Achieving a personal best in a 10k race was a defining moment for keen runner, Matthew Clough. Particularly as it happened against the odds. Three year ago a serious injury meant that the 23-year-old had to face the possibility that his competitive running days were over. Now, after two operations on his knee and ankle at Spire Leeds Hospital and a long road back to recovery, Matthew has achieved a successful return to running.
After four years out of action, Matthew's first road race, a 10k in Bradford, brought success in front of a cheering crowd, beating his rivals by over 80 seconds and raising money for Epilepsy. He then topped this by achieving a new personal best of 31:12 in a 10k road race in Bristol. "I thought that I would never be able to run at competitive level again," said Matthew, who is currently employed as an assistant management accountant with a law firm in Sheffield. "Then the Bristol race put me back on track. I ran quicker than I've ever run before over 10km."
Matthew describes himself as endurance based runner with a primary interest in road running and cross-country. He started running when he was aged fifteen and runs for Leeds City Athletic Club. His gruelling training programme sees him clock up 60 to 70 miles a week. "I really enjoy training towards races," he said. "I think it's the personal challenge, keeping fit and knowing that you can always run faster."
Prior to his injury he competed for Yorkshire and North of England in national cross-country races. The injury happened during training, when he was struck down with a serious and extremely painful biceps femoris (hamstring) injury. He was treated at Spire Leeds Hospital between 2007 and 2009-10 by consultant orthopaedic surgeons, Nick Harris and Stuart Calder. His treatment started in December 2007 with a procedure to repair the damaged tendon in his left knee.
"This was an unusual injury. I have only seen it once before with this severity," said Stuart Calder. "Matthew's diagnosis was of snapping/catching of the biceps tendon due to an unusually prominent bone in the knee. It was a serious problem for him as he ran at an elite level and it undoubtedly threatened his ability to maintain this standard of performance. Surgery involved releasing the tendon and removing part of the bone which it was catching on."
Following his successful recovery aided by plenty of physiotherapy, Matthew returned to running but twisted his right ankle when running off-road. He was then referred to Nick Harris, who performed an ankle stabilisation procedure.
Mr Harris explained the procedure, "Matthew's ankle was grossly unstable so as well as repairing the lateral ligaments we reinforced the repair using part of his peroneus brevis tendon (the tendon that runs along the outside of the foot). Matthew was immobilised in plaster for two weeks then placed in a removable walker boot for a further four weeks before starting physiotherapy. "He started running again after about twelve weeks and he has since won a number of 10k events. I believe he is now running fantastically well with no further trouble," added Mr Harris.
Commenting after winning the Bristol race, Matthew said, "It's fantastic! I thought I might never get back to this level," said Matthew. "I feel fully recovered and have no problems with my ankle or knee. I could not have done it without the support of Nick Harris and Stuart Calder."
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