The Blog has Awoken from His Slumber, and He's Rather Hungry and Philosophic...

After over a month of blog-less-ness, I caught up with Sam Dougherty at home on a slightly overcast summer day in Alaska to see what this unorthodox and ridiculously hansome biathlete, student, and philanthropist has been up to since his last post of this once-stale blog. So without further ado, I give you...

An Intimate Interview with Samuel P. Dougherty

by Samuel P. Dougherty

So your blog has been inactive for over a month. Rumor had it you were dead for a while. What’s your excuse?

Well it’s obvious I’m not dead. I feel more alive than ever, actually. It must be all that Alaskan air and rollerski intervals. And I’m trying to cut down on my excuses.

Before we get started, how exactly do you pronounce your last name?

Dough-er-tea. Three syllables. Cookie dough, er as in ergonomic, and tea as in what you drink. If you say it fast, it starts to sound like Doherty, which is a totally different animal. 

Alright. Got it. So tell me, Dough-er-tea, how did you get involved in Biathlon?

It’s a funny story. It was the winter of 2003, and I was at the Ski For Kids Day at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, which is basically a winter ski fun day hosted annually by the Anchorage Junior Nordic League (the Alaska equivalent of New England’s Bill Koch League). There was a biathlon station that day where the kids would try to hit pie plates with slingshot-ed lemon drops. I had only shot a BB gun before in the Boy Scouts, so the thought of shooting a gun was pretty intriguing at 11 years old.

So you’re a Boy Scout.

Eagle Scout, yes, among other things.

Like?

Well I enjoy music. All types. I play the guitar and DJ on the side when I have time. I was also in the Anchorage Youth Symphony for four years, I played French Horn. We were pretty good, too. We toured to Sydney and played in the Opera House a few years ago.

Very Cool.

Totally. I wasn’t the only skier in that group either. It seems as though skiers in general are quite the musicians. I like food too.

So Skiing is…. Just another hobby for you?...

(laughing) Not exactly. Skiing is a lifestyle for me. It’s how I stay fit. A fit person is a happy person, and a happy person is a fast person. So personal fitness and staying healthy is the main goal. No matter how far I go competitively in the sport, I will never look back longingly at my time as a skier, because I plan on always being a skier, whether it be as a racer or as a weekend warrior.

But in a perfect world, you’d be a professional Biathlete.

Correct. At least for a while. I’ve been training with the Alaska Winter Stars for six years now with that goal. We’re all family there. I think you kind of have to be family with those you train with. I mean, who else are you willing to get creamed by in a rainy time-trial and still wish them the best this next season? But seriously, the idea of becoming a “career biathlete” in America is incredibly daunting to me. I mean, only a few people can make it that far and stay at that level for their entire career, but what about the fringe athletes who spend just as many years trying to make it to the top and never do? What do they do after 20 years devoted to one thing they can’t accomplish? That’s why I’m getting an education: not as a fallback if I don’t make it as a professional athlete, but for my normal life after (or instead of) my athletic career.

Sounds practical enough. The Alaska Winter Stars is one of the more accomplished ski teams in the nation, right?

There’s a certain amount of celebrity that comes along with belonging to the same program that trains names like Kornfield, Packer, Patterson, Glen, Treinen, Norris, and others. I mean, those names are basically synonyms for speed in the ski world. Largely due to my brother’s successes, the Dougherty name has gotten coverage as well. It’s cool. I’m not saying I can keep up with these guys, and I did have an inflated ego for quite a few years while riding the coattails of these titans to state championships and national championships, but then I got to the age where I had to start proving myself at Senior National Championships a such, and it was a rude awakening to realize that I still had a long way to go.

So the ultimate question: are your accomplishments overshadowed by your brother’s?

Well, I’m bigger than he is, so my shadow is also pretty huge. (laughs) But in all honesty, we’re on separate paths. Andrew has an incredible amount of self-discipline, and I have no doubt that if he wants to make it big in Nordic skiing, he will know how to do it and succeed. My desires are more along the lines of biathlon stardom. At least for a little while, to see how it feels.

Is it true you raced for Team Alaska in Snowshoe Biathlon?

Yep. It was the 2006 Arctic Winter Games. Those races were the best. I tried to qualify for Nordic skiing, and didn't make it, so I tried to qualify for biathlon, and didn't make it. So I went for snowshoe biathlon. We were required to wear mukluks and lampwick bindings on traditional snowshoes, and we waddled around the same course as the skiers. Those races were so exhausting, but we raced at night to tiki-torch-lit trails. The Canadians were amazing, and it was cool to see the Russians and Norwegians dominate the ski biathlon. That was my first international competition. Good times.

You've come a long way since then. You are about to begin your Sophomore year at Montana State University in the School of Business. How does that work to compete at your level in a non-NCAA sport while being a full-time student?

