The coach and British 3,000m record holder has spoken of a marked career change that will see him leave life in Canada behind to mentor and develop Scotland’s student athletes.
Mark Rowland had no intention of returning to Great Britain. After 14 years in America, moving there in 2008 to lead Nike’s Oregon Track Club Elite project and then spending another two as Athletics Canada’s West Hub Endurance coach, the Olympic track medalist fully expected to see his Canadian charges in L.A. At least the 2028 Games;
Instead, his professional life took a very different course. He will soon be arriving in Scotland to work as the head endurance coach for the University of Edinburgh’s World Endurance Program.
And so he will land this month, ready to acquire the land, assess the athletes already in place, the facilities at hand, and then set about putting the pieces of the jigsaw together that he hopes will culminate in a vision.
The fact that the university was able to land a world-renowned coach who has had a number of athletes win world and Olympic medals speaks volumes not only for their level of ambition, but also for how attractive the project is.
“They sold it to me,” Rowland says. “I was excited and excited about the opportunity and the challenge. “What is your purpose? What am I doing and what do I want to do?”
“I want to work with athletes every day. It’s all about managing, developing and leading, but I want to affect change every day. I want to be effective.”
Mark Rowland
The 61-year-old, whose time of 8:07.96 to win bronze in the 3000m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics still stands as a British record, admits there are similarities in the task ahead of him and the one he faced in 1988. year Oregon Track Club Elite. While brand-sponsored training groups can now be found all over the world, Rowland played a key role in getting it all started. is to identify talents earlier.
“Talent will come,” he says. “Sometimes we can get a little bogged down with all the little details and marginal gains that people talk about, but we have to get the basics right, I think, especially with young athletes is in their heads and it gets too complicated. So it goes back to the basics, looking at where the priorities are and how we can get the most profit for the least amount of return (in America). The 18 to 22 age group is where you’d want to pick people up and affect change most of the time.”
Rowland’s plan in Edinburg, like it was in Oregon, is to “create a program with a home base.” He’ll also be looking for people to help him move it forward and “challenge” him.
“I don’t need you to tell me what I already know. Tell me things I don’t,” he says.
“There will be challenges along the way, but the principles are the same. First, don’t throw the kitchen sink at the athletes, then you have to look at their mindset. And there’s this element of trust. I have to earn trust there, too, and hopefully there’s respect.
“There’s a perception of who I am, maybe good or bad, but hopefully people will just put that on the shelf and accept me for who I am. I want to work with people to collaborate, hopefully have some empathy along the way and then help people. It’s all about the athletes at the end of the day, right?”
Rowland arrives in Scotland at a time when the profile of the sport, particularly when it comes to middle distance and endurance running, has rarely been higher. European 10,000m bronze medalist Megan Keith, who is in her final year of a sports science degree at the University of Edinburgh, is a good example. of what might be possible.
Megan Keith (David Hicks)
Rowland happily admits that the ambition is to be able to recruit the best Scottish talent and offer a more than credible alternative to the now-increasingly undermining NCAA system, a self-confessed realist he knows is a lofty goal indeed. However, that won’t stop him from encouraging his athletes to achieve it.So what can the students under his guidance experience?
“Not every athlete is going to be world-class. But just because you’re not a world-class athlete doesn’t mean you can’t behave like one,” he says. not disciplined as in cracking the whip, but in terms of standards, time keeping… just the basics.
“You’re just trying to create an environment that allows athletes to optimize their performance. The job is to create and challenge athletes to medal-winning performances. Now we know that’s a bit of a stretch to balance their schedules and all those things.
“I like structure and discipline, and in college they have to have that, because you can’t burn the candle at both ends. I’ve found that in my time in this sport, especially dealing with others, is that decision-making ( that much depends.) I could have people who were not the best genetically, but they are able to make more effective decisions. I think that is part of the quality, talent, too mindset.”
Rowland plans to paint with broad brushstrokes, at least initially.
“We’re trying to produce an athlete first, not a specialist, but for that we need a structure,” he adds. , they do because they take you to a different place that you probably haven’t been before. Anyone that I’ve had by a world standard… they’re different, they do it differently. I’m not looking for normal people.”
The man, who spent eight years as a track and middle distance coach at UK Athletics after retiring as an athlete, is not planning to make an immediate impact off campus.
“They won’t all be my athletes, but I hope we can lay the groundwork to be able to recruit better athletes in 2026/2027,” he says If you want to be successful and you want to win, you need to get the right athletes.You need to invest time in the recruiting and marketing process.
“I want to get in the ground and see how it works and then start making some adjustments along the way. I’m excited about the challenge and working with good people around me.”
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