Few cities can top New York when it comes to iconic sights and spectacular landmarks but Andy Butchart plans on training his gaze on something more prosaic as he makes his way around the five boroughs today.

Forget the Empire State Building or the Brooklyn Bridge, the Dunblane athlete intends only on “looking at the back of someone’s head” as he continues his transition from track to road by making his marathon debut in the Big Apple alongside 50,000 others.

It is a significant step in the 32-year-old's career path and one he openly admits contains elements of uncertainty given he has never performed over such a distance in an event where race tactics tend to be less important than personal performance, particularly in New York where the use of pacers is not permitted.

That is not to say Butchart is happy simply just to get around a course that starts on Staten Island and weaves its way through Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx before finishing in Manhattan.

The reigning British 10,000 metres champion believes that he has it within himself to at least finish in the top 10 but hasn’t ruled out crossing the finishing line in Central Park in an even higher spot.

“It’s obviously my debut marathon so I don’t know what my body is going to feel like,” he admits. “I don’t have a clue about how I’m going to cope. So I’m just trying to follow what my training partners and others have been advising me on and just take it step by step.

“I don’t know too much about the course but I’m hoping there’s a group and I can just switch off and look at the back of someone’s head for a couple of hours. I don’t want to have to think too much during it.

“The reason I picked New York for my debut is because it’s a non-paced marathon. So it’s literally just a race. It’s a free-for-all so the first mile could be really fast or really slow. That excites me. Rather than trying to run a certain time I’d rather look at positioning and trying to feel my way into things.

“I want to try to enjoy it and take in as much as I can and not be too worried by what my watch says. I definitely want to finish in the top 10 and I think that would be a good achievement for my first one. If I could get top 5 that would be pretty mad. The chat is that it’s a really open race so we’ll see how it goes.”

Butchart’s laser-like focus around New York will stand in sharp contrast to the long training runs he enjoys around the Stirlingshire countryside where he has set up home with partner Lynsey Sharp and their two-year-old son, Max.

A creature of habit, the man who broke the Parkrun record earlier this year likes to stick to the same routes wherever possible, letting his mind wander to whatever happens to float into his line of vision as he powers through mile after mile.

“I can do all my runs from home if I want to, which makes life so much easier,” he confirms. “I’ve got a few running buddies – the Central AC boys – and if I get to pick the route I’ll always pick the same one which probably annoys them a little bit!

“Once I know what I like I stick with it until I get bored so I could easily run the same 10 or 12-miles route for six months and have no issue with it. I should probably explore a bit more but I’m a creature of habit.

“My training routines haven’t changed too much as I’ve always ran a lot throughout my career. It’s maybe just the runs now are a little bit further and longer. I like to observe what’s around me when I’m out. The way my brain works, I’m not really thinking about other things. I’t's maybe seeing a bird, or the view, or a car coming. It’s always about what’s in front of me.”

That consistency in his training programme has allowed Butchart to keep the door open to a potential return to the track, his plans for 2024 largely dependent on how he fares in New York this morning.

“I think road running is a lot different than track running so this is definitely a new chapter for me,” he adds. “But would I say I’ll never step on the track again? No, I don’t think that’s true. How this marathon goes will determine my plans for next year.

“I’m not a huge fan of planning too much for the future but the body feels good. I’m 32 but I don’t feel 32. Without sounding big headed, I’m pretty sure if I wanted to return to 5K or 10K in the UK I would dominate most of the young kids. I still think I’m on top there. So until I feel I’m starting to decline then I’ll just keep on going.”

Given who his parents are, it is perhaps not a surprise that young Max Butchart is already showing early promise as a runner.

“Max knows exactly what we do for a job,” reveals his proud dad. “If you put on running shoes he just looks at you and says, “running, running!” And he knows that means you’re going to be away for the next few hours.

“He likes to run too and he’s pretty quick – I’d say seven-minute mile pace. But it’s pretty chaotic at times as he never likes to walk to places, he always wants to run everywhere.” Just like mum and dad then.