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EDINBURGH (28-Mar) -- It's not often that a major world championship comes to Great Britain, seemingly a prime opportunity for the host country's best athlete's to shine. However, only a handful of Britain's best have answered the call to run for Queen and country, and an athlete with an American father and a Scottish mother who works part-time at a restaurant in Flagstaff, Ariz., will be the U.K.'s top man when the gun sounds for the senior men's 12 km race here on Sunday afternoon.
Andrew Lemoncello, a talented steeplechaser who starred at Florida State University and won the ACC indoor titles at 3000m and 5000m last year, is excited to compete in Holyrood Park. Rooming with Irishman Martin Fagan in high altitude Flagstaff where he is coached by American Greg McMillan, Lemoncello has come through a snowy winter with some solid training under his belt.
"Things have gone well in the winter," he told the press here today, emphasizing that he hadn't done much running on the grass. "In Flagstaff we've been under snow for the last three months. I've been trying to get used to it again."
Lemoncello is an unlikely team leader, given that compatriot Mo Farah was the European Cross Country champion in 2006 and currently Britain's top distance runner. But he has decided to bypass the meet, and Lemoncello looked a little disappointed that the home team was a bit weak.
"Yeah, it could be a lot stronger," he said of the British team. "It's a shame when we have a major meet at home." He added: "I see this as a major event."
The local organizing committee, led by Geoff Wightman, said that it was their job to put on a technically sound event and promote it to the public, but they don't pick the team. "The selection of the team isn't our responsibility," he said.
Lemoncello, who has a steeplechase personal best of 8:23.74 set last summer, and plans to run for Britain in the Beijing Olympics in that event, sees this competition as a stepping stone to his ultimate goal of becoming a marathoner. He's seen the impressive marathon performances by the younger Americans like Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein, and wants to run the marathon in the London Olympics in 2012.
"I've seen a lot of success with guys in the States," he said. "You don't have to wait (to run your first marathon). I want to get more half-marathons under my belt this year."
At the 3M Half-Marathon in Austin last January, Lemoncello ran a personal best 63:13 on a downhill course, finishing second behind Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi by just one second. He said that he's always responded better to longer distance training, and that the marathon would ultimately be his best event. His Flagstaff roommate Fagan made his marathon debut earlier this year in Dubai, running 2:14:06 and cinching a spot for the Beijing Olympics.
Lemoncello could later decide to run for the USA because he already holds an American passport. But that thought was far from his mind as Sunday's race approached.
"Scotland is where my heart lies," he said.
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