PSA

From an outside perspective, it’s very easy to see how athletes at this level and higher can be viewed as rather selfish. In order to achieve a professional sports career, an athlete is committing themselves at a very young age to years of self-interest. How can one give back to the greater population when their priorities are to become solely the best they can be? How important is it for one nation to have a faster skier than another nation? At a certain point in our sports careers, we realize that there is as much invested in us athletes by sponsors, organizations, and support staff as we have personally invested in ourselves. It’s a type of “alternative lifestyle” that is very hard to sustain, and even more stressful when salaries are performance-based through sponsorship and charity.

My sporting career is in no way political, and never will be, and I take pride in believing that I maintain a fair amount of perspective, humility, and practicality in my endeavors towards and after my professional sports career. However, I do believe that for the past few years I have been so absorbed in my quest for support and progress that I have been ignorant of those in need around me in the communities I identify closest with.

As my blog has just passed 4,500 views, I would like to use my publicity to plea for the support of two particular Alaskans.

The first individual is Matt Kenney. While Matt probably doesn’t know me, I know him as the tattoo clad man that I have followed up countless mountains over the past couple years in the Alaska Mountain Running Grand Prix races. In every race, he and I have always gone back and forth in results, usually passing and re-passing each other multiple times in a race. We’ve never spoken a word to each other, but as most mountain runners can attest to, racing up a mountain with someone can tell you more about a person than a week of conversation. Matt was severely injured in the very prestigious and dangerous Mt. Marathon Race this year, where he suffered traumatic brain injury, a broken leg, and other wounds after a fall off the final cliff at the base of the mountain. As usual, Matt was just a few seconds ahead of me during that race, and I was one of the first racers to encounter him immediately after his fall. I will never be able to describe the feeling of seeing a fellow mountain runner in that state. Matt was immediately helped by on-call paramedics, and was medevaked to Anchorage. After that incident, I no longer cared about the race, the prestige, or anything about Mt. Marathon. All I cared about was getting off that mountain as fast as possible. The thousands of spectators at the base of the mountain, who are famous for cheering in the racers from the final cliff to the finish, were dead quiet as I ran by. It was incredibly eery, and will forever be in the back of my mind during my decision process of doing the race next year.

Matt is continuing to recover from his injuries at a rehabilitation center in Colorado, and I implore you to help him on his road to recovery so I can race him again one day. Matt’s family and friends have provided a donation avenue at the link below, and I ask that you consider donating any amount possible. 

Matt Kenney Donation Fund

The second individual I would like to publicize is Mary Robicheaux. Again, while I do not know Mary personally, her story has still impacted me greatly. Mary is a promising 15-year-old Nordic skier on the APU ski team. I have many friends on the APU team, and the Alaska Winter Stars (the team I race for) and APU have always been extremely close. While biking home from a friends house this August, Mary was struck by a driver who failed to stop for the flashing red crosswalk light. Mary suffered fractures in her skull as well as in both legs. She was wearing a helmet. After coaching a group of junior skiers this summer for biathlon, many of whom are members of APU and close friends and training partners of Mary, I feel horrible knowing that the Anchorage ski community is undeservedly short one member. Mary is recovering from her injuries at a children’s hospital in Colorado, and I ask for you to consider donating to her recovery efforts at the link below.    

Mary Robicheaux Donation Fund

I hate writing on a somber note, but I am comforted knowing that every dollar given to these individuals will bring them back to where they belong, and will strengthen us all. It’s a harsh reality that someone’s life and goals can take a turn for the worst in a most unsuspecting way, and both of these individuals’ recovery and continued return to normality have given me a new found appreciation for my situation in life and they provide an inspiration for me this season. I compete this year with these two in mind, and I hope others join in the effort of helping those around us.

-Sam      

Success

I can truly say that 2012 has been a monumental year of successes for me.

Success #1: College

My first year in college was shaky, and without going into a lot of detail, no “Surviving Your First Year of College” manual, High School lectures, or can-do attitude would have been adequate preparation for the barrage of schoolwork, self-discipline, emotions, and random crazy stuff I never thought I’d witness my Freshman year in college. There were good times and bad times, but the important thing is that I got through it. The trudge isn’t so bad anymore.

My roommate and fellow biathlete Kyle Rutar (right) and I
have been climbing a lot of mountains in Montana this year.
Still one of my favorite things to do.

