Chasing Dreams: XTERRA Czech 2025
- Kerri-Ann Upham
- Sep 1
- 4 min read
There’s a moment before every race where the world goes quiet.
Your heart pounds, your hands tingle, nerves and excitement collide.
At XTERRA Czech, that moment hit me hard.
But this year, I welcomed it.
I first raced XTERRA Czech in 2022 as an age-grouper, finishing 11th overall and earning a wild card into the elite short track the next morning, the spark that convinced me to chase elite racing full-time.
Since then, XTERRA Czech has been my benchmark: 10th in 2023 and 2024, a town I love, a course I crave, and an organisation that puts on a show like no other.
When I learned it would double as the ETU European Championships this year, I knew this had to be my A race.
Arrival and Race Week
Prachatice feels like it was built for XTERRA. As race week unfolded, the small town square became an arena, the energy building daily as athletes arrived and the atmosphere thickened. Everything is condensed into that hub, making it impossible not to feel immersed.
Staying right on the square meant everything was on my doorstep: cafés for strong coffee and carrot cake, people-watching, swapping stories with fellow athletes and XTERRA friends. It was equal parts relaxing and electric, the perfect prelude.
By race morning, I wasn’t panicked. I was patient. A late start gave me time to eat, wander through transition, and double-check the details I’d drilled into training.
But once I hit the lake for warm-up, calm gave way to tension. The water was alive with the very best in Europe, every athlete razor-sharp, eyes locked on the fight ahead.
This was it, the stage I’d been working for.
The Swim: A Wake-Up Call
The plan was simple: 20 strong strokes, then settle. But almost instantly, the lake turned against me. The water was fresh and murky, disorienting, every buoy harder to sight than the last. My arms felt heavy, my rhythm gone. I told myself it would come back on lap two — that I’d grow into it — but it never did.
The swim was a disaster.
I surfaced 18th, minutes adrift, frustration hitting like a wave.
But XTERRA isn’t decided in the water. I ran into transition with one thought burning:
Pac-Man mode. Catch them. One by one.
The Bike: Reeling Them In
The opening singletrack demanded absolute focus. My breathing was ragged but I forced composure, overtaking where I could, holding momentum. On the first road section, I tucked onto Carina’s wheel to recover, then surged past into the next single track, determined to claw my way back into the race.
Emerging from the single track I clocked the next pack in the distance, I focussed on reeling them in one pedal stroke at a time.
The next 10km climb loomed, and I latched onto the group of three, Noemi setting a punishing pace. My legs screamed. Power spiked. I clung on, metre by metre, refusing to be the first to drop. When the road pitched into mud, I drew in everything I had, and soon it was just Noemi and me.
The downhills gave me strength. On a rough, muddy lane, I seized my chance, attacked, and opened a gap. For a moment, I was flying. But XTERRA never gifts you anything. A sharp rock on the next climb forced me to dab a foot, and in an instant Noemi was back on me.
Frustration surged, I attacked again on the next downhill, this time holding the gap all the way to T2, from 18th to 6th - the fight was alive.
Solo, focused. Every second earned the hard way.
The Run: Strength Through the Pain
This is where XTERRA strips you down. Heat pressing, climbs relentless, descents treacherous. Exactly the kind of challenge I love. I settled in, hunting. One athlete, then another. The first lap ended with me gaining one place - 6th to 5th, but the shadows of Noemi and Carina loomed behind.
Lap two was about survival and belief. Every climb asked more, every downhill punished mistakes. I kept my eyes forward, step by step reeling in Romy just ahead of me to run my way into 4th. The whole time I knew a 15-second penalty was waiting (mount line violation), but I couldn’t afford to let it own me.
I trusted the months of hill reps, the training, the relentless pursuit of elite performance.
By the final stretch, I was in 4th, holding off the fastest runners in Europe.
Crossing the Line
The square was alive.
Noise bouncing off every wall, cowbells and cheers shaking the air. It was all a blur — the penalty served, the final push, the sheer relief of crossing the line.
XTERRA media high-fived me, my coach and family were emotional, and legends of the sport, Aneta and Marta, came straight over to congratulate me. It felt amazing.
From age-grouper wild card in 2022 to standing alongside the very athletes I used to watch in awe.
Reflection: The Journey Matters
XTERRA Czech 2025 was more than a result. It was proof that patience, grit, and belief carry you when things go wrong. The swim collapsed, the bike demanded everything, the run pushed me to my edge, but I came out with the best result of my career.
Fourth in the race, bronze in Europe, and a step closer to where I want to be.
For anyone chasing dreams: setbacks are part of it. Stay patient, stay relentless, and trust that the finish line will be worth every struggle.
Because it is.
Great report Kerri-Ann. In your description I felt your pain. Amazing comeback after the swim!