British champion clocks 7:36.08 in Arizona to move to fourth on the UK all-time list

Marc Scott started his racing year by picking up from where he left off in 2020, continuing to show his fine form with a fast 3000m win at the Prickly Pear Invitational in Arizona, USA, on Saturday (February 6).

Clocking 7:36.08, the British 5000m champion jumped from 22nd to fourth on the UK all-time 3000m rankings and now sits behind only record-holder Mo Farah (7:32.62), Dave Moorcroft (7:32.79) and Brendan Foster (7:35.1).

He did it with a sub-55 second last lap, too, to beat his fellow Bowerman Track Club athletes Grant Fisher with 7:37.21 and Sean McGorty with 7:37.47.

Scott’s previous outdoor best for the distance had been the 7:43.37 he ran in London in 2017.

“A nice 3km coming out of altitude,” Scott told the Bowerman Track Club in an interview shared on Instagram. “We’ve been up there for five weeks now so we just wanted to come down and see our fitness and how we’re getting on ready for a big race in a couple of weeks over 10km.

“It was good, the guys ran really well and I managed to get the win in 7:36.”

Originally from North Yorkshire in England, Scott is now based in Portland, Oregon, where he works with Bowerman Track Club coach Jerry Schumacher.

Last year he demonstrated superb range with times from 3:35.93 for 1500m through to 60:39 for the half-marathon, including a European indoor 5000m record of 13:08.87, and he reflected on his performances in a December interview with AW editor Jason Henderson which you can find here and in the January edition of AW magazine (available to order here).

READ MORE: Marc Scott’s stellar year

You can read more about Scott and his journey in athletics here.

The Briton wasn’t the only Bowerman Track Club winner on Saturday as his club-mates also claimed the three other races.

Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, who previously worked with coach Andy Young in Scotland as part of a training group alongside Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie, won the women’s 3000m in a PB of 8:38.51.

In her first race under coach Schumacher and only her second meet since February 2020, the Canadian 1500m and 5000m record-holder pulled away over the final 150m and won clear ahead of Colleen Quigley with 8:40.23 and Karissa Schweizer with 8:40.25.

The 800m races were won by Josh Thompson in 1:49.15 and Sinclaire Johnson in 2:01.70.

Results can be found here.