Enjoying the feeling of freedom

By Brett Okamoto

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | 10 p.m.

There's a scene in "Forrest Gump" where Tom Hanks is on his third or fourth trip across the country on foot and he says to a reporter, "I just felt like running."

Boulder City High junior Matt Lundgren feels the same way.

Lundgren, a long-distance track and cross-country star for the Eagles, reminds himself of that sometimes before he competes. Unlike many of the runners he competes against, Lundgren never wears a watch to keep track of his time and often doesn't even realize what lap of the race he's on.

"Long distance running is about freedom," Lundgren said. "If you think about it as, 'I've got four laps left, I've got three laps left,' you're not going to do that good. You're going to be out there wasting your time. You just have to have fun with it and be focused, but not so focused to where you're thinking about the running."

That logic has paid off for Lundgren, who took the 3A state titles in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs last year. He followed that performance with a state title in cross-country last fall.

That's three state titles in less than three full years for an athlete who came very close to never running competitively. When Lundgren moved to Boulder City from Las Vegas before his freshman year of high school, he was sure he would be joining the football team.

"I didn't want to do any other sport but football, but I missed the tryouts," Lundgren said. "The first day of school I heard about cross-country, so I figured it couldn't hurt anything. I tried it and I loved it. I'm really happy I missed that tryout, I've found a sport that I like to do and I can excel at."

His love for the sport has been a mutual one, with Lundgren willing to put in the work and the sport giving him plenty back in return. In addition to three state titles, he's also broke the Boulder City High School record in the 3,200 with a 9 minutes, 59 seconds time and has his sights set on the 1,600 record, which is just 13 seconds ahead of his fastest time of 4:39.

Lundgren runs so much, it actually took his community some time to get used to.

"He's been stopped on the streets of Boulder City at night and asked what he's doing," said Lundgren's track coach, Joe Ringen. "The community finally got comfortable with him doing it so much that they started ignoring him. But he would run to Henderson and back."

That's an 11-mile trip in case you're wondering. One way.

This year's campaign has gotten off to a rough start for the defending champ however, as he's been slowed down by a sinus infection since the season's start. The Eagles are hoping Lundgren will finally be back to full strength by their three-team meet at Las Vegas High School on April 15.

What goals are even left this year for a runner with three state titles and a school record? Plenty actually.

Lundgren is hoping to set 3A state records in both events and another state title in the 800-meters, a race he's never ran prior to this spring. There's also the hope of a full-ride scholarship when he graduates and even qualifying for the Olympic team in 2012.

"I'm trying to get a full ride for college and then make it to the Olympics in three years," Lundgren said. "Maybe race against (U.S. Olympian) Bernard Lagat. I've thought about it a lot, those are the things I think about when I run."

It's those kind of dreams that are constantly pushing Lundgren to achieve more. As only a long-distance runner knows, it's all about keeping that steady pace going.

"I don't have aspirations for my athletes, they've got to have them for themselves," Ringen said. "He wants to go to college, we just have to make sure we give him the opportunities to put the times down that people will notice. So far, he's taken advantage of all the opportunities he's been given."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected].