Athlete Focus

My name is Matt and I love the sport of triathlon, and also marathons/ultra marathons on occasion. I race triathlons/road races on a regular basis and plan at least one half ironman each year. I ran cross country and track in high school and loved it. This fall I will be attending Hope College as a freshman and will be part of the triathlon club there. My studies are going to be in the sciences, as I would like to attend medical school for graduate work. I would like to become some type of sports doctor or work in sports medicine.

I also work at the local Running shop Runnin' Gear and love it there. I get to talk to the athletes new to the sport and get them pumped about races like the triathlon, marathon, and ultra marathon. Having done all of them I get to tell them my own experience with them. My favorite part of the job is the reason I chose to work there, interacting with the customers, who are just about all athletes. When I started running almost 4 years ago my life took a huge turn with the sport and I love the new lifestyle and the new friends you make every day.

One more thing is I started my own race called the Spring Snowman 5K/10K Run and has had two successful years with it. This past year I raised $12,000 alone from this race. It was a great turnout of around 300 participants.

Oh yeah, and besides triathlon being my main sport I have also run one ultra marathon. It was called the Bandera 50K just outside of San Antonio in the hill country. It was an awesome experience, even though it was one of the toughest races I've ever run. I finished around 25th place and was very proud of that.

Classic Rock, current rock, some rap, anything I can work out to. U2's "Beautiful Day" is my favorite work out song

I really got to know Van Halen music pretty well when training for my first marathon in 2005.

Athlete Focus! (the best athlete sports site in the web!)

little discounts on product sponsors from GU, Fluid, and Motor Tabs

Bike:
-Felt S32 Tri Bike
-Zipp 404 clincher wheelset with Tufo tubular tires for clincher wheels
-Louis Garneau Rocket Racing Helmet
-Oakley half-jacket titanium sunglasses
-Sidi T1 Triathlon shoe w/ carbon plated bottom

Swim:
-Zoot Wetzoot
-Barracuda swimming goggles

Run:
-DS Trainers for racing
-2130 for training
-Nike running hat

Racing Clothes:
-Pearl Izumi racing shorts
-Sugoi Racing top

two 6th place overall finishes at distances between sprint and olympic

5:28:32 at my first half ironman, 1st in age group for the Muncie Endurathon Half Ironman,

many 1st and 2nd in age group awards at triathlons/road races

recent olympic distance time 7/13/08 - 2:27:06 - happy with the time considering a bummed knee and winds of 18-20 mph.

5K - 18:52, good enough for 2 years of cross country training, and coming from a 23 minute 5K. Like to get much faster still

25th place in the Bandera 50K Ultra Trail Marathon in the hill country of Texas

4:46:45 - Steelhead Half Ironman time, the swim was cancelled due to bad weather and replaced with a 2.1 mile run

2:26:52 - bike split on a half ironman, at steelhead, 22.1 mph avg

My inspiration and motivation; my 9 year old brother Eric who passed away to childrens leukemia in December of 2004.
He was the most loving kid I've ever known and put up the biggest fight, I should be able to complete anything compared to his battle.

Plenty of local sprint/olympic triathlons(around 15 or so, most 1st in age group), Muncie Endurathon in 2007, and Steelhead Half Ironman in 2008,
half or full marathons in the fall

Division: 18-24 for large events

Tentaive Schedule this year:
- June 1, Hawk-I-Triathlon
- June 8, Ann Arbor Triathlon
- July 13, Interlochen Music Fest Olympic Triathlon
- August 2, Steelhead Half IRONMAN
- Sanford and Sun Olympic Triathlon
- Detroit Marathon or half marathon, have yet to decide depending on my being able to come back from college to race it
- December 6, Tecumseh Trail Marathon
- Little local road races throughout the summer

-Get more people interested about this website!
-Qualify for the Hawaii Ironman one day and break 5 hours in the half ironman distance.
-set a nice PR at the Steelhead Half Ironman - accomplished!
-Run a good marathon time this fall, maybe a 3:30-ish

Lance Armstrong, an amazing athlete who conquered numerous adversities and has gone from local triathlete to one of the greatest cyclists of all time to a great marathon runner

"Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead"

"If you start to feel good during an ultra, don’t' worry you'll get over it."

"Veni Vidi Vomiti" (I came, I saw, I puked)

The local racing studs, help out the women's triathlon club for beginners, FAST racing club, Cross Country Runners, the random athlete I meet while out training

Island Lake State Recreation Area
Kensington Metropark
Bishop Lake Recreation Area
Huron Meadows Metropark
Hartland High Schhol Pool
Brighton High School Track

Proudest moment was finishing my first marathon at 15 years old, also when i finished my first ultra marathon. I have been a 6th place overall finish at two local triathlons and was pretty proud of those as well.

During my first marathon, channel 4 news did a special on me and my running in memory for my brother. They did a great job on the piece. Also, when the local newspapers make articles about me. One more is when Michigan Sports&Fitness did a 3 page feature article in their magazine about the race I organize.