It took Luke Caldwell a good while to find his niche.

He began his elite career as a 5000m runner with an early highlight of his career including running for Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in both 5000m and the 10,000m before moving up the distances more permanently to 10,000m a few years later.

But it wasn’t until last year, when Caldwell decided to try his hand at the marathon, that the 32-year-old finally found the event that really suits him.

Today, Caldwell will stand on the start line for what will be his fourth marathon.

Despite being relatively new to the distance, he’s already amassed valuable experience in the shape of a London Marathon and a European Championships appearance, both of which followed his debut at the distance, a 2 hours 11 minutes 33 seconds run on his debut over 26.2 miles in Texas.

It’s today, however, that Caldwell believes he will give his best-ever showing.

The Berlin Marathon is renowned for its fast course – twelve world marathon records have been set in the race over the years – and the Scot is optimistic that he’s going to add his name to the list of athletes who’ve run their fastest-ever marathon in the German city.

“I’m feeling really good and I think I’ve got a chance of running the best race I ever have, which is all you can hope for,” he says. 

“This training block has been the best I’ve had so that’s very positive. With every marathon, there’s been a small, incremental step-up in my preparation in terms of the mileage being slightly higher or the sessions being slightly better quality. So there’s been no big changes but just small improvements and hopefully that’ll show in Berlin.

“Since my first marathon, I feel like I haven’t quite nailed it in terms of pushing the envelope and seeing what I’m truly capable of. I’ve learnt a lot in my three marathons and that’ll hopefully show this time.”

For someone who has been there or there abouts at the sharp end of Scottish athletics for a decade, Caldwell remains surprisingly low-profile.

Much of that is down to him never considering himself a professional athlete, combining his job as a scientist with his athletics career.

It’s also due to the fact that he spent a number of years somewhat floating along, in terms of times anyway, as a 10,000m runner.

And it was this plateau at the longest track distance that convinced him make the leap to the marathon, a decision that coincided with him relocating to Boulder in Colorado for work which, as it happens, is the centre of the universe when it comes to distance running.

And while Caldwell was somewhat unsure as to how the step-up in distance would work out, he couldn’t be happier with how it’s transpired.

“I’ve been around for quite a long time now and I spent a lot of time at 5k and particularly 10k where I feel like I never managed to nail it. So moving up to the marathon, initially, was more about trying something new because I didn’t want o keep beating my head against a wall at 10k,” he says. 

“I wasn’t enjoying running anymore when I was doing the 10k and with me not being a pro athlete, this has to be fun for me. I felt like I needed a new challenge and to start off with a blank slate and it’s turned out to be a good decision because I’m really enjoying it and the marathon is definitely where I feel most comfortable.

I find the races great too – the big city marathons are amazing and very cool to be a part of.”

Caldwell, as of only a few weeks ago, has now returned to the UK to begin his new job as a lecturer at UCL in London.

The juggle of work and elite marathon running sounds a daunting prospect but it’s a mix that, says Caldwell, suits him nicely, particularly as someone who, he admits, would likely be somewhat overwhelmed by the demands of being a full-time runner.

His packed schedule, however, does not stop him aiming high and he admits that qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris next summer has crossed his mind.

With a qualification standard of 2 hours 8 minutes 10 seconds, booking a ticket to his maiden Olympic Games would require him to run just over three minutes faster than he’s ever done before.

While it’s a tall prospect, it’s certainly within Caldwell’s grasp and although he refuses to pin all his hopes on making it to Paris, the qualification time is something he’d like to have a real stab at, starting with edging closer to it in Berlin today.

“Everyone at the sharp end of British marathon running has their eye on the Olympics and I feel like time isn’t outwith the realms of possibility for me, he says.

“Going straight to 2:08 is a big jump so my goal for Berlin is to get myself closer so that my next marathon, in the spring, I can really go for the qualifying time. I’ll have one more chance in the spring and so I want to be in a place where I’m only looking to go a minute or so faster that I’ve been before.

“The major championships are a big goal for me – but I feel like selection isn’t really within my control and so I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I’m just focusing on finding out how good I can become in the marathon and if that takes me to the Olympics, great."