Wung
&
D
'se
CHAMPIONSHIPS WHEN HE
MATTHEW BATTLEY SHOT TO FAME AT THE 2OI3 XTERRA NZ TRAIL RUNNING
IN I:33I8' THE YOUNG AUCKLANDER
WIN
GROUP
AGE
AN
ON
AT
WAIH
LINE
THE
FINISH
ACROSS
SMASHED
BEHIND OVERALL WINNER
cRossED AHEAD or xrwt LEGEND va.ttN nnvsinoNc AND JUST IM 34 sECoNDS
BATTLEY'WAS'
MATT
KNEWWHO
EVERYONE
SUDDENLY
CTINIS MORRISSEY.
T
n 2014 the BattleY familY wcre
back at XTERRA \Araihi; this
time Ntlatthew u'on the Trail
Running ChampionshiPs
outright, while younger brother
Andrew won the l3km
n-rid-
course.
Born into an active tramping famill', the
Battley boys r.raturally gravitated to'w'ards
orientecling at an early age, igniting Nlatt's
passion for trail. Rathcr surprisingly lunning *,nr not something thc Battley's wcre
initially good at. "\\re werc kind of uscless at
running at primaly school," laughs N'Iatt.
"Wc always camc last...but irrouncl intermediate age therc was
a
tipping point' Thc
races bccame lor-rg enough for us to excel
ar.rd
-
suddenly we wcre coming first."
Matt recalls beating the fastcst boy
ir.r
in Year 8, stating
"lt was all go from thcre."
happily:
^l,,Iuit.
endte* and father Mark joinecl
Athlctic ar.rd Harrier Club, whele
Edcn
Glen
racing tl.re club season helpcd N'latt hone
tl-re scl-rool when he was
his speecl on road. With several Rogaine's
behind them, the thrce Battley boys turned
their attention to trail events, enteling the
2ol2'fotal Sport Auckland XTERRA Trail
Serics and establishing a prescncc that
extended to mother Belinda joining hcr
18 : KIWITRAILRUNNER' AUTUMN2OI5
family out on course the foilowing year.
Matt is infolmally
coached by l.ris father,
although Nlark hesitates to usc the word
'coach'.
\'Iark ran with his son until he couldn't
kcep up: now tl-re-v discuss whet evcnts
are ioming up ancl hor.v trcst Nlattl.rew can
prepare. As Nlark describcs: "N'Iatthew is
con.scientious about lvhat he does. He'-s selfmotivated and consistent in his training."
N,Iatt describcs his trainir.rg st-vle as:
"Preff-v much an intuitive rLlnncl'. I know
roughlS, what has to bc done in a scssion,
but i u.sually run as firr and as fast as I feel
likc running in
tl-rat
tlaining session"'
carbs the night bcforc, rrnd notl.ring two-tothree hours before a big rirce." During an
event Nlatt eats littlc, if anythir.rg, and stays
away from squcezics or gcl protlucts' At aid
.trtium hc will take one cup of $'ater and
n-raybe one of elcctrol,vte. But thet-r N{attl-rcrv Battlcf isn't generally out on course
vcry long.
N'Iatt attlibutcs ir large part of his suc-
training schedulc that optir-l-rises
the two disciplir-res of road irnd trail t'ut.rning. Basecl around the club season and
tlail calendar, N'Iatthcw will generally run
cess to a
three-to-four shot't rut-ts per week rvitl-r
one club racc and/or long off-road run on
tl-re weekend. "It's pretty tough somc-
Hc has lecentl-v bought a Suunto GPS
sports watch, and admits this is changing his style of training a littlc: "Witl.r the
Suunto I might notice m1'pirce is a bit off'
so push it a bit rnorc than I might if I rvas
times," he says. "There ale so many e\rents
that quite oftcn I will race a club race on
Saturdiry then an XTERRA on Sunda-v
whicl-r makcs it tough to pull out a first
placc."
runnit.t g in tu iti ve l1i-'
N,Iatt is cautious about his
The blistering time
nutrition;
occasionallv he gcts a little irnxious or
strcssed before a racc so is careful to not
eat anything that might provoke gastrointestinal issucs. "The first 1'ear I ran thc
Auckland Half Marrrthon I glot mr. nutrition
wrong ancl spent sonle time in a portaloo
thinking'ncver again'. So I u'ill eat simplc
N'Iatt pulled out at
XTERRA \diaihi qunlifiecl him to race at
the XTERILA \\rorlcl Championships and ir.r
Novcmber 2013 N{att was on tl-re start line
in Oahu. Hau.aii, rvith some of the hottest
voung trail l'unners on the planct.
N,Iark proudiy says: "N'Iattheu'is never
aflaid of iining up next to sorle pretry fast
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