Nicholas Boone Symmonds (born December 30, 1983) is an American YouTube personality and retired

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

from

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

, who specialized in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

and

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

. At

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

, he won seven

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

titles outdoors. Symmonds is a 6-time US national 800 meters champion. He has competed in the 800m at two Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals in

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, and finishing fifth in the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

final, running a personal best of 1:42.95 behind

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, State Commendations of Kenya, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a retired Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who is the world and Olympic record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha won gold medals in the 800 ...

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

of 1:40.91. The following year, he won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships, having previously finished sixth in the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

final and fifth in the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

final. Symmonds signed with Brooks Running in January 2014 after a 7-year sponsorship with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

. In October 2014, Symmonds and his coach Sam Lapray co-founded Run Gum, a supplement company which makes functional chewing gum. Following his retirement, Symmonds gained more popularity in 2020 through his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel which primarily focuses on running,

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

, and fitness. In May 2025, Symmonds summited

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

, thus becoming the first person to both summit Everest and run a sub four-minute mile, with a 3:56.72 mile personal best set in 2007.

Early life and education

Symmonds was born on December 30, 1983, in

Blytheville, Arkansas Blytheville is one of two county seat, county seats of and the largest city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. It is approximately north of West Memphis, Arkansas, West Memphis. The population was 13,40 ...

. His family moved to Boise, Idaho when he was three-years old. His father Jeffrey Symmonds is a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, and his mother Andrea is a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Raised in Boise, Symmonds is a 2002 graduate of

Bishop Kelly High School Bishop Kelly High School is a private Roman Catholic secondary school in Boise, Idaho, operated by the Diocese of Boise. One of two Catholic high schools in the state of Idaho, its school colors are black and gold and the mascot is a knight. Hi ...

.Goe, Ken. Symmonds no longer a secret. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', June 20, 2007. An avid outdoorsman, Symmonds earned his

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

award in high school. In high school, he won state championships in the

1600 meters 1600 meters is a middle distance track and field running event that is slightly shorter than the more common mile run, and 100 meters longer than the much more frequent 1500m run. It is a standardized event in track meets conducted by the NFHS ...

3200 meters 3200 meters is an uncommon long middle-distance, or short long-distance, track and field running event that is 200 m longer than the much more common 3,000 metre run, and slightly shorter than the two mile run. At exactly eight laps on a st ...

, and the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

. His high school personal bests were 1:53 in the 800 meters, 4:20 in the 1600 meters, and 9:47 in the 3200 meters. He chose

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

over other schools that could offer athletic scholarships. At Willamette, an

school, Symmonds earned a degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

in 2006 and is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Running career

Collegiate

While at Willamette, he won the 800 m

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championship race all four years and 1500 m NCAA championship race as a freshman, junior, and senior. Symmonds' collegiate best in the 800m of 1:45.83 currently ranks No. 1 in NCAA Division III history. His 1500m collegiate best of 3:40.91 ranks No. 3 all-time in NCAA Division III. Though Symmonds is widely regarded as Willamette's most decorated athlete, his poor relationship with Head Coach Matt McGuirk has prevented wide celebration of his athletic achievements at his alma mater.

Post-collegiate

After college, Symmonds joined the

Oregon Track Club The Oregon Track Club (OTC) is an American running organization based in Eugene, Oregon. History Emerald Empire Athletic Association Formed by Bill Bowerman, the Emerald Empire Athletic Association (EEAA) was the predecessor to the Oregon Track C ...

Elite. A seven-time outdoor track champion at the

III level, he was runner-up at the AT&T

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

in 2006 in the 800m race. In 2007, he won the 800m race at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

meet in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, with a then personal best time of 1:44.54, upsetting the current Olympic champion

Yuriy Borzakovskiy Yuriy Mikhailovich Borzakovskiy (, , born 12 April 1981) is a Russian middle-distance runner specializing in the 800 metres. Early life Borzakovskiy was born at Kratovo, in the Moscow Oblast. He was named for the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagari ...

by beating him with his own come-from-behind strategy. In 2008, Symmonds won the United States Olympic Trials 800m final held in

with a personal best time of 1:44.10.
'

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national Sport governing body, governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was kn ...

