Without Limits' Matt Hammersmith helps would-be runners reach their goals

It's rare to hear someone describe a broken thigh as a "good injury," but for Matt Hammersmith, it changed the course of his life for the better.

Hammersmith, a coach and director of Without Limits, which helps runners train for races, or just for fitness, was injured during a football game his sophomore year in high school.

"A kid came at me, put his head right into my thigh, broke my thigh in a couple of different pieces," says Hammersmith, a Michigan native. "It took me a long time to rehab it, and I wasn't ready to come back the following season."

But he was able to exercise, so Hammersmith decided to give cross country a try, as a way to stay in shape for wrestling and basketball.

"I found out that I had a knack for it, and that was really kind of how I got into this whole sport," he says. "It's crazy that one injury pushed me toward distance running, because if I wouldn't have broken my leg, I probably still would have followed through with the basketball and football career as opposed to running track and cross country."

After college, Hammersmith coached high school and middle school track and cross country teams in Ann Arbor, Mich., and before he moved to Greenville last year, Hammersmith worked as volunteer assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University.

Ultimately, Hammersmith says, running "chose me," rather than the other way around.

In his Without Limits role, Hammersmith works with 47 athletes, from youth to adult, to help them reach their running goals. There's an online training program as well.

"With my youth program ... I want these individuals to want to succeed and improve and get better and grow and develop throughout the summer and through the following year," he says.

He's also been involved in charity races to benefit such groups as Relay for Life and Trees Greenville, and has coached at Greenville Tech Charter High School.

It's especially gratifying to help would-be runners reach their goals, whether the goal is a relatively simple 5K race or a grueling ultra marathon, and Hammersmith enjoys seeing athletes find the joy in running.

"The walk of life that leads to a runner is so vast and so wide that you can't really put words into what it is to be a runner and what it feels like to get runner's high. ... Running is a hard thing to get into because it has its toll on the body, but the health benefits definitely outweigh the banging around and the time you put into early morning miles."

PROFILE

Name: Matt Hammersmith, coach and director of Without Limits

Education: Bachelor's degree in education from Eastern Michigan University

Interests: Collecting comic books and baseball and football cards

For more: www.coaching.iamwithoutlimits.com