A8
FRIDAY
November 12, 2021
Fall Sports
SeasideSignal.com
Seaside marathoner wins Portland’s 2021 race
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
When people see Matt Spear running,
they sometimes yell, “Run, Forrest, run!”
While Spear didn’t run across the country
like Forrest Gump, the character in the clas-
sic Tom Hanks film, the Seaside resident ran
and won this year’s Portland Marathon.
Spear first entered the event in 2015. His
most disappointing moment came in 2019
when he was part of the group of runners that
went off course after following a biker who
wasn’t part of the race about 10 miles in.
“There wasn’t someone saying, ‘Go this
way,’” he said.
By the time they stopped, turned around
and got back on course, they had added sev-
eral miles to the run. “We did the scenic
route,” he said.
While his chances for a win that year
were gone, he still finished in the race’s top
10 and eyed future marathons. “I felt a little
disappointed, but it happens,” he said. “You
just kind of get ready for the next one.”
A running family
Spear’s parents were runners, participat-
ing in the Hood to Coast race in the early
‘80s when the relay finished in Pacific City.
Growing up, Spear went to Jesuit High
School in Beaverton. He came to the coast
in the summer to visit his grandparents, who
lived in Seaside.
His first sport was soccer, which he said
he knew he wasn’t very good at, but he found
he had endurance and enjoyed running.
He switched to cross-country.
Spear was influenced by the high level of
coaching and performance. “The winter of
sophomore year I kind of started ramping it
up and increased each year, just trying to do
a little bit more,” he said.
The Jesuit team was so competitive Spear
didn’t even make varsity as a senior, he said,
but ran the varsity track district meet, where
he took fourth.
He ran as a walk-on at Santa Clara Uni-
versity during his freshman year, then trans-
ferred to the University of Oregon. He
joined the club team, using his junior and
senior years to get into running shape. He
ran at Hayward Field — the university track
— and up to Pre’s Rock, the iconic memo-
rial where the Oregon Olympic runner Steve
Prefontaine died at the age of 24.
Spear started “adventure runs,” running
at Black Butte in central Oregon and other
outdoor locations.
After graduating, he began a career in
systems development in Portland, still run-
ning four or five days a week.
Training and a victory
Spear, 32, moved back to Seaside four
years ago. He lives with his girlfriend, who is
a nurse at Providence Seaside Hospital.
Long-distance running is part of his reg-
imen. He has a few favorite routes, from
his home on N. Holladay Drive across Til-
lamook Head to Indian Beach and back, the
Fort to Sea Trail and a 22-mile route that
includes six loops 2 miles each around the
Gearhart Golf Links.
R.J. Marx
ABOVE: Matt Spear, a Seaside resident, is setting his sights on the 100K Black Canyon Ultras. BELOW: Spear runs the course of this year’s
Portland Marathon.
Portland Marathon
Portland Marathon
Portland Marathon
For this year’s Portland Marathon in Octo-
ber, Spear started out with a decent night’s
sleep, an early wake-up and a good breakfast.
The day was clear with little wind.
At the start, one runner took the early lead.
Spear was among a group of five or six behind
the leader.
He was feeling strong. “I just focused on
what I was doing,” he said. “I could kind of see
the leader, so I thought that was a good posi-
tion to be in.”
Around the area of Reed College, Spear
began gaining on the leader. “People would
say, ‘He’s a minute ahead,’ and we go another
mile, ‘He’s 40 seconds ahead.’”
Another runner from the pack caught up to
the leader, who was slowing down. “I held the
pace, maybe picked it up a little bit. I didn’t feel
tired. I just felt really energized,” Spear said.
As Spear crossed a bridge, about a mile
from the finish, he saw his father and brother
along the waterfront. Spear got to the finish
before the tape was up and kept running.
“You’re pretty thrilled and excited about
things, so I didn’t feel the exhaustion that I felt
on the other times, when I could barely move,”
Spear said.
His first place finish time? Two hours, 28
minutes and 47 seconds.
His family joined him for the celebration
and interviews after the race.
Spear attributes his win to more training
miles without overtraining.
