Interview with Matt Tegenkamp

By Rachel Wallack

Matt Tegenkamp’s life is changing. His second-place finish in the 5000 meters at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field on June 30 is taking him to Beijinced he’s leaving Madison, WI, for new running opportunities in Portland, OR. Tegenkamp, 26, has been training with coach Jerry Schumacher and a talented group of teammates, including fellow UW alum Chris Solinsky, Jonathon Riley, and Sean Quigley. He and some of these runners will soon move to Portland with Schumacher, who’s taking a new job with Nike. They’ll join the Oregon Project, Alberto Salazar’s training group for promising young distance runners. All this and a milestone year in 2007, including a year-end #10 world ranking by Track & Field News, is putting Tegenkamp on the map.

This will be Tegenkamp’s first trip to the Olympics, but the American two-mile record holder is no stranger to championship races—he’s the USA Indoor 3000-meter champion (2007-08), and he placed fourth in the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Championships 5000 meters, missing a bronze medal by mere inches. Tegenkamp was also the 2001 USA Junior Cross Country champion and fifth-place finisher at the 2001 IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships, but he was plagued with injuries that hampered his running in 2002 and 2003. He shows no signs of slowing down now.

New York Road Runners: Has the reality of making the Olympic team hit you yet?
Matt Tegenkamp: It hasn’t really set in and I don’t think it will until I get over there. It will probably be the opening ceremonies that will do it for me. That’s when it will really set in.

NYRR: I know that you were originally planning to run in Europe after the Olympic Trials. What made you change your plans?
MT: We threw the idea around about going to Europe—we really wanted a 1500—but it was such a quick turnaround from the Trials. We didn’t have much time, and we realized that we could get the exact same workout here in Madison with our training group (Riley, Solinsky, Quigley, and I, with [UW freshman] Evan Jagger as our rabbit).

The UW Athletic department cross country camp is going on right now—the Camp of Champions—so the turnout was unbelievable from the camp and the community when we ran [the 1500 time trial]. Everyone stood in lane three and lined the track. It was an impromptu farewell race and it was great to see how many people showed up.

I ran 3:37.94—exactly what I needed to get in—and we did it right here in Madison.

NYRR: What’s next on your running agenda?
MT: I am going to get one major race in—a 3K in Stockholm—on the 22nd [of July]. Then I’ll be here in Madison until August 5. It’s been the least stressful scene possible around here.

NYRR: At the Olympic Trials, you had some trouble with your side; what happened?
MT: It was a fluke thing. I don’t know what caused it. Everything I did leading up to the race was exactly what I always do for races. Unfortunately, it [the stitch] kind of changed my race going into it. It sounds silly—a stitch in my side—but it literally stayed with me for two days after the race. It really tightened me up and affected my form.
For the first 3K I was relaxed, but once the pace picked up, every lap got worse and worse. All I was focused on was trying to be the last man and staying with the lead pack, while I couldn’t ignore the pain in my side.

Lap after lap it was don’t let the lead pack go. I think it came to 400-to-go and the pace was getting hard. At the 300 there were JumboTrons on each side of the track, and I still saw five people right there with me. I was thinking this is terrible and I don’t know if I can hold on. With 200 to go, I got tripped up from behind, and it was a wake-up call to get to the finish line as fast as possible.

NYRR: Do you remember what you were thinking with 200 meters left in the race?
MT: Wake up and get going. Everyone was fighting for a spot with 200 meters to go, and I had my shot. It’s part of racing [tripping over one another]—it happens. The fact that I was able to stay on my feet and keep going gave me what I needed to finish up strong.

Up until the trip-up, with everything going on with the stitch and all—I got those negative thoughts—How can this happen today of all days? How am I going to handle this? Once the trip happened, I completely pushed everything aside and went for it. I was really concentrating on finishing top three at that point and fulfilling a dream.

NYRR: How was it racing after the men’s 800 finals? I hear the atmosphere in Hayward Field is just incredible.
MT: We were doing our warm-up as the 800 [Men’s final] was going on. We stopped our warm-up to watch the last lap of the 800. If you weren’t nervous before that, it definitely made the butterflies appear. The crowd that was out in Eugene every single day of racing was amazing. The fans knew exactly what was going on, and they were truly electric. I think the U.S. Championships and the [Olympic] Trials should be there every year.

NYRR: I hear that you’re moving with Jerry to Portland, Oregon. What’s going to happen to your current team?
MT: Our coach, Jerry Schumacher, accepted a position as a coach for Nike athletes out in Oregon. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Our lifespan as professional runners is relatively short, and the support we’ll get from Nike is just too good to pass up.

Everyone that Jerry’s been coaching collegiately will be making the move. I don’t think much will change—the training dynamics will stay the same—we’ll just have more at our disposal.

NYRR: You’ve been vocal about the rise of U.S. distance running. What are your thoughts on this after the Olympic Trials?
MT: I think the depth we showed at the Trials—the depth of American distance running—is above and beyond any expectations from 2004. We’ve definitely made great strides in the sport since then, and we’ve started to really make a name for ourselves on the world stage and in Europe. The Olympic stage will be another step in the right direction for us.

NYRR: How are you feeling now?
MT: Knowing that I accomplished what I wanted to in the Trials—making the team—I’ve had a real quick step, a lot of bounce in my step, since then. The race we did here in Madison was a good start. Stockholm will be my last race leading up to Olympics. It will be a great race. I’ll probably see a lot of Olympic guys there that I’ll see in the 5000 at the Olympics. I hope a fast time comes out. Then, we’ll have about three weeks to really fine tune and get ready for the main stage at the Olympics.

[Editor’s Note: On July 22, Matt Tegenkamp ran in the DN Galan 3000 meters in Stockholm and placed fourth in 7:40.75.]

Interview conducted July 16, 2008, and posted on August 9, 2008.