This kind of news never comes easy. I never would have thought it would come at all. But it did come, yesterday. Out of the blue.

Matt Scherer was 38 years old, born 21 November 1983—born the exact same day as our oldest child. He truly was one of a kind.

Matt was thoughtful and kind. When I needed help on a project or a question and other colleagues were not available, Matt would quickly answer my text or my call or my email and provide expert assistance.

Matt was the type of colleague that you could always count on. He was patient and was a great listener. He was very good at problem solving. He wasn't the sort to pass off something to someone else to figure out but seemed eager to think things through and get a solution.

Matt was a wiz at spreadsheets, better than anyone else I've ever worked with.

I met Matt on the last day of November in 2007. He was 24 years old at the time and in his prime as an athlete. He wasn't ever the type of person that was full of himself. He didn't boast but I could ask him questions and he'd answer.

Matt was an elite runner who once ran a 600m race in 1:14.41, at the time the 6th fastest time ever. He was no slouch in the classroom either and twice was an Academic All-American.

Matt was a professional "rabbit" who aided other elite runners in hitting their desired marks en route to further distances. His splits were so precise, he was like a machine! He told me once that he was asked to pace a race in the Netherlands at 50.5 seconds through a 400m lap. He nailed it perfectly at 50.50! His internal sense of time regularly could hit the requested mark with exactness.

Matt's frame was very large. He was all of 6'2"--if not taller. His shoulders were super broad which helped those immediately behind him in a race as he blocked the wind for them.

In a matter of a couple of days, Matt could be found crisscrossing the globe in his professional duties, pacing at meets in various countries. He raced against and/or paced some of the world's best, including David Rudisha, Duane Soloman, Nick Symmonds, Nick Willis, Glen Rupp, Mo Farah, and Matt Centrowitz, among many others.

See Matt's profile page where he documents many of his achievements as a pace setter: https://schererspeed.runnerspace.com/

If you follow this link, you'll see Matt as he helps David Rudisha in 2012 run a world-leading time of 1:41.74 in the 800m: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0QXbB90Sbw

From July 2010 to February 2013, Matt paced 19 races where records were set.

As best as I can discover, his personal bests included: 20.89 for 200m, 45.19 for 400m, 1:14.41 for 600m, and 1:46.11 for 800m. In 2010, Matt was part of a distance medley relay team that set the indoor world record with a time of 9:17.77. While an athlete at the University of Oregon, Matt was the School Record Holder in: Indoor 400m - 45.95, Indoor 4x400m Relay - 3:04.17, Outdoor 4x100m Relay - 39.20, Outdoor 4x400m Relay - 3:00.81, and Outdoor 300m - 32.77.

Before his pace-runner days, Matt placed 1st in races at meets around the world from 2006 to 2011: Copenhagen (Denmark), Malmo (Sweden), Eugene (Oregon), Gent (Belgium), Mt SAC (Walnut, California), Cuxhaven (Germany), Palo Alto (California), Seattle (Washington), Richmond (British Columbia, Canada), and Corvallis (Oregon).

Several of my family members worked meets with Matt. He was the guy you'd always want working behind the scenes at a meet for his attention to detail and broadcasting skills.

Matt was a friend and a colleague at RunnerSpace.com and will truly be missed.

Rest in peace, my friend.

#mattscherer #runnerspace