RUNNING Former YSU standout gains Olympic Trials

Matt Folk ran the Columbus Marathon in under 2 hours, 22 minutes.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Matt Folk came to Youngstown to devote his young life to running. Now, he's put the city on a national map.
The 27-year-old native of Toledo may be hurting this week. But, as runners say, pain is only temporary.
After conquering the mental and physical battle of the Columbus Marathon last weekend, Folk accomplished what he set out for nearly four years ago.
Folk finished the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 21 minutes, 10 seconds, to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
What it means
"It's a huge step in the right direction," said Folk, who graduated from YSU in 1999 and now serves as an assistant coach with the Penguins' track and cross country programs, under Brian Gorby.
"It's something I've worked for, and it justifies all the training I've done the last three years," he added. "This could be a huge stepping stone to something further."
Folk has almost four months to train for the biggest race of his life. The U.S. Olympic Trials will be held in February in Birmingham, Ala., and he'll be one of about 100 male runners in the field.
As he covered the final miles in Columbus, the reality of qualifying began to set in.
"The last 2 miles, that was my main focus," Folk said. "I knew I had a shot at it, and I wanted to do everything I could to get it."
But there was doubt. Plenty of it.
"As far as the race itself, it's a lot of mental games," he said. "There are a lot of different phases where you feel good and you feel bad."
Struggling at the start
The first 6 miles, Folk felt bad, and he began to believe Columbus would be the toughest of his five career marathons.
"Once I started struggling, I continued to work toward finishing high in the race," he said.
That helped, and his condition improved. But the roller coaster his body was feeling hit another downpoint around the 20-mile mark.
"The hard thing was, I was on my own the entire race," he said. "A lot of times in marathons, you have somebody to run with."
Not Sunday, when Folk found himself in, what he described as, "no man's land."
"The last 6 miles I started catching people," he said. "Once you start passing people, it helps your rhythm and helps your confidence."
And something funny happened. As bad as Folk had felt throughout the race, he suddenly grew stronger toward the finish.
"The last 3 miles were probably my fastest of the whole race," he said. "I probably felt I had control with 2 or 3 miles to go."
Folk covered each of the last 2 miles in 5:11 and 5:06, respectively, to finish fourth, qualify for the trials and give Youngstown a reason to celebrate.
"I don't know what triggered it," Folk said of his desire to qualify for the trials. "I ran for YSU and I had a lot of success.
"The next logical step as far as my development and running post-collegiately was in the marathon," he added. "And one of the best accomplishments you can work toward in the U.S. is trying to qualify for the trials."
Next step
Based on times in the trials, one to three runners will qualify for the U.S. team, which will compete in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
If nothing else, Folk will have an elite opportunity to become one of those runners.
"With a marathon, it's not something you just train for 15 minutes a day. It takes hours every day," Folk said.
"There's been a lot of people that have been supportive and understanding of my goals," he added. "Without their help, it would have been tougher to accomplish."
richesson@vindy.com