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Heartbeat takes you inside the world of the unique Olympic sport of biathlon - a sport that combines the heart-pumping aerobics of cross country skiing combined with the precision element of marksmanship. The US Biathlon podcast brings you close to the athletes to dissect one of the most popularity of Olympic Winter Games sports.
S5 Ep5 - Jake Brown
[00:00:02] Tom Kelly: The season is just about upon us, and we are heading to the final U.S. Biathlon Team camp in Vuokatti, Finland. And we're going to be joined in a minute by Jake Brown from the U.S. Biathlon Team. With me as co-host for this episode of Heartbeat. Sara Donatello and Sara, thanks for joining us.
[00:00:22] Sara Donatello: Thanks for having me.
[00:00:23] Tom Kelly: Sara, just before we bring Jake on, I know you are anxiously preparing for the season and managing all of the news and information for the U.S. Biathlon Team. It must be a busy time of year for you.
[00:00:36] Sara Donatello: Yes, we have lots of exciting things coming up in the next week or so.
[00:00:41] Tom Kelly: Well, it's great to have Jake with us, and I understand it's been snowy in Vuokatti. You may have heard the episode we had with high-performance director Lowell Bailey from Vuokatti, which just launched on Heartbeat a couple of days ago. So, Jake Brown, welcome. Thanks for joining us on Heartbeat.
[00:00:59] Jake Brown: Thanks, Tom. Thanks, Sara. Yeah. Excited to be back.
[00:01:02] Tom Kelly: Yeah. You know, it was. We had you on, I think, about three and a half years ago and one of the early seasons of Heartbeat, and it was good to kind of look back at that episode. Your career has certainly come a long way since then. Just before we get into the questions from Sara, Jake, what's the what's the vibe like in Vuokatti right now?
[00:01:20] Jake Brown: The vibe is great. We just had a team culture session, which was super exciting with the staff, the techs and the team, which was the first time we'd kind of done anything like that. And I think that's just reflective of, I think, a bit of a push by U.S. Biathlon to kind of expand what we think of as our team. You know, historically, like I remember even, you know, four years ago, had a great time with, you know, thinking about kind of the team or as just like the coach and the four guys I was on the road with. But now, you know, we have a bigger U.S. Biathlon nation that, we kind of consider as our team. So we have the IBU Cup team, the World Cup team, and then the men's women's team are all under the same coach. We have the camp here with a ton of staff, and so the IBU Cup team gets to interact with a lot of the World Cup staff. Um, and so it feels like we all get to know each other a little bit better. Um, and so I feel like that's kind of the general theme and the vibe of Vuokatti.
[00:02:20] Tom Kelly: Yeah. It's interesting. And I encourage all the listeners, if you have not already listened to the Lowell Bailey episode, Lowell gets into a lot of the news support services that are available from the team and the initiatives to, you know, as Jake said, really, you know, build this whole team concept. Sara, I'm going to turn it over to you. And why don't you, uh, you know, have at it with Jake here. I know you've got some great questions to kind of bring our listeners up to speed on the eve of the 20 2425 season.
[00:02:49] Sara Donatello: Awesome. Yeah. Thanks, Tom. Jake, we just mentioned that you haven't been on the podcast since 2021. So, you know, we're going to pick up right where we left off in 2021 and go back to 2022 and talk about the Olympics in Beijing. And, you know, what was the process like for you? You know, as after the podcast launched in 2021, it was about the end of the season. And so that next season was really preparing for the Olympic Games. And, you know, you competed for your first time. So, you know, what was that process like for you?
[00:03:20] Jake Brown: Good question. I feel like that's a very open-ended question. Um, I think I remember doing the interview with Tom. I think we were in Östersund at the end of the 2021 season, and to date, I would still say that was my best season that I've had so far, like results-wise anyway. As an individual and so it's been three and a half years, and I'm hoping that I, I break through that quote barrier, maybe we'll say this year. But so I have fond memories of that time. Um, things in kind of my biathlon journey felt like they were gaining momentum. Them. And, you know, I've gone through, I think, a lot of ups and downs since then as an athlete. But building up from that point, you know, I felt very confident in where in my training, at the time, Vegard Bitnes was our men's team coach, Norwegian man. And I had built a good relationship with him, both as a coach and kind of a friend and mentor. And really had a lot of trust in the training plan. And so it was an exciting time going to that next training year. We had, you know, that was what, our first year of Covid. And we were kind of going into the second year of Covid lockdown. And I will say that the script kind of flipped a little bit in how much we all enjoyed that, because ironically, that first year of Covid, when it was so difficult for everyone, you know, we were able to go and still do the thing that we loved and we were able to do our job right.
[00:04:47] Jake Brown: We got to go out and do World Cup biathlon, and we went to these European hotels that were closed to the public, and we just had free reign of these hotels. They would open just for us, right? We were the special ones. And then we go into the 21 2022 Olympic season. We have to be super careful, right, about sickness. Super careful about Covid and all the hotels open up to the public again. And so now you know, we're no we maybe still quote the special ones, but we're the ones that are having to isolate in the corner of the hotel making sure we're not, you know, cross-pollinating with the public. So much so it went from having kind of like free reign special treatment to feeling like, oh, we're actually the only ones that still really, like, need to be really careful about this. You know, we had testing, and it was definitely stressed upon us that if we tested positive, especially, you know, say after November, that it was going to be tough to make that Olympic team. So, you know, that was the kind of the context that we were operating in as that process, kind of that Olympic process was developing.
[00:05:54] Sara Donatello: So once you made your first Olympic team and, you know, you ended up having a stellar showing with, you know, 28th in the individual, 36th in the sprint, 40th in the pursuit, 13th in the relay with Sean, Leif and Paul. You know, how did those Covid restrictions at those games impact your overall experience? I mean, did it make it easier or less, you know, outside noise? How did how did it impact your experience?