Success #2: Skiing

As most everyone knows, skiing has been a huge part of my life, as well as a large factor in my happiness and well-being. I skied well through High School, but not well enough to merit a spot on a college team come my Freshman Year of College. It was one of my biggest dreams growing up, and subsequently a very chalky, stale, and massive pill to swallow when I wasn’t able to join most all my friends at college ski practices and take pride alongside them in being on a team. There was a good chance that last season was going to be my last year in nordic skiing and and maybe even biathlon, and this would be the year that I hung up the spandex for good. Last season was a reality check, but I decided to try and make it on my own. And Make It I Did. I drafted my own training plan, woke up early and stayed up late training between classes, and focused on a “no excuses” approach to my life. I think this blog was started to document part of that. Since I couldn’t race college races, I got my racing fix through biathlon, qualified first in the nation for World Junior Championships, and got a top-30 result at Worlds in Finland. The satisfaction was even better knowing that for the 7 months prior, I was my own coach, wax tech, and nutritionist. It was all me. In saying that, I also have to thank my Alaska Winter Stars support crew and Jan Buron for believing in my potential, as well as my man Carl Smith for living with my depressing “I want to go home” crap Freshman Year and still offering me rides to the trails in Bozeman.

A few weeks ago at VO2 max testing. I've been guinea-pigging again.

Anyway, all of this work, which was beginning to seem fruitless (I got a lot of “why are you still trying for this?” questions last year) paid off at the end of last season when I got a telephone call I never thought I would receive. It was the Head Coach of the Montana State Ski Team inviting me on the team for the 2012-2013 season. I just about lost it. To this day, I claim that moment as my most “overcoming odds” scenario of my life.

Sometimes I have to look twice to realize the titans I am training and racing next to. Living the dream. 

I am extremely honored to be a part of this Division I college ski team, and I definitely don’t take it for granted. Ever since that phone call I’ve trained with inspiration, and I’m finally warming up to being a Bobcat. My only hope is I can make myself and my team proud with my results and presence this year.

But Wait! There’s More!.................

Success #3: Biathlon

As I said not-to-humbly earlier, I feel I had a “break-out” season of sorts in biathlon this past year. My time as a Junior biathlete are now numbered, and I feel I am where I need to be to pursue my end athletic goals in biathlon. I’ve never been one to do the summer biathlon camp travel circuit, and I pride myself in my independence as a junior biathlete. I trained in Anchorage over the summer with help from visiting athletes and coaches Sara Studebaker, Zach Hall, Piotr Bednarski, and Bill Meyer. Throughout my career, I’ve relied on these visits for the majority of my biathlon insight and coaching. I also had the opportunity this summer of coaching a junior and masters group of biathletes in Anchorage as part of the Eagle Eyes Program, spearheaded by Tom Grenier. It was during this time as a coach that I began to formulate the idea of starting my own biathlon team in Bozeman.

I found coaching biathlon very satisfying this summer.
I see myself in a lot of the people I train

Every biathlete struggles with the amount of money it takes to stay competitive at this level. This is especially true for the few of us pursuing a full-time higher education. Since most of the college-attending biathletes in the nation go to Montana State, it was common sense to start a team and try to market ourselves as the Best of the West in a sport previously dominated by the sheer amount of Eastern Coastals. I made a logo, and the idea became known as Biathlon Elite, increasing our outreach by being uncompromising in our studies as well as athletic pursuits.

Working on the Biathlon Elite Logo.
Stickers soon??

Long story short, the Biathlon Elite team is now established, has multiple sponsors, and hosts some of the best biathlon talent in the nation. I would especially like to thank our title sponsor, Altius Handcrafted Firearms, for their generous and continuing support of Biathlon Elite’s mission and desire to be the best athletes, scholars, and citizens we can be. Members of the team most recently travelled to West Yellowstone for a weekend dryland training camp, where we slept in the range timing building and shot and exercised until we dropped. It’s a great time, and a good compliment to my full-time studies, full-time nordic training schedule. I am very busy, and loving it. Please check our website biathlonelite.blogspot.com and our Facebook page for more information.

So that has been my life in a nutshell. I am happier, faster, fitter, and smarter than ever, and only plan on doing more of it. To cap it all off, I was awarded today (although I wasn’t there to receive it) the US Biathlon Junior Marksman of the Year award. It’s very flattering, and I hope to continue my excellence in biathlon, nordic skiing, and academics while encouraging others to do the same. Thank you everyone for everything, especially my new and returning personal sponsors for your continued belief in me. Due to my commitments I will still not be able to update the blog as much, and I again thank you for your support.

Cheers,

Sam