SO the football season is over – throw the boots in the back of the garage and forget about them until three weeks before kick-off.

That's not the way of the dedicated sportsman. Take Richard Davenport, of Littledean, as an example.

The 16 year-old 400 metre specialist starts serious training in September for a run in Finland next May!

"There's an old adage 'Train hard, race easy' and that's very much a fact of life in athletics. Running around a wet park in September is the tough but necessary donkey work which builds the pyramid on which the performances of next summer are based," says Richard's coach, David Farrow.

The young Forest athlete has been making all the news and the running this summer for his achievements on tracks throughout England. He is highly regarded and his results put him, development-wise, in the same bracket as some of the top names in British athletics.

As an example Richard recently won the British Schools 400m title in Glasgow in a new record time of 47.69 – a record previously held by Mark Hilton who will be running in the Commonwealth Games this week. And only a week ago he came within a hair's-breadth of snatching a record set by a young Steve Ovett.

The Glasgow race was a hugely important one for Richard. Seven days earlier he achieved second place in the English Schools Championship, an event he was flagged up to win.

"It had not been a good week for him and he had turned his ankle and ran with it heavily strapped. But he finished second and as a result was picked to run for England in the British Championships a week later.

"It took character and courage to overturn the previous week's result but he convincingly defeated the lad who had won seven days earlier to take the British title," said Farrow.

"With hindsight the defeat probably did no harm. It can sharpen performances and it is interesting to see how people respond under different circumstances."

Next summer Richard moves up a group and will compete in as a junior (under 20s) athlete.

"It is a major step. Richard's aim will be to win a place in the British team for the European Junior Championships in Finland but there are targets to achieve first. It will be hard work," said Farrow.

Coaching involves many aspects, says Farrow. Physical conditioning is just one and this goes hand in glove with weight training, speed work, stamina, pace judgment and mental preparation.

Already Richard has to train on average for five days a week, compete on the sixth and rest on the seventh.

Richard, he says, is one of a number of high performing athletes who make it to international standard.

"There are pitfalls along the way but he has all the credentials. The next couple of years are vital as he has to be professional without being a professional. There is no easy way but he has the entry ticket," said Farrow.