The 17 year-old, a pupil at Longridge Towers School, has already achieved some noteable success in his short career, but both he and his coach Henry Gray believe that he is destined to reach the very top of his chosen sport.

The new athletics season has just started, but already Learmonth has set a new Scottish 800m junior record indoors at the Kelvin Hall, in Glasgow. At the weekend he also won the Scottish 800m indoor senior title.

Gray describes him as 'the most naturally gifted athlete he has ever trained' and he says that with the right development there is no reason why he 'shouldn't be competing at a world class level within the next few years.'

"Guy is the most dedicated athlete I have ever trained," said Gray. "He is blessed with a magical ingredient of speed and endurance. Combine the three and you have a recipe for a world class athlete.

"His times of 22.50 for 200m, 34.90 for 300m and 1min 51.29 for 800m indicate that he will be running close to 22 seconds for 200m and 47 seconds for 400m, which is very close to times needed to be world class in 800m."

Learmonth himself says: "I have run since the age of 10 with Dunbar and Lasswade and also played rugby for Berwick and Longridge Towers.

"I decided to take up full time athletics after the disappointment of not making the Scotland U17 rugby team and emulating the achievement of Eric Liddell of 'Chariots of Fire' fame who represented Scotland at rugby and athletics in the same season.

"I am very proud of what I have achieved so far in my athletics career and beating the Scottish junior record for the 800mt recently was amazing and a perfect start to 2010. I would like to make the top in athletics, but I am taking it one step at a time. I feel I have the potential to be a world class athlete with a little luck and keeping clear of illness and injury.

"I get an abundance of help from coach Henry Gray, who is very dedicated and has played a significant role in my career. He comes out in all weathers to help me and the session that comes to mind is a recent one on Spittal beach where the temperature was –15 degrees.

"I also receive fantastic support from my family and without them I would not be where I am today."

Learmonth has a number of people he looks up to in sport, including brothers Kevin and Gary Armstrong (British Lions, Scotland, Jedforest and Newcastle Falcons) who are close family friends: John Robson, the last world class athlete from the region, Craig Chalmers, the former Scotland rugby player; and Alan Bertram (originally from Ford and Etal) who is one of the world's top coaches.

"He gives me positive encouragement every time I meet up with him and listening to someone with his experience is great for my motivation," he said.

He also has a lot of respect for Andrew Philips, head of PE at Longridge Towers, and his father Mark, who himself was a top class athlete and training partner of Olympic sprint champion Alan Wells.

Learmonth trains six days a week, sometimes twice a day, but he says he enjoys the training, and that is important.

"I was at a crossroads last winter when on the verge of the Scotland rugby U17s team and had to make a decision between rugby and athletics," he said. "I feel I made the right decision and I have made the correct choice."

Gray added: "I first became involved with Guy at the age of 16. He was a very good athlete before he joined me and competed for Dunbar and Lasswade.

"I had been following his athletics career, especially over the season of 2007, when he first came to my attention as a promising junior.

"It was about one year later when I was approached by his mother Terri and father Mark about taking their son on for training. I knew in the first five minutes of seeing him that he was potentially top class.

"Within two weeks he had won an 800m race at Hawick, and he has been on an upward curve ever since.

"In his first season he narrowly missed making the English Schools semi final. He also won a bronze medal in the Scottish U17s 800m. We all expected Guy to win that title, but unfortunately just before the final he was stung by a wasp, but never told us until we got home.

"After that he was still playing rugby and training for athletics. The turning point came when he was not picked for the Scotland U17s rugby team for the home internationals. He then made the decision to go into full time athletics and he has never regretted it.

"He won the Scottish U20s indoor 400m title at the age of 16 - the youngest ever winner. For the first time in his life Guy started to train seriously for athletics, and the results were phenomenal.

"He was rapidly emerging as one of Great Britain's top junior 800m runners. He won the World Youth Festival in Gothenburg, the Scottish U20s 800m, Northern England 800m, English Schools bronze medal after six qualifying rounds, represented Scotland in the Celtic Cup and Falkirk Cup, where he finished third against top class senior opposition from Ethiopia, England, Scotland and Ireland.

"Since September he has won the most improved athlete of the year in Scotland. He has smashed the Scottish junior 800m indoor record and is now ranked in the top 10 of all time in the UK junior rankings. His time of 1min 51.29 took Guy to the top of the UK senior rankings and he has now been invited to the world indoor trials in Sheffield, an amazing achievement for someone so young."

Gray added: "Last winter we travelled up to Edinburgh to find the track frozen. Most people would have turned round and went home. Not Guy - he asked me to take him to Dalkeith Community School to see if the track was okay. It was but there were no lights and we had to use the lights on mobile phones to guide him round the track. Three days later he won the Scottish 400m indoor title.

"A six weeks spell of bad weather recently did not deter Guy. No tracks were available within 100 miles, but no problem to Guy. He trained with other top local athlete Patrick Swan on Eyemouth beach and promenade, Eyemouth swimming pool and gym, and also Spittal beach, and the main street in Paxton.

"He was determined he would not miss training and acquired the assistance of local farmer Gillian Brown who kindly picked up Guy and me in her 4x4 vehicle to take us to a snow free zone at Spittal. At the end of the six week period Guy beat the Scottish junior record for 800m without even stepping out on a track. quite remarkable and it shows the total dedication he has to reach the top.

"Guy's father Mark and I quickly realised that if he was to fulfil his potential of being a top class athlete he would need a team of experts around him, which would include physiotherapists/ masseurs - Lynsey Neish and Danny Pullman from the Border Physiotherapy Clinic in Melrose were brought in.

"Guy is also on the athlete support system and that includes sessions from nutritionists, psychologists, medical testing strength and conditioning coaches, and mentoring from former top athletes. He also receives great support from Scottish national endurance coach Mike Johnston and Great Britain head of endurance George Gandy."

He now has a major sponsor who are Mainetti of Jedburgh, and their contribution to his progress is vital. His training partners Ross Patterson, DC Conroy, Michael Brenner, Cieran Turton and Great Britain international Patrick Swan, who trains with the squad in his holidays, are very important in helping Guy through his very hard training sessions.

He also has very strong family support from his father Mark who arranges all his trips away and takes him to all competitions. His mother Terri has all his kit neat and tidy and all his meals on the table for him. His two brothers, Max - a Scottish U20 rugby international and Jack, also a promising rugby player/athlete, are also very supportive.

Gray says Learmonth's targets for the year ahead are:
* Win/make the final of the world indoor trials and make the Great Britain team for the World Championships in Doha;
* Win the English School 800m title and beat the existing record of 1min 48.8, which the two greatest British middle distance runners off all time (Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe) could not do;
* Win/make the final of the world junior 800m in Monkton in Canada;
* Win the Scottish Junior and senior 800m titles;
* To beat the existing British professional 800m record set by Jim Gray, which has stood for 34 years;
* To make the Scotland team for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October;
* To join Loughborough University in September and train with George Gandy, who is regarded as the best 800m coach in the world and is the former coach to Olympic champion Seb Coe.

"It's quite a list," admits Gray, "but it is achieveable. Guy is a very level-headed athlete. He knows his potential and he knows that if he wants to get to the top he has to aim high in the first place."