In the 2004 season Erkesso took on both the long and short races at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Brussels. After finishing fifth in the long race and winning the team gold, she reached the global podium for the first time with a bronze medal in the short race and yet another team gold. She won the IAAF's Lotto Cross Cup Brussels cross country meeting twice consecutively in 2005 and 2006. She again ran in two races at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but was less successful on her second attempt. Although she finished twelfth and won a team gold medal in the short race, she was well off the pace in 46th position in the long race.