ADAM Craig doesn't have far to look when it comes to searching for a source of inspiration for his emerging athletics career.

As a schoolboy at Earlston High School in the Scottish Borders, he was a contemporary of Sammi Kinghorn's, still remembering the freak farmyard accident at the age of 14 which left his classmate paralysed from the waist down and kept her in hospital for five months. Not only did the pair became close when it was clear that both would pursue a career in athletics, distance runner Craig could hardly fail to be spurred on by seeing his pal rack up double world championship gold in London in 2017.

Having hit the ground running upon his return to Scotland after a scholarship in the USA, Craig – who performed creditably for Scotland in the mixed relay at the Great Stirling XCountry on Saturday – would clearly love to follow his former classmate into competing on the biggest stages of the sport.

"We went to high school together," said Craig. "And it is definitely an inspiration to see how well she has done. It is not often you get to meet people like that, let alone get to know them, be able to call them a friend, reach out and get help from them.

"Pre and post accident she is still the same person, still with precisely the same attitude, the same commitment," added Craig. "It is no surprise to me that she has achieved what she has achieved. It is nice to have her close by to get a bit of advice. Going into events like Saturday's Cross Country and speaking to her can help me get the job done.

"When she came back into school, there was that period when she didn't really know what was happening, but she worked things out and gave it a go. It wasn't until she was 17, 18 that she really took it on, started getting results and we got to know ourselves a bit better through the sport."

Craig spent his formative years dreaming of a future in football, but he got the bug for athletics when scooping a £50 first prize at a Borders games event as a teenager and is making up for lost time.

He might still be working in an athletics footwear shop in Glasgow called Run for It, but having gone within eight minutes for 3000m at the GAA Miler Meet earlier in the season, he knows that losing another four seconds in the right race could put him on the start line for the European Indoor Athletics Championships at the Emirates Arena in March, alongside such luminaries as the fit-again Andy Butchart.

"It was a smaller school I went to in the US, so not quite the American dream, but it was very personal and it worked for me," added Craig. "I was in Mount Olive, North Carolina, about a mile from Raleigh. It was such a small town, I had to drive about 20 minutes to go to the mall or to the bowling. It was a bit like being in the Borders. There weren't too many parties at the frat houses!

"When I came home in the summer I decided Glasgow was the place to be. Still, with my university coach, it is a bit different, phoning him every few weeks and mapping it out online. But it is nice to be involved in the bigger side of it. We set the target of breaking eight minutes, so 7.57 I need to get four seconds more, so on the right day it is definitely achievable. Andy Butchart is the next level up again, I would definitely be up for bumping shoulders with him as well."