My name is Matt and I'm a senior at the U of O. I grew up here in Eugene, OR and started running as soon as I could. Though my early career was hampered by my dependency on un-ergonomic diapers, I soon left them behind and garnered many pink participant ribbons at the all-comers meets held at Hayward during the summer. It soon became evident that I was more a distance runner than a sprinter, but because I figured out early on that sprinting hurt a lot less than distance running, I would still enter in the 100m every chance I could. However by the time I was 12, my PR of 17.58 (though I didn't get last place) was enough to convince me that I should really just to multiple-lapped events, so I stuck with 3ks and cross during high school. The days of my many pink participant ribbons have long past, and today I'm definitely a "recreational" runner. But every now and then I take those dusty ribbons off their shelf and, as I trace the gold letters that spelled "glory" with a "p" so many years ago, I can't help but think to myself "maybe I've still got it in me; maybe I should give that 17 second barrier just one more shot...". I might even use blocks this time.
