University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Alum Matt Clark Is In The Groove
June 10, 2008 | Men's Cross Country
June 5, 2008
Matt Clark has had difficulty getting into a running rhythm since graduating from the University of Massachusetts in 2006. The Amherst resident has been either sick, hurt or worked odd hours.
For the last few months, though, the 25-year-old Worcester native has found a good groove and has enjoyed his best running times.
"I'm very excited about running," said Clark, who ran four years of cross country, indoor track and outdoor track at UMass. "Although I loved my UMass career, there are many things I did not do and still want to do. It's almost like I've had a second life - my second running life is just starting now."
Clark was healthy last summer, and he ran some good times, especially at the Tuesday night Northampton 5K Cross Country Series. For the most part, though, over the last two years he's fought lower leg injuries. Also, at his previous job, he was on his feet a lot, and either worked very late or came in very early.
"I wasn't in a good place to get some good training in until a few months ago," said Clark, who was recently hired to work in the admissions office at UMass. "Things have been starting to click."
Clark placed 10th at the Rhody 5K Road Race in a field of 701 runners Sunday. The USA Track & Field-New England Grand Prix event, held in Lincoln, attracted elite runners from the Northeast.
Clark banged out a personal best 15 minutes, 22 seconds.
"That was a pretty good race," said Clark, who improved his personal best by 25 seconds. "The common runner thing to say is that I could have done a little better. The great thing is that it was a PR, and I think I could have done a lot better, so I was happy."
Clark won three of the first four Northampton 5K races, and his 15:58 in week four was just 10 seconds off of an age group record.
"Those races were the highlight of my summer last year, and continue to be some of my best races ever," he said. "I love the atmosphere and I love those races."
Clark's goal is to crack four minutes in the indoor mile at a meet at Boston in February. In the next few months, he plans to run in the Newburyport Yankee Homecoming 10-Miler, the Bridge of Flowers Classic 10K at Shelburne Falls, and Boston's Ollie 5-Miler, all premier races in New England.
RHODY 5K: The Greater Springfield Harriers' 40-49 men's team won its age group at the Rhody 5K. Williamstown's Kent Lemme (15:30), Brimfield's Ron Lombardi (16:21), Worcester's Francis Burdett (16:22), Ludlow's Paul Fratini (16:24) and Joe Lemay (16:30) of Danbury, Conn., led the Harriers to the first-place finish.
Lemme placed second in the 40-49 division, and 14th overall.
On the women's side, Holyoke's Laura Hutchinson was the top local, placing 18th in a field of 276 in 18:31. Chicopee's Heather Wenninger was 29th in 19:05.
Florence's Sidney Letendre (third, 21:26), South Hadley's Doreen Larson (eighth, 22:23) and Florence's Annie Ryan (10th, 23:06) placed in the top 10 in the women's 50-59 division. Longmeadow's Mary Ryczek took fourth in the 60-69 category in 27:28, and South Hadley's Kathy Lynch was ninth in the 40-49 bracket in 19:52.
RESULTS: Brian Nelson of Enfield won the Iron Horse Half Marathon Sunday with a time of 1:18:57. The event, held in Simsbury, Conn., drew 273 runners ... Pelham's Debbie Gould (1:30:06) was fourth among the women and won the 40-44 division at the Covered Bridges Half Marathon, held Sunday at Quechee, Vt. ... In a field of 277 runners, Northampton's Tim Mahoney (1:11:15) placed ninth Sunday at the Pack Monadnock 10-Miler, held at Wilton, N.H. Belchertown's Nancy Cook took seventh on the women's side in 1:23:36, while Amherst's Alex Silverman (1:32:09) won the men's 60-69 division.
Bill Wells can be reached at wellsb6@charter.net