Amid the battle for funding and sponsorship which has consumed so much athletics, the Corinthian spirit can still be viewed at dawn on the streets of Edinburgh.
To fit in training around his graduate studies at Queen Margaret University, Mark Mitchell must follow a routine which leaves little space for frivolity.
"I just have to structure it that I get up in the morning, go for a run, go to classes, come home and go for a run," the Forres Harrier confirms. "That's how loads of guys used to do it, back when no-one was a full-time runner. It's pretty straightforward."
It is not labour, just love. The 25-year-old was singled out as a future middle-distance achiever when he was whisked to world and European championships as a junior. Potential, alas, is no guarantee of reality. In 2013, he competed just once, a combination of hip and Achilles problems putting paid to his ambitions. "Studying physiotherapy and not being able to do anything for yourself is not great," he laughs ruefully. With both in the past, even an early alarm call cannot dim his fervour.
Mitchell's initial acid test comes on Saturday at the indoor International Match in Glasgow where he will run for Scotland over 3000 metres. Facing Bernard Lagat, confirmed as captain of a USA team filled with Olympic and world medallists, as well as Euro Cross medallist Andy Vernon, he is being pitched back in at the deep end.
It will, though, be good preparation for his personal fight to make it to the Commonwealth Games. In opting to chase a spot in the 1500 metres, he must scrap through the pack over the final straight if he wants to join the world finalist Chris O'Hare in the Scottish team.
"There's a bit of a renaissance in Scotland in the event," Mitchell acknowledges. "It could, now, be one of our best events with the likes of Chris, Dave Bishop. Kris Gauson. They're all in the all-time list. There's only really been one period, back in the golden age of the 1980s, when 1500m running was as good as now. It seems to be anytime where there's a Commonwealth Games here. But I don't want to be left behind. I want to be a part of it."
In his teenage years, Mitchell dreamed big. World records, Olympic titles, global conquest. A few realise such hopes. Most, the majority, come up short. Mitchell, restored to health, still has the time to draw up ambitions, of Rio and other destinations. Mostly though, it comes back to simple goals: pulling on shoes and feeling the cold morning air on his face.
"I like the response I get from it," he says. "If I don't run, I'm miserable. I know I have talent and if I string enough weeks together, I'll be up with the best in Scotland and the UK. But that's a by-product. I'm in the race at the weekend against Bernard Lagat. That's exciting for me, just to be involved in that."
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