Edwards posts top area finish in 10-miler

Matt Edwards can finally run the Crim 10-mile road race whenever he wants.

Edwards, a 2000 Grand Blanc High graduate, was unable to do the race during his four-year career running cross country and track at Calvin College.

"It was too close to cross country season," he said.

Edwards ran the race for the first time since 1999 and showed how much he's improved over the last six years, placing 23rd overall with a time of 52:39. He was the first Flint-area native and ninth American.

The last time Edwards ran the Crim, he finished 131st in 1:00:48. Since then, he's had a college career in which he earned NCAA Division III All-America honors in cross country and track.

He didn't run a race longer than 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) in college, so he had some difficulty finding the right pace early on.

"I probably started out a little too fast, trying to hang in behind the lead group because at that point it felt pretty comfortable," Edwards said. "The pace is not like blistering fast as a track race would be. That's what I'm used to running. After a while, running five-minute miles got to be too much. I slowed down a little in the middle when it got hilly, then I regrouped and ran well at the end."

He was hoping to run in the 51-minute range, a goal he based on a 31:06 10K he ran on a leg in the Crystal Lake Marathon Relay two weeks ago.

Edwards graduated from Calvin in 2004, but didn't feel he was in good enough shape to run a strong Crim last year. He works as an engineer at Smith's Aerospace in Grand Rapids, testing electronics for fighter jets and helicopters.

"I still have some goals," he said. "I want to improve my track times and run well in races like the Crim and eventually try a marathon. I've had a lot of trouble running the same kind of mileage I did in college because I'm working full-time year-round."