Stephanie Mach: a look back at the Czech Belgian Shepherd Canicross Championship 2024

26 October 2024

The high point of the autumn season was here! The race I had been looking forward to most since the last World Championship. I knew we were both in top form and had something to show. All we had to do was deliver. But as so often happens, there are unfortunately situations we can’t control, and this time it happened to us.

The day after the O-SEE race in Germany, I had an orthopaedic check-up for my ankle (the swelling hadn’t gone down at all overnight and I could feel every step). After the X-ray and the doctor’s verdict – rest and at least 3 weeks without running – I thought, “Surely not”; I wasn’t going to throw away all that training just because of an ankle. So I also went to see a physiotherapist, who gave me the green light as long as the swelling went down within 2 days, the pain went away and I ran with a brace. Instead of the last few training sessions, when I was supposed to keep my legs moving, I just lay around and rested to give my ankle a chance. On Wednesday I went for a short jog and did my running drills, and the ankle was OK – so great, we’re running on Saturday!

What I really hadn’t expected, though, was to catch a stomach bug overnight from Thursday to Friday. Someone up there had a sense of humour… So it was a real question whether to run on Saturday at all, or better not to. In 1 day I lost 1.5 kg and was completely exhausted. I told myself I would only decide on Saturday morning whether Ante and I would run or not. On Saturday morning my running to the loo had calmed down a little, and I told myself: right, we’re going for it. Well, my ego won and I went for it, which in the end was a big mistake.

We set off, and after 500 m I knew the whole run would be one big ordeal. I couldn’t breathe, my legs were heavy and I couldn’t get them turning over. I felt awful about it, because Ante put in an incredible performance. I didn’t even have to give him commands for the turns – he knew exactly which way to run. He ran like a steam locomotive at full power, and it was only thanks to him that I made it to the finish at all. Unfortunately all that was left for us was 8th place, the worst result of our whole canicross career, and I never want to feel so terribly disappointed again. Above all I was sorry for the dog, because Ante had it in him to make the top 3 and didn’t deserve 8th place. So the lesson for me is: “Never run ill again!” My sincere apologies to Ante and the Farm Fresh team for our performance at this year’s Czech Championship.

Anyway, I take it as an experience I had to go through so that next time I know: not like this. I know the times we run, and I know our potential. So right now I’m looking forward to next season, when I believe we’ll deliver. :)

More about Stephanie and Antaios on the Stephanie Mach page.