A Coach who gets you

My name is Matthew Clark, and I’m the head coach at Above The Line.

My most scarring running experience was in 2018. It was September in Waco, Texas, and I remember that before I walked out the door, I ate a banana and a glass of water. I made it about 1 mile before I threw up that banana and had to walk back to my dorm, hyperventilating and dejected. That was my rocky start to running, and I’ve been getting better every day. At 20, I ran my first half marathon. In 2023, I competed in the 39th Best Ranger Competition, placing 26th. That same year I ran a 2:59:50 at the Vermont City Marathon and a 59:10 at the Army Ten Miler in Washington, DC.

In 2024, six months before I left the US Army, I coached the Best Ranger Team at Fort Drum, NY. I was planning to go for a Master's degree upon my separation, but coaching the four individuals on that team made me realize God had called me to something different.

I started offering my coaching services professionally in 2024. Through my time in the service, I realized there were plenty of soldiers just like me; people who were required to be good runners for their jobs, whether that be passing a 2-mile ACFT or preparing for Special Forces Assessment and Selection, but hadn’t been taught how to run or how to train.

If that sounds like you, I want to save you the 6-years of uphill trial and error I put myself through. Running should be accessible to everyone, especially those of us who have professional requirements to run. My goal here is to provide the one-on-one coaching you need to meet your goals, to get you confident in your ability to run, and even to learn how to enjoy running for more than just the finish line.