It doesn’t. Simple as that. I stressed myself out in a really unhealthy way last season at school trying to train on my own and continue to be at the level I wanted to be. I tried to walk on the MSU Ski Team, and my speed just wasn’t there. It was a wakeup call of sorts for me; I realized that it takes more than heart at this level. But I also realized that there is no right way to become a professional biathlete, so there must not be a wrong way either. I’m in no hurry.

So, what you’re saying is….?

What I’m saying is it takes an incredibly fast skier and a deadly accurate shooter to even compete on the world level, and I am neither right now. I’m not even going to talk about the financial investment. The only way to get better is to train, and that’s what I plan on doing. It might mean a few years more focused on skiing than on biathlon, ya know, try to ski NCAA for a few years, get really fast and confident while still shooting when I have time, and then reassess my goals once I’m at that higher level. I also have to remember that above all I’m in college to get an education.

That decision might not be too popular in the biathlon community coming from the first place qualifier for the World Junior Championship Team two years in a row. Don’t you want to make it three in a row?

It all depends on how my development in the skiing department goes. If I’m fast enough to make the Montana State Ski Team, I am at the disposal of those coaches’ decisions, which I will fully stand behind. Plus the average age of a champion biathlete is 32, so it all goes back to fitness as a lifestyle. There’s always someone to replace a vacant spot on a team roster, and if I decide to not go to World Juniors this year someone else will be more than happy to take my place. I have enough star-spangled spandex now, so it's now all about the result. And it’s always been a dream of mine to toe up to the start line against my brother in an NCAA race.

And beat him I presume?

(smiling) That’s not going to happen. I’ve beat him before though, in Tennis at least.

It sounds as though you and your brother are pretty close then.
Yes. He's paving the way so I can rollerski on it.

So maybe no world travels this year?

Again, it all depends. It was a definite confidence boost to halve my results at the Biathlon World Junior Championships this past season in Finland from my 2011 World Champs results in the Czech Republic. I wanted top-30 and I got it, for one race at least. However, what I want more than anything is to get faster, which means listening to my coaches, whoever they are, and putting all my trust in them.

So what is Biathlon Elite?
Biathlon Elite was an idea of mine to basically get a group of high level biathletes that train together at Montana State and give us a title. It's easier to get noticed and acquire support when there is a team affiliation attached to your success. The East Coast has always been the hub for biathlon, so Biathlon Elite is kind of the West's response to that. I like the idea of student-athletes being the best in the nation. We've seen it for years on the Nordic side of things at least, so why not biathlon? I've talked it up quite a lot, so this Fall is going to be the test of whether the club can be successful. It will have to be a team effort, and more than just myself will have to want it to succeed if it's going to work. The athletes will get as much out of it as they put in. You can learn more about it here.

So what is next for Sam Dougherty?

Besides everything I’ve just told you? (laughs) Well I’ll continue to train with the Alaska Winter Stars over the summer, then either on my own or with the Montana State Team depending on if I make the team or not. I’m coaching an adult ‘Masters Biathlon’ group and a Junior High/High School biathlon team this summer. It’s incredibly satisfying and fun to play coach. It’s great to have the Alaska Biathlon population growing again, ya know, continue the legacy of elite Alaskan biathletes. And then there’s mountain running….

Mountain Running. Hmm... Please elaborate

One thing about hanging around athletes all the time is you get no sympathy. Someone is always going faster, harder, better. Mountain running is my kind of outlet to challenge myself. My hobby if you will. I’ve decided to race the entire Mountain Running Grand Prix this year, while I still can. I really don’t have any aspirations to win any of those races, finishing is tiring enough for me. I mean, I can’t exactly say that I race up mountains for fun, it’s more of for a sick satisfaction. You feel pretty alive when you’re that close to death-by-exhaustion. I’m more fit after those races than I was before, so I’m happy. Pain for Pleasure.

Is there any advice you’d give someone thinking about taking the same path to athletic success as you?

Sure. As I finished the Bird Ridge Mountain Run this year, from sea level to who knows how many thousand feet up, someone turned to me and said “It doesn’t get any easier, does it?” And I guess it doesn’t get easier from a physical standpoint, because you will always be pushing yourself as hard as you can, no matter your increased athleticism from year to year. But with experience comes wisdom, and the only way to gain experience is with time and effort. While hindsight will always be 20/20, after a while you’ll begin to figure out what you want in and outside of athletics, and you’ll have the tools and knowledge to make it happen. Use the resources you have around you, whether they are teammates, athletic facilities, or superiors. Make what you have the best it can be instead of wishing to be somewhere better. And remember to stretch out before and after exercising. And drink chocolate milk, that always makes me happy.

Words to live by. Well Sam, Thank You for your Precious Time

No Problem, I love interviews.