Hi!  My name is Iain Nelson and I run far.  I’m an amateur, “back of the pack” ultra-runner with a professional background in operations and logistics.  For about 12 years, I worked in the NFL for the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions directing team travel, facility management, event management, and off-season player administration, and a bunch of other stuff that people asked me to do.  

I began running in the early 2000’s not because I love running (complete opposite) but rather it seemed like a logical alternative to lifting weights! I despised running at the time and for a long time swore I’d never do any races. As a matter of fact, I consistently made fun of people who took running seriously, as I couldn’t comprehend why someone would want to run more than a couple miles or participate in a race they weren’t going to win!

For too long I made work my one and only priority, so at significant cost to my personal life, I focused on my professional and worked to get ahead.  After dabbling in practicing Kung Fu and Bikram Yoga I found an amazing group of people to run with. After sharing a few miles with them I found that my life was becoming a little more balanced so I kept at it. I still didn’t do races but the two or three days a week of social running was all I needed. I soon realized however that I was still missing out and reluctantly began doing some local 5k’s, usually around the holidays so I could spend more time with friends and to share those experiences.

I moved home to Syracuse in 2014 and signed up for a half marathon on a whim.  Prior to the half my longest run was an 8 miler so I was pretty confident another 5 wouldn’t be so hard! Turns out the extra 5 was harder than I thought and I wasn’t happy with my time so I returned to that race the following year to see if I could improve my time, which I honestly can’t remember if I did or not.  I was ok with the half distance and even added a couple of other halves and shorter races to my running resume.

In 2015 I volunteered for the Green Lakes Endurance Run (GLER).  I had no idea what an endurance run was and I learned a lot about ultras that weekend!  It sparked a wild curiosity in me so I vowed to run the 100k the following year.  Living up to that challenge I toed the line and went for it.  It was my first ultra and I haven’t looked back since.  Adding distances of 50k, 50-mile, 100 mile and 240!

To this day, I still don’t like going for a run just for the sake of it.  If given the option of going for a run or sleeping in, I’m sleeping in…Every. Single. Time!

There’s much more to share but I’ll leave it there for now but stay tuned for updates! What a life!