For most folks, the NYC Marathon is a grueling endeavor that takes up their entire focus during the final lead up. For Quinn Emanuel’s Luke Nikas, it’s just a weekend project he’ll have to get to after heading to trial the rest of this week.
This is an appropriate juncture for you to feel shamed over your workout regimen.
Nikas started running in high school — maintaining the right weight class made running the best workout strategy. But, as the old joke goes, “running” and “running a marathon” are about as similar as shooting a bullet and throwing it. For Nikas, getting into the hardcore running world came only a couple of years ago when he lost his uncle to pancreatic cancer. That brought him to Project Purple and back into running. After getting back into it for a good cause, Nikas realized he could really make a go at this pastime.
His Project Purple running got him into the marathon world and a whole new level of training. Crack of dawn — or earlier — loops around the park racking up the miles and running races from 10Ks to half marathons throughout the year. Unfortunately it also brought him a pain in his shin that he was a bit too stubborn to address. “The doctor told me I had a shin splint that turned into a stress fracture and then turned into a fracture,” Nikas said. Medical orders forced him off of running for two months.
Undeterred, he bought a Peloton and kept swimming — workout methods that minimized stress on his shin — and managed to make the marathon and excel. Last year, he finished in 3 hours and 12 minutes. That’s about a 7:15 mile pace and good enough to finish 2,377 in the field of 52,706.
His reliance on swimming and biking during his recovery also opened up another opportunity to make all the rest of us look bad expand his competitive athletic career. “I thought, if I could do that well in the marathon having only had swimming and biking to train…” Oh no, I know where this is going. Yes, Nikas has entered an Ironman competition next year to show off his swimming and biking too.
Why not add Ninja Warrior to it, while you’re at it?
Good luck to Nikas in this weekend’s big event. The rest of the Quinn partnership is also rooting Nikas on and hoping he can improve on his already impressive time.
Mostly because all this time is unbillable.
Earlier: Quinn Emanuel Filed A Complaint To Save An Artist’s Life… Sadly, It Came Too Late
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.