There truly is no setback Matt Lara cannot withstand. He is an individual who has experienced a lifetime of adversity with still a year of high school left, and despite it all, he keeps hustling towards the finish line of greater gains and goals.

The Haddam-Killingworth senior first got into running during the pandemic as an outlet for physical fitness. Yet he grew a special affinity for it, and he joined the cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams with the Cougars. During his junior year, his first campaign on the varsity squad for cross country, Matt set a personal-best time at the Shoreline Conference Championship of 16:15 to finish fourth overall in representing the conference champs.

But Matt also had to deal with some medical endeavors at one of the worst times for it to come. Suffering with epilepsy, Matt suffered a seizure at the state championship and blacked out only 100 meters into the race. After the Cougars qualified for the State Open as a team, Matt trooped on and still competed in the event. But he would endure another personal obstacle when his father passed away after battling cancer during his junior indoor track campaign.

Despite it all, along with some injuries during the past year, Matt used everything as motivation and trained diligently this past summer. As a result, he earned a captain’s appointment on the boys’ cross country team this fall.

“When I first started running, I would not have any expectations for myself at the starting line. But now, I have to have a mental strategy because the seizures are triggered by stress,” says Matt. “I learned I have to be confident in what I am doing, and I definitely am. I actually do not talk to anyone before a race, and I make sure to get any negative thoughts out of my head. People know who I am and what I can do. I also have a lot to build off of, and I use my dad as motivation.”

Matt explains that naturally through all the miles he has logged, his endurance and additional physical capacities have increased. He further details that with that expansion comes a growth in mentality when it comes to getting out of the starting blocks at a calculated pace.

“My strategy with pacing has changed over the years,” says Matt. “As you get older and race more, you develop more aerobically, and so your strategy changes naturally. I make myself feel comfortable when it comes to starting out; I go at a hard but steady pace. If you go too fast too early, you can tire out too early.”

Furthermore in breaking down each run into phases, Matt mentions that it is all about saving enough in the fire for the final burn during the home stretch. Yet when it comes to building up to that course climax, the wheels are still churning.

“When I set my personal record at Shorelines, I actually did my fastest ever mile at the end,” Matt says. “For me, I want to run about two seconds slower with the second lap than the first. But then at the end, I want to have that kick. I try to hold my energy until the end, but not too much.”

As the longtime cross country and track coach at H-K, Matt Diglio has seen and mentored tons of tremendous athletes that can blaze the trails in record times. Still, he is astounded by Matt’s ability to not only grab marked improvements through the years, but to do it in the face of some tremendous adversity.

“I have been coaching for over 20 years, and I don't think I have ever had an athlete have to deal with and overcome the adversity that Matt had to deal with last year. Matt faced more hardships in his junior year of high school than anyone his age should ever have to deal with. Somehow through it all, Matt showed his strength, resilience, and resolve both on and off the track, “ says Diglio. “As a runner, Matt has made huge improvements from where he started as a freshman to where he now is as a captain and leader of the cross country team this fall. He followed the path of his older brother Alex, who was a very successful three-season runner. Over that time span, he has steadily improved each season through his hard work and dedication. In the winter and spring, Matt has been one of our top 400 and 800 runners the past two years and has been a key member of our successful 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams. I am so proud of him, not only for his improvement as a runner, but I am also proud and in awe of his ability to deal with and handle all of these setbacks as a young man.”

It seems virtually nothing can slow Matt down. He states that his persistence comes from just never submitting while setting his own expectations, and never casting a doubt in his abilities or the perception of them.

“Perseverance is a big part of me and trying to prove myself,” says Matt. “Once you can gauge where you are, then there is nowhere to go but up. I have learned that I can never be satisfied with a race. When I set my PR, all I could think about was how relaxed I was in the first mile. If you do not finish a race on empty, you are not doing it right. You need to be aggressive but controlled. I really took on that mindset my junior year and saw improvements. The best I can do is to just try my hardest and to not question myself.”