A Father’s Drive

Children learn to respect nature. They learn their limits. They learn that things do not just come out of the refrigerator. In Estonia, there are many ways to survive in the forest in summer just by picking berries.

My name is Andrus Mäesepp, and our hometown is Elva, Estonia. It is a small place, but sport has always been close here. One of Estonia’s main sports events, the Tartu Maraton, starts and finishes next to our city. It began as a cross-country ski race more than 60 years ago, and now the same culture around it includes mountain biking, running, and a lot of other outdoor events. For us, skiing, biking, running, and being outside are not separate things. They all belong together.

My grandfather Kalju was active in those races. He took part in the skiing, the cycling, the running, and the road cycling events. My mother Hele-Kaja followed him, and she is still active now. So when I speak about sport in our family, I’m speaking about almost 70 years of putting a number on your chest and going out with others.

After the Second World War, my grandfather’s generation was one of the first generations here where ordinary people had the spare time to do sports. It was not like sport today, but it became something that more people could do. It wasn’t only for a few athletes. It became part of life.

Learning Outside

Elva calls itself the sports capital of Estonia. There is also the legacy of Erika Salumäe, one of Estonia’s great Olympic champions in track cycling. 

My grandfather inspired me to ski, but in my 30s I discovered mountain biking. I think all of this is connected. When my own children were born, I wanted them to be able to ride. I wanted them to know how not to drown in the lake. Running is not a bad habit either. It started naturally. We went skiing, biking, and I wanted them to learn to swim. I saw that they were quite good compared to children their own age, so why not compete also?

My children in our family are the first generation of city people in some ways, but they were born in the countryside. Everything to do with nature feels normal to them. They feel comfortable outside. That is important to me.

My wife Marit and I work together in the same direction. Marit is a university lecturer in health issues and nursing. She is a registered nurse, so she knows the value of health. We made it possible for the children. We surrounded them with possibilities. We bought bikes early. We took them canoeing and skiing. We took long bike hikes with a tent on our bicycles. Now we travel with the campervan, so there are no more bike hikes with the tent, but the idea is the same. It was just a logical thing to do.

Minna Li and Maru

I have three children, but right now the story is mostly about Minna Li and Maru.

Minna Li is very controlled and peaceful. She is intelligent. She knows her thing and she knows what she wants. Maru is different. His name translates like fury or storm. There is always something flying when he is active. There is a lot of action, laughing, breaking things, and wrestling. Minna Li is more measured. Maru is more like, ‘Let’s race, let’s fight!’

They both do triathlons and I would say about three-fourths is road triathlon and one-fourth is off-road, but we have so many unpaved roads around us that it is natural to take a mountain bike. They like mud and jumps and all of that. It was natural that we found XTERRA.

Welcome In

In Estonia, we do not have many cross triathlon possibilities. There were no big challenges. Then XTERRA invited us to come to the first Youth World Championship.

For us, it was good motivation. It was good to see what others are doing. In Estonia, we have competition, but not that much. XTERRA became a big part of our lives over the last two years. We first went with Minna Li in 2024, and then it grew from there.

In the last couple of years, my main occupation has been dedicated to the sports careers and management of Minna Li and Maru. I sometimes say I have nine jobs. The tenth is hunger. But really, I train them. I drive them. I repair bikes and other gear. I make their race calendar and register for their events. I try to promote them. I talk to people on their behalf. That way they have more time for school and more free time.

Commitment

One of the issues in Elva is that even though we call ourselves a sports capital, we do not have a swimming pool. The only way we could practice active swimming was for me to be the driver. So it has grown into something much bigger. I drive them to go swimming. I train them. We also train other beginning triathletes a little bit.

From outside, it is probably hard to guess how much detail goes into this. Triathlon is one of the most complex sports with its three different disciplines, and adding transition training as a fourth one. You have to be a bit mad to do cross and road triathlon at the top level at the same time. Usually in triathlon, it is a whole family thing. Sometimes it is two or three generations, because just one parent cannot handle it.

If you want to be decent, healthy, and successful in this sport, it takes a lot. So do not choose triathlon parenthood if you do not have time.

Growing Pains

There are the early mornings and the planning, but there are also the smaller things that never stop. Maru breaks his bike almost two times a month, so it needs to be repaired. Right now, his feet have grown many sizes because of a growth spurt. We had to throw away five or six pairs of shoes. Yesterday something fit, today it does not fit anymore, and tomorrow there is a competition. That is the kind of detail people may not see.

As a parent, I am not only standing there watching. You are not passive. You have to close the zipper. You have to hold the bottle. You have to notice what the referees are doing, how the weather is changing, what information might help them before the start. They know what to do, but as a parent or trainer, you can sometimes see something better from the side. Up to the last second, there is information to collect and give.

My children keep me active also. I have to go to the bike track with them. I enjoy that they keep me mobile and healthy. Parents can feel they are part of the success of their children, or the development of their children, or the ambitions and motivations of their children. It is not one person’s thing. They need family or backup.

Our Culture

Our Estonian culture is also part of this. Estonians have been called people of the land, people connected to the countryside. In older times, landlords were often Russian or German and lived in cities, while Estonians lived in the countryside. So the connection with nature is very strong.

Estonians are also proud of singing culture. Song festivals are important here. Because we are a small population, Estonians have also tried to make themselves seen through sport. Nature, sport, singing festivals, and our complicated history with Russia are all part of who we are.

We know our history. We know that our grandparents were taken to Siberia. We know we have complicated neighbors. Estonia is next to Russia, and Ukraine is not far away. At the same time, Estonia is open, digital, accessible, and safe. It is on the edge of Europe, but it is part of Europe.

For me, all of this belongs together. Family, sport, nature, Estonia, travel, training, bikes, lakes, shoes that no longer fit, broken parts, cold rain, campervan mornings, and children growing up.

Fatherhood

As a father, I grow with my children and with my wife. We are in the same row. We learn every day. I cannot say I am 100% patient all the time, especially now with their teenage years, when there are a lot of emotions and mixed motives. Teenagers need freedom. It is instinct for them to rebel against older people. Sometimes I say something, and the first response is “no!” So I have to take time. I have to understand why they react that way. It takes patience.

I hope Minna Li and Maru will be thankful that they had a colorful childhood. I hope they do not regret that they had to work hard also. They make sacrifices. Maybe not too much, but still, they see that their classmates have more leisure time and less structure. Minna Li and Maru have routines. They have to sleep early at night. That is different from many people their age.

And that is fatherhood for me. It is not always perfect. It is not always patient. But it is the work that is done together, and it is a life that keeps all of us moving.