Matt Mead is a family man, a working man and a marathon man.
In 12 days, Mead will be bumping elbows with some of the world’s most elite marathon runners at the 118th Boston Marathon.
“I still don’t think it has set in that I’ll be running in Boston in two weeks. It will be a different ball game,” says Mead.
Born to be a runner, Mead started pounding the pavement in Grade 3, continuing into high school and competing for Salmon Arm Secondary. There he placed third on two separate occasions in the provincial championships.
After high school he says he shied away from running for a few years because of the lack of training facilities in town.
The pavement began calling Mead’s name, and eventually he started running again in the 10-kilometre distance – his specialty growing up.
“I learned that if you don’t have the facilities to train, you just have to get creative,” says Mead. Three years ago he made the transition to the longer distances.
“I couldn’t keep up in the 10-km races anymore, it is a really fast race.”
Mead’s transition started in Kelowna, where he ran his first half marathon, 21-km, placing fifth.
In early 2013 in Vancouver, Mead ran his second half marathon, before following it up with his first win in the 21-km distance in Kelowna.
“I never thought I could run a half marathon let alone a whole marathon,” says Mead.
Last year in Vancouver, Mead made the large leap to running the full 42-km distance, finishing with a time of two hours and 50 minutes, which qualified him for this year’s Boston Marathon.
In the provincial capital he managed to shave two minutes off his time. Since then Mead has increased his training without letting it interrupt his family life, which means the world to him.
“Training is a big commitment, but I don’t let it get in the way of my family, so there are a lot of really early mornings, getting up to run at 4 a.m., and late nights,” explains Mead. For the past 12 weeks, Mead’s training has been very intense. He currently trains six days a week, and goes twice a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, running up to three hours at a time.
“I try to let my mind go free and not think about anything. If I do start to think about something while running, it is always about my family.”
The quietly confident runner says his biggest source of motivation and inspiration is his family, noting his spouse and two children will accompany him on the trip to Boston and be waiting for him at the finish line.
“I have a hunch that I will start out really strong, which is what I seem to do a lot of the time, especially if I am feeling very good before the race.”
Too strong a start could lead to running into the psychological wall early on in the race, which Mead says he will try to avoid as best he can.
Around three-quarters into the race is Heartbreak Hill, a slow 600-metre, 88-foot rise ending the last of four small hills where most runners typically hit the wall.
More than 30,000 runners will take to the streets of New England’s largest city, where more than half a million spectators will cheer on the runners.
Mead says the most rewarding part of running a marathon is the sense of achievement from finishing the 42-km course.
“Crossing the finish line and seeing my family will be the biggest reward.”