[00:06:21] Jake Brown: It definitely heavily impacted. I've only been to one Olympics and it was the Covid Olympics, so I don't have anything to compare it to. Right. But I, I have to imagine that those who I mean, it's clear to me that it impacted it, like, you know, our family couldn't come. There were no fans. So even just comparing it to a normal World Cup, it was very unique. You know, I remember like, landing at the airport in Beijing and looking outside and the Beijing airport workers that are unloading our gear out of the car, just wearing head-to-toe bunny suits with little like, blue booties over their shoes. You know, they're like we'll call it like Covid security of China was very real and very on display in the Olympics. So, every worker basically kind of had that uniform. Every volunteer, I should say, I thankfully, none of us tested positive for Covid at the games. I knew a couple of the bobsledders had tested positive, and that was not a fun experience for them, as you could imagine. Um, in some ways, you know, the Covid, there being a scare of Covid and everyone taking that very seriously at the Olympics made it.
[00:07:37] Jake Brown: You felt very confident that you weren't going to get sick or wasn't it wasn't likely you were going to get sick, right? Everyone was sanitizing their hands. We were all getting tested. And so there was some like, I didn't have that much like stress around it. Maybe some people did, but I think most of us there, you know, we had gotten used to it. This was the second year we kind of had Covid. So in terms of like the day-to-day or how it affected my training or my approach to the racing, like I wouldn't say it affected it at all in terms of how like I will probably think back on it as a moment in like history. I'm kind of almost like honored that I got to participate in a historically relevant Olympics. We'll see. Hopefully I get the chance to go to another one, but that's never a given. And, maybe I'll get the chance to compare, but, but yeah, that's how I would say it. It kind of affected the Olympics.
[00:08:31] Sara Donatello: Yeah, that's definitely a moment in time that you'll never forget. And I'm sure a very surreal kind of atmosphere to be in. And, you know, whether you were in Covid or not, you were an Olympian. You achieved that Olympic dream. Um, so I have to ask, you know, do you ever think that you'd get to that moment as a kid? I'm sure every kid has an Olympic aspiration, but do you ever think that that was going to become your reality?
[00:08:57] Jake Brown: No, I don't think so. But before we just move to that, I just want to add to with the historical thing, you know, the other crazy thing is like the Russia invasion of Ukraine right after that. And, you know, people would be like, oh, maybe. I hope people don't judge me for this, but I traded a race suit with one of the Russian athletes at the Olympics, you know, and I'm just wondering, is that the last time for however many years, that would even be a possible thing to be able to do, and I'm not going to be wearing that. I also have two Ukrainian suits that I wear regularly. Um, but my point is just like kind of a historically relevant, thing looking back, especially now that. Whoa, you know, we were there when this was kind of all going on, and also how Putin kind of mobilizes and uses the excitement for winter sports in his population. As like kind of a war tool. So, you know, in a way, we're kind of playing, playing a part in that whole story. So that's an interesting thing for me to kind of look back on. To answer your question about kind of the Olympic dream as a kid, man, I would say it was as far as a dream as it could possibly be.
[00:10:04] Jake Brown: Like, I mean, I went to college, like, not thinking I was going to cross country ski. I was going to try to walk on to the cross country running team initially. And I think Tom and I maybe covered some of that history in the first podcast. Um, but I didn't have much of a the dream was not close to a reality. Like, I was a huge sports fan growing up, loved endurance sports. Yeah, of course I would have said I would have loved to compete in the Olympics. I would have loved to play in the NFL too. Probably when I was six. But I didn't think. I thought that was for like, other people. You know, I hadn't met anyone who competed in the Olympics. Um, and so I think in college, as I started to have some cross-country ski success after transferring to Saint Olaf and then after I graduated, school, finishing up at Northern Michigan. Then maybe it started to be on my mind a little bit that if things went really, really well, maybe I could keep skiing after college and who knows what could happen then.
[00:10:59] Jake Brown: And for me, I think I just took it step by step, and I think I would share something that like I, one of the coaches of cross country team, recently asked me and he was like, you know, what's it like to step into a stadium that has tons of people or into like the Olympic Stadium and kind of feel that pressure for the first time? And to be honest, I think it's the same feeling that I had when I was like a freshman in high school and I went to the state meet for cross country running the first time. Like, it's no different when you're like taking that like incremental step to the next thing. And it's just a little scary and it's just a little challenging. It's the same exact feeling, whether it's like at the Olympic Games or it's the first time you play in, you know, a youth basketball game or something like that. So I feel like I had kind of experienced that like excitement for the next thing many, many times. And I it was just another really cool chance to have that excitement again in a very real way as an adult. Wow.
[00:11:57] Sara Donatello: Yeah. I mean, I can only imagine what the feeling is like, but I can totally relate to, you know, being a younger athlete and still having those, you know, like you said, incremental moments that eventually build up to, you know, something grand, like, for instance, the Olympics. So that's really, really cool. Um, well, switching gears a little bit to this past season. Um, you know, we talked about, you know, successes. And I'd love to touch on, you know, the successes this past season. But, you know, we talked a little bit about you had an ankle injury at the beginning of the season that, you know, I understand is a pretty frustrating return. So, you know, you maybe you want to touch on that. And before we dive into to any results from last season, because I know that was a big part of the beginning of your season.
[00:12:45] Jake Brown: Yeah. So it was last. Yeah. Last year. So after the so we had the Olympic season and then the 2022 to 2023 season was really marred with illness for me. Predominantly I really felt like I made a lot of gains. We had a coaching change, took a little bit getting used to kind of the new program, but eventually I was totally on board. Really enjoying the training. Things were going well. I felt like that year, went into the season in really good shape, and I got just a series of Covid and strep, and I missed most of the season. Wasn't able to race at the World Championships. Came back and had some really good cross-country ski races in the spring of 2023 and was building up into the season, into the training year, I think, very, very well. Um, summer, summer, summer of 2023 and then had a really bad ankle sprain where I tore a ligament and sprained a bunch of tendons and such. Um, the damage that was actually done was a little, like, unclear. And it became the only thing that became clear over time was there was something more that we weren't really seeing, because I was continuing to have a lot of pain while skiing. While training, I couldn't run all the way like well into the winter. And so it just became very frustrating for me, and I'm sure people kind of know that feeling. I also at the time, thought it was going to be my last season, so I was just like really bummed that this was kind of going to be the way it was going to go, and I wasn't going to be able to be at my best.
