Down-to-earth Catriona Morrison bids to clean up on home soil

THE week of a world-class event would normally find most athletes in hushed seclusion, going through nervous rituals, ticking off the minutes. For Catriona Morrison, the countdown to tomorrow's world duathlon championship was more about feeding her chickens, loading the dishwasher and giving her bike a good clean.

Such domesticity is possible because the 33-year-old Scot is on home turf for this one. Her home in Broxburn is just a short drive away from Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, where the GE Edinburgh ITU Duathlon World Championships are taking place this weekend. But Morrison is resolutely down to earth the rest of the time, too, and utterly lacking in the self-importance which possesses so many lesser sporting talents.

Since the official launch of the event back in the spring, she has had an astonishing triumph in the Lanzarote Ironman Triathlon, where she recovered from a 45-minute deficit to pull off a remarkable victory which would be the highlight of many a competitor's career.

But, when asked to summarise, for those unfamiliar with her sport, what she had been up to over the summer, she did not even mention that win - not, at least, until prompted to do so.

"I've got five new chickens since then," was Morrison's initial response. "They've been taking up a lot of my time."

More pertinently, as far as tomorrow's big race is concerned, the past few months also saw her contract an awkward leg strain that has curtailed her preparation. As a former world and European champion, and being on home ground, she remains the favourite to take another global title tomorrow, but admits that she has not got in as much training as she would have liked.

"I've been getting over a little bit of Achilles grumbling and starting to run again. I was able to work on the cross-trainer, but I avoided running for a while just to keep the weight off my foot," she said.

"I only started running again a month ago, so I will lack a little sharpness. I've raced twice since, which is maybe one race down on where I'd like to be. But I've won everything I've entered recently so I can't complain. I'm going to go in and give it my best shot."

Where the triathlon is composed of a swim, a cycle and then a run, the duathlon dispenses with the swim. In theory that should mean that this event is an easier one than many of the competitors are used to, but the reality is that the Holyrood course is one of the toughest ever used.

The initial 10-kilometre run is over four laps up and down a stretch of the road which circles Arthur's Seat, the bike ride of nearly 40km goes round the hill seven times, and then it's back on foot for a final 5km.Morrison believes that the demanding nature of the course could work in her favour and help compensate for her lack of race sharpness.

"The beauty of the course is we go round Arthur's Seat seven times," she said. "Everyone has to put in the effort to climb the hill, which differs from some races where girls can sit back in the main pack and let other team members do the work. I'm hoping my bike fitness will get me up and down the hill faster than anyone else."

Those hoping to get the better of Morrison on her own ground include two of her Great Britain team-mates, 2010 European medallists Kat Grimmett and Katie Ingram. Reigning European champion Ruth van der Meijedn from the Netherlands and last year's world runner-up Sandra Levenez from France are also expected to put in a strong showing.

In the men's event, Russia's world No 1 Sergey Yakovlev starts as favourite. Among his main rivals will be world No 2 Manuel del Corral Morales of Spain and last year's runner-up Damien Derobert of France.

The Great Britain men's team includes Adam Bowden, a convert from athletics to triathlon who was second at last month's Geneva ITU Triathlon European Cup. Scotland's Ritchie Nicholls will race for Britain in the under-23 event.

The weekend's competition began yesterday with the Paraduathletes race, and continues today with amateur age-group races. Entry to the park is free for all spectators.

GE Edinburgh ITU Duathlon World Championships timetable: Today: 8am Wave 1 race starts (18-29 male, 55-59 male). 9am Wave 2 (60+ male, 55+ female). 10.15am Wave 3 (18-39 female). 11.30am Wave 4 (40-54 female). 12.45pm Wave 5 (30-39 male). 2pm Wave 6 (45-54 male). 3.30pm Wave 7 (40-44 male). 6.30pm last finisher expected.

Tomorrow: 8am Junior women. 10am Junior men. 11.30am Medal ceremony for junior events. Noon Elite & under-23 women. 3pm Elite and under-23 men. 5.30pm Elite and under-23 medal ceremonies, followed by closing ceremony.