Nick Symmonds is my FAVORITE middle distance runner. Here's why:

I became a huge Symmonds fan while in college, as he was just two years ahead of me, also ran d3, and also specialized in the 800/1500. I loved the way he raced and his sportsmanship, as you mentioned.

I thought a lot of the run gum stuff early on was eyeroll-inducing. It seemed, in spirit, to be very similar to the push by amateur athletes in the 1970s for the ability to be professional. However, it seemed both petty and disloyal to me at the time.

He seems to have found a good balance now. Jovial guy. Good role model.

Fanfromthemidwest wrote:

He has never had any squabbles with the media and he treats all his fans with respect.

He sold a tattoo on his arm for the 2012 Olympics, which they made him cover up.

He made a PR stunt of refusing to attend the 2015 World Championships because USATF insisted the athletes wear Nike or nonbranded gear in their hotel.

He sued USATF in 2016 for the right to advertise his brand while racing.

I decided he was legit the other day when he was racing people for TP on the Eugene track :D

Why are you writing about yourself

Nick wouldn't write this about himself. He probably does check LRC from time to time tho.

Met him in late 2013 when he was in Austin doing a run together with UT running club. Down-to-earth guy back then, he also did a lot of sessions in the Gregory gym. Glad to see he managed to turn his career into a living, not all pro runners have successful careers like that.

Symmonds ran 3'34" for 1500m.

I think Nick is a pretty cool guy

Mods - can I get an IP check? I'll bet $50 it's Nick.

Bump

I really don’t like all the hate nick gets on here. He’s actually such a good guy. We DM back and forth decently regularly talking about training methods and all of that stuff. He’s a genuine guy and he has nothing to gain from helping out a 17 year old kid with his running, but he does so anyways.

It’s so cool to get to talk to an Olympian and get perspective from someone that was almost an underdog of sorts (1:54 in high school I believe?) that wasn’t your typical gain national attention all through highschool go run for Stanford full ride with a pro contract committed halfway through college.

This guy worked his way to the top despite having an unorthodox training method and a non cookie cutter path to get there.

I have unlimited respect for this guy.

Agree with all of this, but his training was not unorthodox. It was pretty standard for a strength-based 800/1500 guy with 47.4s 400m speed. He did weights, lots of aerobic work, decent mileage, some faster stuff to peak. 30 min swims as doubles sometimes. Nothing unorthodox there.

These two are my favourite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L3J8jUsHe0

Plus he is super funny, which is a good thing in these strange times.... He just posted this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uwY7yYCyPg

I love Nick & like OP said he has 200k subscribers. A couple cranky people on LRC do not represent public opinion on him. He is doing a good job promoting himself and the sport.

NERunner053 wrote:

I love Nick & like OP said he has 200k subscribers. A couple cranky people on LRC do not represent public opinion on him. He is doing a good job promoting himself and the sport.

Promoting the sport - no. He has done nothing to help the sport. He complains a lot but how about getting involved in USATF (start at the local level) and make real changes from within.

Promoting himself - oh yea that is what he is all about

Well said. He’s decorated, and a good positive ambassador of the sport.

Multiple Diamond League wins ? Two 800m wins against nobodys, at the globally weakest meet in the world. They struggle to fill the lanes at that meet.

Great runner.

Great career.

Great character.

Ugly running style.

I’ll double down