THE 1500 metres victory by Mo Farah in the final race of the last international indoor athletics match staged at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall, may hint at the glimmer of a new dawn for British middle-distance running.

The world 5000m champion and 10k silver medallist stepped down on Saturday to what, for him, is a relative sprint, challenging Augustine Choge, last year's world indoor No.1, over 1500 metres.

It was a cruiserweight v heavyweight contest, fraught with danger for Farah, essaying the distance for the first time in 30 months. The odds heavily favoured Choge's pace which has won grands prix in Berlin, Zurich, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, and Doha, and also made him world outdoor No.1 in 2009.

Yet Farah was able to surrender the initiative and then imperiously snatch it back as he destroyed the Kenyan in a pulsating finish. Yes, it is down to his talent, but also to UK Athletics' endurance initiative.

Some respected athletics authorities, Scotland's former national performance leader Steve Rippon among them, have suggested African strength in this area has become so profound that we should focus instead on technical events. But what about Farah? Is it premature to write off disciplines at which Britain once ruled the world? Farah was born in Somalia and reared and trained in England, but there is a major Scottish influence in his development into a world-beater.

While some have been prepared to write off the heritage of Roger Bannister, Chris Chataway, Jim Peters, Sydney Wooderson, Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram (world record-breakers all) others were not. They include Dave Bedford and Ian Stewart, respectively Britain's last 10k world record-holder and last 5k Olympic medallist.

As race director, Bedford ensured the London Marathon helped fund Kenyan altitude training camps for British athletes. Combined with Stewart, director of major UK meetings and also head of GB endurance performance, they are a formidable team. One thing they shared as athletes was a ferocious work ethic. But if Dave Moorcroft had not stepped down as chief executive at UKA, Scotland's former Commonwealth champion, Stewart, would not have gone. They don't see eye to eye. "The only reason I'm here at UKA is because of Nils de Vos," said Stewart.

They launched the UKA endurance project three years ago. "We started with Mo and a few others. Mo got advice from several people that he was never going to win a medal at 5 or 10k, so he would have to do the marathon. Well clearly, now we know that's not true.

"It was not the culture at UKA, but the whole endurace culture in Britain that was the problem – changing coaches with the less-is-more attitude. You only have to come to Kenya to the training camp in Iten, to work that out.

"We have had 25 years of people in Britain preaching the gospel of less is more. It isn't. Less is less. You have to have a massive work ethic. Scotland has gone from having great distance runners. We thought we could actually win the world cross in 1972. You could not possibly do that now. Every member of that team did 90 miles per week and most did more than 100. There's the answer. If Scotland wants to do really great things, then they have to get kids with a really great work ethic. And better still, coaches with a really big work ethic."

I believe insufficient work ethic and closed minds have shackled athletics, from grass roots to elite level. Stewart believes UKA has turned "massive corners" in three years, but insists, "There is still a way to go. If we were an oil tanker, we've only come around 30 degrees. By the end of 2012 we might have come round 50 degrees. Those who understand distance running know it's a long-term plan, but most are surprised what we have achieved in a short time. Now, instead of having to fight the war the way I did when I came in, we have a number of good juniors going to altitude."

Despite overwhelming evidence, many coaches remain to have been convinced. One man who has helped effect this change is Dr Barry Fudge. He graduated from Glasgow University and did his PhD in physiology there. It focused on environmental factors behind East African success. He worked with a number of Kenyans and Ethiopians, including world record-breakers and Olympic medallists. Formerly with sportscotland's Institute of Sport, he is now senior physiologist supporting UKA, and a key proponent of the GB altitude programme. Farah is the biggest beneficiary.

"I think Barry is one of best in the world," said Stewart. "He's fanatical about distance running, and that's one of the reasons he's with us, but that goes right through UKA from one end to the other."

He cited a group of young GB athletes, including Scotland's Commonwealth 5000m bronze medallist Steph Twell, her fellow European junior cross country champions Charlotte Purdue and Emma Pallant, European under-23 1500m champion Adam Cotton, and European under-20 cross country silver medallist Richard Goodman. "You'll never convice them you don't have to go to altitude," he said. "And the more these guys achieve, they are going to put pressure on those coaches who don't 'do' altitude. To start with it was a bit of a war. Now it's more of an open debate and they are losing ground to their athletes."