Tom Nielsen

About

Tom Nielsen is an American ultrarunner born in Waukegan, Illinois, who made San Diego his home and the San Gabriel Mountains his proving ground, building one of the sport's most quietly extraordinary career records over three decades of competition. He came to running when he got sober — and has accumulated twenty-five years of each — progressing from zero to twelve marathon finishes in under two years before stepping into the ultra world and discovering the race that would define his legacy. The Angeles Crest 100, a technically brutal 100-miler through the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles, became his stage: Nielsen ran it ten times, every single finish under 24 hours, eight of them on the podium, and won it twice — including the celebrated 1999 edition in 19:07:50, when he patiently tracked Scott Jurek and Ian Torrence from behind all day before arriving first at the finish to the considerable surprise of spectators. Beyond Angeles Crest, his résumé includes finishes at Hardrock, Cascade Crest, and Wasatch, seven Western States 100 silver buckles with six top-ten finishes, and a course record at the Bull Run Run in Virginia in 2003 during a three-year East Coast stint. Later in his career Nielsen channelled decades of race intelligence into coaching, most notably guiding local athlete Jerry Garcia through the meticulous preparation that resulted in victory at the Angeles Crest 100.

Notable Wins

• — Angeles Crest 100 1999 (19:07:50)
• — Angeles Crest 100 (2x winner
• — 8 podiums from 10 finishes)
• — Bull Run Run Course Record 2003
• — 7x Western States silver buckle

Race History