Matti Erickson Gets It Done

Alan Webb holds the finish line tape as Matti comes through.

Q & A WITH MATTI:

We met Matti after he won his race at the Nike Portland XC Meet in September.

YR: Describe the middle school race...the difficulties, your race strategy, did the race go as planned?

A: There were more runners than I’m used to so getting out fast and out of the masses was a priority. I did not know any of the other runners so the plan was to get in the lead group and see what the pace was. I quite often run with older runners so I am use to a faster pace than what we ran at. I tucked into fourth and with 400 or so meters to go started shifting gears. The race went pretty much as planned with a sprint to the finish.

How about the hale bales and the whoop de doos? Like or dislike?

The bales and whoop de doos were a good way to break up the race on a relatively flat course. I do hurdles on the track so am use to jumping over obstacles.

Tell us more about yourself, when did you start running and how did you get into it?