The British distance runner is aiming to repeat his 2021 victory in the Newcastle Half Marathon this weekend.
Mark Scott is aiming for another win at the Great North Run this Sunday (September 8) as he aims to return the title he won for the first time in 2021.
That year, the 30-year-old crossed the finish line in 61:22, narrowly beating Ed Chezerek of Kenya to become only the second British winner since 1985 to take the title.
Since then, Scott has continued to build on his success. It was only this year that Scott burst onto the marathon scene, making his debut in London where he finished 11th in 2:11:19, making him the third fastest Briton behind Emile Keires and Mohamed Mohamed.
Despite his marathon debut, Scott clocked an Olympic qualifying time of 2:08:10, as he recounts. AW: it was a performance of ‘forgetting and moving on’.
Mark Scott 2021 (Great North Run)
Although the Paris Olympics were out of reach, Scott has already made his mark on the Olympic stage, representing Great Britain in Tokyo 2021 in both the 5,000m and 10,000m.
The following year he set a new European indoor 5000m record in Boston with a time of 12:57.08 and won world bronze in the 3000m in Belgrade.
Scott trains with the NN Running Team, an elite group that includes marathon great Eliud Kipchoge. Training alongside some of the best athletes in the world, he joins them at least once a year in Iten, Kenya.
In fine form, he has already taken one win this weekend at the UKA 5km Road Championships on Friday evening (September 6), crossing the line in 13:56.
Mark Scott (Great North Run)
This Sunday, however, promises to be even more special as Scott will be cheered on by his four-month-old son Albie as he continues to juggle life as a new father and elite athlete.
Below is our Q&A with Scott.
How have your preparations been for the Great North Run?
Training is going well, it’s obviously a huge occasion and I love doing this race. Winning it in 2021 just makes me want to win again. I’ve had some good runs and I’m gearing up for a big marathon at some point, either this year or next.
Running a marathon doesn’t just happen overnight, it’s years and years of hard and consistent training. I haven’t run that much in the last few months because I didn’t want to break the heavy training load I was doing. I wanted to get into a rhythm and settle down.
My fiance and I had a baby in May, so it’s been a learning curve as well as a lot of work. Just to see where we are and how the body is coping with the sleepless nights.
What will be the definition of success for you this weekend?
I definitely want to get on the podium. I feel like in a road race you either win or you don’t. Whereas I feel the path is different if you win a bronze or silver medal at the World Championships.
Winning would be good luck and running a good time would be good luck. But I haven’t done a half marathon in a while, so I want to see where I’m at as I move into the year. There is a good field assembled and I just hope they all turn up on the day and we can have a battle.
Mark Scott (NN Running)
Do you feel pressure as the 2021 champion and how do you handle that pressure?
I don’t feel a lot of pressure. I’m pretty well known around the area and especially from that win. It gives me more confidence, knowing that people on the street know who I am and they know that I’ve won, it adds to the fire. It makes me work better.
Since it’s so close to home, there’s no way I’d want to do that, it’s only a few stops away on the train.
After making your marathon debut in London, will you start to focus more on the longer distance?
I have never been happier after crossing the finish line in London. I haven’t gotten anywhere near where I think my potential is. I obviously wanted to qualify for the Olympics and go that route with a marathon debut, but it wasn’t meant to be that day. I knew it deep down, but I didn’t want to let it get to me. It was just a little too much to ask for that day.
I’m not the kind of person who’s going to let an Olympic sport get away from me and not let it go. I didn’t watch my race back from London, it was one I wanted to forget about and move on from, but I know I have a lot more potential for that event.
There will definitely be another marathon, and if things continue as they have been, I may be able to start at the end of the year. If not, we will look at going again in the spring.
What benefits does training with the NN running team give you?
I usually go once a year depending on when it works best for my season. It’s full of guys who have run these amazing marathon times and competed in the Olympics and won major titles.
It’s great to know you are surrounded by like minded people who have been through this too. If you keep working out and have great workouts, it gives you a lot of confidence. Do you feel like you fit in and belong there? I hope one day I can run times like they did.
I also have people in Iten like Phil Sesemann and Emile Keires who were on the team in Paris. They usually come out every year and even joining their training has been great for me too.
Mark Scott (Mark Shearman)
How does studying at Iten compare to studying in the UK?
It is completely different. The biggest thing is eating right so you can train at a good level because it’s so different out there. There’s not that much protein and people eat ugali for breakfast, which we don’t. We can’t avoid eating ugali for breakfast, it’s not how we cope and deal with things.
If you’re not an early morning person, it can be quite difficult as everyone wakes up at 5am and goes out to exercise. Those are adjustments you have to make, and I think it’s great that you can immerse yourself in the culture of it and see how they do it there.
What are your plans for the rest of the season?
I will be going to training camp for four weeks to get a good training block. My main goal is to run under 60 minutes for the half marathon and there is only one place I would like to go for that, the Valencia Half Marathon.
I don’t have any plans beyond that but if I’m in good shape and we don’t have a marathon at the end of the year then I might look to do cross country and hopefully make the European cross team.
Will you ever return to competition?
I’m a bit old to be a runner now. I’m 30, you come out of these faster sessions with aches and pains that you don’t really get on the roads in carbon shoes. The footwear helps a lot, and I feel like I’m a little injury prone for hitting the treadmill a few times a week. I still run, but I don’t do as many sessions as I used to.
I think I’ve done what I wanted to do on the track, run the sub-13 5000m and get a world indoor medal. I think those two things combined are probably more than I thought I would ever get off the track. There are new opportunities on the roads for me and more to look for.
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