World indoor 3,000m bronze medallist Marc Scott will be gunning for his third UK outdoor title at the Müller UK Athletics Championships in Manchester on the weekend of June 24-26.

Racing over 5,000m – the event he was victorious in at the 2018 and 2020 edition of the Championships, Scott (Jerry Schumacher) will be hoping to showcase the form which saw him speed to a fine 12:57.08 British indoor record over the distance in Boston, back in February.

The 2018 European fifth placer looked back on his very first national win:

My first UK outdoor victory…

My first UK outdoor victory came in 2018 when we were competing at the old Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

Often surprising to many, but it was a warm afternoon for distance running in late June. Knowing I had the fastest season’s best going into the race, I didn’t intend on taking the lead until I was going for the win. This came in the last 200m when I overtook Andy Vernon as he pressed late in the race. The lead changed many times but as expected, the win came with running a modest 13:47 in a tactical affair.

I had come into the race after an altitude training camp in the US and I knew I was in good shape and it would have taken something commanding to beat me that day.

The rest of the season…

This was only my second race of the season, I raced at my home base in the US (Portland) and then flew back for the championship. This performance then led to other opportunities later in the season.

Did that UK victory enable you to gain selection for a major champs? 

Since I was able to knock out the European standard in Portland and combined with winning the trial race, this then led to automatic selection for the European Championships in Berlin. As a result of a 5th place finish in the Europeans, I was then asked to compete for Team Europe in the Continental Cup which took place in Ostrava.

The importance of the Championships…

The Championships are always important because it allows you to see how you fare amongst all the other Brits – and that’s something I haven’t had a lot of chances to explore with being based in the US for the last 10 years of my career. These type of races really bring on your tactical racing awareness and sharpness for the championship portion of the season which will be critical for 2022.

Goals for Manchester…

The only goal for Manchester is to win, nothing more, nothing less.

Get your tickets now for the 2022 Müller UK Athletics Championships Manchester!