Last weekend, Bolesławiec native Klaudia Petters competed twice at the Polish Championships. On Saturday, 18 September, the Polish Middle-Distance Duathlon Championships were held in Czempiń. It was there—after 10 km of running, 60 km of cycling and 10 km of running in unfavorable conditions and fierce competition—that Klaudia won the Polish under-23 championship and became Polish women’s vice-champion.
Champion:
After the cycling leg I was third, about half a minute behind, and I knew that a tough battle awaited me in the run if I wanted to fight for the silver medal. However, thanks to a fast transition, I started the running leg in second place, and I knew I would do everything to hold on to it. Even though with every kilometer I increasingly felt that the medal would be mine, at the finish I still could not believe that I had won the silver medal.
The following day, Klaudia lined up at the start of the Polish Championships over the 1/2 Ironman distance in Poznań. Here too, despite being tired from the previous event, she performed very well. After 4 hours 43 minutes of competition—swimming 1,900 m, cycling 90 km and running 21 km—the Bolesławiec native finished sixth in Poland.
Klaudia Petters:
It was a huge challenge for me because when I stood at the start in Poznań, I felt muscle pain and fatigue caused by competing in Czempiń. I knew it would be a very difficult event. During the cycling leg I fought with myself not to slow down despite the pain, and I was also very afraid of the run because it was the first time I had decided to compete in such long events on consecutive days.
She adds:
I am very happy because I improved my time from two years ago by 12 minutes. I know that if I had not competed in Czempiń, I might have tried to fight for fourth place, but I am still very happy because I did not believe I would be able to finish such an event at all, let alone on two consecutive days. I know I was the only competitor who dared to take on such an effort, and that additionally motivated me.