[00:14:10] Jake Brown: I don't know if it was because I was injured, or it was because of like a mental space where the injury was putting me. But I also just wasn't responding to the training very well. It also could have been that, like I was modifying my training, I had to because I was injured. So I was so used to going on easy runs as a way that was very I was very comfortable running, as a way to recover. And instead, you know, I was doing a lot more biking, a lot more heavy, muscular, loaded activity like ski, erg. And so I think maybe that change, I probably was overdoing it. I was trying to still hit the same sort of training volumes. Looking back, that was probably not the best idea. I should have backed off a little bit more. And so that honestly was kind of the bigger issue for me going into the season was I didn't feel like I was responding to my training, and I think it was a result of that injury, and it was just more a bummer that I wasn't able to run. I owe a lot to the sportsmen people at Lake Placid sports med team there. They put me through a really helpful PT progression, and especially this year I feel a lot better about it, but we don't need to get too far ahead of ourselves. That was kind of the the basic. But yeah, it was it was running in the Adirondacks. Outside of Lake Placid. I was trying to hurdle a branch. It was it was kind of silly.
[00:15:27] Sara Donatello: Those branches. So it goes. Gotcha.
[00:15:30] Jake Brown: Yeah.
[00:15:31] Sara Donatello: Well, I mean, you ended up having a great comeback and overcoming this really frustrating injury. Um, and I'd love to, to fast forward a little bit to the 2024 World Championships in Novo Mesto, and you mentioned that you weren't able to race at the 2023 World Championships in Oberhof because of your illnesses. And, you know, the men's relay at World Championships was really one that got everybody excited, myself included. So, you know, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what that moment felt like. You know, it was an historic result for the team. So, you know, being in Novo Mesto in that grand stadium and, you know, you were the anchor leg for the relay team. So I just love to hear your thoughts on on that process and what it meant to you to have that type of a result after missing the World Championships last year?
[00:16:23] Jake Brown: Totally. Yeah, I think, yeah, some. So a lot of mixed feelings. I think about the season as a whole. And so to have that Novo Mesto result was just like huge validation of the work that we were putting in. It felt like a huge breakthrough. I think as a men's group, we knew for a number of years that we were capable of being a top-five team in 2023. We had a seventh place in Ruhpolding, which was a really strong showing for us, three solid lakes. It seemed like we always could do three solid legs. Similarly, twice. Yeah, twice. Early in the 2023 2024 season, I totally botched my leg in the World Cup relays, so I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to get the nod for the relay team in Novo Mesto, but I think in my individual results, I had demonstrated enough consistency in the coach's eyes to get a shot. I'm never like the fastest guy in terms of like a sprinter or someone who you want on your lead off leg, and I'm not a very good, I'm not a fast shooter, I should say. So it was pretty clear to me that I was always going to be a third or fourth leg. And so it was. It was quite often that I ended up being the anchor leg for our team and or has been anyway. So it was a position I was, I was quite used to.
[00:17:50] Jake Brown: Novo Mesto is known for the fans and especially for really showing a lot of partisan support to Czech Republic, and it just so happened for me, I got the tag and of course I was super excited to be up there and have a have a shot to be with some of the top teams. I think I got the tag in fifth. Kind of right with France and Czech Republic in fourth and sixth and came into shooting with Czech Republic both times, and of course, so I had the crowd against me. But it was a fun challenge. Um, I just, like any biathlete, has learned. I tried to convince myself, coming into the range, that the best way for me to hit the targets, because I really want to hit the targets. But the best way for me to hit the targets was to focus on the work that I was working on at the at the time, which for me oftentimes is coming up from 6:00 in prone, having a smooth trigger squeeze, and holding the rifle high and into my body and standing and seeing black and only reacting with my fingers. So I just try to focus on those things and do my best, and accept that I might miss a few shots. And fortunately, you know, it went pretty well and I was able to hang on for fifth there. I think the coolest moment for me was there's a spot in Novo Mesto where there are kind of two tunnels and, and one side of the track, you climb up through the tunnels, and then you do some more loops, and then you come back through the tunnel.
[00:19:13] Jake Brown: And when you're coming back through the tunnel, the camera often shows people. Obviously I wasn't in the lead, so I probably wasn't being shown at that time, but it shows people going into the tunnel and then going out of the tunnel. There's always like some wax text on the side there, but there aren't really fans. It's kind of one of those spots where the camera doesn't really see. And when I was coming down there on the last lap there, Christopher, we call him toffee, he's one of our staff members. He. But he started out for the team, Just like, literally like driving the van for us from Germany to Finland and from Oslo to Germany. He would do the really long drives no one else could do, you know, in exchange for some, some team gear and the chance to cheer on the team from the sideline. And now he's taken on more responsibility. But I saw him there on the sideline just with the biggest smile on his face. Just Jake you're doing it you know. And I just gave him like a fist bump. And it was just such a cool moment. And um for me like knowing all the people behind the scenes that had put so much into our team through so many mediocre results, to have a fifth place, which for so many teams is mediocre.
[00:20:22] Jake Brown: But for us it was a sign of progress and, you know, hope and, you know, hopefully now the next progress is third place and it's more visible and whatnot. But for us that was a huge victory. And to see him react like that and of course cross the finish line and the rest of the staff was super pumped as well. And my teammates also like that was so cool. And uh, yeah, you know, just some cool opportunities and some cool times. Cooling down with teammates. Cool. Cool down with Campbell. After the race. And you know he was just losing his mind. We were fifth at World Champs which of course Campbell as an individual was having amazing results. So to have him so stoked for the team meant a lot. And we took a picture with the Kazakh team that was really random. Um, we were just like kind of in a goofy mood and, uh, enjoying enjoying it. Lowell Bailey broke out his guitar and was playing guitar in the wax cabin, which I think hadn't happened in years. So I think it was cool for the staff to feel some of that, U.S. Biathlon joy again from from some success. So it was maybe long overdue and hopefully we broke through and can experience some more of that this year.
