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British marathon-convert Andrew Lemoncello insists he can see a light at the end of the long distance tunnel and believes it could get a lot closer at this weekend's World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham.

The 26-year old turned his attention to road-running in January having represented Britain at last year's Beijing Olympics and the 2007 Osaka World Championships in 3000m steeplechase.

But the Scot seemed to have joined a sinking ship in British marathon running after not a single athlete qualified for August's World Championships in Berlin.

And while Lemoncello is the first to admit British marathon running has been in better health, the Colorado-based Brit was adamant the lure of competing in 2012 is inspiring the British athletes to work harder than ever.

"The situation here isn't as good as it has been in the past," said Lemoncello. "But spending time with some of the British runners in Birmingham, it's clear that everyone's working hard and I can see it picking up.

"2012 is obviously a big draw for every British athlete and the London Marathon is the first stop on the way to that.

"And it seems like all the British runners here want to run in April as well which is really encouraging.

There've been lots of shorter distance runners so we've not had people concentrating on it like in the past but it should pick up.

"It's a long process of course. Producing top class marathon runners isn't a short term fix it takes seven or eight years and that's why event like this and the London Marathon are important in inspiring the next generation.

"But hopefully a few of us can do something before then."

Although Lemoncello is yet to try his hand at the full 42.195km of a competitive marathon, there's no doubt the Scot's performance has improved since he switched disciplines.

Lemoncello ran a half marathon personal best of 61.52 minutes in January and PBs in track 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, while road 5000m and 10,000m swiftly followed throughout the season.

And the Scot admitted he had one more personal goal to achieve before he sets his sights on the London Marathon in April to break Paul Evans' Scottish half-marathon record of 61.34 minutes.

"I've been really encouraged with how everything's gone for me this year," said Lemoncello.

"I've set personal bests in all events this season. My big target in Birmingham is to break Paul Evans' Scottish record. The hour mark is probably a bit too far off right now but I feel I can cut those 18 seconds are within me.

"I'm targeting time more than position at the moment because there are guys in the field who have run two or three minutes faster than me and you can't expect to compete with that.

"But I'm really happy with my preparation for this weekend. I was ill for my trial race five weeks ago so that wasn't particularly good but I ran a 5k road race two weeks later and felt great.

"I'll probably do one half marathon before concentrating on the London Marathon in April that's the big focus for me right now."

More than the Games / Eurosport