For One U.S Men's Marathon Olympic Trials Qualifier, November 3 is Doubly Significant:

Matt Downin awaits more than just the U.S. Olympic Trials – Men’s Marathon on November 3

By Cecil Harris

November 3, the date of the U.S. Olympic Trials – Men’s Marathon, holds enormous significance for every elite American long-distance runner. But that’s doubly true for Matt Downin, a four-time All American at the University of Wisconsin. His second child is due on the day of the biggest race of his life.

“That was kind of poor planning on our part,” he said with a laugh. “But my wife and I have contingency plans for everything. Hopefully, the baby will be here before I have to get on a plane. I don’t really want to get on a plane with my wife due. I’d rather have the baby already in the house.”

Downin and his wife, Angela, a former All American cross country runner at the University of Michigan, have a 14-month-old son. A girl is on the way. The possibility of missing her birth has caused anxiety for the Downins.

“It is the Olympic Trials, which we both consider the only reason why I’m still doing what I’m doing,” said Downin, 30. “I’ve done a lot in the sport but I have not made an Olympic team. I’ve been a lot of places and had a lot of success. The Olympic Trials is sort of the Holy Grail for me. Since it’s this race, we both sort of think we have to play our cards as they come and I’ve got to get on a plane and I’ve got to go run this race. I’m not excited about the prospect of missing the birth of my daughter, but I’m sure that if I’m going to miss the birth of my daughter I’m going to put it all on the line that day.”

“Putting it all on the line” adequately describes Downin’s approach to running. In a Labor Day tune-up at the USA 20K Championships in New Haven, CT, he took a nasty spill, which he compared to “getting into a car accident; everything just aches.” But after Downin runs in the USA 10-Mile Championship on October 7 in Minneapolis, he’ll head to New York for the Trials.

Downin will have something of a home-course advantage, having completed the ING New York City Marathon three times. In his 2003 marathon debut in New York, he ran 2:18:48, earning the Alberto Salazar Award as the top American finisher. Before relocating to Madison last year, Downin lived in northern New Jersey and was a fixture on the New York running scene.

“I would venture to say that nobody has ever run a marathon on a course as hard as this course is going to be,” Downin said firmly. “The hills in Central Park are difficult, and they’re never-ending when you have to run a whole marathon on them. We’ll see what sort of respect people have for the course because most people have run London, Boston, Chicago, or New York, and most people haven’t run many other marathons. If they have, they’ve run flat ones. And those courses aren’t anything like Central Park.”

With so many superb runners competing for three coveted berths on Team USA, Downin says it is impossible to predict how the race will play out.

“There’s a chance that a guy will say, ‘If you’re going to make this team, you’re going to have to run 2:11,’” he said. “That guy could decide that he wants to run five-minute pace. There are probably three guys in the race who could just go out and follow him and run a 5:00 pace and make the team. Then there’s a chance there won’t be a guy who will do that and the pace will be slow. Most of the really good guys will be content to run the first half pretty slow and allow it to come down to a 10- to 12-mile race. It’s very hard to predict. The marathon is so different from track in that if you put that many people on the line, you have no idea who’s going to have a great day and you can’t plan for everybody else’s plan. In a track race, usually you can take certain people out of the game and run against the three or four guys who you think can win. But in the Trials, you can’t do that because there are so many guys who can win. If somebody goes out really fast, everybody will probably go with that crazy person because nobody trying to make the Olympic team will want to be a minute behind the leader at the halfway point.”

Born in Duxbury, MA, and reared in Londonderry, NH, Downin was a two-time Big Ten Conference cross country champion at Wisconsin. He earned degrees in economics and Afro-American history. He ran for Team USA California until 2004 and was coached by Bob Larsen. Now, Downin coaches himself, though he consults with Wisconsin coach Jerry Schumacher. “I don’t think he would claim to be my coach right now,” Downin said, laughing. “But he helps me with a lot of stuff. He’s got a great mind for distance running, so I bounce a lot of ideas off him.”

Downin insists he never second-guesses himself about not having a coach. “I think I do a good job of coming up with a three- or four-month plan that has some specific workouts and specific steps to take along the way,” he said. “Every athlete who doesn’t meet his expectations might second-guess his training and preparation whether he has a coach or not.”

Things will work out in the end, Downin believes—at the Trials and in the delivery room. He’s a Sinatra among marathoners. He’s doing it his way.