[00:21:26] Sara Donatello: Yeah. Oh my gosh I yeah, it was so incredible to see all of you guys putting in such incredible work and such effort to, you know, come up with with that kind of a result. And you carried on that momentum back home to Soldier Hollow where, you know, the team, same team, placed fourth, which, you know, best finish for a men's relay team since 1988. And being at home, being in front of the home crowd. I mean, how was that experience compared to World Champs? I mean, I'm sure there were similarities and I'm sure there were differences, you know. Can you tell us a little bit about that as well?
[00:22:02] Jake Brown: Yeah, you're totally right. Um. Yeah, we're just start exactly here, I think. Yeah. Home crowd was super exciting for me. It made me way more nervous. And the other thing about that was, you know, in Novo Mesto, we were moving up through the race. Um, you know, I think Vincent had a pretty strong leg. It was it was it was tight. So he was not far back, but he was still in 10th place. And then I think, you know, Sean maybe moved us up to sixth and Campbell to fifth or fourth and. Whereas in Soldier Hollow, the Vincent, you know, handed off in third, John kept us in third. Campbell moved us up to second. It was like, oh my gosh, you know, now it wasn't like, okay, I'm trying to just like keep this track trajectory. No. Now it was like, okay, I'm kind of trying to preventing us from from failing. And, you know, I have to say, to be honest, in a way, looking back on it, it's been a learning experience and a reminder to me of like, hey, no, always be fighting Jake. Because the moment I started thinking, like, I got to make sure that I just don't like lose it too much, you know, I got to make sure we still do okay here kind of thing, I think, I, I think I prevented myself from, like, even the possibility of going even further. And, so anyway, that's a learning experience for me going forward. But, you know, obviously, as a team, we were still really, really happy with the result. I didn't have my best performance, but those guys had put the race so far out of reach of anybody else who is outside of the top four that I was able to hang on for a top four.
[00:23:38] Jake Brown: So for me, coming down the home stretch, I knew that I hadn't had the best day. But I was so stoked because heck, to have the best World Cup result we'd ever had as a team on our home course. That was super special, and I was celebrating for our team. You know, 100%. And so that that was awesome. And I think everybody knows that. And if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably a pretty strong U.S. Biathlon fan. So you probably paid attention to that or heard about it at least. And so, you know that it was a special moment. I remember, yeah, I was so nervous before that one. And. Yeah. And like I said, it was more the negative kind of nervous, whereas Novo Mesto, I was totally locked in, really excited for the opportunity to be up there with the big guns. And, you know, I think just a cool story is like, Paul Schommer came over and prayed for me before the race, and because he could see that I was so nervous and he was there. Paul missed the whole last year due to injury, and he just he was just milling around the warm-up area, you know, and just came over. And that just meant so much for me. You know, here's a teammate that definitely are good enough to be on that relay team. Missed the whole season. But he's there supporting us through through it. And I think that's a testament to the kind of teammates that I have on on the team and obviously a friend that I have in Paul. Um, and the kind of culture that hopefully we're kind of building in US biathlon world.
[00:25:02] Sara Donatello: Um, yeah. That's awesome. You know, it really … every time I think of the men's relay, I think of that picture of you pointing to the crowd right about to cross the finish line. And it just really it brings a sense of excitement and, you know, feeling so proud to, you know, have that kind of result in front of a home crowd. And it sounds like it was much more, you know, nerve-wracking than, than any sense of calm racing at a home venue and knowing the course so well. So I find that to be kind of interesting. But I also understand, you know, it's a lot of pressure to be, you know, in front of family and friends and, you know, the guys set you up so well and having all of those, you know, expectations falling on you as the anchor leg seems like such a mental challenge. So, you know, do you have any advice for any, any athlete that might be in that anchor leg position that is coming, you know, into a race and super nervous not knowing what to what to expect, how to juggle that mental aspect of kind of holding the race in your hands, if you will.
[00:26:04] Jake Brown: Yeah, sure. I think when I've executed my best in relays, especially as I've been really excited for whatever opportunity I'm going to be given, I think one thing that's really unique about being an anchor leg, especially in biathlon, where there's so much uncertainty, is you don't know where you're going to get the tag, you don't know what your race is going to look like, right? Whereas all the individual races, you know, you're starting at zero against all the other athletes. And so yeah, you don't know when you're warming up if you're going to end up getting the tag with the leaders or somewhere in the middle of the pack, or you're going to be fighting to get lapped, potentially. And I've had all those instances. And so I think like putting yourself in a trying to find whatever you need to put yourself in the mental position where you are excited to fight for whatever opportunity you're going to be given is really important. And then I think it's just the same as biathlon in general. You know, you're always going to come into shooting with something on the line, feeling some pressure. And so how do you try to convince yourself to just execute your work. And I think that's different for everybody. But for me it's always just a little reminder when I'm coming into the range. Like the best way for you to hit these targets is to do the work. And then whatever that work is, is individual to you.
[00:27:23] Tom Kelly: Jake, in the podcast episode with Lowell Bailey, we talked about the relay finishes and how it's just indicative of a strong team. You know, you don't have one superstar athlete leading you. It's four guys putting in the work. You've actually taken that a little bit further. I love your story about Paul Schommer coming over and giving encouragement, but talk a little bit, if you could, about this whole team concept that you have with the men's team right now and how everybody is working together and pulling for each other.
