Team GB marathon man Scott Overall tells Sky Sports about his American learning curve.
Scott Overall will be running in just his second marathon when he represents Team GB at this summer's Olympics. He tells Sky Sports about his American university learning curve on a remarkable road to London
The 2012 Olympics is a date with destiny for many athletes in Team GB but for Scott Overall there is an increased sense of fate in his journey to London. When the men's marathon gets under way on August 12, the 29-year-old will be taking part in just his second race.
In what was his marathon debut last September in Berlin, Overall ran a time of 2:10.55. It booked his place at London's Games with ease.
His experience at World and European Indoor Championships at 5,000metres and 10,000m, and a narrow failure to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mean he has not come from nowhere. But it is still a remarkable story which began for the Londoner at university in the USA.
Having learned what it took to compete at the top while on a scholarship at Butler University in Indianapolis, Overall graduated in 2007 and joined coach Robert Chapman's Team Indiana Elite (TIE). He has gone on to represent Great Britain at international events but just more than 12 months ago he was still working as a high street trainer salesman.
It is a well-publicised tale and makes it almost sound as if Overall moved into the marathon by chance. That is not the case. His days at Butler were always pointing him in the right direction.
High-mileage trainer
"It is a different step up in America," Overall told
Sky Sports. "The strength in depth they have out there, you cannot compare it to the United Kingdom.
"University sport is massive out there. You have to run fast to compete. That brought me on quite a lot and opened my eyes to how fast you have to run to just make the University National Championships, let alone internationally.
"I think going to America was probably the best move that I have done in my running career."
Overall, who is targeting the British marathon record - 2:07.13 - and after the Olympics plans to run in the annual New York and London races, also has no doubts about the benefits of the post-collegiate TIE training group in Bloomington, Indiana which was set up by Chapman.
"We had a very good group of guys, training together, living together. And from there, with Chapman's coaching, you come on quite a lot," he explained.
"The following year, after graduating, was the Beijing Games. I was seven seconds off the qualifying time. Things have gone fairly well since then.
No nerves
"I have been to the Indoor World and European Championships. I think I have always been a high-mileage trainer. Everything pointed towards the marathon.
"Every athlete aspires to the Olympics and running the marathon just gave me another option. My training did not have to change too much, so the rest is history, as it were."
The marathon does not take place until the final day of the Games and Overall will first depart for a holding camp in Portugal before filtering through to the Olympic Village an expected four or five days before his event.
In the meantime, he will continue with his training programme of 120 miles-per-week before gradually cutting that schedule down to an eventual regime of between 30 and 40 miles in the week of the marathon. It could for some people be an anxious wait, however, Overall does not see it that way.
"At the end of the day, I still have to run a marathon," he said. "I still have to prepare for it like I would any other race. I try not to think about it being the Olympics, a home Games, or anything like that.
"It is still going to be a 26-mile race and it is not going to be any easier. I am just looking forward to competing."
Scott Overall was speaking at the London 2012 Superstore in Hyde Park which is now open. The store will be selling a full range of adidas London 2012 merchandise and can be found opposite Knightsbridge Barracks. Get ready to watch Great Britain #takethestage.
