Saying that he wasn’t willing to give 105% in preparing for this month’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, Matt Tegenkamp, a member of two Olympic and three World Championship teams, has ended his professional running career.

“Throughout my career, I lived 24/7, 365 days a year as an athlete,” Teg says. “When I started the real build-up last fall for the marathon trials, I realized I wasn’t willing to live like that anymore. I wasn’t fully vested, and that’s not what my career has been about.”

Matt had one of the most distinguished careers of any recent U.S. distance runner. Between 2007 and 2012, he made every global outdoor track team: three times at 5,000 meters (2007 World Championships, 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships) and twice at 10,000 meters (2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics). His highest finish in that setting was fourth at the 2007 Worlds.

Teg was also fast. In 2007, he set the American record for 2 miles (8:07.07). With his PR of 12:58.56, he’s one of only six Americans to break 13:00 for 5,000 meters. (And we’re pretty sure he’s the only person ever to go sub-13:00 in arm warmers!) In an era of specialization, Matt’s range was an anomaly, with PRs of 3:34.25 for 1500 meters, 27:28.22 for 10,000 meters and 212:28 for the marathon, and national road titles at 5K, 10K and 20K thrown in for good measure.

Teg set the American 2-mile record of 8:07.07 at the 2007 Prefontaine Classic. Photo by Victah Sailer/PhotoRun.

Despite those accomplishments, Matt names something more subjective as what he’s most proud of.

“Being a part of getting American distance running back on the map is definitely tops for me,” he says. “It started with mentors like Bob Kennedy and Pascal Dobert, but from my youth, being at the start of finding our limit again and seeing how far we could push ourselves and getting the best out of ourselves, that was great. With Ryan Hall, Alan Webb, Dathan Ritzenhein, we were breaking down barriers, and it was fun to be part of that over a period of 10 to 15 years.”

Teg says he’s also proud to have been the linchpin of what became the Bowerman Track Club under long-time coach Jerry Schumacher, who, with Matt, Chris Solinsky and Evan Jager, moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Portland, Oregon after the 2008 Olympics.

“The environment we created, that’s something I feel really good about,” Matt says. “That mentality of being unafraid of having a lot of talented people around you, that’s going to help you become the best runner you can be.”

Teg now works in product creation for Nike at the main campus in Beaverton. He began that role in a part-time capacity in the spring of 2013, and has gradually increased his hours to full-time status.

The 34-year-old says he still enjoys running, and usually gets in an hour a day, often with Bowerman Track Club members. But, he says, “I won’t miss being away from my family while at altitude camp, or while being away at races. Now on weekends, I look forward to long hikes, or sledding with the kids, or building sand castles at the beach, and that’s great.”

In what turned out to be one of his last pro races, Teg ran 2:13:52 to place 11th at the 2015 Boston Marathon. Photo by Victah Sailer/PhotoRun.

It was a tough final four miles, but then, that’s what makes the marathon the marathon.

In Sunday’s Chicago Marathon, Matt Tegenkamp clocked 2:12:39 in his first ever test of the 26.2-mile distance, good enough for tenth place, second position among Americans, and a spot just outside the Top 20 fastest first marathon in US history.

With a commendable time and the positive takeaway that he battled the whole way, it may be easy to glance past the fact that the American record holder at two miles came pretty close to hitting a home run his first time out: through 22 miles, Tegenkamp was on 2:10 pace. In the seven miles from #13 to #20, he felt better than he had at any other point in the race. After a conservative first 20k, Tegenkamp and his pacing team increased their speed very slightly, and he found a nice groove. “The cadence just felt more comfortable,” Read the full article

Matt Tegenkamp has run 12:58, been an oh-so-close 4th at Worlds, and won a grip of US national titles… so naturally it’s time to take on the new challenge presented by the marathon. Between now and his debut at the distance — Chicago, October 13th — he’ll be sharing insight into that journey. This entry looks at the line of thinking that brought him to the foot of the 26.2 mile mountain…

Acquired Desire: The marathon, for me, has been an “acquired” desire. The process of training and racing for soooo many miles scared me — rightfully so, with my history of nagging injuries.

However, there has always been this deep down question of, If I did a marathon what could I run? That question has been stirring since 2007, after watching my first Chicago Marathon live. And I’ve continued to predict my finish time after every 26.2 I watch. The internal debate finally came to a head this spring when my coach Jerry Schumacher and I had a long sit down Read the full article

He might have been the top American distance runner without a US title to his name, but Andrew Bumbalough remedied that on Sunday in Providence by winning the CVS Downtown 5k. With that victory, he also took home the US 5k road championship, his first national title in a stellar pro career that has seen him collect runner-up finishes at the US Cross Country Championship (2011) and 5k Road Champs (2012), represent the US on the track at Worlds (2011), and rank among the Top 20 Americans all-time in three different events.

Meanwhile, Emily Infeld — entering only her second season as a professional — took runner-up honors among the women, beaten only by 5000m national record holder Molly Huddle. After a track PB at 3000 earlier this month, and a road win for six miles earlier this summer, Infeld was expected to contend for the win, and she and Huddle wasted little time grabbing the lead early. Read the full article