, June 30, 2008.'' He was the first of three Oregon associated athletes to finish at the top of this race before the home crowd, the other two being Andrew Wheating from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

and Oregon Track Club training partner Christian Smith, an event referred to as the " Oregon sweep" and replayed many times in television coverage of the meet. This qualified all three men for the

U.S. Olympic Team The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United ...

for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, for the 800 m race. At the Beijing Olympics, Symmonds won his first-round heat, then finished a non-qualifying fifth place in his semifinal heat with a time of 1:46.96, 0.73 seconds behind the winner of that heat. Symmonds continued to improve in 2009, winning the USATF Championships over

Khadevis Robinson Khadevis Robinson (born July 19, 1976 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American retired middle-distance runner and currently serves as the Director of Track and Field for the TCU Horned Frogs. Robinson specialized in the 800 metres with his personal ...

, which qualified him to represent the United States at the World Championships. As part of his preparation for the championships, Symmonds ran a personal best of 1:43.83 on July 29, 2009, in Monaco. A few weeks later, Symmonds became the first American to qualify for the final of the men's 800m since 1997. He finished sixth in 1:45.71. In 2010, he lowered his personal best again, to 1:43.76, while finishing third behind

's 1:41.01 world record at the

IAAF World Challenge The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation ...

track and field meet Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. On June 25, 2012, Symmonds returned to the 2012 United States Olympic Trials again on his home track in

. The race went out fast, with

Charles Jock Charles Jock (born 23 November 1989) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meter discipline. He ran collegiately at UC Irvine. He is currently the NACAC U23 record holder for the 800 meter race. Jock represented the U ...

leading

Duane Solomon Duane Renard Solomon (born December 28, 1984) is a retired American Olympic track athlete, primarily known for racing the 800 meters. He ran for his home country in the IAAF World Championships in 2007 and 2013 as well as in the 2012 Olympic Gam ...

through a sub-50 second first lap. Atypically, Symmonds was not far off that pace. As Jock faded, Solomon charged off to a big lead through the final turn. Symmonds ran around the field and sprinted past Solomon on the homestretch to make his second Olympic team. At the

London Olympics London Olympics or London Games may refer to: * 1908 Summer Olympics, Games of the IV Olympiad * 1944 Summer Olympics, Games of the XIII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1948 Summer Olympics, Games of the XIV Olympiad * 2012 Summer Olympi ...

, Symmonds was one of the two time qualifiers for the final of the 800m. He placed fifth in the final with a new personal best of 1:42.95;

placed first in the world record time of 1:40.91, with

Nijel Amos Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos (born 15 March 1994) is a Botswana Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won the silver medal at the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, which was ...

of Botswana second,

Timothy Kitum Timothy Kitum (born 20 November 1994) is a Kenyan middle distance runner. He also won Commonwealth Youth Games 800m with a Games Record 1.49.32 He won a silver medal in the 800 m at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona, ...

of Kenya third, and Symmonds' teammate

fourth. In 2013, Symmonds achieved his highest placing at an international championship, winning a silver medal at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Athletics by running a season's best of 1:43.55, second only to Ethiopia's

Mohammed Aman Mohammed Aman Geleto (Amharic: መሀመድ አማን; born 10 January 1994) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. Born in Asella, he is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in M ...

. At the time, this was the highest an American had ever finished in the men's 800 meters at the World Championships. Symmonds was removed from the U.S. team at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

due to a sponsorship rights conflict between personal sponsor Brooks and U.S. sponsor

. Symmonds had to forego racing the 2016 Olympic Trials due to an injured ankle. He retired after being eliminated in the heats of the 2017 US Championships.

Run Gum

In 2014, Symmonds and his former coach, Sam Lapray, founded Run Gum, which markets a caffeinated chewing gum to athletes. In January 2016 Run Gum filed an antitrust lawsuit against

for rules that Symmonds felt suppress competition. In May, a federal judge dismissed the suit. Symmonds often advertises Run Gum on his YouTube channel, through giving away Run Gum products as challenge prizes. There has also been several Run Gum social media accounts created, the most prominent of which is a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

account with over 750 thousand followers and 38 million likes.

After retirement

YouTube

In 2017, Symmonds' original intention of creating his YouTube channel was to vlog the final two weeks of his pro running career. His channel broke out in late 2019. In his YouTube videos, he often refers to himself as "The

Bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

". His content focuses on challenges involving fitness and running. Sometime in 2020 he signed a deal with

Gymshark Gymshark Ltd is a British multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in Solihull, England. Founded in June 2012 by Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan, the company was initially focused on selling fitness supplements, before distributing its ...

