Nick Symmonds, who raced to fifth in the Olympic 800 meters in London, will host a fun run and share his experience as part of the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon expo in October.
Noted as much for his self-promotion via social media as his speed on the track, Symmonds has become one of the most-recognized figures in U.S. Track and Field. He ran a personal best 1:42:95 in the Olympics, as part of the field chasing Kenyan David Rushida on a world-record pace.
“As our race committee looked at speakers for 2012, we were drawn to Nick Symmonds story of raising awareness for athletes in sports like track and field and thought his fresh perspective coming off the London games would be a big draw for our runners,” said race director Kristine Hinrichs. “He’s also a leading expert on how athletes can leverage their personal brands through social media, so we’re hoping fans here can engage with him both in person and via channels like Twitter.”
Symmonds is a native of Boise, Idaho, and added a Milwaukee connection by having the twitter logo of marketing firm Hanson Dodge Creative tattooed on his right shoulder. The Milwaukee firm paid $11,100 for the advertising space auctioned by the athlete.
His fun run will start at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6, from the MSOE Kern Center, site of the Lakefront Marathon Expo. Following two presentations at the expo, he will join 3,100 runners at the race start in Grafton, and greet them at the finish in Veteran’s Park.
He joins Joan Benoit Samuelson in adding Olympic luster to the marathon’s 32nd running. The matriarch of American distance running, and the 1984 gold medalist will host her own fun run and debut the documentary, “There is No Finish Line,” on Oct. 3.
Check out more of Symmonds’ story in this video:
