For many athletes, high school sports represent the end of their competitive careers.
However, for University of Rhode Island club track and field members fourth-year Tyler Flaubert and third-year Matt Paolella, their running days are far from over. Despite not moving on to a NCAA varsity program after high school, Paolella finished 21st overall in this weekend’s Newport half-marathon field of more than 2,500 runners, placing inside the top 25 for the second-consecutive year.
With future aspirations to qualify for the Boston Marathon, the race was Paolella’s third time participating in the Newport half-marathon, which is hosted twice yearly in the fall and spring. The constantly-growing field of runners, scenic oceanside views and supportive environment continues to attract runners year after year, according to Paolella.
“It was pretty electric,” Paolella said. “All of the people that actually live in Newport, they know this race is happening because it’s every year, so they always make a point to come to their driveways and have bells and be shouting and making posters. In terms of the spectators, you couldn’t go 100 meters in a race, even though it’s 13 miles, without having spectators there cheering for you.”
Paolella ended up finishing in just under 1.5 hours, accomplishing his goal of running faster than the 6.42 mile pace required to qualify for the Boston Marathon in April 2025.
“Being able to run somewhere that’s beautiful, that there’s stuff to see, that there’s people cheering you on, it’s such a huge part of running and the sport of road races,” Paolella said. “Having a course like that is certainly something that brings people back every year.”
Flaubert ran the full marathon over the weekend, completing the entire 26.2-mile race for the first time in his running career. For Flaubert, who began running in middle school, said he thought his career was over after graduating high school. However, the club track and field team allowed him to continue his running career, re-introducing the spark that allowed him to fall in love with the sport in the first place.
“It’s been probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me at this school,” Flaubert said. “I’ve had ups and downs throughout my time at URI, but the people there are what really make it special…The friends I’ve made there are probably friends I’m going to keep until my final days.”
URI’s club track team helped Flaubert to get back into running shape and gave him an important outlet for the extreme mental stress that comes with being a full-time student. While fighting to complete the major milestone in his running career, he was reminded of just how important the progress was for him.
“The back half of that race was really hilly,” Flaubert said. “But I just kept telling myself, ‘motivation, you’ve worked so hard for this moment, you’re so close, just keep fighting, keep going.’ I don’t cry that often, I don’t get really overwhelmed that often, but as soon as I saw the finish line, I just about burst into tears because of all the work.”
After years of hard work and dedication, Paoella and Flaubert were determined not to let their running careers come to an end, and the URI club track and field team has allowed them to do just that.