Els Visser continued her fabulous run of form this season with a third place finish behind German duo Anne Haug and Laura Philipp at Challenge Roth on Sunday.

The Dutch athlete, racing for the ninth time in 2024, picked up her third podium and broke the Dutch national record for the full distance in the process.

Speaking after the race, the 34-year-old shared her delight with the result and said that she believes she can continue to get even better.

Podium priority

After a strong swim and bike, Visser spent the marathon trying to keep a fast moving Anne Reischmann at bay, and afterwards, shared an amusing moment from out on the course.

“It was funny, on the run, they started to give me splits to Anne [Haug] and Laura [Philipp] and I said don’t worry about that, I just want to finish on the podium!” 

Haug, who won the race, ran an incredible 2:38:52 marathon to smash the course record, with Visser praising the German’s amazing feat in the post race press conference.

“I’m super happy with the podium places here and would like to say congratulations to Anne [Haug] on just an incredible performance.”

Trusting the process

Having raced across three different continents and three different distances over the last six months, Visser has remarkably been a model of consistency, finishing fifth or higher in each of her races in 2024 so far.

Key to her success, she says, is staying healthy and consistent in training, with those two factors playing a fundamental part in her continued improvement as an athlete.

“The biggest goal that comes for all of us I think is to stay consistent in my training and stay healthy, because in the end that’s the most important thing for you to improve as an athlete. 

“I think I’m going in the right direction, as the longer I train and the more work I put in, the better I become. I am willing to improve further over the next few years.” 

Records and Roth return

In a race which saw Haug set the fastest time ever over the Ironman distance and break the course record set by the legendary Daniela Ryf last year, many other athletes also came away with personal bests, including Visser.

Setting a new Dutch national record with a time of 8:24:47, the PTO World #20 demonstrated her calibre across all distances, with her result in Roth coming less than three months after a podium at the Singapore T100.

Asked if she would consider returning to Roth to race next year, Visser credited the crowd and venue for putting on such a special event and said that another appearance in Bavaria is certainly on the cards.

“Roth is a really special place and there’s an amazing crowd, so I would love to come back here again in the future.”