Novakovich's debut a hard act to follow

Is he one of Alaska's premier bike racers, the 2009 Tour of Anchorage winner who's a consistent contender in any two-wheel race over the last decade?

Is he a former Division I steeplechaser at Brigham Young University?

Is he a cross-country runner who led Dimond High to the 1991 state championship, outrunning such notable teammates as future road racing wizard Jerry Ross and the late Laird Prosser?

Or is he the mountain runner who finished a eye-opening 10th in his Mount Marathon debut?

To be sure, Novakovich is all of these -- and perhaps more.

Whatever happens to be the object of his athletic affection at the moment, make no mistake, Novakovich is one driven dude.

"I think it's really fun to race as hard as you can and see what you have," Novakovich said, "although there's been times it's resulted in imploding.

"I tend to be all or nothing."

Sunday afternoon in Seward will offer the latest incarnation in Novakovich's chameleon career -- contender in Alaska's premier mountain race up and down 3,022-foot Mount Marathon.

Last year, he served notice that legs and lungs primed by endless hours on bikes and wind trainers could adapt well to the rigors of mountain running when he finished in 51 minutes, 52 seconds.

Debuting with a top-10 finish is rare enough that a coterie of top runners took note.

But more importantly, the race proved a transformative experience.

"Halfway up the mountain last year I'm thinking, this is way too exciting not to put my focus into," Novakovich said. "I was awed by the amount of people on the mountain, handing your water, slapping you on the back.

"Even at some of the bigger bike races, maybe your mom is there and a family member, but that's about it."

Both the results and the experience far exceeded Novakovich's first Anchorage bike race, a Moose Run time trial in which, he recalls, he finished dead last -- behind every helmeted man, woman and child.

His reaction?

"That was fun."

So Novakovich poured himself into biking, training more than three hours a day. Improvement swiftly followed.

"He'll throw himself into something to get as good as he can at it," said Ross. "His attitude is, 'If I put all my energy into something, it's going to pay off.' "

No surprise, then, that after last year's Mount Marathon, Novakovich focused intently on the race.

He signed up with a nutritionist eight months ago and ended midnight runs to the refrigerator for a bowl of cereal and a couple of Cokes. Presto, his weight dropped from 180 to 159.

He began training in the hills with six-time champion Brad Precosky and Barney Griffith, arguably the best 40-plus-year-old ever in a race that officially began in 1915.

He got creative when wife Tiffanie, a fellow athlete, became pregnant. Matt slipped into a 40-pound weight vest so the couple could train together.

"I had a breakthrough day with Barney and Brad," he recalled of a training session at Arctic Valley earlier this year. "Brad put his arm around me and asked, 'What's your goal for Mount Marathon? You want to win this year?'

"I can't believe Brad is asking me that question."

Precosky's eyes had suggested it was time.

"At Arctic Valley, he was running times that I was running back when I was really fast," said Precosky, who has not won since 2007, when he hit age 40. "And on Rainbow Mountain, he was putting some distance on all of us.

"Knowing this is a man's game, he's been very concentrated on his effort to improve his downhill."

Experience has shown Precosky that the downhill is where a devoted mountain runner can squeeze more than a minute from his time with purposeful training -- far more than equal training will slice off the uphill portion.

But lately Novakovich's training has plateaued a bit. At the Government Peak Race a month ago, he topped Precosky while finishing fifth, 2:06 behind defending Mount Marathon champion Matias Saari.

Two weeks later, he dropped out of the Robert Spurr Hill Climb up Bird Ridge.

"At Bird Ridge," he said, "my only goal was to win and I went out hard. In 10 minutes, my legs were hammered and I had to step off the trail."

The fact that Tiffanie had given birth to Sophie, the couple's fourth child, the previous night may have left Novakovich a tad distracted.

"My wife was gracious enough to say, 'Go ahead and race.' "

Sunday's competition will require supreme focus. He can't let the adrenaline created by the crowd force a suicidal pace. He can't let a speedster who bolts up the mountain lure him into a change of tactics.

"I can't go out too hard," Novakovich said. "This is a race with people like Brent Knight (who had last year's race in hand until collapsing near the finish) and Eric Strabel (winner of the Bob Spurr race last month and the former Crow Pass Crossing record-holder). If they're 40 seconds ahead, that shouldn't mean anything to me."

That's often easier to say before a race than it is to execute during it.

Novakovich's high school cross-country coach, John Clark, recalled his former charge's style two decades ago.

"He was always the guy who would go out hard but fade," Clark said. "But he was always getting closer and closer to the finish line before fading."

Finally, in Novakovich's last high school cross-country race, "he made it to the finish line." The only race he'd led all his Dimond teammates to the tape came in the state championship.

There was a big crowd at Kincaid Park that day. Expect a bigger one in Seward on Sunday.

"I'm going to try and enjoy the crowd," Novakovich said. "I'm nervous. This is going to be something from start to finish."

Ross said the taste of Mount Marathon that Novakovich got last year will serve him well.

"I wouldn't underestimate him," Ross said.

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Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.