[00:27:52] Jake Brown: Yeah. You know, I think it's been kind of years in the making. Um, you know, I have to credit, Vhagar, our Norwegian coach from a few years ago, with kind of instilling that sort of mindset in us. Um, you know, he talked a lot about that, like any given guy on any given day and kind of having that idea that we get to the point where it's, you know, we can whoever we start, like anybody could be our top guy. And, you know, I feel like finally we're kind of getting to that position. You know, we truly have a group of 7 or 8 men where any of us could win the time trial or win the race amongst ourselves on any given day and beat the top guy. And that just shows, you know, in the time trial depth that we have here, even in, in our trials, like, deciding who's going to get to go to World Cup is not an easy task. And we're all very close. And it's because we're all doing quite well. And I think a lot of that has come from truly everybody not being, so outcome focused, but being a little bit more process focused.
[00:28:55] Jake Brown: And I know it sounds cliche, but I think everybody would be really excited to end up on IBU Cup if it meant that they were racing well. Like, everyone just wants to race well. And it's not about, oh, I just, I want to be on World Cup or I want to be, you know, it's more about like, hey, we want to put the best guys forward and if I'm doing my best, but someone else is doing better than me, I'm still excited about that and I'm excited about how they're doing. You know, I think we do. Obviously we're not perfect, but I think we do a pretty good job of celebrating each other's successes. And then that gets contagious, right? You celebrate another guy's success, and then when you have a good day, he remembers that he celebrates you and it just kind of rolls together. So it certainly has been something that has kind of been it's not like it's a snap the fingers sort of thing, but it's happened a little more longer over the years.
[00:29:44] Tom Kelly: Well, time is an important concept. We're going to take a short break on Heartbeat. When we come back, we're going to talk more with Jake Brown about his activities outside of racing, and also take a look at the season ahead when we come back on Heartbeat.
[00:30:00] Tom Kelly: We're back on Heartbeat with Jake Brown from the US biathlon team. Coming to you live from Vuokatti, Finland and Sara Donatello, great question so far and we'll let you finish it up here with a few more sections with Jake Brown.
[00:30:16] Sara Donatello: Awesome. Thanks, Tom and Jake. We'll kind of step away from racing for a little bit and talk about some activities outside of racing. And we'll start off with your positioning as an athlete rep. I mean, you've been on the board for the last four years, I believe. So can you talk a little bit about your time on the board and you know where you're at right now with that?
[00:30:38] Jake Brown: Yeah. It's been a huge privilege to be an athlete rep. Um, I've really enjoyed it. So yeah, I'm finishing up my term. This, I think I turn over on January 1st, so I'm not exactly sure when this podcast will release, but that's the date I'm officially done. And, yeah, it's been really cool. I initially became an athlete rep. I came on together with Kelly Kjorlien. Kelly was an IBU Cup athlete from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, now lives in Bozeman, Montana. She's done a lot of work with help get crosscut started and, has been a fantastic athlete rep to come on and kind of partner with. And we kind of, you know, we we felt like when we came on, Haley Stuart and Joe Johnson and, Sean Doherty had been the previous athlete reps and had done an excellent job representing us on a lot of committees and representing us on the board, and kind of gave us the opportunity to kind of take it one step further and do a little bit more with like athlete advocacy and really, actively recruit the athlete voice into, the organization a little bit more. And so what we kind of we looked at the mission for the athlete reps that was on the U.S. Biathlon bylaws, and we kind of came up with our own vision of what we wanted to do with that. And our main thing was like really trying to be active about reaching down to to the athletes and finding out what they thought about critical issues before. We kind of represented that voice because we felt like there was kind of a gap there.
[00:32:10] Jake Brown: So I'm happy where we're leaving it now. We have two surveys that we do every spring, one on selection and one kind of more just holistically, to inform the board about kind of who the athlete body is and what issues are most important to them at any given time. It's amazing how that has changed over four years. And the reason why it's changed is because U.S. Biathlon has been really responsive to a lot of those issues. So, for example, when I first came on in 2021, the number one issue to athletes was filling start spots. We weren't going to all the IBU Cups, and we weren't filling all the start spots on every single World Cup. The last World Cup, a lot of times we weren't bringing a full team and so U.S. Biathlon responded to that and said, we can, we can do that, we can make that happen. And now we're going to all the races. We do a full slate of IBU Cup races. We used to not go to period one. Now we go to every race in period one. And that introduces a few new hurdles and we've kind of had to figure out how to make qualification a little bit more fair for December trials. But, you know, US biathlon was responsive to that, for example. So anyway, all that to be said, I think I'm, I'm really happy with the progress that we made. And I'm excited for someone to take it to another level.
[00:33:27] Sara Donatello: That's awesome. That's awesome. You guys have done some some really great work over the last few years and kind of jumped in about a year and a half ago and, you know, seeing and hearing, you know, what you started with in 2021 and being able to see and live what you guys are doing now, it really it shows the the effort and the dedication that you guys have had. And it's I commend your efforts. Um, switching gears a little bit, back in 2022, you also coached track for a season in your home state of Minnesota. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience? I know you raced cross country in college. You know, how did how did that experience come about and what did you take away from it?
[00:34:05] Jake Brown: Yeah, so after the Olympics, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my life, I guess for lack of a better term. Like after I was done racing, I kind of had a little bit of this realization as like, whoa, if I wanted to retire right now, I wouldn't know what I exactly what I wanted to do. And in college I had been I had been a biology major. I'd done all the pre-med requirements, but I'd also thought about teaching, coaching. I was really, I don't know, I definitely a people person definitely want to do something where I'm. I feel like I'm making an impact, working with people. And so those kind of careers made a lot of sense to me. So I kind of took tried to take that spring and like, explore as much as I could. And so I yeah, I took an EMT class to prepare myself to be an EMT, to work on the ambulance, volunteer on the ambulance in Craftsbury, or in Hardwick, which is nearby Craftsbury. And then while I was doing that, I coached track for my alma mater, Minnehaha in Minneapolis, and also did some substitute teaching for the middle school there, which was which was an interesting experience. Um, I'll say, and yeah, I really enjoyed the coaching. It was really cool. I had done some coaching before, but I think I yeah, I had a little bit more responsibility, which was fun. They put me in charge of the hurdles, the hurdle coach had to had to leave, and I had done some steeplechase in college, but I really was not a hurdling expert at all. And so I was like YouTubing drills, you know, trying to like, put together my coaching.
