The University of Idaho Argonaut

Lace up your kicks, put your iPod on repeat and run 810 laps around the Student Recreation Center track. Sound crazy? Take a look at Matt Racine, the cross country team captain who runs 90 miles, the equivalent of 810 laps, per week at the peak of his season.

Racine’s all about staying relaxed and preserving his energy. A typical race day includes waking up about 5 hours before the meet, eating some food and then staying calm until the race.
 “I really don’t worry too much about the race or get too nervous before races until like 10 minutes before,” Racine said. “Then I’ll get really excited about it.”
He keeps his mind clear and focuses on his pace during a race, but sometimes they last a long time and Racine just looks ahead for motivation.

When he looks up and sees a Boise State Bronco or a conference opponent it gives him a lot of motivation to pick up his pace, Racine said, but his teammates help him the most.
“The biggest motivating thing for me I guess is when my teammates are around,” he said.
The team has worked together for so long they know one another’s abilities and they know how to motivate one another.

Racine earned the 2nd team All-Western Athletic Conference honors the last two years in a row and said he hopes that this year he can continue that with another All-WAC honor.
Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said he believes Racine has a very good chance of being 1st team All-WAC this season.

“He’s got an incredible work ethic. Whatever you ask of him he accomplishes,” Phipps said.
Besides running, Racine’s also an expert in the water as he’s spent the last year earning his degree in biology by researching the swim performance, behavior and genetics of zebra fish.
He’s enjoying the research and said he hasn’t decided where he plans on continuing his education in graduate school next year.

But whether Racine chooses the University of Idaho or not, he’ll never be a stranger to Moscow. His grandparents still live in Moscow and both of his parents are former Vandals.
“I’ve just always loved the city, I love just how laid back it is,” Racine said. “The people that are around are really cool.”

Following his graduation from UI this spring Racine said he’ll be done with Idaho cross country but plans to continue to run competitively as much as he can.
“I’ll definitely keep running, just not nearly as competitively as I am now,” Racine said. “I’d like to do a marathon, one of the bigger ones I think would be a lot of fun.”
Until then Racine is focusing on his role as team captain and trying to make the best of his time at college.

He said he and his roommates spend their free time between running doing random things like playing pranks on each other, doing stupid bets or just hanging out.
“Matt’s awesome, he’s a great leader,” Phipps said. “He keeps practice light when they need to be light, serious when they need to be serious. He does a great job of leading
by example.”