Butchart became a full-time athlete at the beginning of 2016, leaving a fitness coaching job based at Gleneagles Hotel. In February 2016, Butchart won the Scottish Cross Country Championships, and in May, Butchart broke Nat Muir's Scottish record in the 5000 metres event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games. His time was 13:13.30, four seconds quicker than Muir's record, which had stood for 36 years, and Butchart ran the last lap of the race with only one shoe. In June 2016, Butchart broke the Scottish 3000 metre record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham; Butchart recorded a time of 7:45:00, less than a second quicker than John Robson's record from 1984. In the same race, Mo Farah broke the British 3000 metre record. Later in the month, he won the 5000 metres event at the British Championships, meaning that he qualified for the 5000 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.