A riveting event at the 2013 WTS Grand Finals in London saw Brit Non Stanford take the win and the series title. Stanford unfortunately was out most of 2014 with various injuries but is now looking forward to return this season. She is now training in Leeds with the same crew of coaches as the Brownlees, and we ran into her at the Playitas Resort on Fuerteventura and you now get to meet this fast running Brit.

Slowtwitch: Non it is good to chat with you. How are you doing?

Non Stanford: I am pretty well - thank you, and thank you for speaking with me.

ST: What have you been up to the last few months?

Non: The last few months I have been based in Leeds and been training there. I did a lot of rehab work for my injury, because I spent a good part of last year injured. Finally things are coming back together after a few setbacks. Other than that, nothing too exciting, just working away.

ST: Can you elaborate on those setbacks?

Non: It was a string of unfortunate events really. I tore my plantar fascia back in March while I was racing a 10k, and when I was just coming back, having run only a couple weeks, I had a bit of pain in my ankle and it turns out that I managed to get a stress fracture in my navicular, which is one of the bones in the foot. Which was really bizarre, because I hadn’t really done any running. Coming back from that I spent quite a few weeks in a cast boot and I started to get problems as I started back moving again. Finally it has started to settle down and I am in the gym every day for an hour doing loads of rehab work. Fingers crossed now, we are coming to the end of the tunnel and will see daylight again.

ST: As 2014 was moving along was there a point when you thought this was never going to end?

Non: There were definitely days where I was getting a bit frustrated. When you first get injured, you think oh well I can get injured and I can get on with it and might be able to salvage it with the end of the season. But when the second and third instant occur you end up getting a bit worn down by it. I am really fortunate that I have a great group of people around me. I have a great support crew in Leeds, and a good group of friends who really helped, and it has allowed me to focus on a few other things. I did a lot of commentating and presenting for the BBC over the summer, and that was a bit different. And watching the races as a spectator, I learned quite a bit about racing from an outside perspective.

ST: Being so close and watching these events, were you ready to put on your running shoes and jump in, or were you content spectating?

Non: There were definitely times when I wished I were there, and during some of the races I actually went out on my bike and did not watch them. But came back and checked them out later. It is a bit frustrating, but everyone goes through injuries, and I think you have to remember that and keep it in perspective.

ST: At what point did you feel you were good to go again to train solidly?

Non: It started in December when I made progress and tings were moving in the right direction. The I had a setback around Christmas, and now with the new year I am hoping to finally turn a new leaf. Things seem to be going well, but I am now at that stage where I don’t want to jinx myself. I don’t want to say it is all going great until we have a couple more weeks under the belt and I am confident that things are moving in the right direction.

ST: Are you a superstitious person?

Non: No, not really, but after being injured for 10 months you never want to say yes it is fine.

ST: So what is next for you?

Non: In terms of racing hopefully I will be at the World [Triathlon] Series event in Capetown, and that is at the end of April. If not then early May in Yokohama. The main focus this year is qualifying for the Olympic team in Rio, and for us we have to podium both at the Rio test event in August and the Grand Final in Chicago. We need to get these 2 podiums for an automatic selection, and that is pretty tough - likely the toughest selection policy of any country. So that is the main item this year, and if I can get that under my belt I would be very happy.

ST: If you race in 2015 the way you closed out the 2013 season all should be well.

Non: Absolutely. Fingers crossed that happens. I will start the season a bit later than everybody else as the actual World Triathlon Series kicks off in March in Abu Dhabi. So I will miss the first few, but it is more important to finish the season strong this year.

ST: Let us talk about the 2013 Grand Final in London. Could it have gone any better way?

