Daniel Rowland: ÖTILLÖ World Championships - Sweden - 2024

Last year, I joined Markus to race at the World Championships. I had a tough day when I fell and had to withdraw at halfway. I knew I wanted to go back and I was really pleased to race with Donato who knows the Swedish terrain and was in great shape. We made a conservative plan, but also had expectations of being able to race up near the front.

We started well on the first run by pushing the pace a little to follow the leaders and to set ourselves up for a good first swim. The pace was higher than I would have liked, but experience from last year and knowing that the run was short meant I was happy to push. In the first swim, we were positioned well and stuck in the group follwoing the fastest feet.

When we arrived on the second island we were ready to go and felt positive after having already completed the longest swim of the day. As always, it was really slippery on the wet rocks and we struggled to find good purchase with our shoes and we both slipped and feel a few times. The good news was that we were running well and felt good. Unfortunately, just before the next water entry Donato slipped and smacked his bent knee directly into a crevice in a rock. His knee immedieately split open and there was a lot of blood. We didn't pause or think too much, but kept moving and got straight into the water.

On the next island, as we started running, Donato could really feel his knee and he had lost a lot of mobility. Rather than numbing some of the pain, the cold water had reduced his range of motion making it hard to run. He valiantly put one foot in front of another and after ten minutes he loosened up and was good to go again. This pattern would repeat throughout the day: a good swim, then ten to fifteen minutes to get going into a good pace again, and then some good running.

Donato was doing everything he could and that meant there were some great sections where he felt good and I was just trying my best to follow him on the runs, but there were also sections where he struggled and we had to walk or adjust our pace. Anywhere with smooth, runnable terrain didn't cause any problems and he was flying, but anywhere even a little technical changed the pressure and demands on his knee and he had to slow.

On Runmaro heading into approximately halfway, I thought we might end up stopping where I had stopped the previous year. Even though Donato was running well, there was a lot of blood, and after a few swims we even had to stop a moment to let him recover. At the aid station, he saw the medic, cleaned up some of the blood, bandaged his knee, and committed to continue. It was very brave.

With a realisation that we wouldn't be able to race as hard as we had planned, we settled into a new goal of finishing the best we could. I was so impressed with Donato and his courage. At some points he was doing some power-walking through technical terrain with a knee that he struggled to bend. At other points he was running so fast I was struggling to keep up!

We finished as well as we could and were extremely proud of what we managed to achieve despite the challenges of day. Donato saw the doctor and returned home to Stockholm for some stitches and a chance to sleep in his own bed. (He made a full recovery and is back to racing again).

I learned some important lessons during the race. First, anything can happen in this race so you have to be careful, accept what happens on the day, and adapt to the conditions. Second, I struggled to carry all the nutrition I wanted with me and I need to find a better solution for the future. Finally, the varying paces throughout the day were tough for me and I need to be prepared for these variations with specific training.

I would love to go back to the World Championships again, but for now, I want to focus on the shorter world series races to build the skills I need to race well there.