[00:35:37] Jake Brown: Uh, yeah. My what my practice was going to look like in my first practice while demonstrating one of the drills, I just tripped over one of the hurdles and fall flat on my face. And I think I brought all my credibility down to zero. And, uh, had really had to, like, convince the kids, hey, we're going to, like, learn how to do this together and take more of that approach. And so it was definitely humbling. Um, but, you know, I by the end of the season, yeah, I had a really good relationship with the with the kids. Uh, they had a lot of trust in me. And it was cool to kind of go through that process, and it gave me a lot of respect for obviously, what our coaches are doing on a much higher level on a daily basis. But yeah, there's to me there's nothing more pure than like high school sports and especially running, to see like the improvement is so raw to be able to like, cheer for a kid and see them make progress every week. You don't get to see that, you know, when we're doing biathlon. And so that's really special to kind of get to be a part of that. And, you know, coaches might take credit for it sometimes. But obviously kids are just getting faster as they grow and as they actually just are doing running. But yeah, it was it was a neat experience. Um, something I would, I would like to do more of, whether as a volunteer or professional down the road. We'll see.
[00:36:50] Sara Donatello: Awesome. What a great experience. Now, you mentioned that you got your EMT license to work on the ambulance in Hartwick. I believe you mentioned. Um, can you tell us a little bit about that experience? I know, shifting gears to, to Vermont, but, that's sounds horrible. Yeah.
[00:37:06] Jake Brown: Hard, hard work. Um, but yeah, it's, uh. Yeah. So it's really interesting. I had never done anything like EMT or related before. I guess I had worked in a hospital, but it was in an or in very different and yeah like super eye-opening. I think all my work with Craftsbury had been outdoor center adjacent. So I'm on the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, and we do volunteer work hours for the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and a lot of really cool community outreach through outdoor activity, primarily, which is phenomenal. But I never really seen a lot of the poverty that exists in rural Vermont outside of kind of that outdoor center community. Um, and being an EMT really, like, opened my eyes to that a lot. So that, I would say, was the primary takeaway from that experience. It also, I'm interested in pursuing health care in some capacity. So it also gave me some exposure in that way. And also I think another really neat thing was I got to meet a really cool community of people, locally, that have nothing to do with sports and don't know me from that, you know, part of my life at all. And, uh, yeah, I think a lot of times in the news and whatnot, we can get kind of negative about people in America and what people stand for and that they, you know, don't love other people or whatever, depending on your political background or whatnot. And, you know, in at least in Hardwick, Mass., like people from all walks of life, and they're all there because they care about their community and they do so much for their community, and they really are selfless people. And here, you know, I am skiing, pursuing something that I really enjoy year-round. And, you know, they're waking up in the middle of the night to go respond to calls in their community. And so it's inspiring. And, uh, yeah, I hope maybe anyone who listens to this, it's just another example of, uh, or another reminder that there are really good people in America.
[00:39:14] Sara Donatello: How did you balance the work with the ambulance and training.
[00:39:17] Jake Brown: Yeah, they were super flexible with me. It was all volunteer. So, I was doing when I was in Craftsbury, I was trying to do like two 12-hour shifts a week or so. Um, it has become less and less and less over the last two and a half years. And initially, it was quite difficult. I was trying to do some overnight shifts, and I quickly realized I can't do overnight shifts and train successfully, so. But it would work pretty well if we had an afternoon off. I usually could go in for a six-hour shift in the afternoon. Or if we had an off day, I could wake up early, go down there, and do a 6 to 6.
[00:39:59] Sara Donatello: That's awesome. That must have been.
[00:40:00] Tom Kelly: Hey, Jake, I 'm sorry; I just wanted to chime in and follow up on this. I mean, this is you. You take such a philosophical approach to this and how, as a paramedic, you know you're treating everyone the same way. And you, you know, reaching a real cross-section of people. I'm just wondering what were their takeaways from that experience that have helped you as an athlete?
[00:40:32] Jake Brown: Yeah. Well, the answer is yes. Certainly, there are takeaways. To articulate them, I guess is a little bit maybe of a challenge. I think the biggest thing and I think, you know, I saw this happen, right? For Lowell, when he had a child is the reminder that there's much bigger things in life out there than your sport. And so if I had to say one thing, I think a lot of people experience that when they, you know, maybe they have a sick relative or, you know, I was reminded of that when, uh, when my grandma passed away last year to, you know, I think people have that experience that in grief as well. And so, certainly just seeing people's largely the people's homes you're going into like are very poor and a lot of people have some a lot of brokenness in their life. And just being reminded of that. And then also the flip side, like I mentioned, seeing the people who are so willing to like, help and literally give their lives essentially to try to help this brokenness, I think it's a reminder that there's so much more to skiing and high performance. There's so much more to life than skiing and high performance out there.
[00:41:42] Sara Donatello: What a great takeaway. I mean, that's really incredible that you got to experience that. Um, so we're getting to the end of this podcast and, you know, I've had a lot of fun chatting with you, and I wanted to finish talking about the season ahead. You know, you're in Ducati right now, like we said, finishing training, time trials, qualification process. Um, you know, what are you looking forward to this season? You mentioned that, you know, you had some, some thoughts about whether or not last season would be your last season. And here you are back in Ducati with the selection process looming ahead. So you know, what are what are you looking forward to?
