It is feed time and the shriek down the phone gives away that it is dad's turn to look after four-month-old Isla.

It is all part of Andrew Lemoncello's new world, combining such responsibilities with reviving a career stalled by a frustrating series of injuries over the past two summers. Parenthood, first time around, is always a challenge. More so, however, when Down's Syndrome has been added to the mix.

Leaving wife Julie and their daughter behind in Arizona, the 30-year-old Fifer will make a rare appearance on home soil in today's Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run. But they will not escape his attention.

"It's changing everything," the Olympian says. "She's just a baby so she has no worries. We worry about what she might face in the future. But we also know what's important now. I'm constantly thinking about her but that gets me through things."

Which is why, once this half-marathon is over, he will set his sights on repeating the distance in two weeks' time. However, it will be within a shopping mall in Phoenix rather than on the streets, with Lemoncello chasing the world record on a treadmill in an attempt to raise money into research for the condition.

He has already increased his target following a wave of support. "I was going to do a regular fundraiser but I figured this was better," he says. "The target was $10,000, up to $15,000. So I might change it to $20,000 now.

"It will just be me against the clock so I'll set it at the right pace and go for it. The record is 68:50 and I'm hoping to break 65 minutes."

Altruism apart, the runs - indoors and out - are good preparations for a busy year ahead when he will bid to make up for lost time. With two championships next summer inside a three-week spell, long-distance specialists must, by necessity, hedge their bets between the Commonwealth Games and subsequent Europeans.

Lemoncello's preference is to run the 10,000 metres in Glasgow and the marathon in Zurich, but first he needs the qualification marks. For the latter, he will head to Japan next month. For the former, it will be California in early spring. The logic, ultimately, was easy.

"I thought it would be really cool to run in the stadium in Glasgow in front of the home crowd. With the Commonwealth's two weeks before the Europeans, doing a 10k first and then a marathon fits well."

The Great Scottish Run, now upscaled in its ambitions, will be a good test. He will face Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie as well as Kenya's Joseph Birech, winner in the past two years.

"As we saw at the Great North Run, Haile's still running amazing times," Lemoncello said of the 40-year-old veteran. "But I had this in mind since early summer, ever since it was brought to the table."

The women's race will feature a four-way domestic battle between Steph Twell, Susan Partridge, Freya Ross and Hayley Haining, with the latter three Scotland's potential marathon entrants at the Commonwealths.