Brookline man swept by thrill of luging

Luge isn't a sport for the faint of heart. Even the most lionhearted among us would probably take issue with rocketing down a serpentine ice chute flat on your back at 60 miles an hour, with nothing between you and eternity but a helmet and a Lycra suit.

But Jim Murphy, who has been sliding for eight years, can attest: It only takes a moment of bravery.

"After that, gravity's in charge," Murphy said. "Once you pull off from the pegs, you realize that you have two choices: You can either be terrified by what's occurring or you can get with the program and take charge, and that's actually a lot more fun."

Murphy, who lives in Brookline, is by day a project manager at Dell EqualLogic in Nashua and has also served on local school boards.

But for eight years, his winter weekends have been spent on the luge track five hours northwest at the Olympic training center in Lake Placid, N.Y.

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Luge is a relatively new winter sport to the United States - it began in earnest during the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980 - and is still growing. Murphy is a member and officer in the Adirondack Luge Club, one of the country's only such organizations.The sport has taken him places. For the last four seasons, he has competed in the U.S. Luge Association National Masters Championships in Park City, Utah. In January, against 16 other men older than 30, Murphy earned a bronze medal - his best finish ever.

The Telegraph caught up with Murphy on Friday, just before he was heading north for his club's final event of the season.

Question: Explain the history of it. How did you get into this?

Answer: It starts with sledding on the hill and someday you turn on the TV and there's the Olympics and people are going really fast on these massive banked corners. You say, "That's got to be really neat." . . .

Even in college, I was a card-carrying member of the United States Luge Association. . . . Things kind of fizzled. Then, back in 2002, I really can't recall what rekindled it, but I just got the bug. . . . I started poking around and I found out the club existed in Lake Placid and I sent off an e-mail and the next thing I know, I have arrangements to go up.

It almost came all undone. A friend of mine (astronaut Dave Brown) was on board Columbia, the space shuttle, when it went down. And the day I was supposed to be on the sled for the first time was the day it came apart in re-entry. . . . I was sitting there thinking, "I'm pretty upset. Dave's gone." And I was struck by one thing: that he was in space, doing something he always wanted to do his whole life. The last e-mail we got from him really underlined that.

I said, "He'd be disappointed if I turned away from something I waited my whole life to do." So, I went forward with it, and I'm glad I did because it absolutely just enthralled me.

Q: What does it take to run that sled? Physically, mentally . . .

A: It's doesn't take a lot of physical strength to drive the sled. . . . You lie on the sled and you steer it by pressing your legs against the front runners . . . or rolling your head and shoulders at the back of the sled. . . . When you get it right, you're in the zone. . . .

Luger at a glance

I think one of the ironies of the sport, as I progressed my skill, even though my speeds increased, my times were faster, what was coming at me visually slowed down over the course of years. So, the first run down, it's "Ahhhhh!" All I saw was ice and snow and sky! And now I can go back and have a conversation after a run with my coach.

First of all, I know what corner he was standing in. I can tell what he was wearing. I know what my line through the corner was. It's a much more relaxed pace mentally.

Q: Besides adrenaline, what draws you to the sport?

A: For me, I think it's just that I'm never good enough. No matter what I've done, there's always something else I can do. There's another goal to achieve, another challenge, another tenth of a second to find. There's another race next year, somebody else to measure myself against . . .

And I'll be frank, I enjoy working with the kids. I enjoy the time with the young sliders. . . . The reality is the kid I'm a second faster than last year is two-tenths ahead of me this year. And next year, I'm eating his dust.

Q: Which is the bigger rush: finishing a race or finishing a budget season?

A: (Laughs). Well, usually there's the same amount of carnage involved in both. Finishing a race is a rush. Finishing a budget season is a relief. Those who don't understand the difference are invited to run for office and come and try luge and then we can have a conversation.