2002 Bishop Kelley alum, five time 800 meter American Champion and two time Olympian, Nick Symmonds, just did something in three minutes that I've tried to do my entire life. 

Throughout his professional running career, Symmonds has always had the reputation of being a bit of a "bad boy."  In fact his relationship with Paris Hilton, outspoken opinion of sponsorship restrictions for Track and Field athletes and beer mile performance has earned him the nick name the "Brad Pitt" of the running world. After competing for Willamette University, Symmonds had an extreme desire to get as far away from the Treasure Valley as possible. He used his career as a professional runner as an opportunity to travel the world.

Now retired from Track and Field Symmonds is training for his first marathon.  He's scheduled to compete on December 10th in Honolulu.  Over the course of his training, Symmonds has been uploading a series of videos called "Church of the Long Run" on his YouTube account.  Like so many runners, Symmonds finds a sense of spirituality during his Sunday long runs and being out on the trails/streets makes him feel connected to something larger than himself.

His most recent installment focused on "home."  In the three minute video, Symmonds captures the most beautiful parts of living and being active in Boise.  I'll admit, I'm a little jealous of how well done it is!

Running's been such a special part of my life for 15 years that I can't adequately put into to words why I love it so much.  There's certain smells and certain views that you become attached to. You can never get enough of them. Prior to starting my new job, my life was so chaotic and so busy, that the only time I felt true peace or calm was on the trails at Harrison Hollow.  There are certain parts of that trail where you get breathtaking views of the city. At times taking those in brought me to tears.  Happy tears from a feeling I couldn't really describe.  All I knew in those moments was that it was a feeling that I wanted everyone I knew, runners or not, to experience.  There's something very special about the trails in Boise and Nick does a really beautiful job of capturing it in this video.

Want a reminder of why we love our #Idahome so much? Take three minutes to watch Nick's film above.

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