GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- It took Sgt. Matthew Nees three tries to finish the Kettle Moraine 100, a 100-mile ultramarathon in Wisconsin.
On his first attempt, the 105-degree heat struck him down at mile 25. On the second, flood-inducing downpours made the trail impassable at mile 60. He finally finished the race his third time on the course, running 100 miles in under 24 hours.
Some people don't achieve the goals they set for themselves. Nees, a medic in 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, is not one of them.
One of his most recent accomplishments is running 2,500 miles in the Run for Your Life program. Since he hit this milestone in September, Nees has logged an additional 1,000 miles with the program.
U.S. Army Europe started Run for Your Life in 1994 to incentivize extracurricular running among Soldiers. Participants record their weekly miles and receive Certificates of Achievements, which contribute to promotion points, when they log 50, 100, 200 and up to 12,000 miles.
Though Nees reached 2,500 miles in only nine months -- an unprecedented accomplishment in the program, said Serge Kearse, chief of Sports and Fitness for Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation -- he shrugs off his success as the result of habit.
"I only excel at running because I run a lot. I don't excel at it because I'm naturally good at it," he said.
Nees wasn't always a runner. He adopted the sport 10 years ago as a means of slimming down.
"I didn't particularly like running at first," said Nees. "Slowly I picked it up and realized I felt great afterwards."
He started by running just a mile a day for a week and never stopped. These days, his daily average is 10-15 miles.
"I think running's become an obsession, considering how much I do it," said Nees. "The end is always painful, but it's worth it."
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