Lemoncello: "I always kept the dream of one day road-racing and competing in the London Marathon"

ANDREW Lemoncello has made a name for himself as a rising track star in Scottish and American athletics, but he has now headed on to the open roads and will pursue a long-held desire to follow in his mother's footsteps.
The 26-year-old admitted that the disappointment of failing to get through the first round of the 3,000m steeplechase in the Beijing Olympics last year made up his mind that now was the time to switch from track to road-running, but he explained how it had always been in the back of his mind.

"The decision was made after the Olympics," he said. "When I was younger I always dreamed of being at the Olympics, and always kept the belief I could do it, but it was a disappointment last year.

"So, when you finish and start to look forward you're looking four years to the next one. That's London 2012, and my great memories of running, and my inspiration, was of watching my mum (Phyllis] running in the London Marathon.

"I used to go down with her, from about 13 to 16, and from picking up the numbers, the atmosphere, the crowds willing you on, waiting for her to come through the 18-mile mark and then at the old Cutty Sark finish, the whole buzz was just incredible, and that got me going in athletics.

"I did a lot of road running growing up in Fife, and though I switched to the track as you naturally do, and all the hype and interest when I went to university in America was on the track, I always kept the dream of one day road-racing and competing in the London Marathon. Beijing has been a blessing, because all my focus now is on the London Marathon next year and then returning, hopefully, to compete in 2012."

Lemoncello stands out in Scottish athletics in more ways than one. The distinctive surname comes from his Italian grandfather, Antonio, who settled in the USA after the Second World War. Andrew's father, Stephen, is American and met his Scots mother in Japan, where he and his sister, Simone, were born, but the family moved to Scotland when Andrew was five and he grew up in Ceres.

The long winding roads of Fife might suggest that road-running was more natural than track for the former Madras College pupil, but only in recent weeks, pounding out 140 miles a week at 7,000 feet in Arizona, has he begun to feel comfortable in more unpredictable traffic.

READ ON...