position on Sunday too, they became the world champions for 2023.

Azeri and I weren’t due to start until the afternoon. For the first time in a long while, I managed a proper, good warm-up. But the race didn’t go the way we had imagined. Even the start was a bit chaotic. The numbers ahead of us started in a different order from the one they should have, but we kept an eye on it and set off at the right time. And on the trail we gave it everything. Azeri took the turns beautifully, but because of the mud every turn carried me out wide, so I was pulling her off her line. Which Azeri really didn’t like, and you could see how unsure she was in every turn. She made me happiest in the finish chute, where lots of people were standing and it was very noisy, but she ran through it beautifully without hesitating, right over the finish line. In the end we actually handled our debut in the grown-ups’ category fairly decently. After the first day we’re in 41st place, 9 seconds behind the rival ahead of us, but only 0.1 s ahead of the one behind us. So tomorrow will still be a fight.

Azeri has the rest of the day off, so after a walk and a drink she goes off for a snooze. I still have a cool-down jog and a stretch ahead of me. And then in the evening the musher dinner, a dinner for all the racers.

29 October: the second day of the fight

The morning went by in the usual rush. On the second day the start order runs across the categories. Unfortunately, even today we didn’t escape confusion at the start. We ran up to the line about 4 s before our start, because for some incomprehensible reason the organisers hadn’t put me into the start chute. Probably better for us; at least there was no time for nerves. This time Azeri went really brilliantly. You could see that after yesterday she had gained confidence, and the turns didn’t throw her at all any more. Even though there was more mud on the trail and the route was much harder, we managed to improve. And not only in time, but also in the rankings. So we’re taking home 37th place in the canicross category from the World Championship, and with it more motivation to work on ourselves before next year.

In the afternoon there was also the relay race, which is very exciting for spectators. My aunt and Clip also represented our team, on the bikejoring leg of the relay. The Czechs are among the best in relays, and they’re taking home a gold medal from this year’s World Championship too.

In the evening there was the award ceremony and the closing of the event. The host of next year’s European Championship was announced as well – so if everything goes well, we’ll be off to race in Italy. We dug ourselves out of the muddy stake-out surprisingly quickly, and all that was left was the journey home.

This race also brought our 2023 off-snow season to an end.

More about Aneta on the Aneta Erlebachová page.