Runners call it “the taper,” referring to the
reduction of exercise before the race.
“I think the taper is always hard the last
two or three weeks,” he said. “You don’t want
to back off too much or you feel flat, but you
don’t want to overtrain so you’re so tired at the
start line you can barely run.”
In February, Spear will be setting his
sights at a longer run: the 100K Black Can-
yon Ultras — 62 miles — in Black Canyon,
Arizona. Spear will be running at a minimum
of about 4,000 feet above sea level in moun-
tains between Flagstaff and Phoenix. Tempera-
tures could range from the 70s to below freez-
ing with snow.
He’s run ultramarathons before, at Forest
Park, Mount Hood and St. Helens, running for
eight or 10 hour stretches.
“You take a bathroom break, but try to keep
going. When you stop, it’s always hard to get
going again,” he said.
North Coast runners compete at state
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
Cross-country teams from Astoria, War-
renton and Knappa were all busy last Sat-
urday, competing in different races at Lane
Community College in Eugene, home of the
Oregon School Activities Association’s state
cross-country meet.
In the girls’ race, Astoria junior Ella Zilli
was 28th, and Seaside senior Elise Seppa
placed 38th. Siuslaw was the team champion,
winning by one point over Philomath.
Among local runners, the top individual
finish went to Knappa junior Isaiah Rodri-
guez, who placed second in the 2A/1A boys
race, covering the 5,000-meter course in 16
minutes, 28.8 seconds, just behind senior
Colin Friend of St. Stephens Academy
(16:23.5).
One of the top-rated teams coming into the
meet, Knappa finished fifth out of nine scoring
teams, with Union/Cove (39 points) winning
the team championship ahead of Bandon (43).
Knappa scoring runners included junior
Clay Keyser (29th), freshman Soren Brown
(43rd), junior Ethan Smalley (47th) and junior
Finn Corcoran (49th).
At the 3A level, Warrenton finished tied for
sixth out of nine teams, as senior Zander Moha
finished seventh in 16:49.3. Senior Phoenix
Martin (33rd) was the next highest finisher
for the Warriors. He was followed by William
Tim Peitsch
Knappa’s Isaiah Rodriguez, right, battles for first with St. Stephen’s senior Colin Friend, who
eventually took first ahead of Rodriguez in the boys 2A/1A state cross-country meet.
Carruthers (35th), Erik Cooley (46th), Josh-
uah Baker (62nd) and Mason Devos (64th).
In the 4A portion of the meet, the Astoria
boys team finished eighth out of 12 teams with
194 points.
Siuslaw won the team title with 42 points,
well ahead of second-place Sisters (88). Cot-
tage Grove and Valley Catholic tied for third
with 93.
While Marshfield junior Alexander Gar-
cia-Silver was the runaway individual win-
ner in 16:02 (28 seconds ahead of the nearest
finisher), junior John Clement was Astoria’s
highest placer, 32nd in 18:19.
“I didn’t feel that good about the race, but I
have a few more races to run fast at,” Clement
said. “(My goal for next year) is to be in the
top 10 at state.”
Junior teammate Tommy Laman was 34th
(18:25), with junior John Colquhon (48th),
senior Daniel Messing (55th) and senior Elias
Harding-Coe (69th) rounding out the Astoria
scorers.
“I had a great time competing with every-
one at state,” Zilli said. “The course was
muddy, but I feel like it was a good race to end
the season.”
“We have a lot to feel good about with
how we raced at state and for the season as
a whole,” said Astoria coach Andrew Fick.
“(The Astoria boys) came in ranked 15th in
the state and finished eighth. Being a top 10
team is a big deal, making it out of our league
and representing at the state meet is a big deal,
and it’s always good to see Astoria near the
top of the list in 4A.”
It was the best finish for the Astoria boys
since 2012, when the Fishermen also took
eighth.
“We have some good momentum now
with our top three runners returning next year
as well,” Fick said. “That kind of racing expe-
rience is invaluable and they’re already start-
ing to look at what they can do in the future,
which is really exciting for our program.”
Knappa will have all of its runners return-
ing in 2022, with Warrenton returning the
majority of its team as well.