Tomorrow, Army Capt. Matt Doellman will hit the trail in the Colorado Rockies for the Leadville 100-miler. Leadville will be the third 100-miler for Doellman in as many months. The emergency room nurse at San Antonio Military Medical Center has already finished the Western States 100-miler and most recently the Vermont 100-miler.
These three races, plus the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run make up the Grand Slam of ultrarunning. Doellman, 28, is the youngest entrant in this year’s Slam.
He wrote to us last week to share his experience at Vermont (those of you with weak stomachs beware).
Less than one month after running 100 miles through the Sierra Nevadas at the Western States Endurance Run, I found myself in the dark at the start line of the Vermont 100. Everyone I talked to said the same thing: “The hills just keep coming at you and don’t let off the whole race.” No big deal, I thought to myself as I just tackled over 18,000 feet of mountains the month before. Little did I know, I was in for quite the surprise. Unlike Western States where the climbs are mostly grouped together and steep, the Vermont 100 was nothing but long rollers which never seemed to end. All in all, these “rollers” added up to approximately 15,000 feet of ascent during the race. Race conditions got up to approximately 84 degrees that day, which normally isn’t bad, but I found myself thinking otherwise as I climbed the long rolling Vermont mountains through open meadows with the sun beating down on me by mid morning.
At mile 47.6 I came into the first medical weigh in and found myself nearly 7 pounds down to my surprise. At Western States I lost no more than 3 pounds the entire race. This race was not even halfway through and I was already down nearly 7 pounds and my stomach felt horrible! I could only lose another 4 pounds before they would pull me from the race, no exceptions. I came into the aid station at mile 51.4, asked for some ginger ale and before I could even thank the volunteer I dropped to my knees and threw up. I quickly put a smile on my face and said “That reminds me of college right there” and threw back the ginger ale. The volunteers laughed and I went on my way. This was my 8th race of 100 miles or more and I had never felt this bad so early on and knew it, which was worrysome. I crossed my fingers and hoped my stomach would settle somewhere down the trail.
As the miles flew bye the vomiting ensued. I came into mile 70 and was cheerfully greeted by my pacer Joel Pickerings whom I met online. I quickly shook his hand and immediately threw up just outside the Camp 10 Bear Aid Station where I had an audience of around 70 people. Joel immediately rushed to my side and asked “Are you ok man! Are you going to make it?” I assured Joel that despite looking rough, there was still a strong fight left in me and quitting wasn’t an option. The only way I was going to be done with this race was by breaking tape at the finish. So we turned on our headlamps and pushed on through the night.
All in all, those last 30 miles were the most brutal I’ve ever done, mostly because of my stomach. I can remember falling to my knees around mile 85, lightheaded, cold and in the dark and remembering the words from my friend Brian Hopton-Jones who paced me at Western States. “The darkest hours of the night are just before the sun comes up.” I picked myself up and told Joel it was time to press on. As the sun came up for the second time during the race, I realized my relentless forward motion had paid off and this was not going to be the race that beat me.
I stuck it out for a 27:07 finish. I had ambitions of having a fast day, however I was just blessed to cross the finish with such a sour, aching stomach which lasted over 50 miles. After the torture I put myself through in the mountains of Vermont, I think my mind is ready for about any challenge and painful venue ultrarunning can throw at me. That being said, event #3 is the Leadville 100, “The Race Across the Sky” on August 18th and so continues my quest to conquer the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning!
Running for Fisher House
Doellman is racing this year — with Capt. Robert Revels and Capt. David Byrd — to raise money for the Fisher House program. The Fisher House Foundation provides “comfort homes” near military and VA medical centers so family members can be close to loved ones, the foundation website says. So far the group, the Ultraholics, has raised $625 of their $3,000 goal. To donate, visit the group’s Active.com fundraising page.
We’ll check in with Matt as he works his way through the Grand Slam. Check back for updates.