[00:42:21] Jake Brown: I'm looking forward to racing. Yeah, I'm definitely not someone who I love training. Don't get me wrong, but the training year is a little bit of a drag for me. Um, yeah, I guess I'll just leave it at that. I just this is why I do this sport. To get to go and race. Race with the team, try to pursue goals, try to do my best, test myself, challenge myself. And you don't get those, like, real challenges unless you're, like, in those races. Um, so I'm really looking forward to to the racing, I think. As for specific goals, I really would like to have a really consistent season. It's been a while since I was healthy, and I've had a really good training year up until this point. Been healthy. Um, some lingering symptoms with the ankle, but for the most part, I've been able to ski totally, totally fine. And I really I mean, I'd love to shoot for trying to be consistently top 30. You know, why not? Why not make a goal of being top 30 in the overall and put that out there? Like goals are something where it's I don't think you fail if you don't achieve them, but it's something that can help direct your work and your ambition. So that's something for sure. I would love to help our team try to get a podium in the relay. Um, and if I end up on IBU Cup because we have a super strong team, I'd love to try to win an IBU Cup. So I'd love to keep that goal open too, because I think my teammates are really, really good. And I'm really excited about that.
[00:43:49] Sara Donatello: That's awesome. That's awesome. Now, we've touched on the past world championships. So, you know, you guys trained in Lenzerheide this summer, on the venue and it's going to be the venue for the World Championships this year. So I'm just curious what your thoughts are on that course. I mean, you raced it last year on the World Cup and, you know, do you have any thoughts on the setup? Is it an easy course? Is it a hard course? How can you kind of lay the groundwork for our listeners?
[00:44:13] Jake Brown: Lenzerheide is a unique course, I would say. It kind of is a big loop, whereas a lot of other courses are like these little out-and-backs or twisty-turny kind of loops laid on top of each other. It's essentially a big loop. And then if you're depending on the length, of course, if it's over two and a half K, you do a couple additional fingers at kind of the end of the, counterclockwise loop. Um, it's at altitude. And for the most part, it's quite a gradual course. So it has long working sections, but very gradual terrain with really one televised, but it really just one like steep, steep section that's kind of at the end or in the middle of one of the longer gradual working sections. So you have about like a three-minute working section out of the range, a little bit of a downhill and then kind of two shorter. Well, shorter relative to three minutes, but two sustained working sections after that. So, I think it favors an athlete who has a lot of sustainable power. I definitely prefer really, really hilly courses that go up, down, up, down that, that are really hard for a bit and have a little more recovery. I don't think that Lenzerheide is that kind, of course, but I do have confidence that I can prepare for any kind of difficult course in Lenzerheide. It certainly is a difficult course. It's at altitude. Um, so I'm excited for that challenge. And it also has a downhill, approach into the shooting range. And so I like that. I usually like to push a little harder on the track and am not too good at holding myself back, so hopefully Lenzerheide will maybe be a little more forgiving coming into the shooting range.
[00:45:58] Sara Donatello: Awesome. Yeah. One final question for you. Thoughts on 2026 Milan Cortina? I know it's kind of a ways away in the future, but you know.
[00:46:08] Jake Brown: If I'm going to go for it or how our team is looking for it, or.
[00:46:14] Sara Donatello: How would you like to interpret it?
[00:46:15] Jake Brown: Okay. yeah. So at the end of this last year, I guess I didn't mention this so much. I did say I was thinking about retiring, but I felt like it was the perfect storm of things to continue. I wasn't satisfied with my season individually. I had been injured like I had mentioned. Um, and we had a great team year, and I felt like it was a really cool opportunity to continue another year and see, hey, can I progress as an individual a little bit further? And finally, you have this really awesome deep team. Can I help like contribute to the continued growth of that and maybe some relay success along the way would be really exciting. I felt like it wasn't, enough to just say, hey, I'm just going to go one more year. I wanted to if I was going to go one more year, I felt like it was important to say, hey, I'm at least going to I'm going to go with the intention of going for 2026, but I'm definitely going to reevaluate that after this year. And hopefully, I prove to myself that I kind of can earn another year in my own eyes. Does that make sense?
[00:47:23] Jake Brown: Yeah. And, you know, I think our team is well positioned. Almond, Arkansas, our coach, he's from adults. And so that's so cool advantage that we have. We have a lot of connections in the valley. We're very comfortable there. We spend a lot of time in on hold on hold for I'm sure the listeners know as well as where the, biathlon events for the Milan-Cortina Olympics will be in 2026. We know where we're going to stay. We stayed there the last couple of years, so it should be kind of like feel a little bit like a home field advantage as much as it can. It's such a beautiful area. I think there will be a lot of excitement for it from all biathletes. But I think especially our team.
[00:48:02] Tom Kelly: So. Hey, Jake, I want to piggyback on one thing with Antholz. We talked about this in the episode with Lowell. Uh, there have been some changes made at Antholz to actually for those of us who have been to the venue, it's a huge venue, but it needed to be bigger for the Olympics, so they made some changes in it. This will be the first time you guys will have seen those. How important is that for you to get on that course a year before the games?
[00:48:27] Jake Brown: I think we've only seen some pictures. I know they're kind of creating a finishing stretch similar to Oslo, where you ski behind the range. But that's that's all I know. So yeah, we'll be excited to try it out. How important is it to ski it, to try it out a year before? You know, Beijing, we didn't get that opportunity because of Covid. They canceled the test event. I think it was because of Covid or perhaps they weren't ready. I yeah, I can't remember exactly, but we didn't get that chance. Um, and you know what? You learn the course eventually. Um, how important is it to actually, like, dial in those exact changes? I don't know if it's necessarily vital, but it's certainly always advantageous to see something. And if nothing else, it's exciting, right? Like, it's exciting to go and see something that's new and feel a little bit of the hype about the Olympics happening. And for us, hopefully it adds to kind of what I was saying before about like having a little bit more comfort, in it too, as we head into the Olympic year, it's one less thing that's, uh, that's foreign and an unknown in a sport of many unknowns where you have to accept a lot of uncertainty. So.
[00:49:34] Tom Kelly: Well, it's an amazing venue. And listeners, if you've not been to Antholz, figure out how to put it into your travel plans for this January. Uh, Jake, thank you so much for your really deep insights that you've provided here. I'm going to turn it back to Sara for our final section of On Target. Hopefully we don't need to test your brainpower too much on this, but Sara's got a few questions for you to kind of, uh, have a little fun before we close it out. So, Sara, take it away.
