Nikkole Quade’s father was 57 when a stroke led to the discovery of a tumor, eventually diagnosed as stage four brain cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme. She started running, she says “running became my outlet to deal with the stress of knowing we were going to lose him, and probably sooner than we thought”. A month after her father’s diagnosis Nikkole was looking online and saw the Summerfest Rock N Sole Half Marathon, he told her to go for it and she kicked her training into a higher gear.
Her father passed away in March 2012, 3 months before the race. Nikkole says by mile 7 she was ready to call it quits, but her dad’s favorite song, Joy to the World by Three Dog Night started playing and she says “even though he wasn’t there in person to see me cross the finish line, I know he saw me”. She decided that day that she wanted to run the Chicago Marathon as her first full and even though she still misses him, she says he is her motivation for every run.
Nikkole was close to 250 pounds when her running journey started, now, she has lost over 100 pounds and discovered a love for running. She says “it gives me peace through the craziness that comes with being a single mom, full time student, and full time employee”.
Outside of running, Nikkole works for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America as a new patient insurance verification specialist. She is in school full time, working on a double masters degree in Human Resources Management and Health Care Administration. Someday, she wants to run the hospital. She also loves spending time with her kids hiking, people watching at the mall, running, and looking for new fun things to do. Her children are starting to find a love for running too, her 15 year old daughter, 13 year old son, and 11 year old son are all runners and all on their own running journeys.
We are so excited to be a part of Nikkole’s first full marathon, thank you for all of your hard work Nikkole!
Her father passed away in March 2012, 3 months before the race. Nikkole says by mile 7 she was ready to call it quits, but her dad’s favorite song, Joy to the World by Three Dog Night started playing and she says “even though he wasn’t there in person to see me cross the finish line, I know he saw me”. She decided that day that she wanted to run the Chicago Marathon as her first full and even though she still misses him, she says he is her motivation for every run.
Nikkole was close to 250 pounds when her running journey started, now, she has lost over 100 pounds and discovered a love for running. She says “it gives me peace through the craziness that comes with being a single mom, full time student, and full time employee”.
Outside of running, Nikkole works for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America as a new patient insurance verification specialist. She is in school full time, working on a double masters degree in Human Resources Management and Health Care Administration. Someday, she wants to run the hospital. She also loves spending time with her kids hiking, people watching at the mall, running, and looking for new fun things to do. Her children are starting to find a love for running too, her 15 year old daughter, 13 year old son, and 11 year old son are all runners and all on their own running journeys.
We are so excited to be a part of Nikkole’s first full marathon, thank you for all of your hard work Nikkole!