Non: Probably not. Going into the race I was one of the favorites, but I wasn’t the favorite. I was 3rd ranked and people were like looking more at a head-to-head between Anne and Gwen, rather than at me. And I sort of used it as an opportunity rather than carrying the burden of the pressure of it. I thought “how many times in your life will you have the opportunity to become a World Champion” and I sort of thrived of that, while some other folks maybe crumbled a bit. Obviously Gwen was very unfortunate that she crashed and it would have been much better to get off the bike with her and finish the race that way, but I guess that is racing. It has happened to me in the past where I crashed, and you never know what will happen back there.

ST: At what point of the race did you realize that she had crashed?

Non: I heard her go down. We were together in the bike group and I heard someone go down, and someone said – that was Gwen. So I pretty much knew straightaway. And to be fair, most people in the group thought that was terrible. No one really wants to see this happen and there was a big sigh through the group. No one wants that to happen to anyone in the race.

ST: Plus the severity of the crash was likely unknown.

Non: Exactly, you don’t know. You can’t stop and go back and see if she is all right as the race is going on. Fortunately the next time we came around she was gone, and we cycled past her as she was making her way back to transition. So we knew she was ok.

ST: How about Anne Haug? What did you know in terms of what she was doing?

Non: I think it became fairly apparent during the second lap of the bike. Obviously our coaches have boards with time splits, and it said our group back to Haug quite a few minutes and so I knew something had gone wrong with her, in the swim probably. But as far as I know she did not have any problems going into the race, and she did not show any signs that she had issues. I guess it just wasn’t her day that day, and I couldn’t really comment as to what happened.

ST: But you knew soon into that bike segment that it was your race.

Non: Oh yeah, we knew early on that Anne was quite a long way back.

ST: No matter which WTS race will be your first one this season, do you think you will fly a bit under the radar?

Non: I am not sure, but I guess it was only 18 months ago that I won so I don’t think that I am completely forgotten. Maybe people will not necessarily looking directly at me and as a returning World Champion I really do not know what to expect. Plus everyone knows that I have been injured and I am going to try to put not too much pressure on myself. I’d like to waltz in and win my first race, but that is easier said than done. With girls racing especially it is very unpredictable. You don’t know who is going to be on the podium from one race to the next, and there seem to be new girls coming in all the time. I will see how the first face race evolve from my sofa and then get involved later in the season.

ST: Who is your coach?

Non: We have a team of coaches up in Leeds headed by Malcolm Brown and he works closely with Jack Maitland and a few other guys. It is definitely a team effort that we have in Leeds and it seems to work well.

ST: Anything else we should know about you?

Non: Well, I really don’t know what you already know about me. [laughs]

ST: Something folks typically might not understand or know about you.

Non: I was surprised to learn that the Orca team did not know that I had already graduated from my studies. I studied at Birmingham for 4 years and that is where I started triathlon. I went into Birmingham as a runner and sort of found triathlon there. So I have to thank the University of Birmingham for my roots in triathlon.

ST: Who at the university introduced you to the sport?

Non: The coach there is Steve Lumley and he is incredibly passionate and he sort of spotted me when I was running and asked me if I wanted to be involved with his squad. From there I did my first one for fun and got sucked in. Interestingly it is where both Rachel Joyce and Chrissie Wellington studied, and they were both swimmers at the university. They got a rich heritage of triathlon at this university.

ST: How soon did you realize that this was your thing?

Non: I remember doing my first Olympic distance triathlon, and only my second one ever, and I thought I am never ever doing this again. [laughs]

ST: Well something must have happened from Never Ever to where we are today.

Non: I think it was the journey back in the car. It was a long trip to Scotland, about 5-6 hours in the car, and by the time I got back to the house I was ready to train again the next day, and ready for the next one.

ST: Any advice for young women who get started in the sport?

Non: Definitely get involved in a club so you have people you can train with and give you guidance until you have more experience. I think the great part of triathlon is that it isn’t just for Elites, the age group scene is quite fantastic and you can get involved at any ability, plus there are races all over the world now. Every weekend now you can race somewhere cool. So get involved, it is a fantastic community.

ST: Well thank you for your time.

Non: No problem and thank you.