TUCKED away, in a drawer at Derek Easton's home in Bridge of Allan, is a Great Britain team badge - a relic of his days as an extra in Chariots of Fire.

He was captain of St Andrews University athletics club when he was asked to help recruit runners for an iconic scene in the multiple Oscar-winning film.

The badge, a replica of that worn in the 1924-Olympic era, was on the students' kit as they ran on the sand with Ian Charleson. "I have the cloth Union Jack badge, from the tops we were given, but the tops and shorts had to be returned," says Easton, who appeared in the reprise of the scene featuring Rowan Atkinson at the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.

A bit player when he performed to the instruction of David Putnam, Easton is now directing a significant athletics production of his own, to his own script, and with a massive cast.

He shuns the limelight, preferring his athletes' performances to speak for him, yet he deserves acknowledgement as Scotland's foremost cross-country coach, steering Central Athletics Club to the men's and women's team titles at the Scottish championships in Falkirk last month - only the fourth club in over 80 years to achieve the double. The men won for the fifth successive time, first to do so in 20 years, with Andrew Butchart claiming the individual crown, and then taking the British trial.

Butchart is on GB duty today at the World Championships in Guiyang. In the past 30 years only Africans have won the senior men's individual and team titles - a monopoly so dominant that Britain wanted to send only those capable of finishing in the top 30. In the end they were persuaded to send athletes of "potential", so Butchart is joined by two other home-trained Scots: Rhona Auckland (coached by Janice Hogg) and Jonny Glen (Mark Pollard).

It is 30 years since anyone other than an African-born athlete won the blue-riband senior men's title, and Kenya and Ethiopia have monopolised the team crown for 35. African nations have won the junior men's team and individual crown since 1984, so the former Dunblane High School pupil faces the sternest of tests. "He is under no illusions," says Easton. "It's going to be a tough shift."

Butchart is just one of 100 athletes in his training group. The oldest is 68-year-old Willie Gault, preparing for the London Marathon, while at the other end is 14-year-old Kate Gallagher, heading for the London mini-marathon.

"It's a bit nuts," concedes Easton. "The group is so big that what we do often comes down to safety and logistics. It's unusual to have a squad of all ages and both sexes, but it works. I try to keep in touch with running quickly right through the year, but in midwinter it's plenty of repetitions. We don't use track - grass and roads, mainly.

"I'm not doing anything new or special. Some people say my ideas and methods are old-fashioned, but I don't care, because they get results. Endurance running isn't rocket science. It's hard work, and I like to make it as much fun as it can, create a good atmosphere in the group - and work hard when it comes to sessions. I just put into practice a lot of things I learned."

Somebody once did the same for him, and he acknowledges this is: "payback . . . I love the sport, have a passion for it. Fortunately I'm a director of my company [a Grangemouth timber business] so I don't have to report to anybody. Otherwise I think I'd have been in trouble over the years. My partner, Mary, is very understanding. She has had to make a lot of sacrifices.

"It's 24/7. I watch TV while looking at the I-pad, constantly soaking up stuff. It's all-consuming, but I'm not an exception. The sport is built on thousands like me who commit their lives to it. It's a life choice. A coach or team manager needs to show at least the same commitment - or more - than the athletes.

"Endurance running is hard work. You need to run a fair old distance. That's one of the issues of recent years with standards falling. Society wants life a bit easier. Kids don't exercise like the previous generation, and want instant results and gratification. But there's no instant payback in endurance running. It's a long-term project."

Covering around 80 miles a week in training, Butchart does less than many contemporaries, so has scope to improve. Easton cites a 5000m in 14.50 five years ago, on some 20-30 miles a week. "Amazing, so the signs were there from the start. He has a great attitude. He's not scared to get beaten. The best athletes today don't compete against each other often enough. In the sport's heyday, the top guys competed against one another every week. I definitely think that's a factor in declining performances."

Another was the amalgamation of the home nations into a GB team for the world cross. "What motivation is there for guys to go out twice a day, in bad weather?" The nine-strong Scotland senior men's team meant a couple of dozen more believed they'd a chance of making the team. "That also motivated the guys who trained with them - hundreds of runners in each country. But that's all gone."

Before the past winter, Easton believed cross-country was the least of Butchart's potential. Now he can barely conceal his excitement.

There is more to come from Butchart and the Central club.