Clarke hungry for success at the 2022 Australian Cross Country Champs
Published Thu 25 Aug 2022
A wide range of motivators will spur local Olympian Matthew Clarke on throughout a wet and muddy Cross Country race at Oakbank this Saturday (August 27).
Clarke will join more than 1200 distance runners at the 2022 Australian Cross Country Championships at the Oakbank Racecourse in SA's Adelaide Hills.
More than just a National Title is on the line for Clarke, who is keen to prove a point after his non-selection for World Championship and Commonwealth Games teams.
2022 State Cross Country Open Champions Caitlin Adams and Matthew Clarke will both represent SA at the Australian Cross Country Championships this weekend.
The Hills Districts Athletics Club runner made his Olympic debut in Tokyo last year, running the 3000m Steeplechase and is the 2022 Australian 3000m Steeplechase Champion.
"Missing selection is going to continue to drive me for the rest of my career," Clarke said.
"I was listening to a Shaun Creighton (retired Australian distance runner) interview and I remember he was controversially left off the Olympic team in 1996 and he said that fuelled him to ensure that his selection was never questioned ever again, and that's what I am building towards.
"I don't want to be a fringe athlete anymore, I want to be one of those guys that Peter Bol, Matt Denny and Ryan Gregson developed into, where going to the Majors is part of the process."
Event website for live results
Clarke said other factors, such as next year's World Cross Country Championships, running in a strong SA team, winning in his home State, and the prize money up for grabs were other "carrots dangling in front of him" ahead of this weekend.
"I will be chasing the win this Saturday," he said.
"I have run 29:00 across 10km on the Road this season so I have proven that I am in the shape to do it.
"Heading into the State Cross Country Championships (winning in 30:51 last month), I really wanted to win in the hardest way possible, and really test myself, so I have the Cross Country practice up my sleeve."
Clarke said his training group had been focussing predominantly on Cross Country running in the lead up to this weekend.
"We have spent a lot of time in the horse fields in North Adelaide, running up hills and running by feel rather than looking closely at splits," he said.
"This is important because looking at Oakbank, it's going to be pretty nuts out there.
"I have been preparing for the worst (weather) for the past few months, so I won't be surprised either way."
While he's based in the city rather than the Hills, Clarke said there were still plenty of advantages to running the National event in his home State.
"Initially when I found out Adelaide was hosting the National Cross, I didn't give the 'home' factor too much thought, but the closer it's getting and chatting to athletes coming from interstate, the more I think it's an advantage," he said.
"I haven't had to stress about flights or hiring cars or organising lifts to get up to Oakbank - I get to race in my comfort zone, I can sleep in my own bed the night before, I can drive my car up there and I feel those small things are important."
While he has shown strong Cross Country form since relocating from Victoria in 2019, Clarke said it wasn't a strength of his growing up.
"I haven't lost a Cross Country race in SA yet and I hope to carry that form through into this weekend, but as a Junior in Victoria I never made a State team," he said.
"The best finish I got in a junior Cross Country race was 13th and they select a team of 12, but as a senior I started to put some good performances together and had a string of second place finishes in the 2018 Cross Country season in Victoria."
Clarke will headline a strong Open Men's team this Saturday which includes Max Stevens, Harrison Bagley, Jack Hunter, James Kay, Jacob Cocks, Riley Cocks and Isaac Heyne.
"Being part of a team is awesome and having such a strong team that is going for the win is very exciting," Clarke said.
"It dangles yet another carrot of motivation in front of me and everyone running for SA."
Flinders athlete Isobel Batt-Doyle will also race for the first time since arriving back on SA, following an extended overseas stint, which culminated in her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham.
Batt-Doyle will race alongside fellow South Australians Caitlin Adams, Brooke Hines, Sophie Hlipala and Annie Kitto in the Open Women's race.
More than 50 athletes will represent Athletics SA in the age groups from U14 to Open and Para, while School Sport SA has also named athletes in the U12 to U18 age groups.
See the full Athletics SA team list here
Follow the Athletics SA website and Social Media for updates throughout Saturday's Championships.
