Sibling Rivalry
A goal, a rivalry and a record are what prompted South City Big River Staff Member, Nick Niehaus to start running. His older brother held his high school’s 400m record, which Nick decided to attempt to beat. He began running track at the age of 12 in his hometown of Maineville, OH and chased his brother’s record through four seasons of high school track. He also ran cross country as a junior and senior. Although he didn’t beat his brother’s record, his running carried him to Centre College in Danville, Kentucky where he went on to succeed in the hurdles while majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology.
“Even though I was a ‘late bloomer,’ not growing into my 6’10” frame until my sophomore year of college, in terms of running, I fell in love with it from the start and stuck with it… eventually becoming one of the best 400m hurdlers in college at the Division III level. The reason that I say the last part is not to boast but to encourage everyone that you can achieve the goals you set for your running if you consistently work to achieve them (even if it takes eight years or longer); learn to love the art and process of running!”
In addition to working at Big River, Nick is taking his passion of running and using it in a coaching position. He is currently the Assistant Track and Field/Cross Country Coach at Webster University. By combining his two jobs, Nick is able to to take what he learned about coaching (injuries, race strategies, training, etc.) and share it with customers, while also learning about shoes, apparel, personal stories, etc. from the customers at Big River and take it to his job as a coach.
“I have already learned so much at both occupations and the amount that the two have overlapped is a lot higher than I anticipated!”
When Nick is not running or coaching, he enjoys reading, hiking, lifting, swimming, going out to eat with friends, photo collages, traveling.
Gear by Nick:
Training shoe: My favorite? Brooks Adrenaline!
Racing shoe: On the track doing hurdles, it’s a pair of Nike Zoom Rival Sprint spikes. For road races (5k’s only for now!), it’s a pair of New Balance 860s (a little bit lighter than Adrenalines).
Favorite apparel: Without a doubt the Brooks Heater Hog
Can’t run without: Spandex shorts/tights
Favorite nutrition: Honey Stinger Chocolate Waffle with Salted Caramel Gu or Caramel Macchiato Gu drizzled on top (huge shout out to South City Store Manager, Deb for that recommendation)!
