There is a good reason it’s taken us nearly a week to catch up with Catriona Morrison following her World title victory at the World duathlon Championships in Richmond (USA) last week. Catriona is an exceptionally busy person, having flown in from the States on Tuesday morning she was back at her desk first thing on Wednesday, sadly there’s no rest, not even for a newly crowned World Champion.

AE We know you are still holding down a fairly hectic job as well as training full time, how do you manage to combine work and training?

CM Well it’s better than it was, I used to work five days a week, but now I only work three so I can fit in around twenty five hours training a week as well. It used to be the case that I simply didn’t have time for anything else, but now with the extra two days I feel like I have a bit more of a life.

AE This year has been an amazing year for you, you’ve won two gold medals – European short course duathlon and Worlds long course – and you’ve also won a medal at the World triathlon long course Championships, what do you put your success down to.

CM I think this year it’s a case of ‘less is better’! I haven’t raced nearly as much and I’m a lot more relaxed in my approach to training and racing. I think if you learn to relax, work hard and have patients the results will come.

AE There’s still another chance for one more major medal this year, Catriona will be racing at the 70.3 world championships in Clearwater, Forida on the 10th November.

CM I’m not to sure about that! The sensible person in me says top ten would be good, but the not so sensible person thinks that I would like to come home with a top five place.

AE Do you have any other predictions for the race?

CM Julie Dibens is really strong this year and I think she’s in with a good chance of taking the title, that’s if she recovers well from this weekends Xterra World Championships.

AE We’ve already read here on tri247 that you are not funded by the lottery program as you were taken off it last year when you decided to move away from the Olympic distance triathlon, how do you feel about that?

CM I think that there has been quite a lot of focus on this subject, which may not be totally fair. Basically it’s down to the politics of sport and I was well aware that if I didn’t have an olympic focus then I wouldn’t be funded. I appreciate the support and funding I have received during my triathlon career. It was my decision to change my focus and it’s been a good one, I’m more relaxed now and don’t have the stress that comes with being lottery funded and having to chase World ranking points. I’m able to work and focus on the things that I’m good at. It’s tough but those are the rules and the politics of the sport which I understand.

AE The good news is, that even though you aren’t funded by the lottery program, you were one of the first athletes to be funded by the independently funded ‘Winning Scots’ programme, can you tell us more about that?

CM The program is a project which was initiated by Bill Gammell, the Cairn Enery oil entrepreneur and was set up to help people like myself that fell outside the lottery system. It’s a program that doesn’t just focus on the Olympics, it focuses on all sorts of different sports and people. It’s also about promoting sport in the community and helps provide and promote a winning culture in business.

AE Next year your funding will mean you are able to give up your job and go full-time again. What will you have to do to receive that kind of funding, other than winning lots of medals of course?

CM Part of the deal is that I help promote fitness and sport within the community. I will work at helping encourage children to become more involved in sport, especially duathlon and triathlon. It’s similar work to what I’m already doing and it’s great fun to be able to talk to groups of children about my sporting experiences. To be honest, when they are young, children are so excited about everything that they wouldn’t care even if you said you were World tiddlywinks Champion, they would still be excited. By talking to people about winning and sport, you are motivating and encouraging them to become involved in something that can have a hugely positive impact on their lives.

AE Coming back to your World Championship race last weekend, a fantastic result and another medal for your collection, but it must have been quite an emotional race for everyone following the death of the legendary duathlete, Benny Vansteelant, just a few weeks ago?

CM It was a tough and very emotional time for all of us on the startline. He was such a huge star in the sport and it was very strange not to see him racing. Biking is the toughest thing about our sport!

AE You looked like you had a very comfortable victory, was it really that easy?

CM Going into the race I was named as the favorite, which I found quite amusing as I didn’t think that I was in my best shape. I knew Michell Lee ( silver medallist ) was running really well so I thought she would be a threat, but on the run I decided to test them out and pulled away slightly to find that no one wanted to challenge me, so I just kept on going. It was a strange race I actually felt comfortable all the way and never felt like I had to really push myself to the degree that we normally have to. It was funny as I really didn’t expect to win that day.

AE Duathlon is a great sport and lots would say that it is far tougher than racing Olympic distance triathlon, some would also say that it really doesn’t get the credit or exposure that it deserves, what are your thoughts on this?

CM I absolutely agree with you. It’s a shame because as you say it is such a great sport, but the success of it really depends on the ITU.They are the ones that really control its future and without there support in pushing it forward, it can’t develope. There is a great opportunity to put on a duathlon series when the weather in Europe is to cold to do triathlon. Without a doubt, more triathletes would race if there was more prize money too ( Ed; the prize money in duathlon is a quarter of the prize money that is won in triathlon, sometimes less ). It’s interesting because Vanessa Fernandes (ITU World triathlon Champion and current world number one) raced in Gyor at the World short course duathlon Championships, her coaches obviously sent her to race, not because she needed another title, but because they new that racing duathlon is tough and it’s great for your physical fitness. Sadly the ITU really didn’t promote the fact that Vanessa was there racing and that she won, it would have been great for the sport if they had as it would have definitely lifted it’s credibility

AE Finally after such a successful season what are your plans for 2008 and beyond?

CM Well, whilst I continue to improve and enjoy the sport I will continue racing, where and what I’m not totally sure. I will most definitely keep racing duathlon and 70.3, which I think is a good distance for me. In regards to Olympic distance I’m not sure. It’s funny because since I’ve become more relaxed about my swimming it has improved. The 2010 Common Wealth games in 2010 wont be staging triathlon as an event so I do have it in the back of my mind that I may try for 10,000m on the track or even the marathon.