[00:50:02] Sara Donatello: No, nothing that requires too much brain power, I promise. First question. Can you describe the northern lights in one word? I know you guys had the opportunity to see them in Vuokatti, so I hope that this is a somewhat easy question.
[00:50:22] Jake Brown: Green? One word is tough. They're mostly green.
[00:50:25] Sara Donatello: One sentence. Maybe I'll give you a little bit of leeway there.
[00:50:28] Jake Brown: Yeah, yeah.
[00:50:30] Jake Brown: Beautiful green strips in the night. Starry night sky.
[00:50:35] Tom Kelly: Hey, Jake. From having grown up in Minnesota and also spent time up in the the Upper Peninsula. I imagine you had seen Northern Lights before, right?
[00:50:44] Jake Brown: Yeah, I've seen it before, but I don't. I think we saw it once in Minnesota growing up. Yeah. Otherwise I had just seen him in Alaska.
[00:50:51] Tom Kelly: Yeah, well, I think, you know, I spent a lot of time living in northern Wisconsin, and we saw them quite often. But there seems to be this renaissance of northern lights right now where they're visible more often. We've even seen them here in Utah. But I don't I don't know what it is. But anyways, I'm glad you got to see them in Finland. So, Sara, take it. Take it away.
[00:51:11] Jake Brown: Is that true, Tom? That they are happening more often, or is it just.
[00:51:15] Tom Kelly: I don't know.
[00:51:15] Jake Brown: Posting them on Instagram.
[00:51:17] Tom Kelly: I think it's because people are posting it on Instagram.
[00:51:19] Jake Brown: That's my guess.
[00:51:20] Tom Kelly: I think you're right on that.
[00:51:24] Sara Donatello: Uh, I know every time it's happened in the northeast, I've always been just a step behind and hear it on the news the next day. But I can imagine the poetic explanation that you just gave is spot on. Next question. What are your top three travel essentials?
[00:51:46] Jake Brown: My top three travel essentials are my black roll pillow. It's a pillow that you can roll up and is very collapsible, but I use it as my main pillow. Um, black Pearl is a former sponsor of ours, so we now have no normal connection. So I'm literally plugging them because I literally think the pillow is awesome, not because they have any connection to me anymore. Um. What else? My Bible I read every night and my famous, uh, green backpack that's sitting over there in the corner. Since we're on video, I guess you guys, you probably can't see it, but, I feel like the rest of the team. It's more of an infamous green backpack. I think it bothers the rest of the team that I still kind of travel with this, like, old, kind of falling apart, somewhat ratty green backpack. But it's now tradition. It has to go on every biathlon trip with me.
[00:52:41] Tom Kelly: What brand is it?
[00:52:43] Jake Brown: It's like it's an old Eddie Bauer one.
[00:52:48] Sara Donatello: Well that's awesome.
[00:52:50] Jake Brown: They're skeptically nodding for the listeners, so.
[00:52:54] Sara Donatello: I mean, if the backpack works, keep it. There's no reason to get rid of the backpack.
[00:52:58] Jake Brown: I feel like everyone is like, you know, everyone's entitled to have, like, one nostalgic kind of travel item, right? That's like your kind of comfortable item. That's mine.
[00:53:06] Tom Kelly: I'm looking around my office. I'm looking around my office, and I have stacks of those old backpacks, so I think I know what you mean. Eddie. Eddie Bauer. There's a there's a brand for you.
[00:53:16] Jake Brown: I brought it for $3 at a at a garage sale in Boulder, Colorado. And so, you know, it was kind of. I've gotten my money's worth out of it.
[00:53:25] Sara Donatello: That's awesome. Um, okay. Next question. Favorite venue to race at if you have one?
[00:53:37] Jake Brown: The best venue for me as a racer is definitely Ostersund. Um, a lot of, like, hills, a lot of ups and downs. Very little flat. I don't know if it's always my favorite. It's often times, like, brutally cold in Austin soon, but it's oftentimes the venue that I'm going to have like my best ski times at, if that makes sense. And so I'll say that for like, yeah, my like the racer side of me. But in terms of just like pure enjoyment, I love the atmosphere of Ruhpolding. It's. I think it's so cool. Like, I love how how German it is and just that Bavarian culture. And we always have so many staff there, because historically we've had a lot of people kind of associated with that area, with our sponsor Meloya, especially being close by.
[00:54:17] Sara Donatello: Awesome, awesome. And final question, do you have one piece of advice that you'd tell your younger self now, with all of the experience that you have?
[00:54:32] Jake Brown: I think I kind of am glad that my younger self had to kind of figure it out. So I don't know if I'd I'd give him that. The advice, you know what I mean? Um, I think if I think if I could convince my younger self that I didn't have to do all the extra stuff that I thought was required to be a great athlete, that would be that that would be helpful. And, you know, of course, if I was writing a letter to my younger self, I'd be a little bit more specific. But, you know, did I really have to do like the, you know, the push up routine before bed every night. Like that kind of stuff, you know? No, it probably would have been better if I put all that stuff into a workout. And I did it with my workout. But I was I was all. I was, like, obsessed with trying to exercise and get in a little bit more here or there throughout my day. And I think I would have benefited from just like being learning how to be calm and then learning how to train really hard when when it was required. Not kind of always doing little bits throughout the throughout the day or whenever I could. Being able to like, be a little less obsessed and then be obsessed when it really counts. I wish I would have mastered that a little earlier.
[00:55:36] Tom Kelly: Jake, you have a wonderful philosophy. I can't thank you enough for the time that you've spent with us on Heartbeat today. Sara, thank you for the questions. Jake, thank you for being here. On behalf of all of our listeners, we wish you all the best of luck in this season ahead and look forward to talking to you again soon.
[00:55:53] Jake Brown: Thank you guys. I appreciate it. And thank you to the listeners. We definitely feel the love and support.