Callum Hawkins hopes training in his garden shed with a bank of heaters bought from Aldi gives him an edge in tonight’s marathon, writes Alex Spink in Doha.
The Scot famously collapsed in extreme heat when leading the Commonwealth Games marathon on Australia’s Gold Coast last year.
Tonight’s race has been scheduled for a midnight start due to high humidity levels and desert temperatures expected to top 32 degrees.
The women’s marathon, staged at the same time last week, saw 28 of the 68 field drop out and 30 require medical treatment.
“People could have died running in such weather conditions,” was the verdict of legend Haile Gebrselassie.
Hawkins, Britain’s sole representative, said: “Everyone is in the same boat and it’s about who prepares best, because if your body’s not ready to do it, it won’t. There’s nothing you can do; it will just get too hot too quickly.
“You’ve got to adapt and make sure your race plan matches the conditions. I’ve been getting the Aldi heaters in the shed. It’s a big proper shed, not a wee tiny one, and I got it up to 39 degrees.”
He added: “It’s a weird thing with the heat, you’re like ‘it’s hot and humid, you’ll suffer more’ but, at the end of the day, it can also make it equal and give you a better chance against the people who haven’t prepared well.
“There’s going to be a lot of water out there and the drink stations are a bit closer together than at other marathons.”
It is 18 months since Hawkins collapsed Down Under just over a mile from the finish line.
“I remember falling off at the side of the road and trying my best to get back up," he said. "I don’t remember anything after that.
“One minute I was fine the next thing my legs are almost switching off on me and going to jelly, I’m starting to stumble.
“From what happened there I’ve learnt a lot and been trying different things. Sometimes, at the end of the day, it’s up to the athlete to look at the conditions and see what they need to do.”
In last night's 20km men's race walk, Tonbridge's Tom Bosworth somehow kept his cool in oppressive conditions to finish seventh in a time of 1:29.34.
