Matt Scherer of the Brooks Beasts tweets his retirement as top middle distance pacer...

Matt Scherer (far left) runs with Brooks Beasts teammates
Angela Bizzarri & Katie Mackey during a January
training session at Seattle's Green Lake (Paul Merca photo)

The tweet said it all:

"In my career, I've paced 74 races with 337 SB's, 154 PB's, 10 NR, & 10 WL. Happily and with no regrets, tonight was my last time on a track." @mscherer

And with that tweet, Matt Scherer of the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts announced his retirement as one of the sport's top middle distance pacers.

Scherer, who ran collegiately at the University of Oregon, where he was a nine-time All-American, and the Pac-10 champion in the 400 in 2006, began pacing full-time in 2011, with many of the sport's top meet directors putting him in their fields in the 800, 1500 and mile runs to ensure fast times in their races.

As a professional, he was part of the Oregon TC Elite's distance medley relay team that set a world best of 9:17.77 at the Dempsey Indoor in 2010, and placed third in the 800 indoors at the 2009 USA indoor championships.  

Scherer competed in the 2008 US Olympic Trials in the 800, where he advanced to the semi-finals.

The University of Oregon grad began pacing full-time on the pro track & field circuit in 2011, after pacing Sudan's Abubaker Kaki to a national record and Hayward Field record of 2:13.62 at the 2010 Nike Prefontaine Classic.

Among the other top middle distance talents he's paced include Norway's Henrik Ingebrigtsen, Kenya's David Rudisha, and Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia.

Saturday night, Scherer was the first pacesetter for winner Timothy Kitum of Kenya in the 800 at the KBC Night of Athletics meet in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.  

Kitum, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and the silver medalist at the IAAF world junior championships in 2012, ran 1:43.65 for the victory.

Scherer moved to the Puget Sound area from Eugene at the end of September 2012 and began training with former Oregon TC Elite teammate Mark Wieczorek, who also coaches at Gig Harbor HS.  Both were added to the Brooks Beasts squad in 2013.