. In June and July 2020, Symmonds became a topic of controversy in the running community when he organized events ignoring

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

guidance for his videos. That same year, Symmonds started a second YouTube channel named 'Nick Symmonds Too', consisting of reaction, tutorial and challenge videos of shorter length. Throughout the 2020s, Symmonds' channel grew in popularity. As his channel grew, Symmonds became known by many as "The

MrBeast James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), commonly known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, media personality, and businessman. His YouTube videos, where he often hosts elaborate challenges and philanthropic effor ...

of Fitness", with the channel motto being, "It Pays to Be Fit!". As a one million subscriber special, Symmonds gathered one million pennies, and subscribers were allowed to keep as many as they could carry to a scale. On November 10, 2023, Symmonds announced via a video on his channel he was taking a break from his YouTube career. He returned on August 31, 2024 with a video on climbing Denali, the highest peak in North America.

Mile to Mountain

On May 1, 2018, Symmonds announced his official retirement from track & field, along with his intention to climb the

Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven. In January 2023, ''Climbing (magazine), Climbing'' said "Today, t ...

. Symmonds refers to this goal as ''Mile to Mountain''. Symmonds successfully summited

in May 2025, thus becoming the first person in history to both summit Everest and run a sub four-minute mile, with a 3:56.72 mile personal best set in 2007. As of May 2025, Symmonds has climbed four of the Seven Summits;

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

Puncak Jaya Puncak Jaya (; literally "Victorious Peak", Amungme: ''Nemangkawi Ninggok'') or Carstensz Pyramid (, , ) on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of , is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth, and the highest peak in Indones ...

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

, and Everest. Alongside his Mile to Mountain goal, Symmonds worked on summiting all fifty U.S. state highpoints over a period of ten years, finishing in 2024 on

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Personal life

At the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Symmonds was a vocal critic of Russia's "anti-gay" laws. He dedicated his silver medal to his gay and lesbian friends. Symmonds published an article in the November 2013 issue of ''Runner's World'' magazine advocating that Congress should "ban assault rifles and handguns for everyone except police and military personnel." In 2017, Symmonds was hired by the newly formed Track Town Summer Series Professional Track & Field league to act as General Manager for the team representing San Francisco. Symmonds opposed what he considers absurdly strict rules restricting athletes' ability to market themselves. For the 2012 season, he auctioned off space on his left shoulder for a temporary tattoo to advertise a sponsor. The winning bidder was a Milwaukee advertising agency, Hanson Dodge Creative, which paid $11,000 for the space to advertise their

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

handle. During restricted competitions such as the

Olympic Trials Olympic trials are competitions held in certain sports to select teams' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. History Before 1908, members of United States Olympic teams were selected without trials. The 1908 and 1912 teams were s ...

and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, Symmonds was required to cover up the tattoo with white tape, which ends up drawing attention to the tattoo advertising underneath. Prior to Symmonds, 2004 Olympic champion shot-putter

Adam Nelson Adam McCright Nelson (born July 7, 1975) is an American shot putter and Olympic gold medalist. Nelson competed in three consecutive Olympic Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008. In addition to his gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, Nelson won a silver m ...

actively sold space on his shirt during the 2005 season, when he won the

IAAF World Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

. The practice is also common in

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

. On the matter, Symmonds commented: In 2020, Symmonds married Tiana Baur. He filed for divorce in September 2024. Symmonds has a pet rabbit named Mortimer, with whom he posed for a PETA ad campaign against

animal testing Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of animals, as model organisms, in experiments that seek answers to scientific and medical questions. This approach can be contrasted ...

. He is also an avid fisherman and pilot.

Circuit and national competition wins

International competitions

Publications

* Symmonds, Nick (2014). ''Life Outside the Oval Office: The Track Less Traveled''. ISBN 978-1935270324. * Symmonds, Nick (2020). ''How to Be a Better Runner''.

References

External links

*
Nick Symmonds' Official BlogWind-aided? No, these performances were decibel-aided
ESPN.com
Little-known Symmonds gives the U.S. big hopes in 800 meters
ESPN The Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Symmonds, Nick 1983 births Living people Willamette Bearcats men's track and field athletes American male middle-distance runners Sportspeople from Boise, Idaho Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from Oregon American LGBTQ rights activists USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Bishop Kelly High School alumni 21st-century American sportsmen American YouTubers