Back in 2009 in Dublin, Belgium's Jereon D’Hoedt was one of the young names the sport was talking about when he won gold in the junior race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. He was 19 and ready for the big time on the senior stage.
From 6km on grass to 5000m on the track, five years on his countdown clock is ticking towards this summer's European Athletics Championships in Zurich.
D’Hoedt is heading to altitude training in the USA next month determined to run the qualifying time for the championships in August, having sealed his fine winter with an outstanding victory on home soil.
Last Sunday in Ostend, D’Hoedt celebrated another personal landmark when he won his first senior national cross country title and with it, the Lotto CrossCup for the second time.
Victory sets him up perfectly for what lies ahead.
He will fly to Flagstaff to prepare for the summer and in Stanford in May will chase the Zurich 5000m time.
In December he was fourth at the SPAR European Cross Championships in Belgrade, missing out on bronze by the narrowest of margins as Andy Vernon, of Great Britain, pipped him on the line with the pair both finishing in 29:35.
D’Hoedt is in a good place and speaking to sport.be, he said: 'I had two difficult years before an almost perfect winter this season.
'I certainly had some losses early in the season but with my fourth place last December, my national title this Sunday and my final CrossCup victory, the second after that of 2011, I can say that my winter is very successful.'
His personal best at 5000m is 13:42.72 from 2012 and he added: 'My goal this season is to run around 13:30.'
Two years ago in Helsinki, Britain's Mo Farah retained his European 5000m crown when he won in 13:29.91 but if D’Hoedt achieves his aim, he could be in with a medal shout in Zurich.